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