Haiti

We made it to Haiti and back...

It's hard to put into words what we saw, felt, smelled, touched and experienced.
It's all still so new and yet familiar.
The people of Haiti are truly amazing, kind and compassionate. The country is a beautiful country with so much greenery and mountains. The heat is nothing like you can imagine. Going in July is not recommended - and I totally agree.
My poor hubby had heat exhaustion - he was so sick - but only for a day. The rest of the team was just fine.
We took a group of 7 students with us - friends ~ some for a long time some only a few years.




We helped with building the second level of the hospital - rooms for the volunteer nurses that will be coming to the clinic. We went through the cholera clinic - the cholera is hitting the town again. We moved rocks and dirt. We carried cement, we had coke breaks (highlight for most of the kids) We watched some amazing football (soccer) every night. We ate some very good dishes - spicy chicken and fish...the plantains where a huge hit! We drank alot of water, then we drank more water. We played with some children that were very eager to play with us, waiting outside for us - morning, noon and night. I loved the children.  We went to a museum to try to understand Haiti and the people. We went to the beach and swam in the beautiful ocean. We made friends with 9 Haitian friends that were part of the Scouts ~ we worked together side by side - building up their clinic. We got our hair braided. We met Dr. Manno, we met Janelle and Cal - we met Isaac and Mama, - we heard their stories - we met so many more...We went to church with about 600 people for 3 hours in the heat - we sat in the front row, and listened to the familiar songs in another language. Amazing Grace...was just that ... Amazing. We tried to learn a new language - Creole -  We hung together as a team - having fun with one another - chasing geckos, playing cards, we processed life together...

There are so many moments on a trip like this...moments that are hard to share and express.



For me, this trip was hard. To see so many people with so little to survive on...to hear people so excited to see us coming to help, it's overwhelming - I broke down - middle of the week...it was just to much... I want to help more I want to do more ...and yet all we can do is what we can day by day...everything is so hard in Haiti - everything takes so much effort, and so much work and so much of everything...it's hard to know where to start...but Dr. Manno said...we start with 1 person, 1 village, 1 idea...at a time...



This trip was about relationships for me - with the people of Haiti with Janelle and Cal with the kids - it was about working along side new friends, it was about putting my complete trust in God - as He will take care of the us and the kids, it was about seeing people through God's eyes, it was about realizing once again that I love experiencing different cultures and countries and I love teaching others to come out of their comfort zone and experience life...but at the end of the day...I know where I belong.

I pray I never forget the people of Haiti...For they have taught me much.