Reflections of the First Trip
When you arrive in Haiti,
your senses are assaulted.
All of them,
but perhaps none more than your sight.
Sensory overload
does not begin
to describe
your eyes trying to take in everything you see.
While you are thinking,
'I want to remember that'
Twenty-six more
memorable sights
pass through your field of vision
and
your mind can't process what you see fast enough
and
your sense of everything else
pales.
The sounds and the smells
and
the feel
all become secondary
to the
sight.
So many of you were so generous in your donations
to the trip.
I will try to show you where your donations were used.
The initial draw for me to the trip
was
to teach the students at the orphanage
calligraphy and sign painting skills.
Part of the donations went to buying supplies.
These are skills that the students can use
to supplement their education
and
hopefully their income.
Several of them astounded me with their abilities!
Michelson was relentless in his concentration.
He worked harder than anyone.
As soon as I would arrive,
he started working and long after everyone left,
he was still sitting at the picnic table
practicing.
There were others
that worked hard and did amazing artwork
and
I returned home
rewarded with a small art gallery of drawings.
Everyone crowded around picnic tables
and
worked very hard.
Heather,
our pastor's daughter,
who lives in Haiti,
asked for items for this small orphanage.
A huge bag was packed with clothing
purchased with donations
from you.
Shorts, t-shirts,
dresses,
skirts,
flip-flops
and
underwear,
tons of underwear!
And honestly,
I can't get seven grandchildren to sit on my couch for a picture
and
these twenty one got up on those benches
and
just sat patiently!
And
as always,
there are stories.
A man that lost his wife
and
could not bury her
because he had no money,
and
a mother that lost her
five year old boy.
Cash that was taken along at the last minute
from donors
was used to help these people.
A huge thank you to all those that allowed me
to carry your blessings
to Haiti!
And finally,
the
disbursement of shoes.
This was not my mission,
but somehow
I was caught up blessed
with being allowed to help
with it.
Really, sometimes these trips can stretch
your senses.
See all of these kids?
Well,
bags and bags of shoes
were
organized
in another small closet classroom in this school.
Four of us,
fitted all those little
(and some not so little)
feet
into
shoes.
One of the people in our group acted as stock boy
and
I am pretty sure
his aversion to feet might run a little deeper than mine
or
maybe not.
(OK, he is the pastor and he really should reread about Jesus washing the disciples feet)
Heat,
dirty feet,
diseased feet,
did I mention hot?,
over
one hundred children
in an area the size of my family room.
I really think that in a mere two hours,
I saw more foot diseases
than the average American podiatrist
would in two YEARS!
Truly, God's sense of humor!
On Wednesday,
a hike up the mountains
to a smaller village
where shoes were again
passed out
but in a more orderly, less crowded fashion.
There are no pictures of me on that mountain
that will ever be shown.
It was a startling
revelation
on
my age and how out of shape I am!
Upon returning from that trip up the mountain
and
a
quick trip to the market,
I bought a juice box
that I am pretty sure
was the undoing
of the rest of my trip.
While I normally eat anything on trips
and
never have had a problem,
within one hour
of drinking that juice,
(that was made in Egypt and not even Haitian)
my trip was essentially over.
The remaining days
and
the next week
for that matter
was spent
in
close proximity of
bathroom facilities.
Actually, it is now close to two weeks later
and
I am still
battling the remaining remnants
of that
problem.
Guess I don't bounce back as quickly as I used to!
Thank you again to all those that
donated,
prayed,
helped in any way
to allow me to go on this mission.
I was humbled by how many of you
wanted to help!
Comments
Hugs~