Daylight after a long night -- Wed. March 3

A new day has come after a very dark and long night. As we were preparing to land at the airport in Haiti I could see tent cities and the army tents from the sky and my excitement grew. The logistics at the airport were very different, but peaceful with servicemen all around. We met up with Marie and got to ride in her “new” pickup truck. I found the streets to look basically the same. The ‘’old Haiti” already looked so distressed, that I didn’t see much change. Once we reached Marie’s neighborhood I began to see the damage in her area. Small tent cities were in place (30-50) and security walls down. When we reached the orphanage I could already see that the outside security wall had been replaced. When I walked through the gate and saw the mound of rubble that used to be the church and orphanage I just broke into tears. I thought I was prepared through pictures Jim had provided, but I wasn’t. I was overwhelmed with the scattering of all the contents that was housed in these buildings. Everything was jammed into school classrooms or strewn on the ground. A shoe here, doll there, piece of clothing, etc. It was MUCH more than I could stand to look at. It was TOTALLY overwhelming. Marie and I stood and cried and she was so discouraged, which gave me strength. I assured her one day we would remember this moment as we saw a new orphanage and church standing tall. She said she hoped she would live to see it. I was greeted with huge smiles from the girls and I cried thru that, too! (Surprise, surprise!) Once the darkness came, it seemed to affect me even more.
While some things felt the same, it was totally different. I felt displaced, just as the girls are by being here. To watch them lay out their thin blankets/sheets onto the cement under the stars and just lie down in their dirty clothes, I thought my heart would break. Marie sounded so drained and discouraged and I had a hard time assuring her all will be fine when I could see it will take SO long to return to whatever normal will be.
Under our mosquito nets we all tried to sleep. I have a lump in my throat as I type this as I can’t believe this is “life in Haiti”. The roosters had their normal performance from about 1:00 a.m. until we got up at 6:00 a.m. Joan and Jeneane are coloring with the younger girls right now which give them something to do. The 6-7 older girls are shelling beans. Everyone has their job. A couple of the six year olds were mopping the cement this morning after a 10 year old finished sweeping. My mission today is to keep the girls busy so Marie has a break and to encourage her. She already put on the new dress and shoes I brought her and feels special! I am sure after today, it will start feeling “normal” to me, too! To say that Haitians are “survivors”, would be putting it mildly. A huge reminder of all the things that stressed me out before I came, I am humbled and ashamed. Time to embrace the day --- I’ve certainly waited long enough to get here!