"Nou nan Ayiti"

*Part two of my blog mini-series ;)

"We're in Haiti"...A life quote I've come to know very well. Oh, our driver was supposed to be here an hour ago...meh, we're in Haiti. What, he cooked the entire goat in the soup...ah, we're in Haiti. This quote is equivalent to the old-school phrase "Psych!" which is also a frequent. As laid back as I thought I was with time, I've discovered a whole new level of nonchalance. I've also discovered how this directly ties into the value you place on the deadline and the amount of respect you show to those relying on your punctuality. Does any of this mean I'll actually start to be on time once I come home? Haha, psych!

I've also learned I'm both stronger and weaker than I thought I was. While in Aux Cadets, God created a unique learning experience. Because of the rain, we had some free time to play with the children. The kids and I were down by the soccer field one afternoon when they told me there was a boy sitting by himself in the nearby corn field. There was a group of probably 25 kids around me when I went over to see what was the matter. As I got to the boy, I could see he had a very blank, distant stare that didn't even flinch as my mob approached. I knelt down beside him and noticed both of his eyes were dark and swollen. After some broken Creole and a translator, I found out he had been beaten by his mom. Stronger part-by the grace of God I was actually able to think semi-clearly, got his name (Gison) and took him up to the clinic where Kat, Jeremy, Christine, Neal, and our translator, Cardinye, helped figure out what the best next step was. Long story short, come to find out from the mother, the boy had also been behaving very irresponsibly so they talked to the mother about different ways of approaching discipline. They also discussed with Gison about better ways to spend his time. (Side note-One of the great things about us moving to the mountain is we can represent FH as we follow up on this family.)

Later that night during devotion time, we had some really deep worship to give everyone a chance to process what happened earlier. I had not realized how much I rely on my family until they weren't available at the push of a button. I remember fighting to keep it all together and praying to God that I just wanted to call my family. Then, Nicki sat down next to me and put her arm around my shoulder. Weaker part-I broke down. God blew me away by showing me that, as Christians, we are all family. Both the believers on the team and the believers in the community are already part of my family. I thought I would be stronger for the team by keeping my emotions in check; in reality, I think it was the broken humility that meant more than my so-called "strength".

God's already taught me so much about myself and life in general with just the three weeks that have passed. I've had to check my attitude a couple of times :) but I'm all the more grateful for the opportunities to rely on God's strength instead of my own.

Photo by Justin Willet

This is Gison a couple of days after our first meeting. He came to participate in our medical clinic and distribution, and he looked great!

Faith without Works

*This is Part 1 of two blogs explaining what's been going on here over the last two weeks.

Seeing as I got here on Thursday and the team came in the next Tuesday, my first few days were busy with preparations. (The Willet Missions team included Jeremy, Justin, Jordan, their parents Glen and Barbara Willet, Justin's fiance Nicki, Kat's mom Christine, Operation Net founder Kali, her roommate Lauren, and Willet family friends Neal and David.)The team, Kat, me, and our three translators spent Tuesday through Sunday in a community called Kafou Tenten in the region of Aux Cadets. This is also the area where Kat and I will be moving to soon. 

The buildings on the right are the school/church and the clinic we stayed in. The wide open space on the left is a soccer field and nearby is FH's Child Friendly Site. This is where we will be living.

Our first full day there we split into groups and did get-to-know-the-community activities. Each group had a member of the community help them map the area, visit a water source, and complete a wealth ranking (an activity which measures the community's perception of rich vs. poor and what they value). Although my team did not get to visit the water source right away because of the rain, it did give us a great chance to learn from the kids how to catch rainwater.

 Kali and Jordan after carrying buckets full of rain water back and forth from the church to the clinic. Way to go!

The next three days we visited surrounding communities in the mornings to do VBS, a medical clinic, and malaria training via Operation Net. I got to help with the clinic where Christine (who's a nurse) did malnutrition readings and I gave children Vitamin A and deworming medicine (used to remove intestinal worms that are stealing nutrition from a child's system). 

Photo by Justin Willet

 Christine is measuring his arm for malnutrition and I'm squeezing in the Vitamin A.

We also did distribution of items like mats, blankets, and clothes that had been donated from churches. In the afternoons we stayed in Kafou Tenten because of the rain so we had a lot of time just to play with the kids. Kat and I taught them Duck, Duck, Goose, and Fox and the Chicken which they loved.

 Kat and I playing Ring-around-the-Rosy.

On Monday, we drove up to Belledere (the same area I visited in June) to do sponsor child visits. This was an amazing opportunity for me because I was able to see Louvensky again after having our visit cut short in June. I really loved getting to sit down and hang out with him. He's a little shy but definitely a smart boy with a lot of potential! 

 Louvensky and I with our translator, Odines.

Our last day was spent traveling to downtown to see the Presidential Palace and do some shopping. It still strikes me the overwhelming damage that occurred to the buildings down there. Although, this time I saw several people beginning to rebuild which was very encouraging. 

 Presidential Palace, equal to our White House

I really loved having the team around as I transitioned into my life here in Haiti. They served as a great second family and I was so blessed to share that time with them!!

Praise God!

I wanted to give God credit for being absolutely AWESOME today!!! He got me through some pretty sticky obstacles today that I wanted to praise Him for. 

First scenario: after I had already checked into my flight to Port-au-Prince, I went to the ticket counter with my boarding pass to check my bag. The flustered, obviously over-worked man at the ticket counter asked me if I had a returning flight. Because things hardly ever go as planned in foreign countries and seeing as I'm not coming home for 4 months, I told him that no I hadn't booked it yet. So he told me as an American with an American passport, he could not let me go without a returning flight. What?!?! Why would the government, airline, and everyone else let me get all the way checked in with my boarding pass and tell me the day I fly out I need a return flight >:/ I thought, dude you are off your rocker!!! So of course I call my super-knowledgeable friends, Kat and Jeremy Willet who are just as flabbergasted as I am. As I'm waiting to get back to the counter so Jeremy can give this guy a piece of his mind (lol because anyone that knows me knows I wasn't about to do it), I see an open spot with a new counter guy...hmmm...so I try the new guy. And what do ya know, he stamps my ticket, stickers my bag, and sends me on my way!! :) Awesome!!

Next scenario: I make it all the way to the Haitian airport with my backpack and my carry-on duffel. As I go to leave the plane, I reach up to grab my duffel, and what do I find? AN EMPTY OVERHEAD BIN?!?! How do you lose a carry-on? Well, apparently someone else grabbed my bag thinking it was theirs because just opposite of my empty overhead bin was another black duffel that looked sadly like mine...and since carry-on bags are supposed to be the ones that don't get lost, I of course packed all my clothes, medicine, etc. in that duffel. Hmm...panic or not to panic :) so I choose not to panic and I just start praying. They tell me to go through customs (which of course takes excruciatingly long) and get to baggage claim to look for it. All along the way, I'm searching people's hands like a DEA agent for my black, look-like-everyone-else's bag. Finally, I make it to the baggage area that's swarming with people when suddenly! MY BAG! On someone else's cart...after some sad, but convincing arguing with a guy who didn't really speak English, I retrieved my lovely duffel. 

Finally, after paying a guy $20 to use his phone, lol, I made it to Kat and our driver. And now I am sitting comfortably in front of the fan ready to hit the ground running :)