Half-Way Point

Today was probably the most physically demanding day of our trip yet, and as I write this blog, I am the only one still up. However, it was just too good of a day to not blog about it, so here I am.

On a week-long trip, Wednesday can be the mid-week rut. So today was a little more relaxed, which was good as the heat hit everyone on the team pretty hard. The slower pace ended up giving us a better chance to have more time with fewer people, which was awesome. The day started out with soccer. We intended to have a match between Haitian young adults/teens and the Omaha team. However, only Mike was brave enough to take them on, and he only lasted about 20 minutes in the heat. The rest of us played soccer with the littler kids, who were a much better match for us skill-wise!

Not being much of a kid-person by nature, I’ve been amazed at how God is breaking my heart and letting them in. Today I met three girls. One I never did get the name of as she was really little and very hard to understand. However, she latched onto me first thing in the morning and was quite the cuddle bug! She left for a while but came back that afternoon, again glued to my side. It shocks me how much she likes me as she needs so much and I don’t have much to give her, but when she sighed, relaxed, and laid her head on my shoulder, the heat became less noticeable and I thought I could hold her all day.

The rest of the morning we spent time in the neighborhood – playing with kids and getting to know both children and adults. I also met Michelline and Cassagna. After playing with them for a while, I asked them if they would take me to their homes. Two GAMe people and Brian & Cody came with. We first went to MIchelline’s house, and the 10 people sitting in her front yard where shocked to see the “blanc’s” come around the corner. I learned Michelline lived with her older sister as her parents had both died. The sister was 22, taking care of 5 younger siblings, her own child, and was pregnant with another. The father died about a month after she became pregnant, so there was no income. I stood in amazement that 7 (soon to be 8) people lived in a house smaller than my bedroom. I was also amazed at how gracious the woman was and how happy she was to have us as visitors – even when she realized we weren’t there to give her anything. When we left, Michelline’s face was beaming with happiness that we came to visit her house.

Next was Cassagna’s house. She lived with 7 relatives in a two room house. They even had a yard with a full fence. Again, the family was slightly shocked when we strolled up, but they too were gracious, offering us a place to sit in the shade and quite willing to open up about their lives. The mother asked to have her picture taken with me and proudly laughed at her daughter when she excitedly asked if she could come back with us to play at the building. When we left, Cassagna’s face beamed too.

After lunch we went back to the building and hosted a VBS while a few team members went to work on the house ORR has been building. VBS was a touch chaotic and the kids didn’t always get the rules to the games we played, but they sure did have fun – especially with “Cow, Cow, Goat”…a substitution as the kids don’t know what a goose is.

The days can be long and hot. The kids can be overwhelming with their enthusiasm. Sometimes I focus on the dirt, strange smells or germs. And then I think, I’m tired – I don’t want to hold another child. I just want a shower, a cold Coke, and a nap. But, these kids and their families aren’t just nameless faces. I don’t totally why a little attention from me in the form of a piggyback ride, letting them wear my sunglasses, or visiting their homes means so much. However, as each of these kids finds their way into my heart, and as I start to get a slight grasp on how much God loves them (which, by the way, is far beyond anything I could comprehend), I find that all I can do is smile, bend down for yet another piggyback ride &/or photo, and keep going. I can only imagine that doing work in Haiti is painstakingly slow, especially when you approach people as individuals and not numbers. The patience of this organization is hard to believe, but I can see it in the faces of the people we meet that they trust the ORR people. That trust takes a long time to build, but it’s so important in both sharing God’s love and empowering people.

This trip is stretching me far outside of my comfort zone – but despite of some difficulties or discomforts, I am so glad I’m here.

Crystal