Day 1 - Travel Day - May 13, 2012
Today started bright and early with an 7:55am flight to Miami from Atlanta. We then had a five hour layover with time to nap, eat, get Stew mother's day flowers, and text our last goodbyes to friends and family. Then we were off to Port-au-Prince, Haiti!! Now God is completely aware of how tall He made me, and how it is logical that i moved my seat to the isle for a reason... but He was going to have none of this easiness on His trip, so I was convinced by a very chatty lady with WAY too much perfume to let her have my seat while I squeeze in the middle. The guy who comes and sits in the middle (God Bless him) was an Oklahoma soccer player named Khalil, who had DREDS. So now I am feeling real stupid for switching my seat away from AUMC people, only to end up next to a college kid who doesn't shower and an old lady who only showers in Chanel #5. And of course, God completely washed those judgements away when Khalil and I had the deepest conversation two strangers could have on a two hour flight. He is a summer missionary for Missions of Hope, with an incredible heart for the Lord. It was incredible how many giggles and stories came out of that plane ride. After our great conversation, I was ready for Haiti!
I waited for my airport partner (aka battle buddy), Chase, to get off the plane so we could face the ghetto airport together.Very quickly we got hit with the heat and disorganization/chaos of Haiti, and finally made it to Sherrie's truck. I got the privilege to ride in the air conditioned part of the truck with Sherrie (one of the perks of having gentlemen on the trip), and she got to tell us a little about Haiti as we were driving back to Christian Light Ministries. We drove on solely potholes the entire way passing by pigs eating trash of the road and tent cities/poverty galore. However, the only problem Sherrie talked about was the education. The teachers don't have a proper education, so obviously the children will not either. The kids are extremely intelligent (knowing four languages), but they just don't have the opportunity to learn as much as they could. Being an education major, it kills me to hear this and just makes me want to come and teach kids who appreciate their education more the Americans, even though it is not as good. When we arrived to Christian Light Ministries, we got to play with the 38 orphans and the 2 dogs (Snoopy and Shep). It was a lot of love everywhere, but I could not help but notice the infrastructure of where we were living. It was completely in construction, rebar sticking out everywhere and ladders and supplies all about. There is no one who would be allowed to live in a building like this, especially with children, in America. It was wonderful in the girls room with new tile and pretty curtains, but with the power going out every few seconds, it was difficult to stay cool on the top bunk without the fans going. I'll only say this once, but just know it is VERY HOT in Haiti! We ate a delicious dinner and met on the roof for a breakdown of the week and prayer time. Our main prayer was over the spiritual warfare here. Haiti had been a country of voodoo before the earthquake, when thousands of Christians swarmed in, but you could still see some of it's effects still today. Sleep was very welcomed after a long day of travel.
Day 2 - Baby Feeding - May 14, 2012
Today we woke up at 6am and had a yummy breakfast and a devotion with the teachers at 7am. The devotion was about how God needs to be our hearts desire in Psalm 37. Ms. Sherrie had Leigh, Rachel, Amber (year-long missionary) and I take the kids pictures for their sponsors and measure them for the new uniforms next year. The kids were so well behaved and sweet; after they were done, they would just sing Jesus songs for us. So cute!! Then Amber took Sean, Rachel and I baby feeding.
Day 3 - Restaveks and Bookshelves - May 15, 2012
Today the girls woke up late and barely made it to devotion in time and without breakfast. The morning was a little slow after that, but Jessi and I helped test 1st graders on their English reading and then helped teach the restavek class. A restavek is a child who is sent by their parents to work for a host household as a domestic servant because the parents lack the resources required to support the child. So these children are of various ages and education levels, making it very difficult to teach them except for one on one. These children's owners were convinced that at least a little education was important enough to interrupt the housework duties, and because of this, they have very flexible schooling hours. This makes it difficult for the teachers making lesson plans. I worked with Junior and Sylvia with their past tense English verbs and their larger numbers. They were both smart and so willing to learn, it was refreshing! They knew that their education was important and a blessing for their situation.
After teaching, we rushed to lunch and then to VBS. Chase and I led worship and the message on faith for VBS. Then, Stew, Ciara, Chase, Michael, and I built 3 bookshelves out of 2 by 4s, and it was so much fun. There was a lot of smack talk and competition, but Chase and I made the best bookshelves :) The power went out, so we had to stop and play with the children, since school had just gotten out. Patrick is still my little buddy and I think I found out why. He's autistic, and teaching and loving kids like Patrick is what I want to do with my life. God always finds a special way to affirm me in what I'm doing with my life. We sang songs with Muriellw, JJ, and Rose Marleen (the birthday girl) and played with lots of chalk. It was so much fun to play like a kid again!
After a delicious dinner, we had group talk about how spoiled we are in America and how it's reverse culture shock when we go back to the U.S. Then I looked up songs for VBS with Ciara and talked to Amber about long-term missionary work and her family's autism school in Roanoke, VA. It made me realize how many cool opportunities there are and I can't wait to see where God takes me!
Day 4 - Babies and Power Tools - May 16, 2012
The ladies room woke up to Chase hollering, "WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUTTS!". Unlike our awakening, the rest of the day went very smoothly. The bookshelf 'dream team' of Ciara, Michael, Chase, and I built two more bookshelves before lunch. After lunch, Chase and I led worship for VBS. The children in 1st and 2nd grade are really getting into the worship and it is a joy to be a part of. In the afternoon, I tutored a student named Junior, in the future tense of English. The girls and I played with the kids after school until we went to the nunnery.
Supposedly, these nuns have started a ministry of taking in malnourished or abandoned babies. The top floor of the nunnery is toddlers, and the basement level is a huge room FILLED with cribs. Every crib almost had two babies. Most of them were malnourished and disgustingly tiny. It is a sight that I will never forget. Our mission was to hold the babies. The importance of human touch for babies is crucial and there is not enough nuns to hold all of the babies. So they have mission teams come in and hold the babies. It sounds simple, but being there and wanting to hold every child and not being able to is heartbreaking. I held this sweet girl named Sarah and she started crying when I left. It was an emotional experience, but it gave me tons of respect for the ministry that these nuns have started. The incredible God story happen to our leader Stew, who held a child named Joseph. It touched his life because this Haitian baby reminded him of his premature son Joseph. It was very hard for him to imagine this child going through what his son went through, but without a loving family and a community of support.
When we came back from that emotional experience, there was still work to do. Michael taught me how to cut the wooden boards. I felt so powerful with the big power tool in my hands, but unfortunately I was not very accurate and quickly got it taken away. We had dinner and a special devotion. Stew taught us about steadfast prayer in Daniel 19, Ezra, and Nehemiah and how we should take some responsibility for others' faiths.
When we came back from that emotional experience, there was still work to do. Michael taught me how to cut the wooden boards. I felt so powerful with the big power tool in my hands, but unfortunately I was not very accurate and quickly got it taken away. We had dinner and a special devotion. Stew taught us about steadfast prayer in Daniel 19, Ezra, and Nehemiah and how we should take some responsibility for others' faiths.
Day 5 - "That's good enough" - May 17, 2012
If Stew asked me to watch a show, cut some wood, listen to music, Facebook, or basically anything for one hour, I would say okay without a problem. However, when he asks me to spend time with God for an entire hour, I think WOAH there buddy. The challenge was to spend one hour with the Lord before we do anything else; and it put everything for the rest of the day in perspective. I worked construction all day but my mindset was different during the whole process. I built 20 shelves and 3 bookcases. Some of the team members were having a rough day due to us being in the middle of a hard week; however, following their quiet time, their attitudes were completely changed. It showed me how a quick prayer and a cool down relaxing time can change your entire day. It was teacher appreciation day in Haiti, so the girls went up to our cabin and started a major arts and crafts session. We made them big balloons filled with feathers and tissue paper, goodie bags, and treats like Oreos and Nutter Butters. Chase, Michael, and I led worship for VBS and I got to share the message about LOVE from John 15:12-17.
