Carrefour & General Hospital

Our morning began with a stop to Carre Four; a home for sick and dying adults. The team’s goal was to provide comfort, and touch to the people residing there. The way we achieved this goal was by giving lotion messages, and painting the fingernails for those who wanted it. These simple tasks completed by our team resulted in a much bigger and less simple result. We could see the suffering being overridden with joy, and relaxation by the care our team gave.

Next the team visited Haiti’s History Museum in downtown Porte au Prince.  Throughout the tour we gained knowledge on what made Haiti the country it is today; starting from the discovery of the land by Christopher Columbus to more recent events. Overall, the tour was extremely informative, and in result our team is able to make an even deeper connection to Haiti.

The third stop of the day was the General Hospital. The team was lead through a pediatric portion of the Hospital where we placed gift bags in every crib available. These gift bags included an assortment of items such as; washcloths, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, and lotion. In total, we gave about 75 bags packed full of these items. This stop was unfortunately short, but I believe it will still make a long lasting impact on those we visited. I also know that our team was greatly impacted. It was such a blessing to see the children open up their gift bags, and be completely overwhelmed with happiness by the items they received.

During our devotional time, we were read an excerpt from the bible. Specifically Hosea chapter  12 verse 6, which says, “So now, come back to your God! Act on the principles of love and justice, and always live in confident dependence on our God.” This is an extremely difficult phrase to act by yet the people we visited today make it seem so much easier.  One thing our team has taken from our mission today is that we can control what we do, and God will control the outcome.

Continue to act for God, and he will supply you with what you need.

Tia

Elder visits

Today we started our day by heading out to Titanyen. We first visited three elders that are all part of the Healing Haiti elder program. The first woman that we visited lived with her daughter and granddaughter. We had the privilege of washing and putting lotion on her hands and feet, delivering food items that we collected, and singing and praying with her and her family. Next we headed to Marie’s home. She is the oldest elder sponsored by Healing Haiti. The average life span of a Haitian is around 50 to 54 years old. Marie is said to be 102 years old, outliving the majority of her children. She is currently taking care of her grandkids and great-grandkids. Marie was the most lively elder that we visited, she was very energetic and grateful for our service to her and her family. After Marie’s we headed to a couple’s home, who are both in Healing Haiti’s elder program. They shared with us the story of how they met each other. A few of us from our group got the privilege of talking with one of their grandsons in Spanish. It was very moving for us to watch the elders be so selfless and grateful during our visits.

We then headed up to Grace Village where we got a tour of the facility. It made us feel hopeful to see so much progress being made. Some of the things we got to see were the kitchen and the stone ovens where bread is made, the school, aquaponics, and where the kids are housed. We got to meet some of the kids that live at Grace Village. It was fun for some of the returning group members to see the growth of children that we had met on previous trips.

On our way home from Tetanyen, we stopped at the mass grave memorial to see the progress being made by the governments program. In 2012 Haiti suffered a terrible tragedy and lost more than 300,000 citizens to an earthquake. Haiti never experienced a tragedy like this, so when this happened the government was unsure how to deal with everything. So they piled the bodies in this area of Tetanyen that has now become known as the mass grave site. The government is slowly making this mass grave site into a memorial to show their respect for all those lost in the earth quake.

Overall it was an inspirational day that brought us hope for the future of Grace Village, and all of Haiti.

Thank you for the continued thoughts and prayers.

-Gabby and Marie

Day 3: Water truck!!

Today was water truck day.  We delivered water to three different stops in Cite Soleil –  the poorest slum in the world.  Some of our team members helped fill people’s buckets with clean water while others held and loved the younger children.  In Cite Soleil, 60-70% of the children are slaves. These children’s parents give them up to families in the city hoping for a better life.  In reality, these families are just as poor, employing the orphaned children as their slaves.  Our visit to Cite Soleil gives these kids a chance to receive affection that they do not receive on a regular basis.

For us, this experience opened our eyes to the poor conditions of Cite Soleil, yet the joy the children still possess. These kids have the same smiles and laughs as the children in the United States. They are the same, but they are born into different lives. The day was fun, but it had a very serious undertone. This realization set in shortly after everyone loaded the bus after the last stop. We could go back to the guest house and take a cold shower or sit at the pool. We had the comfort of knowing we could eat and relax for the rest of the night. One of the hardest things to comprehend is the concept of fairness, or unfairness. The beauty of life is that it is not fair.

We are blessed to be a blessing.

During our devotional time at the end of the night, we read an excerpt from the book, Kisses from Katie. One quote in particular stood out to us as a group:

“The truth is, I saw myself in those little faces. I looked at them and felt this love that was unimaginable and knew that this is the way that God sees me.”

The kids reaching their hands out for us to hold them are the same as us reaching our hands out to God to be loved.

Braden, Erin, and Morgan

Day 2: Home for Sick & Dying Babies/Gary's

“Hold, Touch, Love, Tears, Contact” … these were all words used by team members to describe our morning at the Home for Sick and Dying Babies.  When you first walk into the rooms where the babies stay, you see rows of cribs all with babies inside. The first room is for the less sick children. Those children are allowed to go outside and play on the playground, and they love to do so despite the heat. The other room is for the more sick children who are not allowed to leave the room. As you weave through the multiple rows of cribs, the babies reach up towards you begging you to hold them. When you pick up the babies, they cling on to you and they never want to let go, although you never want to either. The parents of the babies have specific hours they can come and visit with their own children. Seeing all of the mothers interact with their children taught us all of a special kind of love. All the parents were outside playing with their children the entire time and knew that leaving them there when it was time to go, was the best for the child, even though the parents could hardly endure the painful tears that their children cried. There was one little girl who had the sweetest smile who seemed to be running around by herself. When she saw me she sat down by a pole and starting hitting the pole. So of course I joined her. Every time I would hit the metal pole she would giggle at the sound it would make.  It was the simplest thing but gave her and I an abundance of joy. No language barrier can hold back love, laughter, and joy.

I am the type of person who doesn’t see things for what they are, I see things what they can be. My word of the day is “future.” The reason being, I see a great future for Haiti. We started our day off going to Gary’s Orphanage. Gary is a pastor at a church, and when his church started filling up with children who lost their parents in the earthquake, or whose parents could no longer take care of them. While we were there we played with children who had a range of ages and disabilities. A girl who I got the opportunity to meet was named Mirma. She had some sort of disability that prevented her from walking, and communicating well. I blew up a balloon, and we played catch for two hours, and in those two hours she didn’t stop smiling or laughing. We got the opportunity to meet Gary, and he was a very organized guy. He had a plan for where he wanted his orphanage to go, with EVERYTHING laid out. On our way up the mountain, I saw several construction sites, and buildings going up. People making things, and people who are planning for a better future are signs to me that Haiti does have a bright future ahead of them. I hope to be a part of that future.

-Jacob Pederson

P.S. Hi family and friends!

We have arrived!

Our team made it to Haiti!  With an early wake-up call and a few layovers we safely got here.  Many of us have been here before, so it feels like coming home.  Both excitement and relief ended our day, with anticipation for tomorrow.  In the morning, half of our group will be going to the Home for Sick and Dying Babies, and the other half will be going to Gary’s Orphanage for Kids with Special Needs.  Time spent holding, rocking, and loving up God’s little blessings will be rewarding as we experience what it is like to be Jesus’ hands and feet. 

 In the afternoon we will get to see and purchase products made by Haitian artisans as we drive up the mountain and get a view of the city.

This week promises to be life changing.  Thanks to all our family and friends for your prayers and support.  And a big thank you to God for bringing each one of us here.  It’s all because of HIM.

Tammy Porto