Today we started the day again with a fine breakfast and devotions here at Healing Haiti Guest House. We then began the day with our daily ride through the city, stopping at the water station and then on to Cite Soleil to distribute water from the truck. Seems simple and straightforward. But!
I can't absorb all of this.
The ride in the Tap-tap, we ride through the city in the back of a truck with wire mesh surrounding us. The streets are full of vendors, automobiles, scooters, trucks, buses and pickups full of riders front and back. The noise is constant, loud vehicles, horns, vendors and people going about their day. Sidewalks lined with vendors selling clothing, food, auto parts and who knows what else. We pass a couple of funeral processions, one of them lead by a brass band and all the mourners dressed in suits and Sunday best. It is Saturday, as we pass the athletic fields there are several soccer games proceeding. Meanwhile scooters are beeping as they pass by, trucks and cars honk their horns regularly, somehow traffic keeps moving as vehicles change lanes and navigate turns. Our first stop is at the Water Station where truck after truck is filled with water from a deep well. There are 4 lanes of water trucks with large tanks lined up, each having a five inch pipe overhead that is filling them with water. Trucks coming and going continuously and somehow they seem to find order in the midst of what looks to me to be chaos. The truck we are working with is filled, leaves for Citi Soleil Station #16 and we shortly follow. More traffic and vendors as we get to Citi Soleil. It seems there are more street vendors than our previous trip and there are many people shopping and walking about.
As we get to Water Station 16 the truck is there and people are lined up with their buckets and other containers. Don and I begin the process of filling the containers from a 4 inch hose out of the tanker In spite of our directing them to get in "La Line", it is not long until the scene is chaotic as I try to line up containers and Don directs the hose. People are tugging at me, pushing and trying to get in line, Don is struggling to keep control of the hose as people try to direct it to their container. Children are in line getting water to dump over their heads and enjoy. Eventually we have filled the household containers and as we run out of water the kids are still there. As I said it is chaotic, but that delivery of water is essential to the daily survival of all these families. It seems so disorganized yet this process arranged by Healing Haiti and other NGO's happens every day and it works.
I keep trying to fit all of this together, but it cannot be put in a simple statement. The poverty is so great, but there are organizations with vision who are making a dent. It seems to be impossible to completely grasp, but there are individuals and organizations working in many small ways to do their part in helping. Today and this week we have been privileged to be part of Healing Haiti. The suffering from poverty will continue, but for a short time we touched the people of Haiti.
After the water distribution we again visited the wharf accompanied by a host of children wanting to be carried, hugged or given attention.
In the afternoon we visited the Croatian Orphanage which was established after the earthquake. There are 40 plus children aged 5 years to 20 years living here. We spent the afternoon playing soccer, basketball, jump rope, coloring, other games and activities. Croatian Orphanage is another good example of people having a vision and stepping up to the plate.
So I can't absorb or simply explain the Healing Haiti trip, but I am grateful to be a part of this mission if even only for a week on site. It is certainly a mission worth supporting and continuing.
Larry Hanson
On Monday, 12 people came to Haiti. Some of us knew each other before we signed up for this trip, some of us knew none of the other team members before embarking on this trip. Tomorrow we leave, and head back to the states as friends.
This is my third trip to Haiti. Every time I come here, I'm struck by the poverty. Yet despite the poverty, I see the progress since the last time I was here. God is at work, and there is hope for Haiti. I will be back, and I would challenge you to come! If you are interested in stories, ask anyone on this trip to sit down and tell you about it. They all have stories to tell, and they all are eager to share their story.
This afternoon we had a day of R&R at Wahoo Beach. Splashing in the ocean, soaking up the rays, and enjoying the company of each other. A great close to the week.
The ride in the Tap-tap, we ride through the city in the back of a truck with wire mesh surrounding us. The streets are full of vendors, automobiles, scooters, trucks, buses and pickups full of riders front and back. The noise is constant, loud vehicles, horns, vendors and people going about their day. Sidewalks lined with vendors selling clothing, food, auto parts and who knows what else. We pass a couple of funeral processions, one of them lead by a brass band and all the mourners dressed in suits and Sunday best. It is Saturday, as we pass the athletic fields there are several soccer games proceeding. Meanwhile scooters are beeping as they pass by, trucks and cars honk their horns regularly, somehow traffic keeps moving as vehicles change lanes and navigate turns. Our first stop is at the Water Station where truck after truck is filled with water from a deep well. There are 4 lanes of water trucks with large tanks lined up, each having a five inch pipe overhead that is filling them with water. Trucks coming and going continuously and somehow they seem to find order in the midst of what looks to me to be chaos. The truck we are working with is filled, leaves for Citi Soleil Station #16 and we shortly follow. More traffic and vendors as we get to Citi Soleil. It seems there are more street vendors than our previous trip and there are many people shopping and walking about.
Ever since Monday morning at 1:30 am, I have been constantly comparing this trip to my trip last year. "Oh this flights so early" "Oh I wish we were going here" "I remember this same tour from last year". But today I realized how to let go. Starting off the day I was more than excited to visit the Haitian Olympic training center as it was something new. Jumping on the soccer fields, running on the track, and standing within an Olympic boxing ring was fun, but I found that I enjoyed being with the people of Haiti and experiencing their lives much more. Following the Olympic training center we went to yet another new place for me, Rosie's Boutique. A fun stop for the middle of our day full of shopping and sweet treats. Then, surprisingly my favorite part of the day, we visited the elders. Visiting elders the past two years has not always been a high point of my Haiti missions trips as I always seem to feel as if we are invading their space. But today, meeting Pierre and seeing the overwhelming joy spread across his face as we walked into his home was astounding. Dancing, singing, and praying with this beautiful man has made me laugh and smile harder than I have all week. I realized that these people not only love our company, but deserve every lasting moment of our attention. After visiting three of the many elders, we visited Fleri Resteraunt where we enjoyed the BEST pizza ever. Getting together with not only my team, but the Hatian staff allowed for a good way to reconnect and relax. Before ending this post, I would just like to express my love and appreciation for this beautiful country. Never have I been happier to serve and spread God's word than when I am here. I just hope that someday I'll get to spend more than a week here, but only time will tell. Orevwa :)
Today was a new day that was full of adventure and opportunity! We started our day off as usual by a great 8 a.m. breakfast. We then went Papillon in the tap- tap. Pappillon is a business in Port- au- Prince that was created to help parents have enough money to prevent them from having to put their children up for adoption. We got a tour from our guide, Tricky. We were shown all the stations within the business such as pottery, bead- making, and sewing. After the tour, we went across the street to the Papillon restaurant and gift shop. The group shopped for all sorts of arts and crafts such as bracelets and mugs. We were all served delicious tropical smoothies which gave us the boost we needed to go to our next stop: Teach Haiti. Teach Haiti is a fantastic school that teaches all sorts of languages and subjects that prepares the children for the outside world and all the struggles that may come with living in Haiti. This school was created by a lady named Miquette Denie. Miquette was born in Haiti and aspired to be a nurse. After realizing that her dream to be a nurse was just out of reach, she decided to go a different direction. Miquette was able to find an American family from Detroit Lakes to take her in. She graduated from Detroit Lakes High School in 2002 and went to Concordia College (Moorhead). She graduated from Concordia and decided to come home to Haiti to start this nonprofit school. Her story is truly insirational. The school currently holds around 250 children.
After Teach Haiti, we all went back to the guesthouse to refresh ourselves and put on our Live Generously shirts. We wore these to our next stop, La Phare. La Phare is an orphanage based in Cite Soleil. This stop was particularly important for some of us on the trip because of a little girl named Nora. On the first trip that Living Waters went to we met Nora. At the time she was just 3 months old. One of the members on the trip, Cindy Fuls, fell in love with Nora and joked that she ought to take her back to Minnesota with her. Nora was now 2 years old and she had a trait that she had gained since the last time we had met her. That trait was sass. She had the cutest body language and would not shy away from giving any new stranger the cold shoulder. After some prying from most of the group though, Nora warmed up and blew some bubbles with us. Although Nora was one of the highlights of this stop, much more love and compassion was shared. The kids at the orphanage also played games such as soccer and jump rope. Many kids loved to draw in coloring books. It is fascinating to see what wonderful drawings and pictures that these kids could draw with just a paper and some crayons.
