Annite, 86 years old, on the porch of her colorful little home in the village of Simonette in Haiti.
This is Annite. We met her while we were in the village of Simonette in Haiti. While we were walking past her home, she called out “Bonjour!” to us and invited us to stop and speak with her. All 9 of us in the group took a moment to introduce ourselves to her. We asked her about herself and her life here, and she began to tell us about her family and life. Annite is 86 years old and has 5 children and 8 grandchildren. She spoke fondly of growing up in Simonette and then raising her own family and her children raising their families there. She pointed in the direction of the little house that she lived in as a little girl and pointed towards her children’s homes. Full of pride she told us a little about each of her sons and daughters. In a culture that doesn’t value, respect, or really take care of the elderly once they no longer can work, Annite is very blessed by her children and grandchildren who stop by daily to check on her. While we were talking with her we asked if there was anything we could pray for her about. Annite told us that she loved Jesus and was thankful that we would pray with her. She told us that she had recently fallen and hurt both her knees which made it painful to walk around or kneel to do her laundry. We gathered around her and prayed for healing for her knees and thanked Jesus for her willingness to share her story with us and for her relationship with Him. As we were leaving, I asked if she would be willing to allow me to take her photograph. She hesitantly agreed to only one photo. I took one, showed it to her, and thanked her for allowing me to photograph her and for letting us hear her story. Right as I was beginning to walk away, one of her little grandson’s ran up to her house and climbed into her lap. She waved her arms at me and asked me to take a photograph of her with her grandson. “He is one of my biggest joys in life, I want you to remember me full of this love,” Annite said. I happily took another photo of Annite with her grandson John Mark in her lap as she was singing softly to him in Creole, while her little black and white kitten wound itself around my feet. I felt honored to be allowed to capture the moment. I wish there was a way for me to get a copy of that photo to her since I know how much she would love it. When I showed it to her on the back of my camera immediately after taking it, she giggled and smiled with a childlike joy. Thank you Jesus for letting me capture little moments of love and life through photos. I’ll always remember the way Annite’s face lit up with joy in that moment seeing herself with her grandson in her arms.
Annite, age 86, with her grandson John Mark, age 6, on the porch of Annite’s home in the village of Simonette in Haiti.
