You might be in Haiti if…
• You’re stopped on beach walks by large donkeys.
• You quickly realize that wearing skirts everyday is not enjoyable and does not make you feel girly.
• You feel that you see more people naked than clothed. I guess swimsuits just get in the way. (75 year old woman included)
• You’re so desperate to be clean that the dead animal rotting in your pipes seems rather insignificant
• Driving equals a game called “Dodge the Crater, Run the Stop Sign”
• You know you’re clean when your hair feels like straw and you can lick the salt residue off your arms.
• When angry cheese wagons breeze by the cattle truck you’re riding in, barely missing a casual 65 mph collision
• You’re referred to as “fat and jolly” because you eat 3 meals a day
• Dollar juice in a bladder bag can change your day!
• You continuously play connect the dots with your legs and mosquito bites.
• The periodic waft of urine that floats into your room from the nearby pigpen begins to smell like home. ☺
• If you wake up to the sound of new friends being slaughtered for your dinner…oh Wilbur, you were a good pig…
(We went on a hike up the mountain to some natural springs. It was quite a trek, but well worth it!! These were all the local kids swimming when we got there…The children seemed to multiply when word got around that there were white people around the water. We are pretty funny looking, I guess.)
Welcome to Canaan. (This is the speedy version.)
I take a minute to introduce you to Canaan, the children’s home straddled between the mountains and most amazing blue water I’ve ever seen. Team Bling has been there for the last 3 weeks.
Canaan: where dessert is abundant, you’re only cool if you know every word to High School Musical, children run wild, and having your hair braided is a unique form of torture.
I love it.
We wake up for devo at 6:30. Breakfast is at 7:15 and class begins “promptly?” at 8.
From 8 until 3:00 I walk around classrooms helping with Math, Spelling, and English. The kids are all working through the PACE, self-motivated education system.
3:00-4:00 I scurry up to my room for quiet time ☺
4:00-5:00 Playtime. It can be brutal…not for the faint of heart.
We spend our evenings watching movies, singing songs, baking, and reading The Chronicles of Narnia.
*Each member of our team is involved in a different aspect of Canaan’s ministry. Some are a part of medica mamba (described below) while others are helping in the pharmacy and clinic.
Canaan is a beautiful place that successfully radiates like the light on a hill that it should be. It is a light amongst the darkness and a true testimony to the idea that humble beginnings can prosper with the Lord’s blessing. Canaan is a flame burning in a country seemingly controlled by poverty, witchcraft, and perversion. Fortunately, there are groups of people starting to wake up and claim Haiti for Christ. I was so blessed to be a part of this ministry.
We took some of the kids to the beach for swim time. Crystal blue waters, amazing mountains, and other unmentionable objects floating in the water with us that I’m choosing to forget…(These lovely faces belong to Joelle and Wesh)
This young man was heading to market. It’s quite a trek to get there, but he has no choice. So, he and Mr. Donkey head down from the mountains…
Some Bling members were a part of medical mamba. It’s an amazing program that helps supply malnourished children with a nutrient enriched peanut butter. The difference after one week in the program can make the children almost unrecognizable. Here’s one of the kids. 🙂
Baby Kara turned 21 while we were at Canaan. Having “good” birthdays are redefined on the race. You have to get inventive. So, when Blair and I spotted a can of SPAM in the Haitian market, we KNEW we had to get some for Kara. Little Miss Texas apparently loves the stuff…an addiction I will never understand.)
Cattle truck: CONSTANT form of transportation. Glorious and incredibly dusty. Baby wipes are a girls best friend.
Sometimes you spot things overseas that are extra entertaining as an american….we were casually driving thru port when i spotted a truck with obama’s face splashed across the back of it. So, apparently haitians are all for obama.
