Thursday, September 25, 2014

Haiti Pictures











Don't forget Haiti

What a week this was.  Coming home is always a bit jarring.

On our last morning in Haiti we all sat down with the director of JIHM to re-hash our week.  

We talked about the good times of hanging out with our new friends, playing basketball, swimming in the ocean.  

We remembered the hard times such as the riots, the fact that people still eat mud pies, and how broken this place is.  We talked about the devastation of the earth quake and how so many people are in the Mass Grave that we saw earlier in the week.  

We talked about what we learned and who made an impact on us.  

We left it with hope.  Hope that Haiti can succeed, that their people can all learn about and grow in their faith.  Hope that each day the sun will rise and that is something to celebrate.  

We were sent home to re-adjust after everything we've seen and try to get back to normal.  For me, that's not happening very quickly.  A piece of my heart stayed down there a I fell hard for yet another place so far away.  

Haiti for us was a place where we learned to listen.  To listen to God, to each other, and to ourselves.  

As we travel home we are different people, but we all have a bond now. (Our little group) we all experienced this heartbreaking yet amazing trip together, as a team.  I honestly can say I have 10 new friends and I can't wait to see them all again.  

We all went home with the message, "Don't forget Haiti." 








Cue the tears..... 😉

Haiti: some of our new friends.

Lele, one of the boys from the Samaritans Purse village.  Also the same kid from the kyak story.  If you can't tell from the picture he is an attention grabber. He is loud and energetic but is one of the sweetest kids deep down. 







Mesenord:  he's 13 and is very out going.  He really knows how to walk into the room and make friends with everyone. He could be a politician, seriously.  But instead he wants to be a contractor and build houses for people.  He told us if we ever wanted to move to Haiti he would build our house. We got pretty attached to Mes this week and it is hard to say good bye to him.  God has something big in store for him.  I guess we all just get to stand by and watch.  In his village they call him "busico" which means "little big boss".







Dunle: This sweet kid has a reserved personality.  He was nervous about the water but braved his way in and had a great day at the beach.  






JD: he's one of the Beacon boys.  If you can't tell from this picture he had us laughing all week.  





Georgie:  he drove us around all week and how could you not love Georgie? He's a big guy with a very soft heart.  He spent a lot of his time starting dance offs with the local village kids.  






JIHM staff: what an honor it was to peek into your world for the week.  You do amazing work and my God bless you each and every day.  






Johnson: part translator part bodyguard, he spent the week with us.  He's very outgoing and loves life.  When he wasn't helping us work he was singing on the truck keeping us all laughing so hard we cried.  Trip would not have been the same without this guy!  (Back 2 Back) 





The Beacon boys:  loved having dinner and hanging out with you.  Prayers for a successful future for each and everyone.







Haiti 9/11/2014

Today we got to go to the beach!

We all loaded into the truck and headed north.  Along the way we picked up some of the kids we've hung out with all week. 

A business owner in Haiti owns a private beach home and allowed us to take some kids up there and spend the day.  We all had a blast.  Swimming, kayaking, and playing soccer was pretty much all we did! 






My most memorable moment of the day was kayaking with a 4 year old (who doesn't swim.....yes cue the anxiety!). He kept looking around pointing at the ocean and the coral and kept saying "belle" (pretty).  







Haiti 9/10/2014

House building day.

We loaded the previously assembled sides of a house, siding, tools, coolers, and 18 people into a truck and took off for Cabaret to build a home.  





Carl Eric is a student with JIHM who needed a better home situation so he could focus on his school work.  He lives with his grandmother and two younger boys.  This morning they were living in a tent that has a crazy green house effect going on.  Tonight.....it's a bit better.  





Ok, so we loaded everything up and started to drive. We made a pit stop in a small village to ask for directions and turned off into a dirt road that took us up into the hills. Needless to say, this got a little sketchy. 


Once we arrived we got straight to work. I was told later that day that the grandma could see us coming up the hill and was so excited she started to thank God and cry. In reality, she could have been praying for safety because a bunch of Americans were trying to drive a house up a mountain and could have easily flipped it all over.  But.... That didn't happen so we shouldn't dwell on it! 

Grandma kept saying how she was not in a position to ask anyone for help and just kept praying.  Again, another demonstration of un-wavering faith. 

The house went together pretty easy all things considering! 






It was an emotional project for all of us, I think, as we got to meet the family and see how much they needed this place.  

Everyday I've been here I have learned something from the Haitian culture.  Today, it was cherish your family.  This grandmother gave everything for the kids she was raising and you can tell she worked as hard as she could for them. Possessions come and go but it's the people in your lives to cherish.  

I pray that this small house will only be able to help her be a better and stronger support to the boys she is raising.  






Haiti: home away from home












Haiti: Beauty amongst the rubble







This is Haiti, and we think it is beautiful.



Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Haiti 9/9/2014

Today was a bit different than what we all thought was going to happen.

Ok, so we are staying in Bon Repot/Marrin but the JIHM compound is in Source Matelas which is North.  For reasons that I do not understand enough to speak intelligently on the villagers started to riot.  So we were not able to leave our own compound.  I understand the safety aspect but to be honest I was a little upset at first.  I'm not sure what I wanted to do, maybe we could have bullet proofed the truck and drove really fast? No that's not a good solution.   Instead we made the most of it and had a really productive day at home. 

Started out by helping the JIHM with some landscaping chores around the property then got to work on our building projects.  The guys framed the sides and roof of a house while us girls painted hand made bed and exam table for the nurses station at a school.  We also cleaned a ton of free cabinets for the school as well as re-fabbed a desk.  

It felt good to stay busy and to be honest that day at home really helped us get a lot done. 

I can only hope and pray that things calm down. We heard reports of people being injured.  It's just crazy to think that two days ago we were there at church and now we can't even get close.  

Cross your fingers for tomorrow. 


Haiti 9/8/2014

Put siding on a house today.


Four years ago after the earthquake Samaritan's Purse put up temporary structures for people to live in.  These structures were just four walls wrapped in a tarp with a roof on top.  Temporary was a term used lightly I guess because people still live in them.  

We drove about 30 min away and turned off the main road.  There we found a small village made completely of these structures.  Couldn't stop thinking "why are these still here!"  And "wow, these are still here!" 


 Entire families live in these 10 x 12 structures.  Some of them own and some rent them. 

So now what is happening is we put siding on one of these structures to make them last even longer.  The reality is these people will most likely be staying in them so they need to majorly outlast what was intended.  

The siding we put on this structure will not only make the house safer, but also cooler, which in Haiti is important. 

My favorite part was how the Haitians all wanted to help us. The neighboring men jumped in and worked alongside us to get the job done. When you don't have steady work I'm sure it feels good to just do something! Or it was because power tools were involved.  I dunno.....(they are men after all) 

What I learned from this is the sense of needing a purpose is always there.  So before we assume people are lazy or un-willing maybe they really just need a little help (power tools!) and a bit of instruction.  






Haiti 9/7/2014

In the morning we went to church.  This was quite the experience.  2 full hours of worship and an hour of teaching.  They have a much more "lively" service then we do in the U.S. And I loved every second.  To just be a witness to how strong their faith is was inspiring and impressive at the same time.



In the afternoon we got to spend some time at an orphanage near where we stayed.  We made bracelets with each kids name on it and taught about how God knows each of their names.   It was cool to see them all really get into making each one their own with their name and other colorful beads. 

After that we went to a local soccer game.  It was the championship, so to say it was crowed was an understatement.  It was wall to wall people. Got a little intense and I really wasn't sure who to cheer for but was really cool to see.  

It's strange how comfortable we got so quickly.  The people here are amazing.  They have a sense of humor and lightheartedness that I did not expect.  Dispite the struggle they are making the best of each day.  




Haiti 9/6/2014

I



We're in Haiti!

We traveled down with Pathway Community Church to work alongside Jesus in Haiti missions.  

Could not be more excited about this opportunity.  

My first impression is that there is still disaster here.  There are till signs of the earthquake.  Progress, of course, but back to normal, no.  But then what is normal? 


Our first night we got to meet the boys from The Beacon. They really know how to make you feel at home with a family style dinner around the largest table I've ever seen.  



Then we spent the evening playing cards with Mesenord. (Mes for short) He's 13 and is pretty awesome.