Friday (Tent Church, Water Truck, General Hospital)

I think all of those who have been to Haiti would agree that one of the best things you could do to prepare for your trip is to learn Haitian Creole. Being able to speak to the locals is so uncommon that it opens them up in a way many will never experience. However, being that most of us are not able to pick up a new language all that easily a few choice welcoming words are a good start. More importantly though are your actions.

In a word, yesterday was full. We finally had a full healthy team. We had a full group of HH guys, we had a full schedule and we were full of actions. Actions that really showed the Haitian people we were not there to “save” them or make them better but to love them and support them and just be human with them.

Our first event of the day was 6am Haitian church. Unlike any church I’ve seen this was a huge warehouse looking building that just a year ago was a tent! It was bright and open and welcoming and we spent the next hour in prayer and worship. People were walking back and forth down the aisles praying, singing, hands wide open praising God and it was amazing. A smiling older woman came up to us and gave us all hugs then happily went on her way walking down the aisles joyful as can be. A great action w/o words. They do this every morning and we felt their desire and love for God in the short time we were there.

Church was followed up by another yummy breakfast of nutella and spicy peanut butter pancakes and then we were off to day two of water truck. First stop was good. Typical with lots of kids and a line of buckets but fairly tame. We had 5 HH guys with us and they kept it all in order, keeping us safe and keeping the line moving. We moved away from that stop feeling good and ready for stop two.

Those that had been on a trip before were excited to be introduced to a new stop. It was a tent city just a block from the water truck station. We saw right away that this stop had a great need as the line of buckets was very long before we even jumped out of the truck. I personally found a little girl that I held onto the entire time. She was maybe 2 and I have no idea where she came from, where she lived or who she belonged to. We hung out for a bit smiling and singing and then the need to move buckets filled with water began to pile up so with her in one hand and a bucket in the other we began going back and forth. One older woman needed a bit of help so I carried her bucket to her home and a gentleman in the home next to her shooed me away. I just smiled and headed back unsure of his meaning. I brought another bucket with me and again he shooed me away. This time I wasn’t gonna have it so I smiled at him gave him the shoulder shrug as to why are you shooing me and walked right up to him. I used my broken Kreyol to say hello, how are you, my name is Stephanie what is your name. His demeanor immediately changed and he replied that his name was Vincennes and in English he said nice to meet you and we shook hands. No more shooing from Vincennes. Some words, but a lot of action showing care for him united us and that felt pretty cool.

When the truck ran out of water we saw the line still waiting and we decided we must come back. So the guys told them we were going to get more water and we’d be back soon. An hour later we returned. I don’t know how the people felt but we really hope that they saw we felt their need and wanted to show them love by coming back. Driving in I saw my sweet little one standing on the side of the road and we immediately found each other again. This time she had a friend, about the same size and so we became a trio.  We hung out a bit and then the bucket need came again so I set them down assuming they would move on to other people but shortly after beginning my trek into the maze of tent city I felt two little tugs on the back of my shirt. They were following holding on tight and my heart just melted right there on the spot.  Their action made my day. I delivered my bucket scooped them up and we accompanied some others from our crew delivering buckets.

When we got back I got to see my hubs being the awesome dad he is back in MN. He had about 15 older kids surrounding him and they were playing an intense game of tickle tag. Kids were rolling on the ground with laughter, running around, just getting to be kids. I don’t think they get a lot, if any, of that from their own dads. His actions were truly the highlight of my day and I’d guess the kids too. We felt good seeing the last couple buckets of water being poured over heads. This group had enough water for now and were even able to enjoy it a bit.

A quick trip to the house to shower and change and we moved right on to the next stop. General Hospital. Oh my gosh you guys, this was tough. We went to the children’s “wing” and I will never forget the first child I saw. I pray that Jesus either immediately heals them or brings them home. I pray that it has already been done. They had been abandoned and GH was in no way prepared to handle their needs. At GH we handed out bags with infant diapers and packs of wipes. Most kids had a parent or relative with them but a few others were abandoned as well. It was a quiet and short trip. Lots of actions and very little words used here.

We were all exhausted and ready to be back at the guest house. Little did we know our evening was not over. Our HH team had a surprise action of their own. They took us out for dinner! A missionary family opens up their home a couple days a week as a pizza parlor called Pizza Amore. After a long ride in the Tap Tap we arrived to find a full house. Missionaries from all over including a ton from Minnesota filled the outside patio. It was a great ending to a great, mentally physically and emotionally exhausting day. I’m going to try and embrace my new perspective on action and use it more on the trip but more importantly at home. I’m tired of hearing myself speaking and want to show my family and friends and even complete strangers how I feel thru actions and not words.

-Stephanie H.

Thursday (Grace Village/Elder Visits/Juno Orphanage)

What an event filled day in Haiti! Today started with another perfectly prepared breakfast from our Haitian staff including all of the essentials (French toast, oatmeal, scrambled eggs) and my personal favorites, fresh papaya and pineapple. Afterwards, our team packed up and embarked on our journey to Grace Village. It was a short thirty-minute drive to the compound and I sat eagerly waiting to see the complex in which God was connecting with so many children of Haiti.

Once we arrived I was completely shocked at magnitude of this place. Attention to detail was put into every square inch of the village. From the aquaponics system irrigating the crops, to the 5,000 fish tiles in the cafeteria representing Jesus feeding his people, it was clear to me that God was working wonders in this place. There weren’t many children at the school when we got our tour due to carnival holiday, so I left excited to return Saturday and connect with the kids.

Following our tour we left Grace Village to go meet with the elders in the surrounding area. This was a very special part of the day for me. To see the joy in the elders eyes as we sang songs and massaged their body left me with an emotion that words couldn’t describe. They possess hardly any material items yet maintain such a positive attitude about life, and feel extremely blessed that Healing Haiti is spending time with them. Emmanuel, one of our Healing Haiti Guides, brought a portable piano to each house and played gospel songs. This resulted in countless village kids peaking over fences/bushes to get a glimpse of action. For me, I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that just a simple keyboard could bring so much joy to a group of people no matter the situation or environment they were in.

After visiting the elders, we shuttled to Junos orphanage to play with the kids. Megan, one of our team members, prepared crafts for the kids and together we built necklaces out of beads, two washers, nail polish and colored string. The kids loved all the activities and for me it was just a blessing to get to spend a couple of hours with them. Most of the kids were extremely polite and had a genuine respect for each other as we went about playing in the compound. The overall experience at Junos was one that I will remember forever!

Finally, our team ended the day with some salsa lessons from Jean. He schooled us in steps of salsa and said with a smile that we needed “a lot of practice”. Haiti has been such an eye-opening experience for me so far. I am humbled by the sites I have witnessed and have by overwhelmed by emotions on a daily basis. I can’t wait for what the rest of the trip has to offer and look to God for guidance as our team continues on this amazing journey.

-Morgan P.

Wednesday (Home for Sick & Dying Children / Gertrude’s Orphanage)

We woke up to yet another amazing breakfast from the Healing Haiti Guesthouse staff – pancakes, oatmeal, and so so much fresh tropical fruit!  Our team started the day at the Home for Sick & Dying Children – a Catholic hospital run by nuns.  WOW.  What an incredible experience.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place as we entered the first nursery.  There were rows and rows of cribs with tiny babies in them lifting their arms up to us to be held.  They all crave human touch so much, and it really struck me as to how important that really is.  To love on these kids as Jesus would, and take time to cuddle them all.  Many of the babies were a lot older than they seemed because they were so under nourished before they came to the hospital.  Most of the babies have parents, and when they are healthy, they’ll be able to go back home to their families.  That news was really encouraging!  I was so impressed by the care they were receiving and how clean the nurseries were.  It’s a total 180 compared to how dirty the rest of what we’ve seen has been.  We spent a couple hours there and got to help feed the babies their lunch too. 

After lunch, we headed back to the guesthouse for a little break and had some time to grab snacks as well.  Then, we loaded back into the tap tap and went to Gertrude’s Orphanage.  Her orphanage primarily cares for kids with special needs, but there are some she’s taken in who were orphaned during the earthquake and had no where else to go.  As we reflected on the experience later that night, it was very clear how emotionally difficult it was to visit there.  It’s so difficult as American’s (and one Canadian J) to not be able to just jump in and ‘fix’ things, as we’re all so used to being able to do, and it’s hard to know if the help that we are allowed to give is really going directly to those it’s intended for.  It was really an eye opening experience to think about the kind of care these kids would be able to receive in the U.S. compared to what they receive in Haiti.  But on the other hand, those kids wouldn’t be alive today if they hadn’t been left at Gertrude’s, and they are clean, fed, and have a safe place to stay.  

Joy shared a verse tonight during our team debrief that was really impactful that I wanted to share as it really sums up our day --- ‘Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.’ (James 1:27)  It’s a good reminder of what society views as ‘religion’ and what God truly believes religion is.  I think all of us could do even a little bit more to consciously and intentionally love each other, to help each other, and to bring some light to the orphans, widows, and others in our lives.

Monday (Travel Day) & Tuesday (Water Truck/Soccer Day)

We're a bit behind on blogs as our internet was not functional until today (Wednesday). But hopefully we'll catch up! Here's our experiences from Monday and Tuesday as told by Angie N.

Day 1  Cite Soleil/Water Trucks

Today was our first full day in Haiti. Yesterday was strictly travel and settle in to the guesthouse day. This is my first time ever leaving the country, so it’s been an experience. Remembering never to run my toothbrush under the running water, always use sanitizer after washing your hands… and maybe think twice about drinking the Coke straight from the bottle. Thankfully, all of our travels went very smoothly. Our team consists of 11 of us, 8 of us from the twin cities, two from Kentucky, and one from Toronto, Canada. Monday there was a snowstorm making it’s way through Kentucky, which obviously was a huge concern for us that our teammates would make it out. Thankfully, they made it out early enough, just a few hours before all outbound flights were cancelled.

Tuesday morning, most of us were up early, well before breakfast. I was told it wouldn’t be like this all week, as we will get progressively more and more tired.  We started out our day with a delicious meal of French toast, oatmeal, eggs, and all of the fresh fruit and fresh squeezed juice. And the avocado: cannot get over it. We then piled into the tap tap (our vehicle that transports us around; think a truck with a cage to keep us all in) and made our way down to meet the water truck.  Our water truck was a bit late, so we sat on the side of the road in the tap tap and were just hanging out and talking. 

Not long after our water truck arrived and we followed it into Cite Soleil. I knew what my eyes were about to experience would be like nothing else I’ve seen in person. I didn’t really know how to prepare for it, or what my reaction would be. I’ve seen pictures and heard stories, but I’ve learned just how different it is to experience it first hand. It’s real. It’s really someone’s life and how they live. As we drove thru Cite Soleil, all the kids would wave and shout. When we finally got to our stop, I was already sobbing. I didn’t know how I would be able to keep it together and play with these kids who were just overjoyed to see us. They cling to your clothes. They begged to be picked up. They were just joyful. I almost wonder if they realize how desperate their situation even is. We spent our time there filling buckets of water, helping the people bring it back to their homes, and playing with and holding the children. This stop was pretty mellow. We figured they had a water truck come through the day before, as there wasn’t a line and the kids playing in the water and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.

At the end of this stop, we walked down to the site that the new church will be built. Eaglebrook recently funded this initiative, and it was really neat to be a part of that back home, and also experience the location in person. As we walked down to this spot, I noticed some of these kids were wearing shoes or sandals on their feet. Some of them weren’t. The path we walked was filled with random trash, shards of glass and other “byproducts,” to put it nicely. I was nervous about where I stepped, but I had my Keens on. Some of these kids didn’t even have shoes and that’s when I realized I would probably be JUST FINE.

After the first stop, we went back to the water truck filling station and waited around there for a while. We noticed a teenage boy walking around wearing a red jersey with ‘Eden Prairie’ on the front. We all thought that was pretty cool to see a piece of home all the way down here.

Our second water stop was a whole lot more chaotic. We stopped in what felt like a narrow alley. Honestly, I have no concept of streets, highways and alleys here, as it’s just a free-for-all. People drive, walk, and bike wherever they well please.

At this stop, there was a long line of people and their buckets and barrels waiting for water. Lots of pushing, shoving, and our Healing Haiti (HH) leaders yelling in Creole to help people stay in line and organized. One of the first things I noticed when we arrived at our stop, the boy wearing the Eden Prairie jersey was there too! We have no idea how he got there so fast. He may have jumped on the back of the water truck. Maybe he biked. He came up to me right away and said “Hi. I am your friend. I speak English.” I told him that his shirt said the name of a city by where we were from. I don’t think he understood what I was talking about, as he didn’t really respond. What really struck me though, was how helpful this young man was – he was so helpful to others, helping to push their buckets out from the crowd once they were full and helping to hold the hose. No one asked him for help, he just had that innate leader tendency. I made sure to thank him for his help as we left. It was very nice to see a young man like that step up to help without even being asked. If you could see how the rest of the crowd was, it was each man for himself; dog eat dog.

We went back to the guesthouse to change after the second water stop, as we were quite muddy and dirty. We took a quick break and were going to go to Haiti Initiative, but before leaving found out it was closed because they are celebrating Carnaval this week. (Haiti Initiative is, how I would describe in my little knowledge, a soccer school for kids where they are fed meals from Feed My Starving Children.) Instead, we took 19 of the neighborhood boys, crammed them all in the tap tap and drove them to a nearby soccer field. We brought them water and snacks and played soccer with them. Those kids are GOOD. One little boy, Dickinson, started singing worship music on the tap tap. I told him later, “One day you should be a worship leader.” He replied, “I hope so.” I was amazed at how well some of these young kids spoke English. I was also amazed of just how proud they were of what they do have. Dickinson made sure to let me know that the kid who scored the first goal was ‘his brother’.

For my first time out of the country, I didn’t want to create any expectations. I wanted to be able to experience all of the feelings, sights, smells, and emotions as they happen. It’s been overwhelming, but so amazing. I can’t even begin to put into one blog post all of the different emotions I’ve felt in just the short while that I’ve been here. I don’t even think all of it has really soaked in yet. This is the first time in my life where I’ve actually kept a daily journal of the conversations I’ve had and the things I’ve experienced as they are all things I never want to forget. 

Healing Haiti-Friends: 10,000 Reasons

Yesterday was a good day at Gertrudes for mentally challenged and handicapped kids. These are very special children that were so special to be around. Then we went to another orphanage to interact with the children there, but we were the ones that were blessed by them when they sang there Creole songs for us. What beautiful music it was, it gave me goosebumps. This has been a challenging week for me, I have been stretched by God to an uncomfortable point, but it has been good. We have enjoyed the company of our Haitian guides who have taken very good care of us. Their names are Cadet , Jonas, and Maxime (our driver). Cadet has tried to teach us the song "Ten Thousand Reasons" in Creole. I think we almost have it down. NOT! but we tried. He keeps telling us it's easy. I don't know
Also was able to tour the site of the mass burial after the earthquake on January 12th,2010
They plan to put a memorial up there, which they have already started. We saw this yesterday. Our week is almost over and I will be coming home soon, but I will bringing home a new love for Haiti with prayers for God to shed his grace on the people of Haiti.



Deb Hodnefield