May 20: Water Truck Delivery and Feed My Starving Children

Day one of serving is complete! We went to three locations to deliver water in Cite Soleil, the poorest slum in Port-au-Prince. Our first two stops were in two districts and a tent city within Cite Soleil.  It was very difficult to see the level of poverty. Immediately when we got off the truck, the kids swarmed us. They wanted us to hold them, and we did all we could to hold as many of them as we possibly could at one time. We saw the suffering and devastation they live in and it was immense - so sad, and just so much of it. We learned before we went that some of the kids are child slaves, and so it was real privilege to just give them as much love and attention as we could. We pray for them, and are thankful that there are other organizations that work to rescue them and provide a better life for them. 

The suffering seemed to go on forever. The kids were incredibly sweet. We discovered the world's most beautiful smiles on the faces of children in Cite Soleil. While some of the team played with the kids, a few others helped fill all the buckets with water. Long lines formed immediately, and one by one we filled the buckets as fast as we could. In fact, at our last stop in one of the tent cities, there were so many people that we had to change our plans, go get another water truck, and come back and serve them. 

After our last water truck stop, we went to visit a Feed My Starving Children location. We were able to help serve lunch. It's an after school program through Haiti Initiative, and the kids have to go to school in order to get lunch and then play soccer. Many of us have packed food through FMSC, so it was phenomenal to see the food be distributed and eaten.

Dustin - Today was overwhelming, because it was so sad to see what the people have to face. There's no way to comprehend this until you see it. The best part of the day was when we ran out of water at our third stop because there were so many people, and we changed plans going back to get another tank of water because there were so many people who showed up.  

Shane - the funniest thing that happened to me was that the kids would scratch at my tattoos and then look under their fingernails to see if any of it got under thier nails. 
 

Brian - It was beautiful because they were coming out of everywhere. The kids were fantastic. They all worked together which was impressive considering they all need water so much.
 

Pam quote (after admiring the level of filth and mashed mango that covered her t-shirt): "I've got love all over me!"

We're having a little trouble with our wifi, so we will post pictures tomorrow.