Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
I just after 5 a.m. ...
... And I'm sitting on the roof of our building, hoping that the Wi-Fi works. People are singing in the distance. Roosters are still crowing. Both are nothing unusual.
The lights of the city are in the distance. It looks like millions of lights, all on the side if a mountain because they go up and out. I with I could take a pic, but it's too dark. It's beautiful.
A cool wind is swaying through the palm trees and over me.
I'm the only up here - for now. So I'm alone with my thoughts. How to begin? ...
Haiti was what I expected - but also what I didn't expect.
I expected it this journey to be tiring. Yes, it is. There is lots of walking, and I am not a walker. It's hot. You sweat a lot. Water, sun screen and mosquito spray are your best friends.
I expected to be the slow one, and that is true, from my perspective. Our team is AMAZING in their endurance to the work. I take lots of beaks, so in a way I feel like I'm the weakest link here. I feel like I'm slowing them down. But they are putting up with me.
I expected to be emotional, and I am. Seeing how the people here are forced to live, and know how much I have at home, it's heartbreaking. I mean, why can't the money, the wealth be spread around the world more evenly? It's not fair that we have so much when others have close to nothing. And I'm talking about the basics y'all:
• Clean water coming out of faucets, instead of the well they dug in the ground to get water from or the barely-there stream they use to wash.
• Three square meals a day, instead of the one they MIGHT get in a day.
• Clean clothes to change into every day, instead of the dirty ones they wear every day. I'm starting to recognize a couple people we pass as we go to the orphanage because they have on the same clothes. I've even seen two children, both toddler-sized boys, with nothing on. Nothing!
• Shoes on their feet, instead of having to walk across these rocks and broken pieces of glass barefoot. And that's what they're doing.
I expected to be ashamed of myself, because I live so well when so many others don't. And to too it off, they look like me. This could've been me, my life. My ancestors could've been taken ad slaves to Haiti, instead of America. I know I shouldn't think like that, but right now, EVERYTHING is going through my head.
Like I said, emotional.
While things I expected happened, there's been a lot of things I didn't expect.
I expected my adjustment to be harder than it was. Yes, it's is, but I didn't expect to adjust to it like I have. Don't get me wrong, I am not used to this. I'm still out of comfort zone - so far from it. But, I'm surviving it, and enjoying it. I don't need all the trappings I have at home to be content. I like the trappings, but I don't need them.
I didn't expect the people to be so happy. Now, it's not 24/7 by any means - we Americans aren't happy 24/7 either. But you know what? I think Haitians are more joyous than we are. Every day as we go to the orphanage, I see them smiling and laughing as they talk to each other. The greet each other, and us if they know the how to say hi in English. A couple of guys even said "Big Mama, hi" to me and Glenda. That was a riot. (Now, don't try this at home, because I will be offended, because you know better. You have been warned.)
I didn't expect them to be so faithful and devoted to God. I knew from What Darrel and Holli Land have said to us at church, the people worship more passionately than we do. And they do; it's a lot of the churches I grew up in. But what I didn't expect was the dedication. There were worship services all day and night on Sunday, in different places. Choirs have practiced every day since we've been here. The church building is heavily used. People here love God and they aren't afraid to show it. What's wrong with us Americans? Why are we so stuck up and shy about our devotion?
I didn't expect to be OK here. I mean, I knew I'd survive, but I didn't expect to be OK. But I am. I could stay here longer.
I hate that we're going home tomorrow.
The lights of the city are in the distance. It looks like millions of lights, all on the side if a mountain because they go up and out. I with I could take a pic, but it's too dark. It's beautiful.
A cool wind is swaying through the palm trees and over me.
I'm the only up here - for now. So I'm alone with my thoughts. How to begin? ...
Haiti was what I expected - but also what I didn't expect.
I expected it this journey to be tiring. Yes, it is. There is lots of walking, and I am not a walker. It's hot. You sweat a lot. Water, sun screen and mosquito spray are your best friends.
I expected to be the slow one, and that is true, from my perspective. Our team is AMAZING in their endurance to the work. I take lots of beaks, so in a way I feel like I'm the weakest link here. I feel like I'm slowing them down. But they are putting up with me.
I expected to be emotional, and I am. Seeing how the people here are forced to live, and know how much I have at home, it's heartbreaking. I mean, why can't the money, the wealth be spread around the world more evenly? It's not fair that we have so much when others have close to nothing. And I'm talking about the basics y'all:
• Clean water coming out of faucets, instead of the well they dug in the ground to get water from or the barely-there stream they use to wash.
• Three square meals a day, instead of the one they MIGHT get in a day.
• Clean clothes to change into every day, instead of the dirty ones they wear every day. I'm starting to recognize a couple people we pass as we go to the orphanage because they have on the same clothes. I've even seen two children, both toddler-sized boys, with nothing on. Nothing!
• Shoes on their feet, instead of having to walk across these rocks and broken pieces of glass barefoot. And that's what they're doing.
I expected to be ashamed of myself, because I live so well when so many others don't. And to too it off, they look like me. This could've been me, my life. My ancestors could've been taken ad slaves to Haiti, instead of America. I know I shouldn't think like that, but right now, EVERYTHING is going through my head.
Like I said, emotional.
While things I expected happened, there's been a lot of things I didn't expect.
I expected my adjustment to be harder than it was. Yes, it's is, but I didn't expect to adjust to it like I have. Don't get me wrong, I am not used to this. I'm still out of comfort zone - so far from it. But, I'm surviving it, and enjoying it. I don't need all the trappings I have at home to be content. I like the trappings, but I don't need them.
I didn't expect the people to be so happy. Now, it's not 24/7 by any means - we Americans aren't happy 24/7 either. But you know what? I think Haitians are more joyous than we are. Every day as we go to the orphanage, I see them smiling and laughing as they talk to each other. The greet each other, and us if they know the how to say hi in English. A couple of guys even said "Big Mama, hi" to me and Glenda. That was a riot. (Now, don't try this at home, because I will be offended, because you know better. You have been warned.)
I didn't expect them to be so faithful and devoted to God. I knew from What Darrel and Holli Land have said to us at church, the people worship more passionately than we do. And they do; it's a lot of the churches I grew up in. But what I didn't expect was the dedication. There were worship services all day and night on Sunday, in different places. Choirs have practiced every day since we've been here. The church building is heavily used. People here love God and they aren't afraid to show it. What's wrong with us Americans? Why are we so stuck up and shy about our devotion?
I didn't expect to be OK here. I mean, I knew I'd survive, but I didn't expect to be OK. But I am. I could stay here longer.
I hate that we're going home tomorrow.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Amazing
It's 9 o'clock at night. I'm sitting in the dining hall on the roof. The wassl are screens, so there's a wonderful breeze blowing through.
In the distance, I hear a beat. I hear music and singing. And periodically there is cheering It's music to my ears. I want to go out and be a part of that.
Hopefully, I'll get to do that some at church tomorrow.
Today has been the most tiring experience for me. I'm not used to working this hard y'all! And think I was one of the slackers beause I had to take pictures too.
But while it was all exhausting, I have not felt so alive as I do here! It's so weird.
I'm still taking everything in. And it's difficult for me because I'm seeing people in dire conditions. But, every night, there is singing and music and laughing and cheering. The people here are so joyous! They know something we don't know back home. How can they be so celebratory living the way they do?
And how can we be so sullen and greedy and trivial having so much? I mean, I knew I had a lot to be thankful for. Being here, see all this - I am extremely blessed!
Yeah, it's been an emotional experience so far. I know everyone in the group have been wondering about me because I've been a little quiet. For the first 24 hours, I was just overwhelmed. I think I'm starting to come out of it. But this is still hard to take.
At the same time, I'm truly starting to see what it means to be happy with whatever you have, to be joyous in everything. That's what the people of Haiti are teaching me.
In the distance, I hear a beat. I hear music and singing. And periodically there is cheering It's music to my ears. I want to go out and be a part of that.
Hopefully, I'll get to do that some at church tomorrow.
Today has been the most tiring experience for me. I'm not used to working this hard y'all! And think I was one of the slackers beause I had to take pictures too.
But while it was all exhausting, I have not felt so alive as I do here! It's so weird.
I'm still taking everything in. And it's difficult for me because I'm seeing people in dire conditions. But, every night, there is singing and music and laughing and cheering. The people here are so joyous! They know something we don't know back home. How can they be so celebratory living the way they do?
And how can we be so sullen and greedy and trivial having so much? I mean, I knew I had a lot to be thankful for. Being here, see all this - I am extremely blessed!
Yeah, it's been an emotional experience so far. I know everyone in the group have been wondering about me because I've been a little quiet. For the first 24 hours, I was just overwhelmed. I think I'm starting to come out of it. But this is still hard to take.
At the same time, I'm truly starting to see what it means to be happy with whatever you have, to be joyous in everything. That's what the people of Haiti are teaching me.
So, we landed around 2 p.m. - we're on the same Eastern Time as back home. The airport was a trip, to say the least - total madness and people constantly trying to handle your luggage to get a tip.
We got to the Blanchard complex and got a tour of the place, which is pretty nice. They have a water filtration system that's open to the community - so folks were getting fresh drinking water when we came in. They also have a school, gift shop, open area that will be a playground in the future but is being used as a football (soccer) field and our sleeping quarters.
We also walked over to the orphanage to see the girls. They are so adorable! I didn't want to leave them.
Here are a few pics I thought to take:
We got to the Blanchard complex and got a tour of the place, which is pretty nice. They have a water filtration system that's open to the community - so folks were getting fresh drinking water when we came in. They also have a school, gift shop, open area that will be a playground in the future but is being used as a football (soccer) field and our sleeping quarters.
We also walked over to the orphanage to see the girls. They are so adorable! I didn't want to leave them.
Here are a few pics I thought to take:
Friday, February 1, 2013
We Americans are SOOOO lucky!
You don't really know how good you have it at home until you see firsthand something like this:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
