7.20.10
To My Supporters and Readers,
I want you to get a sense of what it is like down here in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and the only way I could think to explain it would be to describe to you what I see as I look outside and walk down the road. So come with me on a walk on the streets of Haiti, imagine it all, the smells, sites and sounds. After all, I’m not here alone, all of you are in my heart, thoughts and prayers. My many thanks again to you for getting me here.
Xoxo,Laura
Haiti
You climb up to the balcony of the house you are staying at and look out at the beautiful ocean, so blue it makes you forget the heaps of trash lining the shore making it so you can’t even get close to the edge. You turn your body around and look up towards the majestic mountains, heat lighting flashes angrily.
You go down the stairs and see the beautiful, big brown eyes of the children living at the house. They call out, “I love you� as you kiss them and walk past heading towards the front door. You open the door that is built right into the heavy metal gate keeping others out.
Trash heaping on the 4 lane street, piles of rubble all around, woman walking selling goods out of baskets that they carry on their heads, broken down vehicles lining the streets, people whistling and yelling to you as you go by, traffic constantly honking as it flies by, vendors lining the streets selling things for whatever they can get, foul smells of sewage, body odor and fluids and trash filling the air, clouds of dark dust covering everything, poorly clothed children asking you for water or a dollar, stray goats, dogs and pigs digging in the trash, sewers filled with body fluids and trash stream into the roads.
You see houses that look perfectly ok- next to them you see mounds of cement rubble, the remnants of someone’s home- they won’t go back to it because they are afraid of what they would find or who’s remains they would find.
You see a sea of blue and gray tarps that make up one of many “tent cities� where the newly homeless have moved into. The words USAID are all around you printed in black onto the gray tarps.
You go through the gate and walk in between the tarp houses of the tent city, the children rush towards you with smiles, and laughter as they talk rapidly in French. They grab your hands and arms and don’t let go. They have very little food and water, a lot are malnourished but that’s the last thing on their minds because they know you will play with them, sing to them and hold them. It’s an amazing site, and an honor to be a light in the midst of their darkness.
I pray that this gives you a glimpse into Haitian life, please keep them all in prayer
HAITI PICTURES UPLOADED! Check them out under “My Pics” on the left side column!
