Here are some highlights:
The tap-tap
You'll probably hear me refer to the tap-tap quite often as it is the prominent mode of transportation in Haiti. A tap-tap is a brightly painted bus or pick-up truck used as a shared taxi. It gets its name because when a person wants to get off, they just tap on the side of the vehicle. Healing Haiti has a private tap-tap which the teams use to get around during the day. It seats about 15 people comfortably*.
*As comfortable as you can get in a vehicle which drives on unpaved, rocky, uneven roads with ginormous pot holes :/
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| The tap-tap doubles as a great place to lay out and get your tan on (when in park) |
To start the week, we went to Cite Soliel, the largest slum in Haiti, to deliver clean water to its residents. If you've seen pictures of Haiti, the tiny homes made out of scraps, trash ridden streets, naked and malnourished children, that's exactly what we encountered. What those images can't describe are the horrible smells of human waste, burning trash, and heavy exhaust from vehicles. A smell, that even after a whole day, doesn't lose potency.
Following a large water truck, our team made three stops. Haitians lined the street with whatever container they had - 5 gallon buckets, big mixing bowls, or even water bottles. As members of the team guided the hose from bucket to bucket, others moved buckets down line or helped lift them onto people's heads to carry. It was hard enough for me to lift a 5 gallon bucket full of water, but placing it on top of an eight-year-old girl's head so she could carry it home was heartbreaking. The strength these people have goes beyond any physical measure.
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| A small portion of the people who waited for clean water |
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| Erin and Anne helping a young girl bring water to her home |
Children that are too young or can't afford to go to school came out to the street to be held by the team members. All of the children were clearly suffering from illness or malnutrition and most didn't even have clothes to cover half their bodies. The team was all dressed in our white Healing Haiti t-shirts but after just one stop of holding these kids, our shirts covered in dirt and who knows what else.
I definitely felt out of my comfort zone - already hot and dirty from our surroundings, I was then picking naked kids with runny noses or open sores. Every child wanted to touch my skin, my hair, my face. I felt limited by not being able to provide them anything other than physical contact as they were in need of so much more. I have never witnessed such an extreme poverty and quite an emotional start to the week.
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| The Calvary Team in Cite Soleil |
Mother Teresa's
We traveled to Mother Teresa's center for sick and dying children to feed and play with the children staying there. I spent the morning in the room of children that were too sick to go outside and play. I met a little boy, David, who had just been admitted the day before. I'm not sure what illness David was suffering from, but his whole body was bloated and his face was so swollen his could not open his eyes. I couldn't even tell if was awake for most of our visit but as he laid in his crib, I just stroked his arms and legs and sang to him. Eventually I had another team member help me lift him out of his crib so I could hold him in my lap. He seemed to like being rocked and sung to so that's what I did.
Gertrude's Orphanage
In Haiti, if a child is born with any sort of disability, it is seen as a curse, and for this reason, many disabled children are left at hospitals or mistreated by their families. Gertrude's is an amazing orphanage that takes care of these children with special needs. After we helped feed the kids their lunch, the staff laid out a mat on the floor so the children bound to wheelchairs could have a break and get comfortable on the floor. Our driver for the day, Junior, played the guitar and sang to the kids. They all had big smiles and really seemed to enjoy the music.
I spent my time on the mat just swatting flies off of the kids unable to move. One girl who was able to sit up on her own, scooted close to me so she could show me her stuffed animals. She wanted me to hold them, then hold her, and she kept trying to have me look directly at her face. At one point, I think our noses were practically touching. She was so adorable and out of the whole week, this was my favorite moment.
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| Playing with the kids on the mat at Gertrude's |
We delivered packages of food, toiletries, and clothes to two different tent cities (tent cities are just that, a community living in tents made out of scraps of metal, wood, tarps and plastic). It was a very devastating situation - we attracted a lot of attention bringing in these items and people, who are all in great need, were fighting for them out of survival. The plan was to deliver these items to people at their tent, in order to cut down on one family getting more than one.
As I walked through the narrow passage ways between tents, the residents were trying to guide me to his or her home, but it wasn't just one person, it was five people; if I didn't turn the right direction, I made someone upset. If I hesitated, a person would approach me and try to take a bag or two right out of my hands. People who had received a bag, wanted another - and I couldn't blame them. These people might not know when the next meal is going, they may also be feeding an entire family. It was overwhelmingly sad. We did our best to distribute the packages to as many people as we could but it was hard to leave knowing we weren't able to help everyone.
Mass Graves
On January 12, 2010, Haiti experienced a massive earthquake in the most populated part of the country. I've heard the number of casualties ranges from 90,000 - 300,000, but because nearly all who died were buried in mass graves, it's unlikely anyone knows the exact number lost. On our way to Grace Village, we stopped in the countryside to visit the site where an estimated 50,000 people were buried. I noticed there were no grand signs or structures that highlighted the memorial. In fact, when we unloaded the tap-tap, the only indication of what we were standing on was one statue in the middle of this large, bare field. We hiked up the foothills to three large crosses that overlooked the land. Even at a distance, I knew it was too small of an area to hold that many bodies.
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| Hiking up the foothills that overlook the mass graves |
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Overall, it was an emotional and strengthening week of service. After dinner each night, our team met to discuss the day's events. It's impossible not to grow to closer to these people after sharing these experiences, and at the end of the week, I could not imagine sharing this with anyone else; I feel like I met some life-long friends.
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| The team enjoying the mountainside which overlooks Port-au-Prince |
On our last day, when I had to saw goodbye, I was a little sad to see everyone heading back to Minnesota, looking forward to reuniting with their families. I wanted to do that too! At the same time, I was very happy to return to Grace Village with a better understanding of the real Haiti, and why my job here is so important. Memories from this week will stay with me forever.
Oh and this is what I missed up at Grace Village...A GIANT SPIDER! Kristina found it just chilling in our hallway...
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| Umm, Dad, you might be getting a frantic call in future begging you to come to Haiti and kill spiders for me...remember, Dad, I'm your favorite child and I love you. |
