The LONG trip home

After a week of great lessons, I would be lying if I said I wasn't ready to go home. About two days into Haiti, I began feeling awful. I thought for sure it was a combination of the unbearable heat, lack of sleep and the different food but I really wasn't feeling like I wanted to do a whole lot. My stomach was a mess, and I ached all over. I was really struggling with feeling an obligation to keep going. A idea that it would be selfish for me not to push through. Within 48 hours of me going down, the domino effect began. In Haiti, it was just two of us. By the time we reached the Dominican, two others hopped on the bandwagon. By the time we were back in the states there wasn't a whole lot left of our team. We are blessed to have doctors that can give us medication to get us healthy.

A change of heart

Today my thoughts changed a little on this place. Yesterday I felt like there wasn't a whole lot of hope here. My heart broke for what I saw and I struggled with what people dreamed about here. I focused more on how much they need, what I/we needed to do to help, and imagined how miserable they must be. After playing with the kids for most of the day I am beginning to believe that we in the United States have it wrong. Maybe the simplicity of life here is better. My hunch is that people here know who their neighbors are and probably know everyone on the street. I bet here they don't use the excuse that they are too busy for family or too busy to take time to show love to those around them.

Maybe there is a lesson to be learned from our brothers and sisters here in Haiti. I think the lesson is the same from all the third world countries I visit. I need to step back and let my brothers and sisters remind me about the simple life. Sometimes it is too easy to let the "stuff" distract us from what is most important in life.

The big rain storm

Our first evening into Haiti ended with a huge rain storm. We took some time in the afternoon to hang out with the children in the orphanage when we began to hear thunder. The director informed us that we needed to run towards shelter on higher ground after we felt the first drop of rain. I thought he was being over protective of us but I soon realized how wrong I was. The rain pounded the earth like nothing I had ever seen. Within 20 minutes, the very roads that we traveled in on became rivers with strong currents. Children ran outside and began playing in the raindrops and danced under water spouts. The adults took time to throw garbage into the moving body of water so that the current of the river would take it down stream. As the waters continued to rise, we watched as it began pouring into peoples homes.

It was almost a difficult thing to watch. On one hand, it was a joy to see the children having so much fun playing in the rain but on the other hand, it was painful to think about the amount of disease that is in the water they were playing in.

Arriving in Haiti

Here are some thoughts from my journal after the first day crossing into Haiti..

"As I am sitting and writing, I am finishing my first day in Haiti. I don't even know what to write except that this place is awful. I have been blessed to see a lot of places in the world but I have never seen anything like this. God, why do people live like this? Crossing the border from the Dominican to Haiti was a night and day difference. There was not only a distinct change in smell but also a change in everything else. The odor is so strong it almost produces a gag reflex. Children are running around naked and there isn't a piece of ground that doesn't have garbage all over it. In Rwanda there was hope of land that people could grow stuff on, there was an incredibly beautiful scene to look at each day. Here is like I would picture hell. There isn't a way to grow any crops, as you walk along the streets there is feces, garbage and naked children everywhere. Hotter than Haiti is an expression I have a whole new understanding for....

Haiti Recap

I am going to give you a little recap of my trip to Haiti. I just returned home yesterday and honestly, it is good to be home.


The next couple of entries will be some entries from my journal so that you can see first hand some of the things that were going through my mind.

Getting ready for Haiti

In exactly seven days, I will be making my way to Haiti. I still can't believe that another year has come to an end and summer is ready to begin. I am not really sure what to expect from this trip but I am excited about the opportunity to serve- even if it is only for a short time. A group of twelve will leave next Tuesday and head to an orphanage in Haiti where we will spend some time doing a variety of things. The part I am the most excited about is being able to play with and love the kids. I have not been to a third world orphanage and I imagine that it will be pretty sad. I just pray that we are allowed to be a beacon of love to these kids. I won't be able to connect to the Internet while I am there but I will be sure to give a play by play complete with pictures when I return! In the meantime, please pray for our team.