Haiti From My Eyes: June 2011

Hello my loves!,

   My first week in Haiti has brought a challenge that I am learning a lot from. I have had a lot of trouble dealing with my desires since I have been in Haiti. We were driving through town today and a young boy came up to our truck and asked for something..anything. He was drenched with sweat and had a helpless look on his face. Among moments like those I constantly wish I had millions of dollars. I seem to always be thinking of how I could bring back the economy in Haiti. I wonder about producing jobs through cleaning up the country..making jobs by cleaning the streets, others in construction and others on sanitation issues, etc.
   Today we went to a children's home (we don't call it an orphanage because many of the children have parents, but the parents can't afford the children's living accommodations). When we got there a small boy named DoudSajusce motioned for me to pick him up and before I knew it he was sleeping in my arms. It is hard to walk away and not wish for money to help them.
   Luke 16:13 says, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." I read this passage on the roof today and I thought it was a good one to keep in mind. It helped me realize that even wanting money to help others is a worldly desire. That my want for money, no matter the reasoning behind it, is still a want for money. Today has retaught me the lesson that God is my power and I should turn to Him for everything I need or desire. God knows the desire on my heart and He has the perfect plan. I have been reminded that following Him will lead me to continuous joy and happiness, that I should ask of Him anything I think I need and He will give it to me if it is His Will.
   Other than my complication with sympathy and wanting to help everyone I see today has been another beautiful day! I saw a man on the street today take a machette to a coconut. It was amazing! :) So when we got back to the house we asked Bonel (a Haitian man we live with) to cut a coconut (kokoye) for us and it was phenomenal! I can't even describe the taste of it..the milk was the perfect sweetness..I loved it! I also had an avocado with bread..oh!..so good! :D

I love the food here, dinner has been a surprise everyday! Speaking of which, it's dinner time so I will write again soon. Thank you for all your prayers! Continue to seek God in everything you do :)

Love you all!

My loves!

I apologize for being late with my blog, my first days in Haiti have been jam packed. Although, I am happy to say they have also been amazing! I will start from the beginning so I don't confuse you :)

After spending 20 hours in airports and airplanes I landed in Haiti on June 27th. The airport has not been fully repaired from the earthquake so when I got off the plane I took a bus to a 'mock airport' where I went through immigration and picked up my luggage. Alexis was waiting for me and sped me through customs in about two seconds and then handed me off to Tipap who drove me to Village Theodat. Now I want to tell you about driving in Haiti, but I don't know if I have the vocabulary for it :). Imagine a big city..like Chicago..or the twin cities (so no one knows how to drive..just kidding :) and then take out the stop lights! It was phenomenal! ..and scary! Mopeds drive in between lanes of cars, cars stop and go on a dime, there was one four way intersection in the middle of the city without stop lights..at that point I became severely impressed with the Haitians' driving skills. I know everyone in Wisconsin likes to think they are good drivers but, honestly, they won't last a day down here. Oh and to add to the fun, some of the pot holes are the size of chairs and maybe a couple feet deep.

That was just the drive..only 15 minutes :)..well, 30 minutes for me because I landed during rush hour. But what I saw during the drive is the more exciting part! (in my opinion) I was kind of in awe and didn't think to take many pictures. The streets are COVERED with people. There is garbage absolutely everywhere, please pray for the population! There are (what seems to be random) garbage piles almost every other street. On top of one I saw a pig! I asked Tipap if pigs roamed wild in Haiti and he said they did, along with goats and dogs, dogs are EVERYWHERE, they are adorable!..I struggle not to play with them :).

Enough about the drive though. Every village is gated off (usually with barbwire on top) and then within every village every home is gated off. We kind of live in two houses, we spend the majority of our time in the 'guest house' and sleep in another home (pictures to come).

My first day was relatively slow, since I got here so late I missed most of the day's activities. However, the second day I was able to spend the day with the children of Luly! (pictures present) The Haitian children are PHENOMENAL! Every single child I met was more friendly than the majority of people I have met in my life. I have already learned an abundance from these children..in just one day!..I am thrilled for the next 60 days of my summer! Even though many of these children had beat up shoes they were smiling and enjoying the chance to play soccer (futbol)! It was eye opening to see these children take ahold of happiness even when (as decided by the America) they shouldn't be..without fancy houses and cars someone might think they would never smile, but that wasn't the case. The dream of money and big fancy things is not familiar to these children and they seemed to take advantage of the blessings that come their way. I think I will learn a lot from them!..if only I could speak their language, I am working on my creole..it is quite a process :D

This is a picture of the palace..it is leaning because half of it is still in rubble. It is similar to Washington D.C. and yet one and a half years after the earthquake struck it is still not standing. Take a second to think how quickly the capital would rebuilt, it definitely wouldn't take a year and a half (and the palace isn't even close to being done).