Well, it’s a miracle that we actually slept last night since there was a fury of events. For the boys, Dave was met with an Army of fire ants in his bed. Lesson #15 for the week, ‘Never, repeat Never, leave open food on your bed!’ Lesson #16 quickly followed with, ‘100%deet kills everything!’ On the girl’s side, Courtney had a fury visitor or the rodent type of persuasion. Apparently, mosquito nets repel more than we expected.
Today we needed all the energy we could muster since we were visiting 3 places; Cohena Orphanage, Port Au Prince and the Metal Works village which were all interesting.
First came Cohena where we were greeted by 45 happy children who looked very bored. They are not going to school right now and it was very clear that there was NOTHING to do. We started by handing out hand-made goodie bags that where put together with love by Kristin, Martha and Maria a few days ago. I think that’s where Kristin learned Lesson #12- 100% deet actually takes the color out of anything it comes into contact with your skins. In her case, a plastic goodie bag with blue polka dots. She was very fashionable with blue dots on her leg for the rest of the day. The children also loved the bags and were very grateful. Next, Renee delivered some sponsor gifts to some children who just beamed! The Butler’s boy, Lunard has picked up some soccer moves since last year! Of course, he’s an honorary Butler! The Campbell family’s sponsored girl is so beautiful! All the kids there look very healthy! After the kids had some fun chewing gum and blowing bubbles, we moved on to passing out dresses to the girls, which were made with love by Lisa from Wheatland Salem Church. They looked so sweet! The boys were soon dressed in Chicago Fire shirts and playing keep away in two groups in the small orphanage. They are great at making do with what they have. It was tough to leave, especially for John who was held tightly by one child and left with a cry soaked shoulder!
Next was fighting the traffic to make out way to Port Au Prince. Nas, our driver was very skilled for driving in Haiti which Austin says makes driving in downtown Chicago seem like a breeze! Diane had a few heart attack moments along the way which made Renee and Bob chuckle. The scenery was much more disturbing than the traffic. The group was awestruck by the amount of devastation and poverty that exists there. We have been a bit sheltered staying at New Life Children’s Orphanage by the wonderful accommodations and it was a bit of culture shock to leave. The veterans of Haiti missions did notice some signs of rebuilding. Pastor Bob actually recalled a particular building which was just starting his last trip and is now complete and looks really good! There were many more trucks than usually and we even saw some construction equipment. God is so good. We did have a slight reprieve with Lunch at the Emporia which was very much improved and expanded from last year’s trip. I (Diane) almost thought I was at the mall until the food came and it was pizza, Haitian style, and side orders of questionable chicken nuggets. Aren’t all chicken nuggets a mystery though?
Finally, after we were re-energized, we were off to a long, long ride to the Metal Works shop. The group was amazed at how talented these men were to create such amazing things from pounded out trash barrels using only a nail and hammer. We were all amazed once again with the driving of Nas and Rene’ who managed to get us across town in Haiti traffic in less than an hour. We admit that some of his ‘short cuts’ were a bit scary. The adults were amazed with the youth’s bargaining skills. They started as very shy about the whole matter on the bus but after the first,’ score’ by Patrick for a gecko, the competition was ON. We are finding that several days of soccer has made them quite competitive! The winner for the day, with the best bargain was Martha, who got a kids around the world that was originally priced at $20 and she walked away paying only $8. The shopping was put to an end by the mounting traffic and Bob bringing in the troops.
When we returned, it took only about 10 minutes before the youth were out on the field to join the kids in playing soccer, what else. The dinner bell didn’t even stop them. A short rest then devotions with the kids at 7 sharp (Haitian time). Austin was really a trooper since he didn’t turn down his new buddies Jeremy and Louis for a shoulder rides even though they are still bright red from our beach trip. Now that’s sacrifice!
Today’s post was brought to you by Austin and Diane.
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