Day 5: Carrefour, Einstein Alberts, La Lou Orphanage, Pizza Amour

If I had to pick one word to describe the whole day for my team it would be polish. For some of our team the day began with alarms announcing "time to get ready for church" and for others the day started with a plate full of pancakes. This morning we had the chance to attend a 6:00 AM church service at a local church that is about a 10 minute walk away from our guest house. I attended this beautiful service where the church-goers would pace up and down the aisles declaring their prayers with their arms high above their heads. Although we were only able to stay for an hour, their passion was truly heart-warming. The word polish fits into this piece of the day due to the imperfections and the unpolished aspects of Haiti that our team has witnessed throughout our trip up to this point. It occured to me that while in the United States we may have ornate, polished, and extravagant churches, that this church surrounded by dust and garbage was impeccably polished.

Our first stop of the day was at Carrefour (home for sick and dying adults). While this visit was out of many of our team members' comfort zones, everyone walked in with their beautiful souls and determination to help anyone in need. The word polish ties into this experience more literally since most women wanted their nails painted with the nail polish we brought with. I think that all of our team members  who went outside of their comfort zone were comforted by the knowledge that the women now had the color of the nail polish to brighten up their days. 

Next stop was Einstein Alberts. We pulled up to this little shop full of beautiful, handcrafted bowls that several women were varnishing. We were all able to see all of the lovely wooden bowls that had been made with much effort and time. There were not many bowls ready for sale when we arrived, but even thought they were not all varnished or polished, they were still stunning and held as much value to the women/men who spent the time crafting them. Our visit was short, but we left with several bowls and lots of smiling faces.

La Lou Orphanage came next, and seemed to be bursting with laughs. We were greeted by the cutest kids who were all very eager to participate in our team member, Dawn's, art lesson. There were many colorful giraffes in the room after the excited kids finished coloring their drawings. They caught on to our singing and clapping games quickly and they all laughed when we sang and danced the TootyTa. Cassie gave them a fantastic dental lesson where they all 'polished' their teeth with the new toothbrushes we gave them. La Lou Orphanage was a joyful visit for many.

After our service work was done we were able to polish off our day with a fun grocery store visit and pizza from Pizza Amour. These trips provided us with great bonding time, tons of laughs, and stomachs full of pizza and dessert. 

Natalie (: