Thursday, January 15, 2015

A day filled with Grace

Day 4 started off with a special treat; a 6 am Haitian church service.  Haitian churches are much different than most churches in the US in the sense that it has less to do with listening to a sermon, and more to do with individually expressing one’s love and prayers to God through music and prayer.  We saw many people praying up and down the aisles, along with people pacing back and forth within the pews.  We decided to walk back from the church instead of taking the tap-tap in order to experience a more typical Haitian morning.  
After arriving back at the guest house we all ate our typical, delicious, family-style breakfast.  Today’s schedule consisted of a visit to Grace Village, caring for the local elders, and an emotional stop at the mass grave.  Grace Village was created by the people of Healing Haiti back in 2011.  In short, it is a place for the people of Haiti to go for many different reasons.  Grace Village is compiled of many different aspects including a school, a clinic, a bakery, and homes for children who didn’t previously have homes, or were no longer able to stay at other orphanages.  Grace Village was built to give children homes, a place learn, jobs for adults, and an opportunity for the Haitians to look forward to their future.  Fortunately, we had the opportunity to play with the kids during their recess time.  Nothing makes the kids smile more than picking them up and hugging them constantly.  I (Danny) immediately connected with a boy whom I couldn’t understand what he said his name was.  He was a young boy, probably around the age of 4, and loved when I would push him on the swing.  The toughest part of hanging out with the little kids is saying goodbye when they have to go back to class.  This little guy didn’t realize how he was making my day so much better with only a few hugs and some good ole’ fun.
Our next activity for the day included visiting and caring for the elderly within Titan Ye.  In Creole, Titan Ye stands for “less than nothing”.  We made several different stops to the homes of elderly women.  During these stops, we cleaned their hands and feet, rubbed lotion on their hands and feet, prayed for them, gave dresses and shorts to the children in surrounding homes, and sang with the help of guitar from our Haitian leader, Emmanuel.  I (Sammy), with the help of Emmanuel, freshened up my piano skills for the first time in a very, very long time and was actually awakened to the fact that we, as Americans, live extremely busy lifestyles.  Between work, school, homework, and other daily activities, we forget to take the time to really slow down and take the time to do what really makes us happy.  It’s important to take time every day to relax and thank God for the blessings and beauty in each and every day.  

Our last stop of the day included a stop at the Mass Grave.  Over 300,000 people were killed during the earthquake and being able to see the grave was extremely emotional and moving.  While at the mass grave, we got the opportunity to hear a first hand experience from our Haitian leader, Brunet.  Brunet was downtown when the earthquake hit and therefore saw everything happen right before his eyes.  Hearing his story really turned the entire situation into reality.  Once Brunet finished his story, we realized that there was a large group of Haitians that lived in Titan Ye who had surrounded us.  We decided to give them meals from Feed My Starving Children, and since we didn’t have enough to go around, we handed out two bags of our own personal snacks to help.  Perhaps the most difficult part was still not being able to give food to every person that came to us.

Sammy and Danny



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