Friday April 26th
We are definitely feeling the exhaustion of our trip but NONE of us want to do ANY complaining. How could we after what we've seen? Our swollen faces and feet, our sweaty clothing and gritty hair have become an amusing conversation. As Cindy Rubin (one of our teammates) would say, "let's power through!"
We were all excited to begin our day with two water truck stops. That has definitely been a highlight for me! I love that we go into the community and interact with the Haitian people on their turf! We are providing them with such a simple necessity and yet they are so grateful! The children are delighted to spend time with us and the feeling is very mutual.
Our two stops provided me with very contrasting experiences and both memorable! When I stepped out of the truck at the first stop I was instantly greeted by a mother who handed me her sweet little baby girl. Her tiny body felt so limp. There was a white towel wrapped around her head and her eyes looked red and glossy. AGAIN, my heart was completely broken. The desperation on that moms face is forever imprinted in my memory as she gestured to me to feed her baby. Being a momma myself, I can't even imagine how helpless she must have felt. This was quite evident by the way she was pushing me away with her child in my arms. I couldn't fix this woman's baby and that is the most helpless and devastating feeling that I could ever be faced with. That was not the first time that this has happened in the past 5 days but it never gets easy! I grabbed Michelle and and we prayed for them. That is all that we could do. I'm a fixer and I want to fix it all, but I can't. After all, who am I? This is way beyond me! What I have been deeply reminded of is our immense need for a Savior. This reality seems easier to remember when you have nothing else. Most of the Haitians that I've met feel no embarrassment of their relationship with Jesus (Jay-zee is how they pronounce it). We hear that name all the time! Merci Jesus!
Our stop at the water fill up station ended up being an impromptu medical mission. As usual, when the Healing Haiti truck shows up, so do the kids. It's crazy to me that in the most remote places with a language barrier that you can find your little kindred spirit. A little girl walked right up to me and started making crazy faces. At first I thought something was wrong with her. Again a kindred spirit because I'm sure that I make the same first impression quite often. :) Then she started doing these little dramatic crying acts and laughing hysterically at herself. Of course I immediately joined her. I love that music, laughter and crazy faces are a universal language. We had so much fun and some fun pictures to prove it. Then a little girl..maybe 2 years old, and her older sister approached us. The sweet little girl was whimpering and her older sister pointed to her head. I looked at her head and it was full of pussy scabs. I called for Erin, who is a nurse, and asked her to bring some wipes out. We started to wipe it off and realized that it was very infected and we needed a lot more than a few wipes. They brought out the first aid kit and started going to work. She was crying but didn't try to push Erin's hand away. It was so sweet the way that her older sister held her hand and wiped her tears. They put antibiotic ointment on her scabs but all of our nurses on our team agreed that she needs more medical care. We were concerned about the heat baking down on her infection but we didn't want to cover it with a bandage. Our ingenious leader, Derek, came up with an amazing idea to put a medical face mask on the top of her head. It looked like a little amish cap and worked perfectly. She wore it with pride1 Infections like these take the lives of these children all the time. 1 out of 8 children in Haiti don't make it to age 5 and most of them die from very curable ailments. We did what we could for this little sweetie and again it never feels like enough.
Onto our second water stop. It started a bit slow but when it picked up it really picked up! The kids were mischievous and ready to play. It started with few water fights with a small group of kids. Before I knew it, Jessica and I were in an all out dance party with them and I was rapping. Hahaha! The crowd grew and so did the expectation to perform! Even the teens and adults got involved. It was fun to bring these hurting people a little joy with a dance party, another universal language. They ate up every second of it and admittedly, so did I.
After lunch we decided to split the team in 1/2. Conquer and divide! I joined the team that went back to the home for sick and dying children. Erin, Shelley and Derek had missed that experience the other day because they were busy dressing wounds. They wanted the the chance to love on those sweet babies as did a few of the rest of us. The rest of the crew went to the tent city and delivered manna packs and other donations. They only had enough food to feed less than a 1/4 of the people there. They said that our animals live in far better conditions than these people. All of the people were so hungry and so desperate for food! Another heartbreaking and eye opening visit for them.
I was fully aware that poverty existed. I knew that people starve. I knew that people suffer tremendously, but it was never more real to me than it is now!
“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.”
-Mother Theresa
Nikki
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