Joy, Tears, Sorrow, Heart Break, Hope, Love, Compassion, and Laughter
I've started this blog over and over again many times because I don't know just what to say. I don't think my words will do justice to what I saw and experienced. I actually decided I wasn't going to post anything and shut my computer and started going to bed, but I know I need to post something so I brought it back up. My prayer is that this is God's words and thoughts flowing through my fingers and not my own.
Today we went on the water truck run. I talked about this a few posts ago, but I'll talk about it again. We take a big oil truck filled with water to the poorest slum in the western hemisphere (Cite Soleil). As we are pulling up women and children start running with buckets in tow to get some fresh, cold, fairly clean water. Before the truck stops and we get off there is a line waiting for this ammenity.
I got to play with the kids while all of this was going on. Kids run up to you yelling for you to carry them, wanting hugs, and wanting love. They feel like a touch from a blanc will make them special or something. I love giving this love and attention, but when 15 kids surround you, its hard to do this. Immediately kids grab your hands and "claim" you. I try to give each one attention, but there is usally one or two at each stop that tugs extra hard at my heart and gets a little more attention than everyone else.
Anyway, the first stop we made was no different. I tickled kids and they laughed hysterically. They smiled up to their eyes and it was incredible to watch and made me burst into the same laughter. At one point I had a whole group of kids that I would go down the line tickling. Incredible. I wish I had a video of that moment in time, I would watch it over and over again. We also help them carry water back to their houses or put heavy pails of water on their heads so they can carry them back. I loved on kids, hugged them, carried them and took a lot of pictures. One girl that clung to me at this stop asked for a baby doll with some adorable puppy dog eyes. I wanted to give her one so bad, but had none to give and that would cause a huge rukus, giving things away as a white person is not the easiest thing to do in Haiti. Later on, she gave me those same eyes and told me she needed food because she was hungry. Oh man how I wanted to take her home with me. She clung to me, pressing her head to my chest telling me she needed food. Heart breaking. It was so hard to not start crying.
How could I experience the joy and laughter of tickling kids and minutes later a heart break for this little girl? This type of thing happens to me often here and I wonder how many times it can. Maybe those moments of joy are there to help the moments of heart break to not be so tough. Knowing that she has water and had some laughter, joy, and love makes me feel better.
Driving on the tap tap to the next water stop, tears were forming. Kids are hungry every day. How can this still be happening in 2012? Families do not know when they will have their next meal, people live in tents and shacks with dirt floors, kids run around naked... this is real life. It happens day in and day out without any way to remedy the situation. Life still goes on. Seeing kids smile up to their eyes, batting those little eyelashes, and laughing so much it makes everyone around them laugh as well is such a contrast to what they experience everyday. They are content because they know no different. They don't realize they have nothing until outsiders come in and show them what they need. Kids are content playing with a kite made out of a sting and a plastic bag or a toy car made with plastic bottles. Haitians never cease to amaze me.
At one point when I was riding on the water truck, I was struck by dirty mucky water in a ditch along the road. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone drank that, bathed in it, or washed anything in it. It had a greenish tint and didn't look like anything I would want to go near. Lone behold as we kept driving I saw a lady in the water and a man on the ledge soaked. They were in this water pulling out discarded food bags (those big rice, beans, etc. bags). They take the strings off of these bags and make rope out of them. What devotion to work? No one in America would get in water of that color to pull out bags that they would have to make something else out of it. What a nasty job, but yet they do it. They persist, pull through, and do what needs done to bring in money. Amazing.
We went to the second water truck stop and again kids ran up to me right away. These kids had so much more energy than any water stop I had been on. I tried the tickle line and it ended up in tag... how does one slow 22 year old catch 15ish children running in all directions? I was worn out super fast. I didn't get to rest long though, I ended up running with kids on my back, throwing kids up in the air (and catching them), having random dance parties, singing Justin Beiber, playing hand clapping games. It was incredible to have the kids laugh at my crazy dance moves... I would NEVER dance like that on the streets in America, well maybe if it was for kids, but its highly unlikely. Being in Haiti does something to you and that something is incredible!
After these two stops I was exhausted. I really need to start working out so I can keep up with these kids. They are beastly. We then went to the Home for Sick and Dying Children again. As we walked in a boy held his hands up and wanted me to hold him. The minute I tried to pick him up I realized I had reached my limit and was out of energy for the day. We sat down and him and another boy climbed on my lap. I tickled them and bounced them on my legs for a while. I found my little eight year old and she ran to me and gave me hugs. I soon realized that she was busy caring for all the younger children. Now, I'm going to make sure to love on her even more when I come and make sure she has time to enjoy being a kid.
Shortly after, I went downstairs and found my baby I've talked about in past blogs. She's becoming more and more attentive. She's seven months old but cannot do most of what she should be doing at her age. She has no facial expressions at all. I tried to make her smile or laugh but she wouldn't do any. Its my personal goal to make her do both before I'm done with her. But, we really bonded today. We stared into each other's eyes for so long and I talked with her and "played" with her for a long time. She reached up and felt my facial features and finally rested on holding the bangs of my hair. She started to fall asleep but everytime she lost her grip on my hair she would wake up. Such a cutie. I love her!
I'm sorry this post has gone in so many different directions, which is probably why I had such a hard time starting it. Joy, tears, sorrow, heart break, hope, love, compassion, and laughter. Things experienced every time I go out into Haiti. Each time I bond with a child or adult, each time I hear stories of these people. They are incredible and I have fallen in love. These people rock my world, keep me humble, remind me to be thankful, express so much love, and are full of so much joy. I am so blessed to be able to live here.
Today we went on the water truck run. I talked about this a few posts ago, but I'll talk about it again. We take a big oil truck filled with water to the poorest slum in the western hemisphere (Cite Soleil). As we are pulling up women and children start running with buckets in tow to get some fresh, cold, fairly clean water. Before the truck stops and we get off there is a line waiting for this ammenity.
I got to play with the kids while all of this was going on. Kids run up to you yelling for you to carry them, wanting hugs, and wanting love. They feel like a touch from a blanc will make them special or something. I love giving this love and attention, but when 15 kids surround you, its hard to do this. Immediately kids grab your hands and "claim" you. I try to give each one attention, but there is usally one or two at each stop that tugs extra hard at my heart and gets a little more attention than everyone else.
Anyway, the first stop we made was no different. I tickled kids and they laughed hysterically. They smiled up to their eyes and it was incredible to watch and made me burst into the same laughter. At one point I had a whole group of kids that I would go down the line tickling. Incredible. I wish I had a video of that moment in time, I would watch it over and over again. We also help them carry water back to their houses or put heavy pails of water on their heads so they can carry them back. I loved on kids, hugged them, carried them and took a lot of pictures. One girl that clung to me at this stop asked for a baby doll with some adorable puppy dog eyes. I wanted to give her one so bad, but had none to give and that would cause a huge rukus, giving things away as a white person is not the easiest thing to do in Haiti. Later on, she gave me those same eyes and told me she needed food because she was hungry. Oh man how I wanted to take her home with me. She clung to me, pressing her head to my chest telling me she needed food. Heart breaking. It was so hard to not start crying.
How could I experience the joy and laughter of tickling kids and minutes later a heart break for this little girl? This type of thing happens to me often here and I wonder how many times it can. Maybe those moments of joy are there to help the moments of heart break to not be so tough. Knowing that she has water and had some laughter, joy, and love makes me feel better.
Driving on the tap tap to the next water stop, tears were forming. Kids are hungry every day. How can this still be happening in 2012? Families do not know when they will have their next meal, people live in tents and shacks with dirt floors, kids run around naked... this is real life. It happens day in and day out without any way to remedy the situation. Life still goes on. Seeing kids smile up to their eyes, batting those little eyelashes, and laughing so much it makes everyone around them laugh as well is such a contrast to what they experience everyday. They are content because they know no different. They don't realize they have nothing until outsiders come in and show them what they need. Kids are content playing with a kite made out of a sting and a plastic bag or a toy car made with plastic bottles. Haitians never cease to amaze me.
At one point when I was riding on the water truck, I was struck by dirty mucky water in a ditch along the road. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone drank that, bathed in it, or washed anything in it. It had a greenish tint and didn't look like anything I would want to go near. Lone behold as we kept driving I saw a lady in the water and a man on the ledge soaked. They were in this water pulling out discarded food bags (those big rice, beans, etc. bags). They take the strings off of these bags and make rope out of them. What devotion to work? No one in America would get in water of that color to pull out bags that they would have to make something else out of it. What a nasty job, but yet they do it. They persist, pull through, and do what needs done to bring in money. Amazing.
We went to the second water truck stop and again kids ran up to me right away. These kids had so much more energy than any water stop I had been on. I tried the tickle line and it ended up in tag... how does one slow 22 year old catch 15ish children running in all directions? I was worn out super fast. I didn't get to rest long though, I ended up running with kids on my back, throwing kids up in the air (and catching them), having random dance parties, singing Justin Beiber, playing hand clapping games. It was incredible to have the kids laugh at my crazy dance moves... I would NEVER dance like that on the streets in America, well maybe if it was for kids, but its highly unlikely. Being in Haiti does something to you and that something is incredible!
After these two stops I was exhausted. I really need to start working out so I can keep up with these kids. They are beastly. We then went to the Home for Sick and Dying Children again. As we walked in a boy held his hands up and wanted me to hold him. The minute I tried to pick him up I realized I had reached my limit and was out of energy for the day. We sat down and him and another boy climbed on my lap. I tickled them and bounced them on my legs for a while. I found my little eight year old and she ran to me and gave me hugs. I soon realized that she was busy caring for all the younger children. Now, I'm going to make sure to love on her even more when I come and make sure she has time to enjoy being a kid.
Shortly after, I went downstairs and found my baby I've talked about in past blogs. She's becoming more and more attentive. She's seven months old but cannot do most of what she should be doing at her age. She has no facial expressions at all. I tried to make her smile or laugh but she wouldn't do any. Its my personal goal to make her do both before I'm done with her. But, we really bonded today. We stared into each other's eyes for so long and I talked with her and "played" with her for a long time. She reached up and felt my facial features and finally rested on holding the bangs of my hair. She started to fall asleep but everytime she lost her grip on my hair she would wake up. Such a cutie. I love her!
I'm sorry this post has gone in so many different directions, which is probably why I had such a hard time starting it. Joy, tears, sorrow, heart break, hope, love, compassion, and laughter. Things experienced every time I go out into Haiti. Each time I bond with a child or adult, each time I hear stories of these people. They are incredible and I have fallen in love. These people rock my world, keep me humble, remind me to be thankful, express so much love, and are full of so much joy. I am so blessed to be able to live here.
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