Water Truck Day

We stopped at three districts in Cite Soleil, which is the poorest slum in the western hemisphere. There we delivered free water, carried water buckets to people’s “homes”, and most importantly, gave the kids attention. Since most parents are more focused on finding food or any kind of work, they don’t give their own kids the love and attention that all kids need. At ALL times, there was either a bucket or a kid, or both, in our hands and arms. We also visited Haitian Initiative, an organization thats provides over three hundred kids a day with a Feed My Starving Children meal, schooling, and soccer skills.

I also enjoyed our time at the new Hope Church and school.  Transforming this former dump, burial ground and bathroom into a vision of hope for Cite Soleil kids to attend school and for everyone to learn about our God’s amazing love and grace is breathtaking.  It is exciting to think about how this ministry will develop.

I must also say that not only I (Sam's mother) was thinking that Sam (our in country co-leader) was a rock star. Everywhere we went we heard “saam, saam, saam” and he was swarmed by kids, adults, and many beautiful Haitian women who consider Sam their boyfriend.  What a day to meet make new friends including Sam’s Haitian family.

Danny & Lynn

True Meaning of Appreciation

Today was our first full day in Haiti.  We started out at 9am after a great breakfast.  Our first stop was about an hour away.  The drive there was a great way to see the city and the Haitian people.  We arrived at the home for the sick and dying for the elderly run by the Sisters of Charity.  This is my first trip to Haiti, I didn’t know what to expect so I was nervous.  We walked up to the building and everyone there was so happy to see us.  We split into men/women groups.  The young girls ran to us with their huge smiles.  I ended up painting fingernails and toenails.  They all loved it.  I couldn’t help but think, “we come from such different places but we all love the same things.”  Who doesn’t love to be all prettied up with nail polish!  As we were leaving a nun came to our “tap tap” (Van) and said that we have touched the lives at the clinic more than we know.  She said even if someone dies tomorrow they had someone there today that cared and wanted to spend time with them.  They weren’t alone.  We provided them with comfort and gave them happiness.

Once we left there we headed to the Haiti Museum.  Wow, did we learn a lot!  We were able to see a priceless crown from a king (literally, millions and millions of dollars) and really pretty artwork.  We learned how the island split many years ago and the history of the slaves.  It was really eye opening.

Our final stop was to an orphanage.  Right when we stepped off the tap tap the kids surrounded us grabbing for our hands, tugging for us to pick them up and hold them. They wanted love, touch and hugs.  The guys acted out a play that all the little ones were super excited for.  Then we brought out the paper bags, glue, color crayons and paper and they went wild!  We stayed just over an hour helping them make their puppets and color.  It was a lot of fun seeing how excited they were over something so simple.  You could tell they were grateful we had spent time with them. They did not want us to leave.   

Tomorrow is our day to deliver water.  We are all looking forward to another adventure filled day!

Doreen

This was my first full day in Haiti. I was nervous for our first stop at the home for the sick and dying for the elderly because I had no idea what to expect or what was expected of me. We immediately split up into gender specific groups. The male group offered to give massages with lotion or give lotion to the men if they preferred. It turned out to be much better than i had envisioned, it was a fairly clean environment and the men were very appreciative of us being there and doing things for them that they couldn’t do for themselves. 

The next stop was the Haiti museum. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about everything in the building. My favorite thing to see was the anchor of the Santa Maria. 

The third and final destination was the orphanage. I thought it was a really powerful thing to see the kids run out to the tap tap and be so excited to see us and have some people to love and care for them. The language barrier with the children was difficult. The kids loved to climb on us and play around. after they made puppets out of paper lunch bags and colored their pictures, I showed them how to make paper airplanes. As we were leaving they were throwing the airplanes at the tap tap. I am still nervous about tomorrow because everyday will bring different things, all of which I have yet to experience. 

Mason

Day 7 - Grace Church and Haiti Deaf Academy

As our week on this island comes to a close, our team of 12 continues to glorify God for the experience He has given to us.  What a gift to be able to be His hands and His feet this week, and we don’t have to do it, but we get to do it.

This morning after breakfast, we traveled to Grace Church in Titanyen for the first part of the church service.  There was singing in Kreyol, and we were able to get the songs translated into English for Meredith so she could interpret for us.  During the service, there was a dedication of a child, probably about one year old, to the Lord.  It was very cool to witness this in a Haitian church.

We headed straight to Haiti Deaf Academy, and met Bob who gave us a tour of HDA and then shopped in their little gift shop while the kids were still in Sunday school.  We were sitting at the table out front playing Tenzi while waiting for the kids to arrive.  Our Tap Tap driver, Derival, joined us in the fun and even learned a couple of signs!  As soon as the kids arrived, they bombarded us with hugs and smiles!!!  The kids were bundles of energy and we spent the afternoon playing with them, including lots of tic tac toe using chalk on their board!  Activities we did were jump roping, writing and drawing on white boards, drawing on the chalk board, and just simply chatting.  The kids enjoyed remembering some of the goers who’ve been to HDA in the past and meeting new goers.  They loved asking us our names and name signs.  It was overwhelming hearing everyone’s names and trying to remember their name signs.  We ended our visit by telling stories from the Bible and had long hugs and goodbyes.   Our team also passed out Valentine’s candy to the kids.  Their eyes lit up big and they were so thrilled to have some sweets.

We had our word of the day and many had wonderful good explanations for their words.  Words included Valentine (the children are my Valentines), runneth over (overflowing heart), turning (turning the jump rope), fulfilled, content, funny, tic tac toe, energetic, precious, smiles, bicycles, and one step closer.  One person said turning because she was fascinated by how the kids were very creative with their rope jumping antics, like the movie, “Jump In”.  Even the kids who were jumping rope with single ropes wanted us to count how many times they jumped and they hit over 100 jumps!

We concluded our evening with a special worship with the other two teams here at Healing Haiti.  Grace sang songs using her guitar – Called Me Higher by All Sons and Daughters, Good, Good Father by Housefires or Chris Tomlin, and All in ALL.   Another team member played and sang How Great Thou Art.  We closed our evening sharing our experiences from the week.  It was great to hear/see how God works in each one of us.  God is good!

Day 6 - Montfort Institute Visit

After a morning devotion, hearty breakfast, and prayer for our safety for traveling, we piled up in the tap tap and took off for the Montfort Institute for the day.  We were able to view another part of Port au Prince, and it was busy with people selling things, buying things, and bartering.  When we arrived at Montfort Institute, our team met the students and they welcomed us by asking our names (over and over!). They were excited and curious about us and asked us many questions.  They also asked us over and over if we were deaf ("soud" in Kreole), and if the two team members were hearing.  They were just amazed that deaf and signing people from America would come and visit them.  The students also taught us a little about their culture - one of the married couples on our team was asked for their ages and they were surprised to find out that the wife is older than the husband and they thought the wife was the "head of the house" because she is older.  We later found out that in the Haitian culture, if the husband has a job, the wife submits to the husband.  If the wife has a job and the husband stays home, he submits to the wife.  If both of them have jobs, they are equal.

One of our team members loves dance and shared her dance moves with some of the students and the students shared their "Haitian" dance moves with us.  Some of us played the well known deaf game - the Elephant Game!  Our team brought activities - white boards for writing, blowing bubbles, sidewalk chalk, a parachute, jumpropes, and soccer balls.  One student loved the white board and constantly drew pictures and drew a beautiful picture by copying the design on our Healing Haiti T-shirts.  A couple of the kids jumped as the staff swung the jumpropes. We had two different sign languages there - American Sign Language and Haitan Sign Language - so communication was a challenge at times, but we made it through!  When the students interacted with the team, we used a lot of gestures and learned from each other different signs in ASL and Haitian Sign Language.  When it was time for the students to eat lunch, we left saying "I love you" as they lined up for lunch.  God is so good, giving us the opportunity to spend time with His children.

We are grateful to have had the opportunity to meet and visit with the students at Montfort.  The feelings we had in that environment were beautiful, priceless, hopeful, and joyful.  The team prays that the students continue their growth and education so they can become successful in the future.  We (and the students too!) look forward to when we will see each other again.

On the way back to the guest house, we also had the opportunity to shop for beautiful metal art.  The different designs on display by the vendors were gorgeous, creative and mind blowing.  There were many pieces of art that had beautiful Bible verses, words, images and symbols.  Creating such art from metal oil barrels takes great skill!  We had to find the perfect pieces of art for our friends and family back home.

During tonight's devotion, we discussed God's Vision from the book of Revelations. Our devotions have been on God's Story from "Sticky Faith Service Guide".  We had already discussed Good, Guilt, Grace, God's Family, Gratitude and now it was God's Vision.  The fact that we "get to" be a part of what the Lord is doing in this world is a wonderful truth to ponder.  We commented that we are a great team and have been working collaboratively this week.  The word of the day was shared by each team member and every word of the day from today is underlined in this blog.  Enjoy the pictures!

Tomorrow, we go to Grace Church in Titanyen, and then visit the children at Haiti Deaf Academy.  We truly appreciate your prayers and thoughts.  We feel God's guidance this week.  Please keep your prayers coming!!

Day 5 Guest house, Leveque, Wahoo Beach, Grace Village and Fleri Pizza

Today was the longest, but most fun filled day of the week.

We had a delicious breakfast - Scrambled eggs, Bananas, Mangoes, and Pancakes. We all packed up our bags and snacks for our outing. We had a prayer circle just before we headed into the Tap Tap. Our first stop was at Haiti Deaf Academy to pick up Bob Lindquist to join us for the day.

We went to see Meredith and Keith's possible guest house once they move to Carbaret to work with HDA. We were in awe to see the place. It has a beautiful kitchen with wooden cupboards and marble style floor and a dining room with nice windows. The bathroom is nice and big with a huge bath tub/shower. They have Solar Panel to use for electricity. It feeds through batteries to use for outlets. We met Shane and his family who live next door.

We went to Leveque to do a Prayer Walk in the deaf community there. We visited four deaf people to talk with and pray for. One needed prayers for more rain so her backyard garden can get water to grow. She showed us some of her embroidery projects. They look very beautiful. One mother has two daughters who are in school and 6 month old twin boys. We were amazed that an 8 year old neighbor girl takes care of the twins while the mother is teaching each afternoon at the Deaf school.

We went to Wahoo Beach to take a break and go swimming. Wahoo Beach is just simply beautiful and amazing with the mountains so close by. We saw stunning hibiscus, Haiti's National Flower, and pixdaus. We swam the afternoon away in a very salty ocean with lots of waves. They had two large trampolines in the water, most of us went on it to just lay under the sun, relax and chat. It was a wonderfully fun activity for the team. We even met another Deaf team serving in Haiti this week with the Mission of Hope organization.



We were also able to squeeze in some time at Healing Haiti's Grace Village in Titanyen. We met with Caroline, who is the director there. She was able to give us a short tour. From its location up toward the mountains there is a breathtaking view back over the ocean. They actually have a garden and grow vegetables such as corn, tomatoes, green peppers, onions and more. We saw some Haitian kids there as well and saw where the medical and dental clinic are.

Finally, we went to a very colorful Fleri Bakery and Pizza Restaurant near Grace Village. Fleri is owned by Healing Haiti and employs many Haitians. We met the Director of Fleri, Jake Stebbings. That place just opened in January. We were so happy to be able to get a taste of their pizza! We will tell you it is so delicious!!! 

We had a wonderful and funfilled day, beautifully made by God.   :)

Day 4- Peace Cycle, Haiti Muesum and LaLoo Orphanage

Before we left for the day, we had a prayer circle.  Then we hopped on the TapTap for another adventure.   We stopped at Peace Cycle, where they recycle small plastic water bags and make them into beautiful things, such as tote bags, purses, and other useful items.   When we first arrived, the owner was not there yet so one of the Haitan staff explained the process to us.  They collect water bags and clean them, then re-use them.  They showed the process from start to finish.  The woman who founded the business was on a mission trip in 2001 and saw all the bags all over and thought what could be done to make a difference.  It was amazing how everything works and how we can use these recycled items. They make about 20 different products - purses, tote bags, aprons, wallets, wine bottle totes, storage bins, zipper pouches, placemats, and other items.  Check out www.peacecycle.com for more information.

After we left Peace Cycle we headed to the Haitian muesum.  We got to see different parts of Port Au Prince on our way and asked our translator what things were.   We were fascinated and enjoyed how he answered our questions.  The museum was very interesting, we learned the history of the country and how it started.  Most of us learned new facts.  And the museum was Air Conditioned!  It was really nice to have that but it was a beautiful day.  We also saw where the President of Haiti lives close to the museum.

Our next stop was Laloo Orphanage. We waited for a little because the children were still in school.  We had much joy when the kids arrived, their eyes opened wide and showing huge smiles.   The team played and interacted with the kids.   Most of the kids loved horse back riding on one of team members and many wanted a turn.  One student braided one team member's hair.  We played soccer with the kids outside.  It was like a big family. There was so many heartfelt moments during the time we were there.  There is one deaf boy who lives at the orphanage. He does not sign much at all, only very basic signs.  Some of us taught him several basic words and how to spell his name.  It was fun to watch all the children there. Most of the team used gestures with the children and we noticed that most of them used gestures with the deaf boy.   Most of the team members were in awe with all the hugs we got from the children as we left.  The deaf boy ran to one team member and gave a hug.  That really touched our hearts.  We feel very blessed when we can make a child smile. We all are God's children.  It does not matter where we came from, we all are HIS children.

Day 3 - A Beautiful Sunrise and Water Truck Day in Cite Soleil

Today was the famous Water Truck Day!  Three stops in Cite Soleil.  We saw Hope Church and School.  We were asked our names over and over again.  This is the first trip where the people in Cite Soleil actually asked if our team members were Deaf.  We answered, "Yes, we are".  After that the residents began gesturing with us and we communicated very well.

Visting Hope Church and hearing about its impact in the community was a highlight.  The church opened one year ago and the school opened last fall.  There are currently 160 - 200 Kindergarten students being taught by Haitian teachers.  Another wonderful fact is the bread the students eat with their meal is baked by Healing Haiti's Fleri Boulanje.  School meal prep also provides more jobs for local Haitians.  They also teach Adult Literacy classes.  Two classes of adults have already graduated and there will be many more to follow. We see so much progress around Hope Church!!

Several team members awakened early enough to see the sunrise.  And soon we will all retire after a wonderful, but exhausting day.  Thanks again for your prayers for all of us as we serve here in Haiti.