September 30, 2010
Part 1: The Beauty of Haiti
What I didn't expect is to find a beauty country, but Haiti is very beautiful. Full of lush fruit trees, tall mountains that roll down into a blue-green ocean. It has all the makings of a natural resort island that people would love to come to on vacation. And by these pictures you would think Eric and I were on our second honeymoon not a mission trip.
Part 2: Haiti is Broken
I wish I could have seen Haiti before the earthquake, before people lived in tents. They refer to their buildings and homes as broken. There is a lot of destruction from the earthquake, so much it seems like it will be years before they just clean up the rubble. It has been 9 months and in most cases the road ways have been the only place clean up has taken place.
A broken church.
Close to the center of Port Au Prince
I love how they are keeping up the yard while the Palace sits empty and broken.
Us in front of the palace.
Close up of the palace destruction.
Building close to the palace.
Jesus is here.
A home.
Near the Good Shepherd School
A broken church.
Close to the center of Port Au Prince
I love how they are keeping up the yard while the Palace sits empty and broken.
Us in front of the palace.
Close up of the palace destruction.
Building close to the palace.
Jesus is here.
A home.
Near the Good Shepherd School
Part 3: Haitians
The people we met in Haiti were awesome! Kids and adults were kind, joyful, loving and had a wondrous spirit of hope filled within them. They all had such great life stories with trials they had overcome because of their strong will and their faith in Jesus.
Young child at the Good Shepherd School
Child at the Good Shepherd School.
Timothy was our translator and he is AWESOME! At 9 years old he was sponsored by someone through Compassion International. He was able to go to school until he was 18 when he learned how to make baskets. He also became a translator for Compassion and now works with Young Life and Opportunities for Communities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. If he had not been faithfully sponsored by a couple in America for 9 years Timothy would not of received an education. That couple spent $25 a month to support Timothy, changing his life forever. Eric and I have been sponsoring a child for over a year now and I wept with possibilities knowing our small act of kindness will change the outcome of someone forever.
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Noia is a Young Life leader in Haiti. He has such a gentle soul you can't help but be drawn into him. He puts his time and energy back into the youth of Haiti.
This is Cleavous. A young man who stopped by our vehicle to see if we wanted to buy some phone cards. He asked if we were Christians and then told us a story of how 5 years ago he had met a American who promised him an English bible, but they never sent it to him. He told us how hard it was to find bibles in Haiti. One of my team members felt moved to give him the one she had. Cleavous was genuinely overjoyed, almost giddy with unbelief. You could see him swell up with pride, honor and a joy our children only get at Christmas. He couldn't believe today was the day after such a long wait, today he got the English bible he had longed for. A day for us all to remember.
This is Edilson, Timothy's 17 year old son. He also spent the week with us and I love having talk with this wise child. He wants to go to university, but not in Haiti because the schools aren't good. I told him how he could come to the US and after school he could make good money in the states. Then he could support his family in Haiti and live a good like in the US. He smiled at me and said "Yeah, I could, but that would keep Haiti dependent on others. I want to help my country." Surprised and humbled, I realized this young man is so much smarter than me already, I am honored to know him. I have no doubt that Edilson will go on to change the world just as his father is doing.
Two brothers at the Good Shepherd School.
Wooby is a hero with a great life story..but I'll cut narrow it down to a recent story. Wooby and his 5 year old daughter, Stacy, live with 11 other family members in 2 tents & broken shack on some property that they rent. Wooby spent the last 6 years building his own home for the whole family which he completed last November. The home was destroyed 2 months later in the earthquake and he has not been able to start rebuilding. While we were in Haiti a bad storm came upon us suddenly and while Eric and I were safe indoors we didn't realize the terror that was happening around us until the next morning when Wooby came to say good-bye. Once the storm ended and Wooby's family was safe and secure he ran to the closest tent city a few blocks away. There was chaos as night had come, tents had been blown away, people had drown, other freezing, wet, lost. Wooby helped them, while people like me had never even thought about the others who had no walls to hide under.
Young child at the Good Shepherd School
Child at the Good Shepherd School.
Timothy was our translator and he is AWESOME! At 9 years old he was sponsored by someone through Compassion International. He was able to go to school until he was 18 when he learned how to make baskets. He also became a translator for Compassion and now works with Young Life and Opportunities for Communities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. If he had not been faithfully sponsored by a couple in America for 9 years Timothy would not of received an education. That couple spent $25 a month to support Timothy, changing his life forever. Eric and I have been sponsoring a child for over a year now and I wept with possibilities knowing our small act of kindness will change the outcome of someone forever.
+of+Haiti+2010+1261.jpg)
Noia is a Young Life leader in Haiti. He has such a gentle soul you can't help but be drawn into him. He puts his time and energy back into the youth of Haiti.
This is Cleavous. A young man who stopped by our vehicle to see if we wanted to buy some phone cards. He asked if we were Christians and then told us a story of how 5 years ago he had met a American who promised him an English bible, but they never sent it to him. He told us how hard it was to find bibles in Haiti. One of my team members felt moved to give him the one she had. Cleavous was genuinely overjoyed, almost giddy with unbelief. You could see him swell up with pride, honor and a joy our children only get at Christmas. He couldn't believe today was the day after such a long wait, today he got the English bible he had longed for. A day for us all to remember.
This is Edilson, Timothy's 17 year old son. He also spent the week with us and I love having talk with this wise child. He wants to go to university, but not in Haiti because the schools aren't good. I told him how he could come to the US and after school he could make good money in the states. Then he could support his family in Haiti and live a good like in the US. He smiled at me and said "Yeah, I could, but that would keep Haiti dependent on others. I want to help my country." Surprised and humbled, I realized this young man is so much smarter than me already, I am honored to know him. I have no doubt that Edilson will go on to change the world just as his father is doing.
Two brothers at the Good Shepherd School.
Wooby is a hero with a great life story..but I'll cut narrow it down to a recent story. Wooby and his 5 year old daughter, Stacy, live with 11 other family members in 2 tents & broken shack on some property that they rent. Wooby spent the last 6 years building his own home for the whole family which he completed last November. The home was destroyed 2 months later in the earthquake and he has not been able to start rebuilding. While we were in Haiti a bad storm came upon us suddenly and while Eric and I were safe indoors we didn't realize the terror that was happening around us until the next morning when Wooby came to say good-bye. Once the storm ended and Wooby's family was safe and secure he ran to the closest tent city a few blocks away. There was chaos as night had come, tents had been blown away, people had drown, other freezing, wet, lost. Wooby helped them, while people like me had never even thought about the others who had no walls to hide under. Part 4: The Apparent Project
I knew I was going to love this place! Corrigan and Shelley Clay are helping Haitians buy creating jobs through arts. They make beautiful bead jewelry, clothing and journals for sale. I was able to bring back 49 necklaces and to my surprise I almost sold all of them in one day without even advertising them. I plan to get more and maybe a few journals as well so stay tuned and be thinking of who you need to get unique Christmas gifts for.
The Boutique where they sell the goods.
Shelley showing us where the 3seams dresses are made.
The Boutique where they sell the goods.
Shelley showing us where the 3seams dresses are made.To purchase your own reversible little girls dress visit 3seams.com You get a dress and a Haitian girl in need gets the same dress!
A mother making beads while her children eat. They get a meal everyday when they work at the Apparent Project.
Adrien and Molene are making necklaces! I recently sold jewelry that both of them made. 1 necklace can feed their families for 2 weeks, so even selling/buying one makes a huge impact on their lives.
The Apparent Project is helping getting people out of tents and into homes. This house was recently built for the cost of $1600. They hope to help many more families in the community get out of tents.
A mother making beads while her children eat. They get a meal everyday when they work at the Apparent Project.
Adrien and Molene are making necklaces! I recently sold jewelry that both of them made. 1 necklace can feed their families for 2 weeks, so even selling/buying one makes a huge impact on their lives.
The Apparent Project is helping getting people out of tents and into homes. This house was recently built for the cost of $1600. They hope to help many more families in the community get out of tents.
Part 5: The Good Shepherd School
Our main focus for the week was the school. Loving the children, feeding the children, giving the children flip flops and securing 6 class rooms before school started in 2 weeks. The school is saving the community of Pele, by feeding the children, giving them an education and a safe place to go during the day. The Good Shepherd school is the hope for this area.
This the entrance to the school. We were greeted by the children chanting "Hey You!"
We made about 300 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
So happy for a meal.
We had about 500 pairs of flip flops to give out.
Shortly the community started to show up to get shoes as well and the crowds got so intense we had to stop giving out the shoes. After being stuck in the kitchen for an hour waiting for the crowd to calm down we had to postpone giving out any more shoes. This was heartbreaking to some of the children who were expecting to get shoes on this day.
Several days later we were able to give out the shoes to the rest of the students using a ticket system.
We made several crafts over the week including tambourines.
This Timothy helping me explain how to make kites.
Flying the kites! Note the building in the background is the building we tore down and rebuilt.
Stabilizing with new 2 x 4 wood.
Several Haitians assisted in the project tarping 6 classrooms. A team of missionaries who came a week later were able to put a tin roof on top of this so it was 100% usable before school started.
We gave them pipe cleaners and beads to make bracelets, but some chose to do other things with the pipe cleaners.
Here we are trying to organize our craft.
Beautiful bracelets.
The love you feel for the children make it hard to think you may never see them again.
This the entrance to the school. We were greeted by the children chanting "Hey You!"
We made about 300 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
So happy for a meal.
We had about 500 pairs of flip flops to give out.
Shortly the community started to show up to get shoes as well and the crowds got so intense we had to stop giving out the shoes. After being stuck in the kitchen for an hour waiting for the crowd to calm down we had to postpone giving out any more shoes. This was heartbreaking to some of the children who were expecting to get shoes on this day.
Several days later we were able to give out the shoes to the rest of the students using a ticket system.
We made several crafts over the week including tambourines.
This Timothy helping me explain how to make kites.
Flying the kites! Note the building in the background is the building we tore down and rebuilt.
Stabilizing with new 2 x 4 wood.
Several Haitians assisted in the project tarping 6 classrooms. A team of missionaries who came a week later were able to put a tin roof on top of this so it was 100% usable before school started.
We gave them pipe cleaners and beads to make bracelets, but some chose to do other things with the pipe cleaners.
Here we are trying to organize our craft.
Beautiful bracelets.
The love you feel for the children make it hard to think you may never see them again.
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