I have now been back home in Haiti
for over two weeks. At some moments
these two weeks have felt like only two days and at other moments they have
felt like two years. My time back has
been spent reconnecting with all of my friends, setting up my house, and
getting settled back into the Haiti routine.
Here is a before and after photo of my house!
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| Before |
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| After |
I would be lying if I said I didn’t
love life in Haiti. I absolutely love
the chaos of it. I absolutely love the
people. I absolutely love the cultural
differences. Yesterday I was reminded of
all of this. There were many moments of
pure chaos as Haiti decided to not do the time change, but many phones
automatically changed. I think the most
common question of yesterday was “what time is it?” As I spent time in the afternoon running
around laughing and playing tag with the boys, I was reminded how much I love
the people here. I was reminded of my
love of the cultural differences when everyone started dancing at church. While I am used to people feeling
self-conscious about raising their arms, there were people in church doing the
“whip and nae nae.” How can you do
anything other than smile when you see that?
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| Some of the boys after church |
These last two weeks have been
filled with so many good moments. I have
had so much fun celebrating my engagement with all of my friends and family
here. They are so excited to meet
Liam. I have loved spending every
morning in the nutrition program being showered with hugs and kisses from the
sweet kids there. Every time I walk past
them, I am bombarded with “TOREEEE!!” I
had to laugh a couple days ago. One of
the kids in the preschool yelled out “TO-LE” for my name. One of the other kids was quick to put him in
his place and tell him that he needed to pronounce my name with an R not a
L.
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| Love the nutrition program kids! |
I also had the opportunity to teach
an English class at the local trade school.
Roderick, the teacher, asked me to teach about Easter. Each student was given an English Bible to
follow along with as I read the Easter story.
We were able to discuss some words from the story that they did not
understand. They then started asking all
sorts of questions about the bible and Jesus’s story. I am so thankful for this trade school not
only pouring into their educational needs, but also their spiritual needs.
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| The trade school class |
While these last couple of weeks
have been filled with so many good moments, there have also been the moments
that are not as easy. These weeks have
not let me forget the reality of Haiti.
As much as I love being able to hold and love on the boys, it is equally
as hard to hold a sick ten pound two year old.
As much as I have loved following up on some of the surgery patients, it
is equally as hard to see the patients that it is too late to help. As much as I love church here, it is equally
has hard to hear the voodoo drums every night.
The hardest moment for me came
after a long hard day last week. I was
sitting upstairs when one of the boys asked me to come to the birthing center
(also used as the urgent treatment room).
As I walked in, I immediately saw Jozye, one of the boys from la baie,
lying there and the doctor trying to find a pulse. I immediately bent down at the foot of the
bed and started praying. There is still
a little confusion about the story, but it appears that he had fallen, hit his
head, and had a seizure. The doctor told
us his pulse was okay and we just needed to wait. Those moments of not knowing what had
happened and waiting for the doctor to say she had found a pulse were
horrifying. Jozye has a younger brother
in the orphanage, Chinaider. After the
doctor said that we just needed to wait, I went to look for him. He was in the back sobbing because he thought
his brother had died. These boys have
already gone through so much in life. I
pray that in those moments I was able to be a little sense of comfort for Chinaider as we sat together and prayed.
I had the doctor explain to him his brother was going to be okay, and I
just held him. I am so thankful that God
is faithful, and He heard our prayers that night. Jozye is doing so much better, and sang at
church on Sunday to praise God for protecting him. What an example of how to give God the
glory.
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| Jozye and Chinaider |
Thank you for all of your prayers
as I have been settling in. I have felt
your prayers of protection and peace. I
could not be here without them.
