Trust

Today we took 39 orphans to the beach. It was fabulous weather and the beach was rocky but beautiful and the water was wonderfully warm!

I started the day with the younger kids, but quickly gravitated to the teenagers. They almost craved for your love and attention more than the young ones. I spent the afternoon helping them learn out to float and eventually helped a couple of them learn how to swim. Not only was it great fun and they could not get enough but it was a wonderful lesson in trust. They would line up for their turn and when it finally was their's, they would hang on for dear life as I put them gently on their back. Eventually they relaxed as they learned to trust me that I would not let go. Ever so slowly, when I knew they were ready, I would remove one hand and eventually, maybe even two for a few seconds, waiting only a few inches below to catch them if they really weren't ready. What a sight is was to see their face radiate with pride as they began to actually trust themselves in this new adventure.

This is one of the two orphanages that will be moving to grace village in the fall. We did a quick tour of the orphanage after a sleepy ride bus ride back from the beach. There are at least 20 girls and they share 10 bunks (2 to a bed - even the teenagers) in a room no bigger than Kristina's. The boys bunks were made from cardboard and tent and as one team member commented "to think in America it is every little boys dream to sleep in a fort, but these Haitian boys, there dream is to have a bed of their own".

I trust that God will grant them this wish soon!

Overwhelmed

Our visit to Cite Soleil, Haiti this week consumed me with emotion. This being my second trip to Haiti, I thought seeing the poverty would be easier ~ I was wrong. Located within the capital city Port-au-Prince, Cite Soleil is where the poorest of the poor live. The absence of running water and sewer systems is the norm. People live in homes aka shanties made of metal, wood, or whatever material they can find ... all with dirt floors. Since no refuse collection service is provided, broken glass, plastic bottles, and other garbage litters the streets. Half-naked, children with medical conditions needing attention can regularly be seen. Many people who visit Haiti stay away from Cite Soleil due to gang violence and the absence of police presence. However, our team delivered free, clean drinking water to them this week. No human being should have to live like those in Cite Soleil. Unfortunately, the only way of escape is via education, but education in Haiti requires tuition so if you are poor, you remain uneducated.

My camera served as a form of entertainment for the children of Cite Soleil, providing a diversion from their everyday life. I took a couple hundred pictures of beautiful faces, several of which were smiling. After I would snap the shot, the children would grab my camera, look at the image, and uncontrollably laugh out loud. Bringing this small amount of joy to them warmed my heart. At one point, a boy came to me repeating the same thing over and over in his native language creole. I asked our interpreter Fanfan what he was saying. Fanfan replied, "He is asking if you could take him to the United States with you." I was unprepared for that heart-felt question from such a beautiful young man. His eyes pleaded with me. I told him that I was sorry, but I could not bring him home. He lowered his head and gracefully accepted my answer. This broke me. I quickly snapped a photo of the two of us together and then had to walk away to recapture my composure.

I didn't sleep at all that night. The images I had taken earlier in the day just kept flashing through my mind. What would the future hold for these children? They are all so beautiful, created in God's image. Despite the difficulty in seeing the living conditions, my visits to Cite Soleil prove to be my most favorite activity. Just before leaving one of the stops, I ran into a man named Jeanny that I had met during my first visit to Haiti. He remembered me and was so happy to see me again. In his broken English, he said, "I appreciate you." I swallowed the lump in my throat, once again tried to regain my composure, and then snapped his picture. His words were written on my heart that day. God ... please care for and bless the people of Cite Soleil. I know you hold them in the palm of your hand.

More Pictures from our July 11-18, 2011 Healing Haiti Mission Trip click:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1849568600338.2092832.1274400099&l=fdeea7d801
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1850259977622.2092859.1274400099&l=d264f10aae

Blessings

This is my blog from yesterday. For more of my 21 days in Haiti experiences click: http://twenty-onedaysinhaiti.blogspot.com/ 


It is such a blessing that I am able to be in Haiti for 3 weeks. I am so grateful for this opportunity to be able to spend this significant time in a place that I love so much. I have been so fortunate to be able to co-lead one week, to be down with family the following week, and now to have my mom (and several other family members) down here in Haiti.

 It was such a wonderful day being able to watch my mom experience Haiti for the first time. She had so much energy and courage today. She was one of the first team members to volunteer riding on the water truck. As soon as we arrived at Soleil 17, I looked around and saw my mom already mobbed with kids. She was awesome with them too! All day she was playing jump rope, holding children, playing games, and helping with the water truck. I think she sees why I love this place so much...and I am hoping she loves it just as much!

It was also such a blessing today to be able to give my Zanmi (friend) in City Soleil his French to English translation book my mom was able to pick up in Minnesota. My little buddy is named Jameson. He is 13 years old and in 6th grade... Inside the book I wrote a little message and stuck a few pictures in the front cover. The pictures were of him and me & him from earlier this month. It was so wonderful that my mom was able to bring these things down for me. When we reached Cite Soleil 17, I gave the book to our Haitian water truck driver, Enel. He found my friend right away and gave him the book. I didnt want to directly give the book to my friend because it could cause a riot and scene amongst the people. I was able to walk by during the presentation of the book, and it was such a blessing to be able to witness the  pure joy and excitement that came across his face. It was such a gift for me to be able to give him something so simple-- a book that only costed $5 at Half Price-- and to see that it meant the world to him. He came over and hugged me with a huge grin on his face. Pure Joy.

During the first water stop, I had the pleasure of pouring water into everyone's buckets standing in line. Jameson came with me to help me with the task I was assigned by the water truck drivers. I was honored to have such a job because I have seen so many filth and smelly buckets over the past few water truck stops. It is so important that those buckets are as clean as they can be in order to assure the clean water we provide stays safe to drink after reaching the buckets. Our stop was busy with activities as always, and when it was time to leave, Jameson told me he wanted to come with me. I hate goodbyes. I told him to be good and Ke Bondye Beni' ou (God Bless you). I hopped in the Taptap, and waved goodbye to him as we began to pull away. That was such an awful feeling.

Surprisingly, towards the end of our second stop (Soleil 19)... Jameson met up with us! I was so excited to see him again! When we packed up to leave, I hopped in the water truck to head back to the fill station. Inside the truck was my little buddy! He came with us! When we got to the water truck station, I gave Jameson a peanut butter sandwich and a water. He hung out with us for a bit along with some of the other young guys at the water truck station. It is such a precious thing here and something you wouldn't expect, but everyone shares their food. My buddy ripped his sandwich in half and gave it to his friend. He also shared his bottle of water. They all look out for each other. Something to be learned from this...

At our next stop, I met a friend of Jameson and teased them that they were "Boyfriend" and "girlfriend." I hung out with his "girlfriend" for the majority of the stop; she was cute! When it was time to leave again, Jameson hopped in the Taptap with the rest of the Haitian Staff we were dropping off on our way back to Puerto Prince. He got out with another young man right before we left cite Soleil. It was bitter-sweet to see him run off. My heart ached a little knowing he had to go back to such conditions, but my soul and spirit knew he would be okay-- God will protect him! I will keep him in my prayers and pray that I will be able to see him again soon!


Ke Bondye Beni' ou,
Kristina

Precious!

We are just finishing up our Wednesday here in Haiti. It was a really special day at the home for the sick and dying children. Their buildings were severely damaged in the earth quake and had just moved out of tents into one of there smaller buildings with the sickest of the babies.

In the morning, I decided to love up just one little boy. The saying is to love one deeply rather than spreading it too thin. His name was Volandra and he was 8 months old, but looked more like about 3 months. He was too weak to hold himself up, but boy was he inquisitive. He wanted to see everything around him and used his little hands to examine my face, my hair and my beaded cross. We sat out in the court yard hoping for a small breeze as the rooms were extraordinarily hot. The demand was so great for care that the babies were doubled up in their cribs which are about half the size of an American sized crib. I also helped feed him lunch. I had thought that with his size he would be famished for the stew that they served, but the little guy was just like feeding a little bird. It took three or more attempts to get one spoonful down. He only ate a quarter of what was served, but he knew when he had had enough. It was hard to put him down when it was time to leave. With his arms out stretched, it was the first time that I heard him cry.

When we came back in the afternoon, I had saw that one of the staff members was feeding Volandra, so I decided to help another young volunteer with another group feed a little girl. She was more interested in getting affection than she was in the food. So I help the young man hold the little girl and take her outside. I then noticed that her crib mate was laying limp and burning with fever. She was so weak that she could not even get out a cry, she just gave out a sad little squeak. I was asked to feed her some bean broth which she willingly took until she noticed a man giving another little girl a drink of liquid, she reached for the cup asking for some. At this point drink had become more important than substance. As it turns out the little girl whom looked to be no more that 5 months was 14 months old. I picked her up and carried her out to the court yard to again wait for a cooling breeze. Her limp little body could do nothing more than cuddle. Her fever continued to worry me as I hugged her close on a very hot and muggy day. Her name was Roselanda. Finally I asked the staff if I could give her more liquids to help cool her fever. Instead they said it was time for an IV. I held her close and helped the staff as the inserted the IV and put a cold compress on her belly. Afterwards they asked me to hold her and for the first time in over an hour, she fell comfortably asleep in my arms and her fever started to subside. When it was time to go, I had a hard time putting her back in her shared crib. She instantly knew what was happening and reached her tiny little arms up and began her sad little squeak. I loved her up as much as I could and said my good-byes - hoping she will be better when we go back on Saturday.

Her crib mate had quite the personality - they had the closest crib to the screen door and the little one stood at the end of the crib and held the door open reaching her free had out to anyone willing to give her a little hug. At that point, we were asked to come pray over a little boy that had just been put on oxygen. He has been suffering from phnemonia for several months and had taken a turn for the worse. I said a few prayers as I laid my hands on his face and kissed him leaving him in God's devine grace.

I know saying good-bye has always been hard for me whether I am off on a business trip a vacation or other, but today's good-byes felt so much more final knowing that many of these babies may not even be there when we come back on Saturday.

I do know the babies have been blessed with such a caring staff. They carefully made sure that all of the children had what they needed and were constantly in motion, fixing food, changing diapers, cleaning the floor and making sure the babies and their cribs were always clean. They took pride in their work, serving these poor children and providing them with the utmost dignity!

My two little babies for the day were the most beautiful children with large sole full eyes, long dark lashes and little sweet heart lips. Their faces were like little cherubs. I just wish I had more room in my bag to put them in and take them home!! They were precious!

Small Sacrifices

"Mommy ... why do you have to go to Haiti?," my 7-year-old tearfully asked the evening before I left. My 11-year-old daughter tenderly placed her rosary into the palm of my hand. "Here mom ... please take my rosary with you on your trip to Haiti," she said. Their comments and gestures really tugged at my heart-strings as I continued to pack my bags for my return trip to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Afterall, my husband and children mean so much to me and it is hard to leave them. However, as I arrived in Haiti, I knew I was right where God wanted me to be, and I am prepared to do what God wants me to do this week to serve those in extreme poverty. I can't wait to see what this week will bring. Small sacrifices with a huge reward.

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!