Day 2 in Haiti

Today was an incredible day delivering over 7500 gallons of clean,safe water on three different water runs to area's of City Soleil. The experience of pulling the huge truck onto a street filled with people, goats, chickens and rubbish piles and then seeing the excitement and chaos that soon followed was a bit overwhelming. We were greeted with children, adults and elders, some who were clothed and some who were not. The smiles on the faces melted my heart and we worked fast and furious to fill the large buckets that came before us. The line got longer and longer and you could see the desperation from the people as the water to them were like buckets of gold. As the water ran dry from the 3 loads we delivered, it shattered my soul to load up our team and drive away as so many were still standing in the street waiting ever so patiently in the line for drops of gold. Even though there was disappointment that we were leaving, the people waved and smiled as we left them on the disheveled, dusty roads of City Soleil.

My heart felt overwhelmed with joy and also pain in leaving these loving people. While water was being dispersed, many of us held, played and jump roped with the kids. They loved to have their pictures taken and then seen on the camera right away. We captured so many beautiful children who have lived through so much. It is amazing to me to see such joy in these children of the tent cities. It bothers me that our children in the United States have SOOO much and still seem to want more and more. They could all learn so much from seeing where happiness truly comes from. It is not from the material goods that we Americans gather!

It also made me realize, how much we waste: the precious water that others desperately depend on for life. I personally will let my water run while I brush my teeth. I shower once or twice a day. I water my lawn to have nice green grass. It made me feel so selfish and wasteful today after serving water to those who have no water, home, electricity or plumbing. Hard to believe I live approx 1000 miles from a place so foreign to me and my loved ones. As we sang songs of praise tonight after dinner, the rain began to pour down and has lasted a long time. It makes me wonder how all those thousands of people we saw today are managing in the wet, muddy streets and tents. If only those drops of gold coming from the sky tonight could be bottled and used to help these faithful people of Haiti.

Each day we share a word with the team that best describes what we felt on this day. Tom's word tonight was MOMENT. Each minute and hour of this day will forever be moments that we will never forget. These moments are forever engraved on our hearts and we will carry them with us for the rest of our lives. These moments will change who we are and how we view things at home in Minnesota. I have always heard that taking a risk and making a change is always a good thing. Like the chameleon who changes color to adapt to new surroundings….I truly believe this journey of risk out of our comfort zone, will turn out some really amazing chameleons!! There are sure a lot of those little creatures running around here!

I feel blessed to be sharing this experience with an amazing group of people. Our team has melded together as one to serve our Lord and the people of Haiti. The spiritual journey continues tomorrow when we go to the orphanages. Please continue to pray for our team as we reach out and stretch our arms to Haiti with love and joy.

Ask God to Bless and use your gifts of time, talent and treasures to bring hope and justice to a world in need!

Ke Bondye Beni'ou

God Bless you,

Jane Bacchus-Ray
Healing Haiti Team Member