January 21, 2020
Haiti: Day THREE!
The Mission-Haiti compound where the American Teachers & missionaries live, and where mission teams stay. The bottom of this building is split in half for mission teams.
Ladies on one side and men on the other! A few of the full time missionaries live on top!
3 bathroom doors on one side, and 3 showers on the other.
The first cold shower I took wasn't pleasant, but every day after it felt better & better!
Where meals are served and dishes are done!
My bunk for the week. I felt like I was 10 years old at Shetek Bible Camp! The first night of sleep was a little rough & hot/sticky, but each night got easier!
If we weren't walking or hiking somewhere, we were all piled into the back of the block plant truck! Most of Mission-Hairt's vehicles were needing repairs and after a week on their roads I know why!
This is a community center area!
Many activities are planned each week for people to be involved in!
The Lines School that Shalom Christian Reformed built! Its beautiful!
Pastor Kyle of Shalom meeting the man in charge at the school!
I would enjoy school if this was my view every day!
We stopped by the Mission-Haiti Block Plant! This has been up and running for awhile now! Its a very successful business that employees many of the local people!
First look at the JAK Academy School!
In Haiti, it is considered rude not to acknowledge someone as you pass by so we did a lot of waving and smiling as we drove around! The kids and adults were all so friendly!
Bonjou = Good Day. This was how we greeted people in the morning.
Bonswa = Good afternoon/evening.
Eldery Home visit. Oh the tears just flowed!
I am not sure why I chose to sit next to this nice looking man, but I did, and it changed me. Since I have visited this Elderly Home that is a part of Mission-Haiti, they have launched a sponsorship program for their elderly home residents. I am the one of the proud sponsors of this guy! Victor's smile is so contagious! I can't wait to visit Haiti again when the brand new elderly home is up and running! What a change it will be for these beautiful people!
A Haitian Prayer is a little different than ours! Everyone prays outloud at the same time. It was so neat to experience!
The Shalom Group! Great people!
So crazy to see such rough living conditions and then next door you see a home like this.
So many carrying things on their heads. This gal here had a 5 gallon bucket of water that she was carrying home!
Just like Bible Camp when you were a kid, we all signed up for daily chores to help out around the compound. Here Hannah and I were on dish duty!
The first home visit of the trip! So fun to see how much joy these visits bring to everyone!
Soccer balls were definitely a hit with the sponsor students! Scheels sells them deflated, so they pack up easy for travel- and then you pump them up before you give them!
Of course I was the one to ask if I could hold the sweet baby!
Sweet little girls walking home from school.
Another piece to the Haitian culture is that they bury loved ones right on their property.
First time meeting my sponsor girl! Haisha!
(Clotaire, Haisha)
She was so shy but sweet!
She reminded me so much of Blayke with her fingers in her mouth.
Blayke has that same nervous habit.
Showing her the gifts I brought her!
Most of the sponsor families let the sponsor tour their home. Little Haisha took my hand and walked me in. A few pieces of furniture, sheets to block off a bedroom and her precious little school uniform on a hangar in the living room! All ready to go for the next day!
They take excellent care of their school uniforms!
The next stop was to meet my sponsor boy Jovenel!
(Maurice Jean Jovenel)
His siblings were very curious to see what was going on!
His brother was pretty excited about the package of matchbox cars!
Jovenel showing me his home. Holding his little hand was just precious!
Mom and Dad had a queen size bed, made very nicely. The kids all sleep on the ground. Mom said it's partly for bed wetting. They don't have diapers or access to a washing machine to clean wet smelly bedding.
The house was very clean, and not many 'things' around like we have here in the US.
However, they did have a rooster in the house!
My neighbor friend Emily made each of my sponsor kiddos a personalized bag!
They loved them!
One prayer request that mom & dad had for their family was that they hoped to get married this spring. In order to be married in Haiti, they have a tradition that you must have your own home, a china hutch and then money to pay for dresses, food, etc. They have a home, but I didn't see a china hutch anywhere. I think their main concern was having money for the wedding.
We ended up meeting the mother of the sponsor student on our next stop, so we bought a days worth of bread from her basket so she didn't have to walk around selling it!
It was delicious and her FIRST DAY baking it!
She carried all the bread that was left up the mountain to their home!
BEAUTIFUL!
One of the dads built furniture for a living. It was beautiful! Deb Burgers sponsored one of his children and she bought a little chair from him and brought it home to the states!!
Of of Leann's sponsor kids lives at the orphange right off the MH Compound so she got to sneak over to see him a few times!
I miss this place so much. The sunshine, the people, the breathtaking views, but most of all I miss that life was carefree there. Most of the people we met were so content with life and so thankful for the little they had. I miss that.
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