Replenished!

My word of the day today was replenished. After a long travel day on Monday, I woke up replenished and full of energy for my first real Haitian experience. It was water truck day and boy was I in for a treat. We did water truck runs to three different villages in Cite Sole. What I found out is that we are the only water truck that will go into this area because it is so dangerous and we are the only trucks that don't charge for the water. The Healing Haiti water trucks operate 6 out of 7 days each week.

The first stop, I mainly played with the kids. They were all so very sweet and just wanted to touch you. I would be holding 2 per hand and if another one wanted in, they just held the hand of one of the ones holding mine. It was all about connection. I was surprised how quickly my french has been coming back to me. (Mr. Cepress would be proud!) We jumped rope with the kids and then took the kids out for a walk among the garbage to the shoreline and sang songs and danced. It was fun when I started singing Friar Jacques and they all started singing along. One girl was crocheting a hat and let me do a few stitches as well, she was excited that I knew how and that we shared this same talent!

The second stop I ran the water hose and filled the buckets. This was my favorite job. However I got extremely frustrated and disappointed when the hose would miss a bucket and water would slosh on the street wasted or the buckets wouldn't be moved to the front of the line fast enough. At this stop we did have to stop the water for a short period as chaos ensued, but the people quickly got it together and we were able to finish distributing until the truck was empty. After filling, I was able to play some clapping games with a few girls and twirled a few of the boys around like super man.

At the third stop I was part of the bucket brigade, making sure buckets were ready to be filled and pushed out of the way for the next in line. Again I was frustrated and disappointed when out the water went...knowing that at each stop there is not enough for everyone. I tried to make it more organized to move the water more efficiently, but in people's desperation, they did not want me to take their bucket from their hands to get it filled. It was heart breaking to see those in line that had to go without as we drove away. It was nice to know that for the majority of folks in the villages we were able to replenish them with cool clean water!

After the long hot day, the cold shower (only one available) actually felt really good. A bunch of the team went into the pool next door, I just sat on the side and conversed. Food has been fantastic which was a surprise. Large meals for breakfast and dinner and thanks to my daughter Kristina a lot of fruits and vegetables! Once again I felt replenished and grateful for the opportunity to be sharing the experience with my family and new friends!