Ganthier, Haiti
Monday. Today we told all our new friends good bye. We have met some lovely people and had such a wonderful week serving with them. We had secret prayer partners... each of us drawn a name out of the bowl and it was our responsibility this week to pray for them and make sure they had gotten on the tap tap and just look out for them. Last night we all told who are prayer partner was and told about what we saw in each other as we were serving. That was special.
We helped the ladies make the beds again because the next team was coming in at 1:30 today. Around 9:30 we headed to the grocery store with a few others from our team to meet our ride. We grabbed some groceries for the week and crammed into the rise with all our luggage. We are bringing some clothes and supplies for the orphanage as well as food for the week we are here so it’s been quite a bit to tote around. About a 45 minute drive and we are in Ganthier. We are staying at the liaison house which is really nice. The gallery(patio) has been the favorite place to hang out so we can catch a few cool breezes. We unpacked and settled in. Then to the orphanage. It is about a 5-10 minute walk. The kids were so surprised to see us... they did not know we were coming. Soon the big kids came home from school. It was so neat how they remembered Tori. At first they weren’t sure how to act and kept running away from us. It’s been a year and a half since they have had white girls working here. Eventually they warmed up to us and we had fun swinging and playing tag and jump rope with 4 pieces of rope tied together. That is the only toy I seen there. I just cannot comprehend how they are so happy with so little. There are toys in one of the rooms but it is locked and they could only play with them when the white girls were there. They begged and begged Tori to open it. Has it been over a year since these kids have played with toys? They also wanted to sing so tomorrow should be a fun day! Shelli made us lunch which was delicious and sent snack of fried plantain,okra and chicken with us. I wish it was safe enough for white girls to come work here again.... the kids do not have much of a structured schedule anymore and they don’t get the love and attention they need...
Tuesday we first walked to the market to get some fresh mangos and vegetables. The rest of the day was spent at the orphanage. There were big smiling faces waitinging at the door when we came:) We played with the kids and later in the afternoon we sang together. It was so fun. After singing we handed out candy. It got completely quiet as they waited to get their piece. They made that piece of candy last as long as possible.
Wednesday. We had gotten a ride to take us to Oriani today. The plan was to leave at 8-9 but our ride showed up a few hours late. You have to get a bough ppl to fill up your vehicle before it pays to leave. I think there were at least 13 ppl in that ride. I didn’t fit in the back of the land cruiser so I got to go sit up front with the driver. He knew a couple English words like speed, slow and are you ok? So that was the extent of our conversation. That was definitely the roughest road I’ve ever been on. Huge wash outs in the road sometimes a couple feet across and a few feet deep. We crossed huge rocks and streams. It took about 3 hours. When we got higher in the mountains the road was only wide enough for one vehicle and you couldn’t see around the curve so our driver would honk like crazy as he approached it. No guardrails there and it was a straight drop off. When we got to Fore Jay picked us up. Jay and Brianna are the administrators at the the clinic in Oriani and also Tori’s cousins. We stopped in at the clinic first and I got to help deliver a baby! Later we walked around the area and went to see some of their friends. This is the most beautiful place I have seen in Haiti. It was rainy season so it was very green and so much cooler than Port. All the little fields and gardens planted on the hills, the coffee trees, and avocados.... we climbed to a high point and could see the fog in the valley below. In the distance were the mountains in the Dominican. Brianna made us a yummy supper and we had a fun time with them and their 4 little girls.
Thursday... hiked to another beautiful place... loved the view. Someday maybe I can come back here for longer. The bakery was our next stop. They mix the dough in huge concrete trough and throw it at the wall to knead it. Next they have a machine to roll it out. They put it on pans and then put it way into this huge concrete domed oven that has a fire in the side that heats the whole thing. When it’s baked they dump it on a wooden table.... and this is all done in a shack with cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. We bought some bread and it was really good... so hot we could hardly eat it. Our ride down was at 10. 14 ppl and this time I was in the back. It took way longer this time. This road is so bad even the Haitians get sick. We had to stop several times. I held an adorable 2-3 year old girl for awhile till she puked on me. Finally we made it back to Ganthier. Later we went to the orphanage and brought them lollipops from the market. They were so excited.
Friday. Days are kinda the same here... market to get a few things then to the orphanage. We decided to have a party with the kids. After lunch we came home and made cupcakes. Once the kids were home from school we took the cupcakes to the orphanage. Some of the little kids tried to eat the paper wrappers... I don’t think they had had cupcakes before or had been too little to remember. We also got out some coloring books and markers and colored pencils. This kept them occupied for a loooong time. In the eve Tori and I found an old wooden ladder with a few broken steps and climbed up on the roof. The view and sunset was beautiful. There is a lake not far from here right beside a mountain. None of us slept much that night.... we heard a lot of crashing and later a gunshot. Then came a lot of wailing. Then a gecko fell and landed on my foot. I am very proud of myself that I did not scream.
Saturday. Had breakfast then we all slept some more... it was actually quieter in the morning than it had been in the night. We went to the orphanage in time for lunch and then started take each kid into the depot and giving them new clothes. It was so awesome to see there faces light up as they picked a few dresses or shirts out of the donated clothes. We had gone through the kid’s clothes the day before and most of them were literally in shreds. The orphanage workers were so concerned about what we were gonna do with those old shredded clothes... they wanted us to hand them out in the street. The kids colored again and I love how it keeps them occupied for so long. Yesterday one of the bigger boys who actually knows English quite well had me help him read and explain some English words. Today he taught me creole. He was a good teacher and he made it difficult. He would teach me different words then shut the book and tell me phrases in English with those words that I was suppose to repeat in creole. I loved it.
Sunday. We walked down to the orphanage so we could walk with the kids to church like the girls use to do. They were all smiles and looking fine in there new clothes! The littlest 3 apparently have not been going to church since the girls left here... that means they basically have never gone outside of the orphanage yard. They are the 3 & 4 year olds. One of them acted so scared and another couldn’t even walk because he kept looking at everything we went by. Sadly I didn’t get anything out of church since I do not understand Creole but it was fun to be there. We walked back to the orphanage and Shelli made a yummy lunch. Later in the afternoon Gario and Maggie took us to the land where they plan to build a house. It is beautiful.... up on a hill overlooking a lake and then mountains... on the other side are green covered mountains and also a beautiful view of the sunset. One of the youth guys met us on the way home and he offered us a ride in his tap tap. He gave us a tour of Ganthier and then took us home. We walked into town to get chicken dinners and hatian hotdogs for supper. That chicken was grilled and so yum. Then we went to Maggie’s and she made us all kinds of delicious Hatian food. Was so fun.
Monday.... Today we leave Haiti... There are some things I hope I will never take for granted again.... and some things make my heart so sad to think about. Those dear children at the orphanage need girls there so badly to love them and give them attention and a schedule. They feel so alone and afraid sometimes... almost like they are forgotten. So if you think of it you can sigh a prayer for them. I also seen the dirt cookies... that hurt my heart to think of... that some children are so poor they eat cookies made of dirt with a little flavoring to help them not taste bad. No nutrition whatsoever... it just makes there hungry tummies not hurt so much. I also seen young people being beat up... a teenage girl, a young boy... why...
But there are wonderful things here too... The children who are so happy to play with just a few shreds of fabric... there eyes beaming when you offer them a jump rope. People who sing and thank Jesus because you brought them some food that day... a little brown hand is softly slipped into yours and you look down to see a shining smile of a beautiful little girl... a little boy offering me some of his cupcake even though that was the most special thing he had gotten in a long time... many of the little children wrapping up the peanut butter sandwich we handed out to take home to share... and the elders that saved the meal we gave them to share with their grandchildren... I have seen so much contentment, unselfishness, and joy. I want to be like that. I want to go back...
If not us, then who will be like Jesus to these precious ones?
