PLC Day 3: An Eclectic Day!

Day 3: June 20^th, 2018

Bonswa zanmi mwen!

It’s Max back again with another spicy meatball! But the catch is that it’s a blog and not a meatball. Today we are joined by Kira, Cameron, and Logan from the Peterson family and by Emma Wagner. This is Emma’s first trip and the Petersons’ second and third trips.

Today’s day started with another delicious breakfast of French toast and fresh fruit. The guys also had the opportunity to get a few games of bags in before we had to head out for our day. Cameron and I are still undefeated in bean bags and plan to keep that rolling all week. Our first stop of the day was at Peace Cycle, a small business that reuses plastic water bags to make products like purses, wallets, and other small fashion items. When I first came down here in 2016, the plastic bags and trash in general were an evident and immense problem. You can’t just throw the bags away because they can pollute the water and fish, and you can’t burn them either because it releases dangerous chemicals into the air. In the two years since I first came here, Peace Cycle was created and now employs 20 Haitians. We were all impressed by the quality of the products even though they were using such primitive tools (coal irons and pedal sewing machines) to create them. The staff are so kind and it was an overall amazing experience for us.

We also got to visit the Apparent Project and Papillon Enterprises. This is another small business that utilizes trash to make crafts, ceramics, clothing, jewelry, and much more. Apparent Project employs 200 staff members and sells globally. We had a quick lunch of pizza, fries, and smoothies before we headed back to the guest house to regroup before the rest of our day. After we regrouped, the team split up and headed to two different locations for the afternoon.

Emma had the opportunity to go to the home for sick and dying children this afternoon. This is a home run by nuns where sick kids are sent to recover. Emma said one of the most striking things about being with the kids is how unemotional they are until you pick them up, but when she was interacting with them, they lit up with excitement and energy. Food was also a very useful tool to bring happiness to the kids! One of the hardest parts was having to leave the kids after you put them back in their crib because they begin to bawl as soon as you put them down. One thing that was shocking to Emma was the ratio of kids to staff. You would think that a single nun would be overwhelmed by a room of 50 kids, but they find the strength through their faith to be able to take care of each and everyone of the kids in the home. It’s a truly eye opening experience and you definitely should try to experience it if you ever get the chance to come down to Haiti.  

The Petersons’ and I were in the other half of our group that went to an orphanage called For His Glory. This orphanage was home to about 40 kids across a broad range of ages. Cameron had a fun experience when a few mischievous kids got into an open backpack of ours and ran off with a can of bug spray. The high speed pursuit ended in Cameron apprehending the suspect, but at this point in time it doesn’t look like we will be pressing charges. There was also the case of the missing fruit snacks, but what we thought was super cool is that the kid actually ended up bringing back the fruit snacks even though it would have been so easy for him to just run off with them. I think that really speaks a lot about Haiti’s culture. Logan and I got to spend some time with two kids named S and K. We had some fun being able to break the language barrier by drawing on the ground with chalk. One of my Spanish teachers told me “When you go to a foreign country where you don’t know the language, you need to know 3 games to be able to get through your day: Pictionary, Charades, and Taboo.” We thought that was very true for us today. Kira said that she saw god today with a little boy who had cerebral palsy. Marijo and Braedyn were spending time with the boy and Marijo asked if she could pick him up to bring him outside. The staff said of course we can and that made us reflect on our boundaries and if we had created them ourselves. In this case it is really hard to go out of your comfort zone like that, but we are the one’s who make these boundaries and keep ourselves in our own comfort zone. Today we built bridges, not walls and I think that’s what God would want us to do. Kira said that the boys smile is what made it all worth it.

One other random highlight from today was on the TapTap when Pauline was trying to teach us songs and most of us didn’t know them so Jeff got a few of us to make up our own. Before I leave you with the song, I just wanted to thank you all once again for keeping up on our blogs and giving us support while on our mission. We will have more fun stories for you tomorrow, but without further adieu, to the tune of “Deep in the Heart of Texas”, Servant Leader by Bennie and the Jeffs.

Jesus is neat

He washes feet

(4x clap)

He is a servant leader

Loaves and fish

Are quite the dish

(4x clap)

From our servant leader

He rose from the dead

Thorns on his head

(4x clap)

He is a servant leader

He’ll come again

We don’t know when

(4x clap)

He is a servant leader

You know he is

We know he is

(4x clap)

He is a servant leader!

Thank you and we will see you all tomorrow!

Max Nelson

PLC Day 2: Water Truck Day!

Day 2: June 19^th, 2018

Howdy friends and family!

It’s Max back again with another blog for day 2 of our trip! Tonight I am joined by Brooke Wilson. She just graduated from high school in North Carolina and this is her first trip to Haiti. (Yesterday was also her first plane ride!) She has some stories from today that I am just going to interpret from her and we will see how that goes. I was up early this morning making pancakes with Phaunis and Ulta, the ladies who work in the kitchen. My pancakes were fantastic thanks for asking. Today was water truck day and we have a lot of great stories! For those of you who don’t know, Water Truck Day is an all day experience where we deliver clean water to Cite Soleil, the slum of Port au Prince. Cite Soleil doesn’t actually have any clean water, so Healing Haiti brings in clean water in huge trucks 6 days a week to a full system of stops throughout the wandering streets. This is our first real experience to be hands on with the people of Haiti. During a stop most of the group plays with the kids who come running out to see the Americans when they arrive. We heard the phrase, “hey you” about a thousand times and “Potim” which means pick me up just about the same. (The phrase “hey you” comes from when the U.N. was in Haiti, the soldiers used to yell that at the kids to get their attention and now it is the only English that the kids know will get our attention.) While that part of the group is occupied, the rest help with filling the buckets with the massive hose of water and carrying the buckets back to the homes of the Haitians. I had the blessing of being able to see into a few of the homes of the people in Cite Soleil today when I was carrying buckets back to their homes, if you can even call them that. Most were the size of a large elevator and looked like they were inhabited by a group big enough to make an elevator feel uncomfortable, even standing up. The experience was truly humbling for me and words can never truly do it justice.

Water truck day was an awesome experience for all of our first time trip goers as well. Brooke’s one word to describe today: satisfying. She says her favorite thing was to be with the kids and seeing the look on their faces. We both agree that it is amazing how much love and value we can bring with just a truck full of water. It is so easy to take everything for granted like our clothes, shoes, a place to sleep, and it is important to remember that most of the people in Cite Soleil don’t have access to those things. One thing that Brooke says it amazing to her is the strength of all the women who are gathering the water at the water truck stops. It is so amazing go see a woman, and sometimes even little girls, be able to carry a full 5-gallon bucket of water on her head like it was nothing. Brooke also says she has an immense amount of respect for each one of these women who do this, 6 days a week when the water truck comes to their stops.

Our team also had the opportunity to visit Fleri Farms. Fleri Farms is a new farm that Healing Haiti has opened up that will be supplying food to Fleri Bakery and several other locations once they are up and running. There are many different types of produce growing at the farms including mangos, bananas, avocados, coconuts, sugarcane, pomegranates, star fruit, papaya, and much much more. We actually got to try the sugar cane and a few of the coconuts while we were at the farm. One of the staff broke the coconut in half so that we could get to the meat in the middle to try which left me with one option: recreate the opening scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Haiti style. I would have been satisfied with that for the excitement in my day, but apparently we were just getting started.

The team hit a total of three water truck stops today and by the end of it we were exhausted. It takes a lot out of you giving out that much love! We regrouped at the house and after an absolutely delicious dinner of Chicken Yarisoba, or noodles with chicken, vegetables, and rice, we decided to hit the pool for a refreshing swim. I wore my USA swim trunks, which I thought might be frowned upon for being politically correct, but they turned out to be a real hit with the neighborhood boys. See Mom, it was a good fashion choice. After our swim we headed back to the guesthouse for circle time and reflection on today. Then we did the only logical thing we could at that time, shave the word “Haiti” into Nelson Linscott’s chest hair! (I really hope I can get a picture uploaded of this, but if not we will for sure share it with you when we get home). Apparently Katie Ose is a master with an electric razor. It was almost like she had shaved a design into someone’s chest hair before… curious. We are all getting ready for bed now so we can rest up for tomorrow’s activities, and prepare for what tomorrow holds. We will be visiting a handful of orphanages and a few other cool locations that we will share with you in tomorrow’s blog. Thanks for following with our trip through the blog and I hope you have as much fun reading these as I do writing them.

How do I say “chest hair” in Creole?

Max Nelson

PLC Day 1: Travel and Arrival in Haiti!

Day 1: June 18^th, 2018

Guess who’s back…

Long time no see, friends and family! For those of you who don’t know, my name is Max Nelson and this blog has kinda been my thing for the last two trips. I will be a Senior at Eden Prairie High School next year and this is my third trip to Haiti. I am going to keep this one short as I am running on about 2 hours of sleep and there is a game of bean bags to be played.

It should be illegal to wake up before 4:00am for anything, but hey we felt like rebels today and wanted to start our day at 2:45am. Even though our team comes from all over the country (Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, West Virginia, and North Carolina), we can all relate to how this morning went.

2:45am: Wake up and silently cry for a minute because its so early.

2:46am: Get excited because we are going to Haiti!

Did I mention how much I hated getting up at 2:45am? I’m not sure if I have made that clear. Anywhoosies, for the Minnesota crew, we all met up at the airport around 3:45am. Security was a breeze which gave Ryan and me time to go grab some “Airport McDonald’s” before we hopped on our flight. (If that doesn’t sound like the breakfast of champions, I don’t know what does). The flight to Atlanta was quick and we met up with most of the rest of the team when we landed. Karen Stich got to eat Chick Fil A for the first time today so that’s also a bonus. Thanks Atlanta! The flight to Port Au Prince was a bit longer than the usual Miami-Port Au Prince flight, but it went by fast and we cleared Immigration quickly after paying $10 to the motherland to fund the new state of the art air conditioning system they have just installed in the airport. Just kidding, we were sweating before we even made it off the plane. The trip to the guest house was quick and we got right to playing with the neighborhood boys in the daily soccer games that take place next door. It was a tad cloudy today, but that didn’t stop us from sweating through the shirts in the first five minutes of the game. Shocking. As usual, the Americans were absolutely dominated by the Haitians. Shocking again. We are looking for a better showing tomorrow. The team then regrouped for a Taco Monday (lame its not Tuesday) dinner and then headed to the pool to cool off. Hey that rhymed! When we were walking back from the pool it started to rain a little bit, but we weren’t worried until the torrential downpour started as we reached our compound gate. I’ve never seen it rain so hard in Haiti! We then had group time and talked about our plans for Water Truck Day tomorrow. We also got to celebrate Lucy Gerst’s birthday with some chocolate cake from an undisclosed bakery. Sketchy? Maybe. Yummy? Absolutely. Well, you guys are all caught up now and I look forward to keeping you in the loop over the next week. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update on the Water Truck Day, neighborhood soccer, revival of the Jeffvolution, and much much more!

“This is considered ‘keeping it short?’ Oh boy.”

Max Nelson

Aspen Grove Trip Day 5

     I'm going to write about my most memorable day this week, given that this was our last day of serving and that, that was our question for tonight's dinner. My most memorable day was Wednesday because of an orphanage named For His Glory. At this orphanage I met a very special girl named Bianca. Bianca was a little girl about age 2 that was different from a lot of the other kids because of her personality. From the moment I picked her up she was clung to me, which isn't really different, but she didn't talk and she did not want to play. All she wanted to do was watch, watch other people play, watch others draw chalk, and look at the play ground but not dare touch it. There was also a puppy around, and I had forgotten that all Haitians are afraid of dogs. I thought that, it was more of a taught skill and took a while to develope. I quickly learned that it wasn't the case when the dog was the one thing that she did not want to look at.
     We finally took a sit after the puppy had scared her beyond compare. As we continued to watch others she saw something that was interesting and got up quickly from my lap to go find it. I was extremely shocked because I was beginning to think that she couldn't walk because I had been holding her since the moment I saw her and for her to just get up and walk was incredible. She went to look for this fanisnating thing only to realize the reaching arms of others to hold her was not the thing she was looking for and ran back to me. She would do this a few more times until I had given her to another girl from our trip. She had met Bianca a few months ago and just wanted to hold her, but she couldn't because Bianca was clinging to me the entire time. Once I had given Bianca to her Bianca stayed calm and just sat with her while I hid away so they could have their moment.
     I really wasn't much of a kids person before I met her. She was the kid I would hope to have if I had a kid of my own. Calm, loving, and slightly clingy. I really hope that if I get to come down again that she will remember me and I can be with her again. Thank you Bianca.

~ Juniper Anderson

Aspen Grove Trip - Day 4

Wow- God blessed our team with an incredibly eye-opening and love-filled day today. Each day in Haiti is something new and exciting, so we all feel very grateful that we were given the emotional and physical strength to participate... though we were two members short today as Ethan W. was stuck in bed and his dad stayed back to care for him (Please keep Ethan in mind during your prayers and ask God for Ethan's recovery and healing!).

Today began with a team breakfast and prayer to set the stage for a busy day of serving our Lord! We  loaded up our tap-taps and took off for another water truck day in Cite Soleil. Water truck days consist of going to a neighborhood in Cite Soleil and filling the residents' buckets with water... the children of those collecting water swarm to us, so if we aren't carrying/distributing buckets of water, we are holding a few smiley kids in our arms! The children don't have many material possessions (many don't even have clothes on), yet they are happier than you would ever think. God shows His love for us through those kids' beautiful smiles and the way that they wrap their arms around us so tightly. We are constantly inspired by their unending happiness, because it is honestly so humbling that they have nearly nothing that we do, yet they have all the joy AND more than us!

After our first stop, we had to refill the water truck at the city water supply. There, we ate lunch and took a breather before the next stop. However, while I was eating, I caught a glimpse of a young boy looking at me... I waved and said hello, but his face was sad and he said a word that means "hungry" in creole. My heart automatically broke because I wasn't allowed to give him any food, and I also wasn't allowed to give him bandages for the many wounds that I later realized he had. He didn't understand that I couldn't give him anything, and I felt so helpless because this poor child was hungry and hurt and in need. So I gave him the only thing I could, which was love. I loved on him for a good long time, and God just knew that I needed the child more than he needed me at that point. He showed me how to love by cleaning dirt off of me with his own shirt and wiping my tears away... It was such an emotional encounter, but I am blessed to have held my little brother in Christ and again be shown Jesus' overwhelming love.

We had another water truck stop afterward, then headed home to change and made our way to an orphanage. We visited an orphanage called La Loo that houses 55 children. Upon arrival, the beautiful children gathered and sang us a welcome song. We got to love on them all afternoon, playing duck duck goose (otherwise known as duck duck duck duck goose), drawing with chalk and playing soccer. One child drew a gorgeous chalk portrait of our team member, Taytum, which was the sweetest sentiment one could've received. We toured the orphanage, and I was amazed at how the caretakers were able to keep everything so well-kept while also fulfilling all of the children's needs. It's always difficult to visit a home where children don't have any parents, but I stay strong in these moments by reminding myself that God is their daddy and He is all that anybody needs. We are blessed to be filled with love to give to God's children.

We are now back at the guest house... tired is a common theme among us. We are resting and gearing up for a big day in Grace Village tomorrow :) Blessings!!!