Lisa's perspective on our 5th day:
We started our day off by going to the local church which is mostly done in Creole. It was beautiful to see the people walking up and down the aisles praising God. We had the opportunity to pray for the person next to us and lift up requests to God. We also sang several songs that would go back and forth between Creole and English that we knew well. What an amazing experience at church to connect with God and see the love that the Haitian people have for the Lord.
Our first water truck day was Tuesday and that was our first close interaction with the Haitians. At the end of that day I had shared with the group that I felt like I "wasn't enough". A lot had to do with the language barrier and not being able to communicate. My mind would totally blank on the few creole phrases I had learned as soon as one of these beautiful kids started reaching up saying "Potem Potem" which means pick me up! In that moment, I didn't even truly understand what I was suppose to be doing! I was holding and playing with the kids, but then I would want to help the women (ranging from pre-teen to elderly) carry these heavy buckets of water. Which, by the way, they carry on their heads! I can barely lift the bucket to help them put it on their heads and without spilling the precious water. It is so amazing how they carry everything on their heads! I would often try to do both at the same time...Help carry a bucket while holding onto a child, while another child is holding onto my shirt. Overall feeling like I didn't spend enough time with all the children, share enough love, carry and deliver enough water or even have enough strength.
Going into today's water truck delivery, I feel we were all more prepared and ready to face the challenges we struggled with on Tuesday. I myself could at least ask them their name, age and tell them they are beautiful And sing "Glory to God" all in creole. We also sing in english with them "God is so good is so good is so good" along with a few others.
Today we delivered to 4 coffins and 19. My teammates on the hose said it was a little more controlled compared to Tuesday. Although I felt I was more prepared for today, it was challenging in a different way. The communication went a little better and I was able to even speak and count in English with a few of the kids. I also was able to communicate with a mom that had me hold her 6 month old baby (who was dressed in a pink unsnapped onesie, pink scarf, no diaper and it was a boy). The difficult and heartbreaking part we all felt is the kids were literally "fighting" for our love and affection! I particularly had picked up one boy who was 8 and he would not let me put him down. The "pouty face" is universal. I would be holding onto 2 kids on my hips who would not necessarily be light, while others would try to jump on my back. At one point I ended up falling backwards, they pulled on me so hard and some would hit each other to get to me. But there were more sweet moments of their beautiful smiles and them trying to braid my hair and observe all our differences of our skin, etc. One even tried to rub off this tiny mole on my arm. She even tried to lick it off. It also breaks my heart when the older kids and some moms tell me they are hungry and there is nothing I can do for them!
Even though I am only at these water stops until the water runs out... and as soon as that happens, we have to get on our "tap tap" as quickly as we can, otherwise our driver can not get our door closed, because the kids are crowding it. I have to be ok knowing that I will never "be enough" in this situation, but I did "something" by giving them all my love and attention that I could and will continue to pray for them all. "God is so good is so good is so good!!"
Sam's perspective: HAITIAN Initiative
Everyone was so upbeat this morning and ready to conquer the long but exciting day ahead of us. Going to the Haitian Initiative Soccer Program was the highlight of my day today! We all got the opportunity to go see their dining room and watch the F.M.S.C food being cooked. Then we were brought out to a huge dirt/rock field where we saw about 20 kids practicing their soccer skills! Shortly after arriving they invited us to join in! We started warming up with some butt kicks, high knees, and a little game where we circled up and ran/shuffled to someone on the other side and shouted "Mario Balotelli" (famous soccer player) then switched spots with that person and watched them run across the circle and repeat. After doing the warm up for about 15-25 min we divided up into 2 teams and played a short field game! When we got our official teams and positions I noticed one of the kids on my team touching his cleats a lot, so I asked him if he needed help, assuming he couldn't tie his shoe or something, and at that point I noticed that he had a hole in his right cleat so big that he could stick all his toes out of it. After seeing that I looked around at all the other kids shoes and noticed most of them had holes in their shoes as well, but that didn't stop them at all from playing the game that they loved. We didn't get a "clear" winner for the day, but we definitely had a blast! Playing soccer with all the kids today really showed me just how driven and optimistic these kids really are, and also how fortunate I am. Their shoes were falling off their feet playing in a dirt/rock field with cones as their soccer goal, and yet they were all bright and full of joy to be playing a game that they clearly loved so much. It was sad to have to leave, but today really taught me to be grateful for what I have, and the life that I've been so fortunate to live.
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