Tori's Stories

I’ve written many blogs in my head and even began some on paper lately.   But putting my thoughts into words has been hard lately. Instead, tonight I was reminded of something else that needs shared. The happy moments. The moments that make me smile more than I have all day. The moments that make everything worth it. The moments that remind me why I do what I do. Sometimes bedtimes are really rough. I might get scratched in the face or my glasses might be on the verge of breaking for the 20 th time that day. Many times my hair gets pulled or I get bit. Other times, like tonight as I sang bedtime songs we have a moment of calm. I was holding one of my children who often does all of the above and she began to sing along. Hearing her sing about Jesus’ love instead of what happens on other nights, makes it all worth it. When we don’t know if a child will ever smile and she laughs at 2 years old, it makes it all worth it. When I see a picture of one of my chil...

When people ask “How is Haiti?” I look at them and reply, “It’s incredible.” Not because it’s so much fun, not because it’s so nice here, not because I feel safe to do anything I want to, not because of any normal reasons. It’s incredible because it has stolen my heart. I have fallen in love with the beautiful children, I’ve fallen in love with the simplicity of life, I’ve fallen in love with the people I get to interact with. The country of Haiti is not incredible in and of itself, it’s the people that live here that make the country incredible. Haiti is full of poverty that no human should ever have to endure. People living in less than tents, people with nowhere to lay their heads at night, people who live with bugs flying and crawling around them all the time, people with no electricity or running water; but yet they endure. They don’t know what they don’t have. They have adapted to how they live and are truly survivors. Each and every person I have met here has impressed me in som...