So A lot of people thought that this trip would be about growing up…
I was one of those people I have to confess.
But as soon as I got here and since I’ve been living the world race lifestyle, you could say that I have done the opposite of growing up… I have grown young again.
Imagine if you had the chance to live like you did back in elementary school (or even before that)….
Every single day is like being a little kid all over again. It’s like my team went into a time machine when we arrived in Haiti. Imagine your life with no deadlines, no cell phone, no worries, and every single day was just all about loving people and having fun! That’s what my new life is like. Since there is a language barrier I don’t always understand what the people are saying… So that makes me almost an infant. But then sometimes I forget that we even speak different languages (this mostly happens when I am with kids)… Children in Haiti have an amazing spirit in them. I think we as americans always try to grow up too fast and pretty soon our life is a memory. Kids here not only live a child’s lifestyle but they want you to be a part of it more than anything else! Every single time we move to a new house I get to meet more and new kids (Not to mention the children at the orphanage and a few neighborhood kids that I have fallen in love with already)…. Every day and every hour is a new adventure! You haven’t lived until you make mask out of unused pieces of tarp and chased kids around (Most of them naked)… When I first got here I was so in shock because everyone was SOOO POOR, SOOO DIRTY, AND SOO SOO SOO VERY NAKED… Now it’s just a normal part of my day… I sweat to the point where it feels like I just jumped out of a pool, I stink, a play in the dirt, mud, and well…. POOP. Yes, I said poop. It’s everywhere here and I don’t even care anymore. I hike mountains while holding nails and hammers in my hands EVERY SINGLE DAY… I almost died the first week but I’m good now. This is the most physically, emotionanlly, and spiritually challenging thing I HAVE EVER DONE! I knew that it was going to be like this… But NOTHING could have prepped me for my daily adventures. I just have to rely on God that I will make it thru… And he always shows up in a major way! Even when I’m puking, sweating, crossing a poop river, and running around with pieces of tarp in my hand. This place is like my secret ultimate dream but who wants to say that they don’t want to grow up? FORGET THOSE PEOPLE!!! I LOVE MY LIFE! Even though I smell like a first grader! Give it to me!
I haven’t really been able to go into detail about life here so I am hoping to give you a better understanding of what my life is like here in GRAND GOAVE HAITI. I wake up every morning when the sun rises at 5 am. I usually do personal devotions at that time before throwing on the same pair of clothes I have been wearing for the past week! I meet my team at 6 for a prayer, devotion, and breakfast time as we look over the ocean and the beach… Then we pile into the back of a white safari truck and brace ourselves for the 10 min rollercoaster ride our of the villiage and to the mission. It’s filled with people screaming out, “HEY YOU YOU YOU YOU!!!…. WHITE WHITE WHITE WHITE….. AMERICA!!!!!!!”…. It’s also filled with trees that smack our face if we aren’t carefull, bulls, donkeys, pigs, GOATS, more GOATS, and MORE GOATS! There is even a soccer field in the middle of the road! Once we get thru that we get on the paved road for a few mins and pull into the mission of hope. It has a school, orphanage, and church. We are usually greeted with hugs from the orphans like “FA FA” “TATI” and “KETIA” ! Those kids have stolen our hearts and we don’t care! We get hugs, kisses, and play the hand slapping game in the sun for like 30 mins and then we wait on our orders to where we are going to build our first house. Then we leave the gate… Hike MILES AND MILES but that’s totally cool if it’s on level ground… It’s when you have to rock climb STEEP, ROUGH, ROCKY, and DANGEROUSLY HARD mountains that stinks… But I have never felt so proud of myself then when we get to a destination! We then build the house, play with the kids, watch chickens, goats, and well… more goats! We sweat and then soon it’s over with and people come up to us thankfull saying “MERCY MERCY MERCY”!!!! It’s the most amazing feeling knowing you made a lasting impression on their lives… Then we hike to the next house and do it all over again until lunch that’s anywhere from 12:30 to 3… Then you go back and work some more until you’re finished and you get to go home. We usually get home exhauseted and run straight to the beach (In our backyard) and jump in with our clothes on! It’s like washing clothes but… well… not…. ;p Then we joke around, figure out riddles, paint nails, skip rocks, hit eachother with bandanas and play about a MILLION silly games that when you lose it usually ends up with you doing pushups. We then eat dinner and have feedback… AKA Warm fuzzy conflict time as we like to call it…. It’s where you get lifted up and just worship and speak life into eachother. It’s AMAZING and usually last a couple hours! Then we either swim again or pass out in our tents or just under the stars that are so close to you and bright you think you can actually touch them! Then we wake up and do it ALL OVER AGAIN! WOOHOO!!!
God has been teaching me so much already. About family, relationships, strength, failure, triumph, and LOVE. He has also been giving me new spiritual gifts that are pretty exciting! But back to God’s love… I have never understood love until this trip. God teaches me more and more everyday thru different things. One of those things is a little boy named “Jenison”. When we first pulled up to Grand Gaove in our truck, he was the first one we met. He was with other kids in his villiage and they started screaming hey you! But I was the first person off the bus from my team. When we got here I was so ready! I had so many ideas of what life was going to be like and how I was going to help these people and when we first pulled up he looked at me and spoke broken english and said “What’s your name? Give me a Dollar.” And my heart was sold shortly after that! We spent that afternoon waiting on our ride back to where we were going to stay and just hanging out with the kids and people there… I didn’t know if I would ever see those kids again… But Jenison has been a staple in every single day since then. He isn’t sponsored so he doesn’t live at the orphanage and he doesn’t go to school but he is the smartest person I’ve ever met! He teaches me every day! He can’t say my name so he has renamed me “Shayla”. And every day he goes thru villiage after villiage calling my “NAME” out looking for us to help build the houses and just keep us company. He is my best friend here and he is only 10 years old! I haven’t loved many people other than myself in my short life of 21 years but I can honestly say that I LOVE HIM. He is what keeps me going. I swear that boy is an angel… When I sit down and puke from the heat he comes over the hill screaming my name and I feel energized and refreshed. He makes me not miss my dad as much because his favorite game is the hand slap game which I used to do with my dad CONSTANTLY. He helps me down steep hills, holds my hand, and wipes the dirt from my shins.
A childs love and heart have been the one thing to really show me how Christ loves us. Kids know something adults forget. Every single day is adventure and life is just the biggest thing to them… At some point adults forget this mindset and grow up. I have grown to be childish again and I praise God for that! Thank God that his plans are better than my own as far as growing up for this trip! I’m having the time of my life… Know that you are all in my hearts and prayers every single day and the joy I see on peoples faces every single second of my day wouldn’t be possible without your support! I love you and I miss you all! But I have to go now to throw a bandanna at one of my teammates and make jokes that make someone snort. Thank you god for being able to be a kid! I’m right where I’m supposed to be!
Your favorite smelly girl,
LOVE LOVE LOVE!
BRITTANY
