Day 5: Elder Visits and Grace Village

                Today, we started off a bit earlier than usual. We woke up nice and early at 5:45 to go to a service at the Church on the Rock. Those giving the service saw that they had “blancs” in their presence and, for our benefit, gave the service in cr-english (creole and English). After jamming out to an eight minute long bilingual version of “How Great is our God,” we ducked out and headed back to home base. After a hearty breakfast, we headed off for Grace Village. Grace Village was absolutely beautiful, a school/orphanage/clinic/neighborhood with an ocean AND mountain view. At Grace Village, we met Kiki and Sarah, two wonderful ladies with a passion for their service. Kiki pointed out a few key movements Grace Village was taking, including calling the orphanages “family houses”, because they were set up with two adults as parent roles, showing the otherwise parent-less kids a traditional and healthy family set-up. There also was the emphasis on not giving jobs to Americans that Haitians can do themselves. The Grace Village set up only included two Americans, because any other job, including the doctor, could and was taken by Haitians. Healing Haiti as an organization considers itself only a catalyst to the change in Haiti, and the Haitians will be the ones to take the country in the right direction. We as missionaries are only here to show the Haitians how they can help themselves and each other. After Grace Village we made visits to the elderly, washing their feet in the spirit of Good Friday and singing to them. We met a few wonderful characters, including a lady that claimed to be Vesta, but was actually an imposter, MeMe, a blind and nearly deaf old lady who was adorable beyond belief, Jean Paul, a twenty something year old who had severe epilepsy, and Camilla, who gave all of us kisses on the cheeks before we started. We learned at the elderly visits that despite their pain, poverty, and suffering, they still prayed for peace and help for all, not just themselves. After the elderly visits, we returned to Grace Village briefly to play with some very spirited children. The day ended with a delicious macaroni and cheese dinner, and as I (James) am currently blogging, everyone else is enjoying the slip and slide of the wet and rainy patio.

James:

                Today was light in the best ways. On a literal note, the sun was crazy bright and I think I caught myself a nice tan (or burn). But deeper than that, in reference to the service we’ve been doing (the water truck, Gertrude’s, and the home for the sick and dying), today was light spirited and happy. It was a break from the sadness we all needed, but it also taught me so much about spirituality. What stuck out most to me was that when we asked the elderly what we should pray for, all of them said peace. They weren’t thinking about themselves, when no one could blame them if they were. I also made a new friend at Grace Village named Reggie. As soon as he was in my arms he wasn’t going anywhere, and I played with him the entirety of the 45 minutes we were there with the kids. He was such a happy spirit, talking the whole time we were together despite my lack of conversational fluency in Creole. Today was light, today was good.

P.S. Shout-out to my lovely mother, and wish Luke a happy birthday for me.

Anna:

                To be honest, when I signed up for Haiti I was terrified and clueless about what it would be like. Today I realized the real reason I came here and why God allowed me to go on this incredible journey. It was not to change the people of Haiti, but allow them to change me and to be a catalyst for change. At Grace Village today, Kiki told me something that really hit me, she said “we can’t bring in a bunch of people and take over the roles that the Haitians have in their community, we can only empower them by teaching them how to make the change themselves. We act as a catalyst to get them started.” I learned so much today at Grace Village and after seeing so much devastation in Haiti, it was good to get a glimpse at all of the hope that Grace Village held for the future of Haiti. Though my emotions may frequently alter day to day between crying and laughing, my heart is constantly full of love for the people and culture of Haiti. I will truly be leaving half my heart in Haiti… along with half of my head of hair due to the constant braiding and yanking of my hair from the lovely children at the water-truck stops the other day.

P.S. Sending love to my family and especially my momma who is currently probably freaking out because she hasn’t been able to receive any emails from me. I am safe, love you. J