Let's be real. I have a lot to say, but you probably won't have the patience to read it all and the quality of my writing will probably diminish as I write more and more. So I've broken this blog up into 4 sections: Country and Culture, Living situation, Ministry and work, and My heart. I will try to bring you up to speed in a condensed version of the past few weeks events and if you want more info, respond to this and I'll email you more.
COUNTRY and CULTURE: Haiti. The poorest country in the western hemisphere, and it definitely shows. I thought that I had seen poverty before. In the states, we have pockets of poverty but there are assistance programs, hand outs, places to go to at least get food. Here in Haiti, none of that exists and the pocket of poverty extends to the entire country. With a 70% unemployment rate, that means few taxes which means absolutely no public education. Only those with more money who can pay for private schooling or who are sponsored by an outside source like Compassion International (who I worked with last month in the DR) attend school. Upon arriving in Haiti after 3 buses and 15 hours of traveling last Saturday, the entire bus ride through Port au Prince until we got to our city of Grand-Goave which is 2 hours away, my heart was extremely heavy and I cried for much of the ride. I have never seen such immense poverty where there was no hope for so many… not on this earth. In this country, it is a struggle for survival. Eating is a struggle. There is no respect for life as drivers have the right of way to pedestrians and do not care if they hit you… they will leave you in the street. The kids here just want to touch you. A touch. Something they do not always get. They walk by just to touch you or jump on you and play. They are dirty, but they are so joyful. My teammate and I got the rare experience of going to the open market with Mary Eve, our cook to shop for this week's food. Dead animals laying out on tables cut up into sections they are selling (including the head facing me), veggies, grain, and beans brought into the city to sell, mules being led down the street toward the market from every direction to carry their owner's purchases back home, and lots of women carrying live chickens (talons tied) to cook for dinner tonight. Quite an experience.
LIVING SITUATION: My entire squad of 45 is living together this month! In case that doesn't quite compute to you yet, that is a lot of people! And this type of situation is unheard of on the World Race. But we are all tenting together about 50 yards away from the Caribbean Sea. The crashing of the waves is the music I listen to when I go to sleep, wake up, and every moment in between. We live in a “compound” that is fenced in, but only to keep others who live on the beach out. During down time there's often guitar's playing, movies being watched on computers, card games going, and people reading or finding lots to talk and laugh about under our shacoon. It's currently 5:30am, pitch black still and I'm sitting on the beach, all alone, watching the moon glow fade as the sun begins to rise and the colors illuminate the sky. I absolutely cannot believe that this is where God has placed my team. After driving through Port au Prince and other parts of Haiti, I am amazed that He'd give us this place to come back to for peace and fun together after our long days on the construction site. All of my belongings fit into my 1 ½ person tent. The greatest thing about it is that it is my own personal space amidst the people. The Haitian staff that works here are incredibly nice and personable. My Creole is not coming along as well as I would like but I'm trying. My new friends are Kevin, Maxi, and Geoff who walk by the compound every day to visit me and practice their English and teach me Creole. There's an abundance of mangos falling which I get to eat every day if I so choose… yum. My squad and I are getting along very well. After training camp and launch, I know most of them much better which allows for greater conversation and honesty which I value.
MINISTRY AND WORK: Our squad's job for the month is working at Mission of Hope International (check out their website). We work from about 8am-3pm daily alongside all of the Haitian construction workers to rebuild what was destroyed in the earthquake and make it even better. We are building a 3 story building that is to be the new site for the Mission of Hope school and church which are currently in operation, but outside under tarps currently. We are also volunteering time at Hands and Feet (an orphanage) as well as more construction work at Be Like Brit, an orphanage in the building stages named in honor of Brittany, a 19 year old college student who desired to build an orphanage here in Haiti and texted her parents about her desire just 2 hours before dying in the earthquake 2 years ago. It's her parents' fulfillment of her dream and it's an honor to see it in the building stages and be a part of the process. I have also been helping to organize their donated items so they'll know what they have and can give away as well as organize donated books to the school's library.
Something else that I get to do that I enjoy is tutoring. The founders of Mission of Hope have 2 teenage children who are home schooled soI am working with their 15 year old daughter in Science and Health a few times a week. Considering that I miss that huge part of my life, yes I miss work, I am grateful for the opportunity God is giving me to still use my love for education and working with students one on one which I feel is where I am gifted to excel the most.
MY HEART: I would have never thought that the poorest country in the western hemisphere would be a the place I would feel the richest. And I don't mean monetary riches. My heart has been dry for quite a while, poor, and weak. And although I loved the people of the Dominican Republic that I spent so much time with in Arroyo Cano, last month was extremely difficult for my spirit. With the early mornings and late nights of hanging out with people that we made friends with and an emphasis on relationships, there was not much time, peace or quiet to just relax. Read. Feed my soul. But now, I can go to bed and wake up to the sound of the waves breaking on the shore and it's a gorgeous sound. Having my tent up, I have a place that is mine, all mine. Though I love spending time with people, I love spending contemplative and worshipful time alone. I have been able to get back into a routine this month and I finally feel a little more like me. I wake up every morning at 5am to go sit out on the edge of the water and spend a few hours reading my bible and spending time with God while watching the sunrise. It's amazing!!! (The only thing missing is my cup of coffee with hazelnut or amaretto creamer. I'm REALLY missing that! Although I do get a cup of coffee for breakfast every morning, so that is something to brag about.)
I struggle with the idea that while the whole country is struggling for survival, I am enjoying the beautiful beach and daily breeze that I live amidst. But I realize how grateful I am for an amazing place to relax after a long day of construction work and how it is only by God's gifting that I am allowed to be here. I am joyful to leave my fingerprints in something lasting at the Mission of Hope center and Be Like Brit. The thought that I helped build an orphanage, that I helped build the school and organize their library for future use is fulfilling. And my heart is glad. I am glad. When I first came to Haiti, I thought of it as the country to get through before going to Romania. Now, I just want to rest here a while longer.
