Day 6: Dios and Croatian Orphanage

(Steve) Greetings from Haiti ! We started our day of serving God in Haiti with a visit to Dios- a home for disabled children. As we drove into the courtyard, it was empty. Soon children arrived in  wheelchairs, on rollators, on foot, or were carried in. When my eyes connected with the big brown eyes of Kiki I immediately felt at ease. Kiki is non-verbal but is able to nod yes and no to my broken French. We spent time together tossing a frisbee ring,blowing bubbles, and laughing at the antics of my mission family. Mainly we were connected in the love of Christ. Despite his physical limitations, I soon realized that he comprehends much and pray that his ability to communicate will be assisted in the future. 

 

                                                                                                                                                 
Our visit ended all too quickly and we drove into Croatian Orphanage.  The children at this home are a bit older and without disabilities. We were greeted with songs praising God.We interacted with the children in a variety of activities including basketball, bingo, drawing, and others. While I was waiting at the drawing station, Fabrice shyly stopped by, then sat down and began to draw the sequential forms that were provided. Michelle asked him to draw her portrait and he obliged. His face was totally glowing with joy as he focused on his ad hoc project.               

After some time back at the guesthouse to reflect on the days' experiences, we appreciated the talents that God has given to all of these children, disabled or not, and further recognized the talents that we have been given as team members to share and help others to grow. As Paul in his letter to the Phillippians 4:5" Let your gentleness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand."

Steve Corse

Day 5: Water Truck and Home for Sick and Dying Babies

July 26th, 2019

        (Kenzie)  The day began with our second and final water truck day in district 17 of Cite Soleil. As the Tap Tap crossed into Hope church, the line of children quickly formed at the gate. New and familiar faces met by the water truck for a day of laughter, hard work, and true faith. While helping to deliver water buckets to individuals homes, I heard my name shouted across the street. The moment I turned around, I saw the face of a young boy I had met earlier in the week and quickly felt a connection with. He was holding up his hands in the shape of a heart, which I taught him how to do on our first water truck day. My face immediately lit up, and my heart was overflowing. He clung to my side the remainder of the stop and followed the Tap Tap to our second water stop, Four Coffins in Cite Soleil. 

       

    (Sydney) When we arrived at the second stop we opened the door to that Tap Tap to see a crowd of children. As I looked out I heard my name, it was from a little girl also named Sydney that I had met at our first stop of the day. We became so close at the first stop and I was heartbroken to say goodbye  so when I saw her at the second stop I was overjoyed. We spent the entire time together, I would hold her, and she would play with my hair. Unfortunately our time together came to an end. I carried her to the Tap Tap and gave her a huge hug. I started to hear her cry which brought tears to my eyes. We spent a few minute saying our goodbyes until she finally pushed me into the Tap Tap. As we drove away she followed the truck blowing me kisses and looking at me with tears in her eyes until we became too fast for her and she got on her knees, covered her face, and cried. I will never forget her smile and how much she meant to me and I hope she doesn't forget me as well. 

      As our time in Haiti progresses, I continue to learn the true depth that touch contains. When arriving to Mother Teresa's Home for Sick and Dying Babies, seeing the rows and rows of cribs was a heart breaker, yet only fueled the desire to serve and present the touch from all our hearts to those beautiful children. We helped feed the babies and played with them on the playground on the patio. Once our time had ended and we had to set the babies back down in their cribs, it was very difficult to walk away... but all throughout this trip we have learned to truly embrace the connections we make in our small time spent with them to continuously learn and better yourself through hope and faith.

Kenzie and Sydney

Day 4: Elder Visits

We started the morning by going to the Artisan's sale; a sale put on by local Haitians. After that, the next stop was visiting 5 elders. Here is where we got the opportunity to wash each elder's feet, lotion them, sing praise and worship songs with them, and finish by praying for them. The Guetter family was able to wash the feet of the elder woman in which they have been sponsoring. We were able to see their home and ask questions about their life, which was very humbling for us all. Many of us were stretched out of our comfort zone (in a good way) with the opportunity to wash feet just as Jesus did.

The next stop for us today was Rosie's where we shopped and got some refreshments. After that, we were privileged with the chance to visit Grace Village. Here we got a tour and colored with chalk or played basketball with the kids.

Our last stop was to Fleri Resto. It is a local bakery that has an amazing story of how they not only provide for the people of Titanyen, they are also providing opportunities for employment. The employees are extremely proud of their positions and how they are able to provide for their families, which not only helps them, but empowers them.We were given a tour and followed that with a fun pizza dinner with our team.

Today we were blessed with the chance to serve as Jesus did and we were able to see our team relationships grow deeper as well. We are ready for a full day of serving tomorrow with more elder visits and more water truck stops!

Courtney and Talia

Day 3: VBS at La Phare's

Today was our second full day in Haiti! After we ate breakfast and did our team devotions, we made our way to La Phare's orphanage. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a plethora of children of all ages playing a hand-clapping game similar to patty-cake.  It didn't take long for them to get us involved, and we loved it! After playing this game for a while, we sang a song with the kids telling them of the love, peace, and joy they have in Jesus -- it brought much joy seeing them sing along and do the motions with us! Since the kids know very little English and we know very little Creole, it's amazing to see how the love of God has no language barrier.  Next, we did several activity stations which ranged from minute-to-win-it type games, to STEM activities, and even Bingo!  In the midst of all of this, the Cupid Shuffle was playing in the background which resulted in teaching at least 20 of the kids how to do the dance; just another example of how the language barrier didn't matter. To end the day with these sweet kids, we served them lunch, played soccer, jumped rope, and blew bubbles.

Hand clapping game

Guided drawing station

STEM project

Large group songs and dancing

Our next big activity for the day was going to Papillon, a shop and cafe.  While Papillon is not directly connected to Healing Haiti, we love to support their mission of job creation in Haiti.  After being refreshed from some snacks, we had the pleasure of taking a tour behind the scenes of making the goods that they sell in their shop. It was cool to see the impact it's having on the community! Our group then had the chance to shop around to purchase some gifts and souvenirs. If you want to learn more about Papillon, or even buy some of their creations, you can find them online!

Team pic at Papillon

We ended our day with traditional Haitian food and a trip to the pool! It was another beautiful day in Haiti! :)

-Sarah & Steven Petkau

Day 2: Water Truck and Home for Sick and Dying Babies

Bonswa from the Guetter family! Courtney, Becky, and Steve Guetter are back in Haiti, and we couldn't be more excited!

Travel day was good, but we were excited today to get out into the mission field! We had a fabulous day delivering water to Cite Sole; getting a tour of Hope church, Hope school, and Hope clinic; and feeding babies at The Home for Sick and Dying Babies.

We could not believe the progress Healing Haiti has made since only 3 years ago! The Hope school has expanded significantly! Since we've been back, Hope has added a clinic that treats the Cite Sole community and implemented advancements in technology for their school, such as iPads, interactive Smart TV's, and a sewing unit. It was so nice seeing many more smiles at Hope than in 2016; these facilities are definitely giving the Haitian people more HOPE and joy!

It was really cool to see Haitian parents who live in Cite Sole invest in their child's education by coming to conferences to reflect on their child's academic progress. We also enjoyed listening to Alicia Rose, the assistant Hope Clinic manager, talk about what she is hearing from the children about the impact that the Healing Haiti missionaries have on the each of them. Sometimes we as volunteers feel like the love we give the Haitians for a short amount of time isn't enough, but hearing Alicia describe the testimonies of the little Haitians' positive experiences with hard-working, affection by us delivering water and loving on the kids, made all the difference and gave us encouragement that what we are doing down here matters. We also enjoyed hearing from Smith and Ash about how God is working in their lives through Healing Haiti to teach the Haitian children and make a difference in their lives as well as our lives as volunteers.

The day continued as we finished up delivering water in the afternoon before heading back to the guest house to change quick and get ready for The Home for Sick and Dying Babies. At the Home, we first fed babies their evening meal. It was a new experience for many of us, who have never really interacted with or cared for babies before. Then, after feeding, we played and made a whole bunch of new friends! It was inspiring to see the loving care that was provided for sick children and the joy on the faces of sick kids.

We look forward to what the Lord Has in store for us tomorrow!

Love, The Guetter Family.

Day 1: Travel Day

We made it to Haiti!

Everything went smoothly and this team is excited to get serving. This afternoon we were welcomed at the airport by some of our Healing Haiti staff and it was fun connecting with friends many of us haven't seen since our last trip. We were welcomed by Smith at the guest house and he gave us an overview of how the week was going to go. It was great connecting with our three teammates from Savannah Georgia too! Our team is now complete.

We got settled in our rooms, checked out the compound and enjoyed getting to know each other better over dinner and some farkle. It's off to bed to get some rest so we are ready for our first full day of serving tomorrow.

Bondye Beniou,

Alicia

Day 5 Clinic Water Truck Fleri Farm Stop 17 Play

Today was another hot and dusty day under the Haitian sun, but full of fun, smiles and children!  We started out the day by getting a quick tour of the clinic since we were leaving two of our team who were medical with Dr. Mosman and his PA, Amanda, at the clinic to shadow and learn the inside workings of Hope Clinic. 

 
Since we were down to just 4 team members on our team we joined up with the other large team from Minnesota and toured the Fleri Farm. It is in the cul-de-sac area of Cite Soleil and very good farmland. Kenny, the long-term missionary who is most involved in the farm, gave us a great tour and it's so cool to see his passion for all things Fleri Farm and to hear of the dreams and potential for the land. They want so much to elevate the Haitians and their economy and not compete with them so there are so many things to consider as they develop the vision.

Then we went back to help unload water in Cite Soleil. As always the children were full of smiles and love to give and receive. Almost all really love to get their picture taken and then of course we need to show it to them in the viewer and they invariably laugh at themselves. The girls like to pose like models with a pouty face and the boys have to do their hands like rappers do on tv. 

 There was a lot of water-carrying going on and our young people are so willing to help!

After we completed water trucking, we went and played with local children at stop 17 playday. Many of the children organized a soccer game with us and it was so much fun! Others were jumping rope, coloring and drawing, or dancing to music. It was such a beautiful day and all of the locals at Cite Soleil were so bright once again.

 After being worn out by the kids and the heat we returned to the Guesthouse to enjoy a delicious-as- always meal prepared by the wonderful guesthouse ladies. They take such good care of us and are so appreciated by us and all teams that come to serve. We couldn't do what we do without their help to get us through the week!