As you all know, I am currently in Haiti so heres a little update! It has only been 5 days and I’m in love with it!! The kids, our host, the food, the scenery, EVERYTHING is amazing!!! The days fly by and before you know it, you’re eating dinner and getting ready for bed. I bought a journal before the race to write what I do everyday so I don’t forget and I’m so happy I did because everyday is always busy and different and I would never be able to remember everything! With all of that being said, here is what has happened since I have been here……
Day 1: We went to visit their Mathew 25 house which is an elderly home and on our way there, we past a school for kindergartners and ALL of the kids came running to the fence. They were sooo happy to see us!! They were screaming and jumping and full of pure joy, I loved every second of it. We got to the Mathew 25 house and took a tour and met the 3 women that live there. After visiting for a little bit, we left and went back to our house for lunch. Lunch was really really good!! We had these puff pastry stuff with chicken inside (I forget what they call it in Creole), fried plantains, and French fries!! After lunch we visited a couple older people and prayed over them. We also visited the house where our host stays and they had a puppy German shepherd (which made me miss Franklin more) and another dog too. Our host also took us to the beach which is about a 5 minute walk from where we stay. The beach was beautiful!! A lot of the kids followed us to the beach. We wore swimming suits but most of the kids stripped down to nothing and ran into the water. We played with them for about 45 minutes then went back to take showers and get ready for dinner. Right after dinner, Kelsey and I decided to go outside of the gate to play with the kids. The second we left the gate, all of the kids came running to us because they have been waiting to play! They also really love braiding hair! Once it started getting dark, we had to say bye to the kids then our host taught us some basic Creole.
Day 2: We walked about 45 minutes to a small village to pray over people. We broke up into 3 groups and walked with a translator to some houses. The first house we went to, there was an older lady who kept repeating something over and over. Her family was also there and told us that the lady has been possessed with a demon. They said she is also paralyzed and they have no idea what she keeps saying. We prayed over her then left and went to about 7 other houses. Two of the houses were on top of a small mountain, so we hiked up it and prayed with those families. After that we walked back to our house. I got to see 2 baby kittens and some baby goats along with some other grown animals. Later, we went to the Mathew 25 house for a bible study with about 8 kids. We went back for dinner then after dinner, our job was to plan the Bible study for the next day because it is every Thursday and Friday. Also, I found out via the weather website, that it was 90 degrees but felt like 104…. That’s what it feels like everyday!
Day 3: We finished planning the Bible study after breakfast then went to the Mathew 25 house again. We were able to dance with the older ladies and eat lunch with them. There was also 2 little boys who participated in a dance battle that the ladies enjoyed too! We went back to the house for about 2 hours and me, Dasia, Thyme, and Kelsey made balloon animals/ head pieces/ swords/ jelly fishes for fun… you can hire us for parties if you would like. 😉 Now it was time for the Bible study. My team were the ones that planned the lesson and game for these 8 kids. The bible study was outside of the school and there were NOT 8 kids… there was 60!!!! None of us were expecting that at all! It was crazy but we were able to do the lesson and the game which turned out really well! Afterwards, we went back for dinner and the one translator who is from here taught us more about demons and voodoo since Haiti struggles with that a lot here. I also learned that babies are scared of white people, that’s why they start crying when we walk past.
Day 4: We had a Vacation Bible School at the school and one of the other teams were in charge of the lesson. There were a little less kids than yesterday but we still had a great turn out! Before the lesson started, we were all playing with the kids. Some were playing soccer and others, myself included, were having a dance party!! After the dancing, the team taught their lesson which the kids really liked and also did a game. After the VBS, we went back for lunch then we went to an orphanage. The girl that ran the orphanage was one of the funniest people ever. She’s from the states but lives in Haiti for 6 months out of the year. She told us about some of the kids and where they came from. One of them was trapped under debris for 4 days during the earthquake and had his Aunt die in his arms. Another one was found in a trashcan. It was amazing to see how loving this woman was towards these kids. I think there were 14 kids that lived there and most of them had disabilities. The other team taught them about Noah’s ark and had the kids do a couple crafts. We weren’t able to stay for awhile because we had Haitian choir practice. You read that right! We all decided to be apart of the Haitian choir! That was a lot of fun! We sang a song first in English then in Creole and we are going to perform it next Sunday at church!
Now when I say everyday is full, I mean it! Haiti has been a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see what else is to come!!
