This morning is new. At least that’s what the sun is showing
me.
After talking with Carly, an 18-year-old adventurer, about
the impact of international travel on each of us, I drifted to sleep to the hum
of praise music. Last night’s melodies weren’t coming from a radio or iPod,
rather, from a congregation just down the street.
……………………
I wrote the above after a night of ache. Even though it was
my fourth trip back to Haiti, the reality that these kids never leave their
poor situation hit me once again.
Our mission for the May 2-6, 2012 trip was to install a complete solar panel system at one of our orphanages--a process led by Jake Gentry, founder of Orphans to Ambassadors (O2A). But even if the mission was different than anything Child in Hand had done before, the impact of Haitian life vs. my own continues to conflict.
I can endure no air conditioning for a time knowing
the constant sweating and mosquito bites will only last a few days. I have so
much hope for my future endeavors, but do they? I just ripped off the crust from
my sandwich, sparing the carbs, while they wonder if they will get to eat twice
today instead of just once.
Yet, the purity in their poverty is striking. The kids are
so beautiful—so happy to be swung in circles around the yard.
One morning, Ronald, a Haitian
member of the Child in Hand (CiH) team, made sure we had the two Styrofoam
packaging blocks before we left the house. I watched him and wondered silently why we needed
them since they were broken and clearly beyond their useful state. Then,
before leaving the orphanage at the end of that day, I saw white foam waving around the yard, with kids banging on it like a drum and squealing with delight. I turned to Ronald, who winked at me and smiled.
…………………….
Willy, another Haitian CiH team member, was on the unstable
tin roof of the Foyer Evangelique orphanage for hours adjusting and nailing and sweating over
the six solar panels to be anchored. Everyone else from Orphans to Ambassadors
and Child in Hand was too big to stand safely on the roof, so Willy, who was later
dubbed the “MVP” of Installation Day 2, and a few rotating orphan boys braved
the blazing sun and followed instructions as they secured the panels onto the
underlying two-by-fours.
How beautiful it was to see these young men take hold of a
screwdriver for the first time, being taught by Dave and Jake, of Orphans to
Ambassadors, the process of the installation. Such efforts equip them with the
skills and ownership of maintaining the system and encouraging hope in their
ability to do new things.
…………………….
Stenda celebrated her 18th birthday the day we
first arrived at FE on May 3. We had not originally planned to stop by this
orphanage, so her birthday was a fun surprise. I got to hug my tall sister in
Christ once again. She looked at me with love and told me, via Willy’s
translation, that last night she had a dream about me showing up!
Stenda and some of the older girls spent all day doing
laundry. After tub washing and wringing, the clothes were laid out along the
surrounding rocks to sun dry.
………………………
We did not change the world in five days.
We did accomplish the mission of installing an entire six solar panel system in one of our orphanages.
So I suppose we did change the world—
The world of those 32 kids who turned on a light in their bedroom on May 5, 2012 for the first time.
We did accomplish the mission of installing an entire six solar panel system in one of our orphanages.
So I suppose we did change the world—
The world of those 32 kids who turned on a light in their bedroom on May 5, 2012 for the first time.
Thank you, God. Thank you, Orphans to Ambassadors. Thank you,
Lily Richardson. Thank you to each person who has donated to Child in Hand and
O2A with the hope of real change for people who need it.
On with the journey…
