Today was yet another exciting day in Haiti. We woke up to a lovely breakfast of the usual pancakes, eggs, oatmeal, and lots of different fruit. Today was a free day where we got the opportunity to repeat one of the activities we've done previously in the week. Our group decided that we enjoyed delivering water in Cite Soleil so much that we decided that was the service project we wanted to do again.
We set out on the tap tap at 9:00 AM and met our water truck at the filling station. We only did two stops today, both of which were included in our day on Tuesday. This was nice because we were already familiar with the areas, sometimes even the people that lived there. As we approached our first stop, the welcoming of children jumping and shouting "hey you!" it still felt unbelievably motivating, yet somewhat regular and familiar. This time around, we all knew exactly what our duties were and how to properly execute them. Whether it be controlling the hose, managing the bucket line, or simply playing and developing relationships with the children, we felt like old pros. We succeeded in filling all the buckets just as the water truck ran dry. Just like Tuesday, we headed back to the fill station to wait in line before our next stop.
While we waited for our water truck to fill, we found a group of young children and some boys our age to play with. One of them we even recognized from the first day. As our relationships grew, we eventually were led across the street and engaged in some football (soccer) with boys we had met. Even though the boys didn't speak much English, we were able to interact and share the common love for the sport. We could play and laugh together without exchanging any words. We didn't need to have the same personalities, speak the same language, or have the same way of life. All we needed was the bond of football. We only got to play for a little while before we were all full and needed to be off to the next stop.
The second stop was a similar experience with lots of buckets needing filling. This stop was extra crazy and called for more attention. There were many more children that needed help carrying buckets back to their homes. Often times when we were done carrying, we were able to peek inside the homes. This was an amazing opportunity to see where these people lived and what their daily lives were like. Once again, after seemingly no time at all, the water truck ran out and we said goodbye to our new friends and headed home to have some snacks and regain energy.
After a half hour break, we hit the road again in the tap tap and headed towards an orphanage called Juno's. There we found about eighteen young children all eager to play.
We brought two guitars and sang a few songs in English. To our surprise, the children all knew the words and actually outsang our group. The amount of joy they had was incredible to see and experience. When we were finished, they taught us a few of their own songs in Creole. We actually had our translators work out a song that we knew from camp Omega and shared both the English and Creole versions with them as well. This exchange of song was yet another common bond that we could have with the children.
We also prepared a Bible story and acted it out for the kids. It was about a lame man who asked Peter for money. Instead of giving him money, he healed the lame man so he could walk and jump around. He got up and ran away praising the Lord. This was to show the children that when they place their trust in God, he often will give them more than they ever imagined, no matter who they are or what condition they're in. Our translators made sure they understood everything we said as we acted out the story and explained it's significance to them.
We ended our time at Juno's with some parachute games out in the courtyard. We had soccer balls that we would launch up in the air and play games with. We would also call out various attributes like "blue shirt" or "wearing sandals" to run under the parachute to the other side. The children were absolutely in love with the games and were laughing and screaming the whole time. Everyone around was literally jumping for joy as we shook the parachute up and down. After we tired everyone out, we packed away the parachute and settled down in the courtyard to talk and learn more about the children. Some played with Legos, others played more football, and others yet simply sat and held the kids. These kids had been taking English lessons so they knew basic introductory phrases that we could use to find out more about them. This was sometimes rare, so we were extremely thankful for the opportunity to converse in our own language. Before we left, we were able to hand out small copies of the New Testament with Psalms in Creole to all of the children and even some of the adults. Along with these, we gave each of them several colored paper crosses to use as bookmarks. As we handed them out one by one, we could see the joy in their eyes as they were each given a book of their own. Once again, saying goodbye was the hardest part as we waved from behind the bars of the tap tap. It's always extremely tough to form these relationships and share incredible experiences with a group of kids and have to leave them a short while later.
We journeyed back home and were greeted with cold showers and tacos for dinner. It's a beautiful night here in Haiti and we praise God for all he has given us. We'll never forget the opportunities presented to us and the experiences we've shared.
Josh and Ryan G.
We set out on the tap tap at 9:00 AM and met our water truck at the filling station. We only did two stops today, both of which were included in our day on Tuesday. This was nice because we were already familiar with the areas, sometimes even the people that lived there. As we approached our first stop, the welcoming of children jumping and shouting "hey you!" it still felt unbelievably motivating, yet somewhat regular and familiar. This time around, we all knew exactly what our duties were and how to properly execute them. Whether it be controlling the hose, managing the bucket line, or simply playing and developing relationships with the children, we felt like old pros. We succeeded in filling all the buckets just as the water truck ran dry. Just like Tuesday, we headed back to the fill station to wait in line before our next stop.
The second stop was a similar experience with lots of buckets needing filling. This stop was extra crazy and called for more attention. There were many more children that needed help carrying buckets back to their homes. Often times when we were done carrying, we were able to peek inside the homes. This was an amazing opportunity to see where these people lived and what their daily lives were like. Once again, after seemingly no time at all, the water truck ran out and we said goodbye to our new friends and headed home to have some snacks and regain energy.
After a half hour break, we hit the road again in the tap tap and headed towards an orphanage called Juno's. There we found about eighteen young children all eager to play.
We brought two guitars and sang a few songs in English. To our surprise, the children all knew the words and actually outsang our group. The amount of joy they had was incredible to see and experience. When we were finished, they taught us a few of their own songs in Creole. We actually had our translators work out a song that we knew from camp Omega and shared both the English and Creole versions with them as well. This exchange of song was yet another common bond that we could have with the children.
We also prepared a Bible story and acted it out for the kids. It was about a lame man who asked Peter for money. Instead of giving him money, he healed the lame man so he could walk and jump around. He got up and ran away praising the Lord. This was to show the children that when they place their trust in God, he often will give them more than they ever imagined, no matter who they are or what condition they're in. Our translators made sure they understood everything we said as we acted out the story and explained it's significance to them.
We ended our time at Juno's with some parachute games out in the courtyard. We had soccer balls that we would launch up in the air and play games with. We would also call out various attributes like "blue shirt" or "wearing sandals" to run under the parachute to the other side. The children were absolutely in love with the games and were laughing and screaming the whole time. Everyone around was literally jumping for joy as we shook the parachute up and down. After we tired everyone out, we packed away the parachute and settled down in the courtyard to talk and learn more about the children. Some played with Legos, others played more football, and others yet simply sat and held the kids. These kids had been taking English lessons so they knew basic introductory phrases that we could use to find out more about them. This was sometimes rare, so we were extremely thankful for the opportunity to converse in our own language. Before we left, we were able to hand out small copies of the New Testament with Psalms in Creole to all of the children and even some of the adults. Along with these, we gave each of them several colored paper crosses to use as bookmarks. As we handed them out one by one, we could see the joy in their eyes as they were each given a book of their own. Once again, saying goodbye was the hardest part as we waved from behind the bars of the tap tap. It's always extremely tough to form these relationships and share incredible experiences with a group of kids and have to leave them a short while later.
We journeyed back home and were greeted with cold showers and tacos for dinner. It's a beautiful night here in Haiti and we praise God for all he has given us. We'll never forget the opportunities presented to us and the experiences we've shared.
Josh and Ryan G.
No comments:
Post a Comment