Haiti Day 5: Kid Crazy!

Another crazy long day (which is why this is being posted in the morning…I was in desperate need of a good night’s sleep). We woke up early, ate a quick breakfast of potatoes and eggs, and headed off to the church and Pastor’s house. Poor Donna wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed behind in bed all day. We dropped a few people off at the church to do some ground leveling work even though we weren’t supposed to do any construction on the building at all (see yesterday’s post). The rest of us went to Pastor’s house to help cook for the feeding program that would be held later that afternoon. Most of us washed dishes. The locals kept laughing at James because he was a “man doing a woman’s work.” He took it well.

VBS was held that school across the street from Pastor’s house. I was amazed at the school. It was a shell of a building…2 stories tall. All of the classrooms had huge openings for windows both to the outside and to other classrooms. I’m not sure how teachers teach without being distracted by other rooms. Each room had a chalkboard on a stand and some homemade bench desks for the kids to sit on.

We had over 250 kids from the community at VBS. It was INSANE! They were separated into groups by age and shuffled around to 3 different activities. I was in charge of the 9-12 year olds. We played with a parachute and beach ball, had sack races, read Biblical stories to the kids, and made friendship bracelets. The kids seemed to really enjoy it. They will continue tomorrow, however we will not be a part of it.

After VBS, we held the feeding program. Many of the children down here are sponsored by people from New River Church in Nashville. Some of the team members sponsor these kids also. Sponsorship involves giving $30 a month which provides 3 meals a week, schooling, money for clothes, with some left over to go the child’s family. We set up tables for the sponsored kids in Pastor’s house and served them huge plates of red beans and rice with some meat and vegetables. The plates were so big that I wasn’t sure that the kids little bellies would be able to eat it all, but not one child left a scrape on their plate. Not only do they feed the kids, but they also teach them manners. Every child waited until all 60+ of them had their food in front of them to dig in. Once everyone had their food, he showed them how to place their napkin, and how to use the fork and spoon to eat without just digging in and shoveling it down. It was definitely a humbling experience.

We came back to the hotel for some R and R after the hectic morning, which I definitely needed. After standing out in the high noon sun and sitting in Pastor’s hot, hot house all morning, I was definitely feeling over-heated and my heart was beating irregularly. I changed the bandages on my wounds and cleaned them out. All wounds seem to be doing well except for the one on my left hand. It’s deep, really oozy and really nasty looking. I don’t think my hand is going to fall off, but it will probably take another day or two for me to figure out if it gets infected, or if my body is able to naturally clear it out and begin healing it. A highlight of the day for me was the wicked ghetto tan lines I got from all of the bandages…especially the left hand one. I didn’t know that I could tan so dark, so fast, but apparently I can because in the 4 hours that I was outside today, I have some really crazy tan line designs on my hands and knees from the ghetto way I had to rig up the band aids because my sweat was just making them fall off.

Tonight was our first community outreach crusade in a neighborhood nearby. When we drove up on the taptap, tons of kids started running along side the truck screaming and yelling and welcoming us. It was the best welcome I think I’ve ever gotten. When we got out, all of the kids grabbed our hands and led us over to where the crowd would be. They didn’t want to let go. I had one tiny little girl grab my hand with both of hers, big smile on her face, jumping up and down saying “blon, blon” which is Crole for White. She just kept saying it. I didn’t know what to say back so I was just like, “that’s right, me Blon.”

The band from the church played some music, some of the team introduced themselves and Tom and I both spoke to the crowd…Tom on salvation, and I about life’s trials and Jesus’s comfort (Read my storm’s blog post). It went really well. I had many compliments on my message after the outreach. I can honestly say that I don’t really even remember speaking…it was totally a God experience with the words that poured out of me. I’m jut thankful that I didn’t mess up or look like a moron...thanks for your prayers.

Back at the hotel…I went to bed almost immediately. Today was the most wearing day on my body that I’ve had here so far…but as I’m writing this and posting it the next morning, I feel completely recovered after getting a good night’s sleep. We go to the orphanage today which is what I have been looking most forward to on this trip. I’m not sure if I will get any interaction with the kids. We are supposed to be doing some painting on the building.

Also, this morning is very winding and there are some awesome clouds as I look out my hotel window. Some kids last night was trying to tell us that a hurricane is heading towards us. We didn’t believe him but I just checked the forecast and he was totally right. Oh My! Hurricane Gustav is a category 1 hurricane and is expected to go directly over us tonight! Don't worry mom...I'm safe. I think. If I survived Hurricane Andrew...I can certainly survive a category 1 in a third world country!