Looking back over the past few months and thinking about when Aunt Holly invited me to go with her on her first trip to Haiti, I must admit that I wasn’t going to go. I thought, “I don’t know if I want to spend the money and PTO to go somewhere I won’t get to see my friends.” I thought, “this group is so different from the people with whom I normally go.” I thought, “there’s no way I could go on a construction trip.” For some reason, though, God had other plans. For some reason, He wanted me to visit a different organization, meet new people, and try something new.
When we were asked to introduce ourselves the first evening in Haiti, I said I honestly didn’t know why I was on this trip; I was still waiting to find out. Now, with the trip behind me, I still don’t know exactly why I was there – it’s not like I was a huge help at the work site or like I contributed a skill no one else could have. But I am SO grateful God sent me. I got to meet some incredible people. And I got to help build a church!
On Sunday, before beginning our work-week, we got to visit a Haitian-run orphanage. There was one little boy who really grabbed my heart. He was 6 years old, and weighed probably 20lbs. He just laid in my arms and looked around. He eventually even fell asleep. He was so sweet. I wanted to bring him home. 🙂
Through this organization, a different group comes each week and completes the next part of the work project. Our assignment was to finish the final bond beam at the top of the church. I’m incredibly thankful that the leaders included me, even allowing me to get up on the scaffolding to help hang the forms that would be filled with concrete. I know much of the time I probably made the job harder, but it feels so good to look at that church and think about the future it holds, and realize I helped build it!
We were a little sad to find that we finished an entire day early! Because the next step is the trusses and we couldn’t start them due to the concrete needing a couple of days to really set up, it opened up another opportunity for us – we got to visit Grassier, the village where this organization built their first houses. Also, in Grassier was a school and an all-girls orphanage.
One tangible way we saw God protecting us – on this day we were supposed to be at the work site. We weren’t supposed to finish a day early. Because we did finish early, we went in the opposite direction to visit Grassier. That day, due to protesting, we got 6 alerts from the American Embassy, 3 of which advised against travel in the exact area where we were supposed to be driving back and forth to the job site. Wow! God’s plans are perfect!
I had many wonderful experiences last week, but I think this day was my favorite. It was so good to hold and love those kids.
A couple of facts about the school:
1. Over 200 children attend the school.
2. The average daily walk to school is about an hour each way.
3. Some of the kids walk over 2 hours each way every day.
4. For lunch, each child has to pay approximately $1 American, which will often be the only meal they get that day (if they can afford to pay the fee.)
5. The price to attend school for 1 year is approximately $30 American.
6. Haitian children often won’t complete school until they’re in their early 20’s, because if they can’t afford the school fee one year, they have to wait until the next year to continue.
We were blessed to have the opportunity to buy lunch for all of the children for an entire week! It was so cool!
On Friday we had a “culture day,” where we visited a museum to learn about Haiti’s culture, we ate lunch at the Overlook, and visited the Baptist Mission. It was a wonderful day and a lot of fun to learn more about Haiti. While we were at the Baptist Mission, our leader received 3 phone calls from friends, advising us to leave immediately, because there was trouble close to home. We left right away and we didn’t see a speck of violence. God’s provision was certainly felt!
Haiti has a lot of needs, but God is moving. It was wonderful to be a part of something like this. I met some new friends, as well, that live both here in the States and in Haiti. I don’t know what God’s plans are for my future, but I can’t wait to find out!!
Fruit Worthy 