Day 7- Three Ring Circus

Today is our last full day in Haiti. We leave tomorrow at noon on our flight back to the US.

When we got to the worksite today Stevenson was already working with the kids. We had 140 kids there! We had set up some tarps above us. Today we needed three tarps to fit everyone. So the performers were practicing (and eventually performing) under the big top.

Behind the church the ladies were cooking lunch as they do everyday. They worked so hard all week and made great food! I have a picture with the matriarch of the church (Madame St. Jean) who also helped cook every day. That was the second ring of the circus.

The third ring was the concrete roof that was poured today! The concrete workers did have a cement mixer, which is rare for Haiti. However the only way to transport the concrete up to the roof was by bucket brigade. They were very quick and they slid the buckets down a rope back to the bottom. They had the whole roof poured by 1:30.

Gilbert (the leader of the neighborhood) took us on a tour of the neighborhood to show us where some of the money from prior trips has gone. Many of the people in the neighborhood still live in tents. If they have houses they are one room. For some the kitchen is outside. We met one man who is 85 and blind. He lives in a tent with only a cot in it. We will leave more money to make more repairs to other houses. It was eye opening to see where the people we have been working with live… I wonder how they always look so clean and put together at bible school. Here is one house that was fixed up with some money that my group had previously given:

And here is the kitchen for that house:

Gilbert allowed us to ask him some questions. He said that when people do not have enough food the neighborhood often shares what they have. He also said that many people do not have jobs. Our driver Johnny told us that out of 8 million people in Haiti only about 400,000 have jobs. Johnny used to be a science teacher (!) for twelve years and did not even make enough to feed his family. Gilbert is on the left and Johnny is on the right:

We toured the neighborhood for about half an hour. Then it was time for the kids to perform! I have some videos of the different performances. Many children sang songs and read poems. There was the fashion show that I mentioned yesterday as well as a break dancing performance. Everyone was very engaged in the show.

I really loved this little girl:

Then it was time for lunch. We fed over 140 kids and probably about 250 people total from the neighborhood and church. It feels much more important to feed the people after having seen where they live.

We also bought 150 Cokes for the adults and kids. They really enjoyed them and were excited to have something that they could not have otherwise afforded.

Then it was time to give out the items that we brought. First we all said something to the group and had Michelle translate. She pretended to have a high voice like me when I spoke. We gave the bags with school supplies to the kids along with a tee shirt. Adults got tee shirts, work gloves and hats. Some people got some of our suitcases… Johnny and another guest house worker got s couple also. We made sure to take care of the people at the guest house first since they have taken such good care of us. Gift giving became pandemonium. I suppose if you have nothing it is important to get as much as you can when you can.

I gave my own hat to my Ayana. She was a very quiet girl that stuck with me all week and just sat quietly and hugged me most of the time. She was so sweet and reminded me so much of myself. She enjoyed being quiet and still and was often just a bit outside the rest of the group. She is about 8 or 9 and I really connected with her.

As we are about to return to the US I am reflecting more and more about this trip. I had so much fun, built strong relationships both with my team and the people here (especially the children). The people are so welcoming and appreciative of all the help we have given them. It is easy to pretend that you know what poverty is and what Haiti might be like, but you will not truly know until you come here. The poverty of the people is overwhelming and I cannot imagine growing up or living in that kind of poverty. And yet they are such a vibrant people with a joyful spirit. They have a strong faith and big hearts. I only hope that I can come back and do more. I think they have done more for me than I have done for them.

In Jesus’ Name,

Carolyn