Good evening or 'Bonswa' as they say it in Haiti. Today was
full of some of the most profound experiences. The day started early for two of our team members. Matt and Lee wanted to
go for a run and tour the city a bit. A Haitian staff member was very accommodating. This morning, they were taken on a run around a
few of the city streets and were able to experience a very different way of life. The roads
are different than they are at home, many of them are cobblestone and very
narrow. The vehicles rarely get moving above 35 MPH in the busy downtown area, but are nearly touching
when they pass each other. Our two team members said they were passed by cars
that were so close they could reach out and touch them if they wanted. A large
majority of the locals, walk or run to their destinations. In Haiti, the cars have the right-of-way so you must watch where you are going. They continued running to a park where they met up with 30 other people that were there for exercise. After the run was finished, they were honored to visit the Haitian staff member's home and he treated them to a cold bottle of water. What an amazing experience!
Not too long after breakfast, our team walked to an artisan
shop near the Healing Haiti guest house. The artisans there were selling all sorts of
beautiful art and hand-made items. Each member brought cash to spend and
bought a few products. Afterwards, we took a team photo with the artisans, which was a lot of fun.
After shopping, we came back to the guest house and dropped off our artwork
and money. We began preparing for our day bringing water to the people in Cite Soleil, the poorest slum in the Western Hemisphere.
We headed out and stopped first at Hope Church and School. This facility was built on a very
large garbage dump. The engineers had to dig some 80 feet down through the pile
to reach a sturdy enough base for footings. This facility is surrounded by extremely, materially poor people, but what they are lacking in money,
they make up for with faith, family, community, and love. We enjoyed spending
some time interacting with the students that were all dressed in matching
uniforms.
Two of our team members, Brianna and Sue, were united with children they
sponsor from home. Their sponsorship helps by giving them an education and food to sustain them. All of the sponsored children were very happy to see their sponsees and were so full of love that we were all overwhelmed.
We all left the students to finish their day at school and
headed out with the water truck. There is very little clean drinking water in Cite Soleil, but the water truck supplies water until the next rainstorm or water truck comes. There was a never-ending stream of people
lined up to gather water for their homes and families. We were able to love on
the children and families in many ways. Most of us have never felt hugs the way these children hug. They cling to you and hold on so tight that
you don’t have to support their weight. It's as if you have backpacks attached
to you whenever they are hanging on you. It is a profound feeling to come to
a materially poor country and feel what real hugs feels like. These are
some of the most amazing and loving people most of us have ever experienced.
There were children hauling water jugs, that weighed almost as much as they do on top of their heads. There were pregnant women hauling jugs of water on their
heads that were so heavy they couldn’t lift them by themselves. Many of us were
tasked with hauling water to homes that were unable to transport it by
themselves. Some of us were honored to handle the water hose and fill the jugs.
Some managed the line. Respect the line (Respecter la ligne-- In Haitian) is the command that we used to attempt some
sort of order. The children were having a fun time budging to the front of the
line to play with the water. This was a very difficult thing for most of us as the kids need to feel loved and have fun, but all these families depend upon
this water, so we were forced to make them wait just like everyone else. This was
a constant battle of wits and determination, but all in all, we had a lot of
fun. We were able to empty two large water trucks for them before our task was
complete for today.
We headed back the guest house to clean up. Some of us went to a
local hotel and swam in the pool to relax. Others stayed back and caught up on
some responsibilities. We all met up at 5 PM for a dinner of beans and rice, potato and
carrot cajun stew, chicken legs, meatballs, fried plantains, fresh coleslaw, and
soda to wash it all down. What a day!
~ One Reason Church Team
