A New View of Haiti

We may be on a servant trip but it's not all about tasks and projects.  Today we spent valuable time with the children of the Village of Hope.  We attended the kindergarten classes opening where they said the pledge, sang a welcome song to us, sang a song of praise, and as usual, touched as all.  After the opening, we took a tour of the school with Clovis which included the lunchroom, the chapel, and the classrooms.  For those that aren't aware, there are three years of kindergarten, starting with the age of three, followed by 13 years of primary and secondary education.  Today the group split up into three teams and visited each of the three kindergarten classes, spending time visiting, coloring, and drawing with the kids.  The response was very uplifting.  Actually spending time with these kids is an important part of the servant trip. 

Our time at the school was followed up by a new experience for both the veterans and the rookies of this team as we took a 6 hour round trip journey into rural Haiti.  Our first stop was the memorial being built for the victims of the 2010 earthquake.  It is being built on top of a mass grave of 50,000 victims.  We had a moment of silence and offered a prayer lead by Greer.

Our next stop was the waterfall.  Again, being able to experience Haiti as a country and culture as we drove through the mountains is an important part of the servant experience.  Many of us had read Paul Farmer's book, Beyond Mountains, and seeing the area he wrote about and being able to see the hospital that he built with the help of many U.S. benefactors in Mireblais was especially satisfying.  The number of Haitians living in the rural mountainside is astounding.  It seemed like every corner we turned and every straightaway we went down, there were Haitians subsisting under conditions certainly foreign to most of us.  The waterfalls were very nice and refreshing for those of us that walked through them.  After the waterfall, we were drenched by a divine waterfall called a storm!  Some of us escaped the rain by riding in the SUV while others experienced the downpour.  Some of the roads we were on today were dirt roads with a vertical pitch that would make an expert skier envious.  Our drivers were beyond spectacular.  We are thankful for that fact!  Our elevation went from sea level to 3,000 ft on roads meant for all-terrain vehicles.  Yikes!

We returned to Hope House to which we experienced some fun fellowship.  Apparently, Skin-so-Soft is the bug repellent of choice if you want to pick up chicks.  And if you want a Meatloaf concert, call Jim and Paul.  Dinner was a typical Haitian meal of rice, Creole chicken, and milleton au gratin.  Devotions were lead by Diana and we talked about the highlights of our week so far in Haiti. 

Tomorrow we're staying at Hope House with a full day of work scheduled.  More to come!

Pictures from top to bottom are the kindergarten opening, raising the Haitian flag during opening, coloring with the kids, rural Haiti, and the waterfalls