It’s hard to use words to encapsulate Haiti. I have come to the conclusion that in life we might know something, but experiencing it is a different reality. I am going to try my best to paint three main things from Haiti. The country, the people, and my experience.
Imagine a wasteland polluted with trash and hundreds of people trying to make an extra dollar at any cost. This is the city area, filled with people, dense noises of yelling and horns, the heaviest traffic and most sporadic driving I have ever experienced (in 18 countries I have been in). Every one was out trying to make money, it wasn’t buildings but side stores they lay out on the ground or put their sales on small wooden tables. People standing in the middle of the road with bottles of water and liquor in their hands (drinking and driving is overlooked). It felt like the busyness of New York, people going out of their way to make anything. The streets were coated in trash, polluted by locals who have accepted the norm of their society, in seeing the streets as a waste dump. You literally could see hundreds of different things of waste in a small area of 5 feet.
The people were beautiful in a lot of different ways. The majority (other than the orphans) were very open to us and respectable in listening to us. Their smiles were so beautiful and seeing the little ones light up was precious. They had extraordinary talent when it came to sports. They had genuine concern listening to what we had to say. A lot of them claimed to know Jesus and have a relationship with Him, but with hurt inside the family and not knowing His voice made it questionable. Overall they were willing to spend time with you.
H– Hopeless and hungry. You can tell they have little aspiration for the future and cling to only the present rather than investing into a future hope. We met a lot of people that were starving physically and were really hungry for love but guarded their hearts.
A– High ambition in the wrong regard. Always in pursuit for the “next” thing but coming up empty. Pursuing stuff accumulates more things but a greater hole in your heart. Happiness can come through situations but is always fluctuating. Only God can satisfy the soul and give true joy that is glorious, inexpressible, and never wavers when resting in Him.
I– Very low intellect. Which can be heartbreaking. My team seeing a “diseased” woman locked in a cage. (The girl had a mental illness but because of their lack of knowledge, that’s the best way they knew how to handle her). We had to go into different villages and teach them proper hygiene.
T– Little to no tenderness towards others. Abandonment issues was common there, which we saw greatly living at an orphanage. This was a harsh country but God’s love and light shines even greater.
I– I felt indignation to the mass amounts of children abandoned by the parents. Having kids watching younger kids.
This past month my whole squad was at Mission of Hope in Titanyen, Haiti. It’s an incredible organization that has big visions for what God is already doing in Haiti. It was fun to be at an organization that brought short term teams in while we were there. Each week we got to work along side a new group of people and serve them.
For the most part, we spent the month doing village time each day. We would go into the villages that MOH had already started working in and we would get to know the community and spend our afternoons playing with the kids. Part of our time was spent gathering information for MOH to help them know who lived in each house, their overall health, and if they had a relationship with Jesus.
