Friends and few and far between readers. I have heard from many who have read my journal style status updates on Facebook (posted during my time in Haiti) that it would appreciated if I created a centralized collection of these tidbits so they could be more easily consumed. This blog is therefore an attempt to capture the broader picture of my experience in Haiti. I know it has been long since I have updated this, but as always I return for a few thoughts here and there. I welcome your thoughts and perhaps some stories of your own. For now. Enjoy!
Day 1 - March 14th, 2012
"Waiting to eat breakfast and looking out on the ocean as the mountains from a distant island rise up right out of the water. Just beautiful. Such beauty and such tension. Haiti."
Day 1 - March 14th, 2012
"Drove into Dessalines today. Went to the Hospital, Team House, the Orphanage, the market, the new doctors housing and walked through the town. Met a woman named Rosie. She is a new Christian who was living in a house that was falling down around her and the 15 family members living with her. Ian a wonderful 76year old man from Canada who has been coming here for 30 years, for months at a time, decided to have his crew build her a new three room home. The existing home was demoed by taking out only 4 nails and being pushed over! When we met her she was beaming ear to ear and invited us to see her new house. On the way out of the home I bent over to pick up a tin dish that had blown off of her "outdoor kitchen table" and in the process some food splashed onto my already filthy feet. In an instant she kneeled and started wipping my feet, dusting them off vigorously. I didn't know what to do but say thank you. My heart is humbled... I am without words. Rosie has taught me something today and I am thankful."
Day 2 - March 15th, 2012
"Painting outdoors all day... Its hot here. Like not Michigan mid summer hot, we're talking a bath in tabasco sauce hot. Don't worry Kelly I am wearing sunblock."
Day 2 - March 15th, 2012
"So many stories that my life is intersecting with here in Haiti. There is a boy at the orphanage who I am not sure of his name because he has no recognizable language skills. This boy I would imagine to be around 15 years of age. His life alone is a miracle and let me tell you why. When this boy was a baby his father strangled him so that he could offer him as a sacrifice. After a long period of time without air he suffered severe brain damage and now has very little mental capacity. As a result of this horrible situation he often has seizures which I watched happen just yesterday. It seems to happen so often that no one rushes to his aid. After all what can you do? In a culture that has very little food, clean water and housing the Peavey's orphanage is a safe haven for all kids even this little boy who would not have a chance in the harsh world outside of their 11 foot walls. I can't help but imagine how much God loves that boy and I am thankful that the Peaveys listened to Gods call to sell everything and move to Haiti to start the Ebenezzer Glen Orphanage. As minute as it may seem, one of my favorite moments from the ophanage is the daily fist bump I receive from that boy. There is beauty in a fist bump."
Day 3 - March 16th, 2012
"Todays story... We were at the Orphanage today. It was beautiful. 90 and sunny. Perfect temperature in the shade with a slight breeze, almost paradise. As we have for the last 3 days we continued painting the dorms where the kids stay. They are looking absolutely brilliant! It seems that painting has a nice way of taking the old and tattered and making it look new again. You can see it in the eyes of everyone there. In fact we have had the best helpers ever. Over the last two days I have literally had the paint roller taken directly from my hands twice and don't you dare set down "your" paintbrush because it will no longer be yours. Todays helper was a fine little gentleman named Ricardo. Ricardo is around 3 and he is by far one of the best painters I have seen. He grabs the brushes, dips it in and rubs the excess paint of on the lip of the can. With a smile that could make the most grumpy person smile, he starts painting. I really mean it, he is good. He literally was painting the window frames with me today. These kids are just beautiful. Eager to learn, ready to help. They take care of each other and they know community way better than anyone I have ever met. In the midst of Kelly and I starting a community house back home, I am thankful to learn from a group of people who never stopped loving and serving each other."
Day 4 - March 17th, 2012
"Today was another beautiful day in Haiti. Somewhere around 90 and sunny once more. The breeze coming down off of the hills rustled the leaves overhead as we took a break on the bench beneith one of the most twisted and ancient trees. In the 40 years that the Orphanage has been there I am positive that this tree has shared many memories; finding joy in providing shade, solice and a place for the little ones to stretch their arms and their imaginations. Today we sat, we laughed and tried to communicate often resorting to hand motions and scattered facial expressions. A little boy approached me. "Blanc" (white) he says. I say "no", and say "Rae le Jamie". He smiles and says Jommie. "Jommie pushey" taking me by the hand he leads me to the swing. He sits down. "Pushey?" I think for a second about doing an underdog (after all these kids are wild) but considering that he is only three I resort to a light push and off he goes. With every push he looks back at me with a smile. Within a few minutes he starts pumping his legs and I decide hes doing well on his own and I grab a seat on the bench. Keeping an eye on him from a short distance I see him begin to look up at the sky... his leg pumping slows, he is captivated by the clouds but who can blame him, they're beautiful. I take my eyes off of him for a few moments as I chat with those I am sitting with. As I glance back at him I see his swing completely still and his head is slowly knodding toward the ground. Any parent knows what's coming next. I hop up and start walking his direction. In that moment he gets up and half asleep starts walking towards his dorm where he sleeps. It was so precious how he was waddling. I snatch that little boy up, hold him close, he rests his head on my chest and falls fast asleep. We just sat under that ancient tree cuddled until I had to take him to his bed. Children know how to love and be loved. Perhaps we as adults should take note."
Day 5 - March 18th, 2012
"So many stories this morning. We headed to church today and found ourselves there early so we decided that we would stand a while and greet the passers by. A young man named Richkard approached and began speaking in English. He is 16 and knows quite a bit. You can always tell when Haitians want to test out their English speaking skills. Through our conversation we find out that he plays guitar, drums, piano and bass. He asks if any of us play. Of course everyone points at me. I tell him I'm not good but occasionally play. Moments later he leaves and were left chatting. Next thing you know I am receiving a tap on the shoulder. Richkard hands me a guitar and says play. I try to decline but he's insistent. Anyone that knows me knows that I don't play our sing in front of people. Half of you probably didn't even know I play guitar (I prefer it that way). Anyway, next thing you know I'm playing by the side of the road and singing God of Wonders and a few people gather around. This was literally the equivalent of me climbing Mount Everest. When I'm finish he says "you are good." I say thank you, I was even slightly red faced and it wasn't from the heat. Then I pass the guitar off and he proceeds to play classical style finger picking followed by a jazz riff. Just beautiful! Music is a universal language and now I will never forget it."
Day 5 - March 18th, 2012
Story #2 - Sitting in church... It's hot, cramped, and perfect. The Church is packed to the back and about half in attendance are teenage age and younger. All of the little ones sit right up front and we are engulfed by little pig tails, pretty dresses, shiny shoes and snow white smiles. Jesus words "let the little children come to me" permeates my subconscious. For a moment I close my eyes and pretend I'm one of them. God give me child like faith... I look down the row and see a beautiful little girl who is smiling at me. I give her a little wink and a smile. She giggles and switches seats with someone to sit right next to me. Althought I know little Creolle, she does know a little English. I find out her name is Michel. She is 12. She opens my bible and starts reading to me, first from Mathew and then from John, stopping occasionally for help with a word or to seek my approval. She was a great little reader and so eager. We close the bible and she looks at me. She leans in and whispers in my ear, "I love you." I smile and lean over and whisper in her ear also. "I love you too." My heart breaks that I may never see Michel again in this life. I closed my eyes and prayed for her. "God protect her, help her to follow you, give her a kind loving husband in a culture where woman are treated as less. May she know that you are her father and she is your daughter. Amen
Let it be so."
Day 6 - March 19th, 2012
"We went to the hospital today to do a devotional with the nurses and doctors. Afterwords we walked around the hospital and spent sometime in prayer with the patients. Healthcare in Haiti is definitely one of the more challenging things for me to process through. We spend some much time and energy debating about health insurance, government run healthcare and the costs involved. Yet I found myself in the midst of a maternity ward praying over a 16 year old girl. She had miscarried at 7 months and had to go through a procedure to have the baby removed. We asked this girl what we could pray for since she was sitting there on the bed looking "fully recovered" and ready to go home. We find out that she is all alone and that the only family she has is her mother who lives far away. She lives way up in the mountains which is where the poor of the poor live. She explains that she is in fact ready to go home except for one thing. She owes the hospital $562 USD for her procedures and she can't pay. This is an insane amount of money for someone in the US much less a 16 year old girl in Haiti. The hospitals policy states that she can't leave until she is paid in full, but being so poor this is an insurmountable number. I understand this policy because the hospital needs funds to stay open, to cover her costs and if she leaves they will likely never receive payment, but this breaks my heart. Months ago Kelly and I went through a miscarriage as well and my heartaches for this young lady. As a team we are getting together what we can to help, but this story happens day after day. This is just not okay. This girls story could be our story."
There is a story to go along with this last status update. We had planned on leaving earlier in the afternoon on Monday in order to arrive at the hotel and prep for our return home. Well on this particular day we arrived back at the team house to find that "mama" (as we called her) had decided to prepare for us a beautiful lunch which we were not at all anticipating. We had just returned from the hospital and our hearts were burdened with the thought of this 16 year old who was confined to the hospital, all alone and with no end in sight. We had to do something about it. Having found of that the hospital bill was $562 USD we were saddened by the fact that we could only scrounge together $210 among our group. This just wouldn't do. In that moment I felt like God wanted me to share this young ladies story. So I sat down and typed what you see written above. All the while I hoped and I prayed that the right person would read it. I was finished, I closed the computer, stood up and made the announcement. "I think that God can somehow double this money." We had all hoped it, but had no idea how would that actually happen? All we knew is that we wanted her to go home. Not tomorrow. Not a week from now, but today. Within 30 minutes a Facebook friend who had followed my posts contacted the Church and offered to pay that young girls hospital bill (the whole amount), just like that. I was blown away. God had in fact tripled the money. One beautiful aspect of this story is that the woman that covered this 16 years olds hospital bill had this money set aside, almost in the exact amount and was asking God how she could bless someone else with it. He told her to give it to this girl so she did. The real beauty in this story is that after 9 days, a miscarriage, surgeries and the stress of never knowing when she would get the money to go home, she went. She went home. Even the sparrows have what they need.
Thanks for journeying with me.
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