Alright, I'm back. Sorry for the delay, but I didn't want to have one giant post that made you go blind from reading it. I think I left off in Haiti starting Saturday morning, January 30th.
On Saturday I went with a couple of guys to take an extra mattress, an old metal frame, and some cinder blocks to a blind widow with diabetes. This lady had a small son who had to be around 3-4 years old who led her around. The orphanage really tries to help her out as much as possible with food and medical attention. She had never had a proper bed before and was sleeping on the dirt floor in the little wood shack she was living in. She was so excited when we came and she didn't realize that we were going to do that. After we set it up she walked around yelling "Glory to God!" in Creole and hugging and kissing us on our cheeks.
Later that day I rode in the big truck with several of the other team members to the "air strip" on one side of the city. We had to go there because Danita had found three more kids in Port au Prince that had had amputations and could not travel to the orphanage via a truck. So, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) flew them in that afternoon and we were there to pick them up. It was really hot in the sun and probably around the upper 90s. When the plane came there were hundreds of people around our truck trying to see us and the plane that was landing on the grass field. In fact when the plane was landing and taking off we had to work really hard to keep everyone off the field and out of the way.
Once we had the kids we loaded them up and took them back to the orphanage. One little boy had had an amputated arm to the shoulder and a broken femur that was casted without x-rays and was in a body cast from the waste down. Another little girl also had a broken femur and was casted from the waste down without x-rays. The third little boy actually had severe cerebral palsy and his mother had took him to a hospital for a few stitches and then abandoned him there without anybody to take care of him.
The rest of the day we took care of the kids and I started to help a little boy named Johnny to learn how to walk again. (He had had a broken femur and was able to have pins put in it after he had crawled around for 11 days with it sticking out of his skin in Port au Prince).
Later that night we had the biggest scare of the trip. On our way back to our houses around 10pm the first group had a guy on a stolen motorcycle come around a corner on a street and hit one of our team members head on. The lady was named Robin and she is actually Amanda's (our trip leader and Executive Director of Visiting Orphans) sister. When she was hit she thrown around 10 feet away and most everyone right next to her thought she was either dead or seriously injured. The bike was broke and the guy ran away before anybody could get him. After the doctors on our team checked her out we found out that she only had some really bad cuts, bruises, torn clothes, and a busted lip. There truly must have been angels protecting her that night because she should have been hurt really badly. So needless to say, we were on the look out the rest of our way walking back to our houses.
By Sunday we were definitely settling into our routine and our jobs as a team. We got up early and were at the compound by 7:30am. We helped get ready for church service which was outside because of all of the bunk beds in the church. There ended up being around 500-600 people from the town that came for church. The service was really great and I was able to sing along with most of the worship songs in English, even though they were being led in Creole. After church we picked up all of the chairs and settled into the afternoon.
I continued to help Johnny to walk. He is so young and is afraid to use his leg because of the slight pain he still has so it was really difficult to get him to try and use his leg. Some times I bribed him with candy or going to the swings, and other times I would just make him do some shuffling with his leg to get places as much as I could. We made a lot of progress over the first two or three days that I was working with him so that was great. Later in the afternoon I also went around with one of the doctors and a nurse and helped clean the wounds and bandages of the kids with amputations. It was pretty wild seeing the wounds and how they were healing from the surgeries. You could also tell if a kid had had a good surgeon or just a normal person like me to cut their limbs off after the earthquake. In the evening we started to pack up our things back at the house to get ready to leave out on Monday afternoon so I tried to continue to take in as much as I could that afternoon and evening.
On Monday we got up and headed over to the compound. The little boys came over as well so there were a lot of kids running around. All of the kids were out of school across the country because of the disaster. It was tough that morning having to start to wrap things up and to start to say good-bye to the other team members from the US who were staying a little longer. The rest of the morning I hung out with the kids until we had to leave. The hardest part of the whole day was as we were leaving, several of the boy from the house I was staying in started asking if I was really leaving and that they wanted me to stay with them. They said that would come to America and bring me back some day. It was very touching and I really do miss those guys. They reminded me a lot also of my youngest nephews.
From there we started walking back to the Dominican Republic. It was crazier this time because it was a "Market Day." Basically there were thousands of people in fields, along the roads, in the roads, etc. All crossing the boarder back and forth buying and selling goods. (Fridays and Mondays are market days there) and it's absolutely crazy. You basically had to put everything in your pockets in your backpack and then carry your backpack on the front of you. After a while we finally made it back to the Hotel Massacre and our waiting mini-bus. From there we drove back through all of the military check points and to our hotel. We all had dinner together that night and hit the hay.
On Tuesday morning we woke up early and headed to the airport. We spent the whole day flying from Santiago to Miami (and through customs), then to Dallas and back to Nashville getting in around 7-8pm that night. The next morning I was back at my desk at work at 7:30am.
So, it was definitely a wild trip and I was really glad to be able to go and to experience all of the people, kids, and events that I did. There was so much that I left out of these two posts, but there is no way that anybody would have read it all had I written it down so I tried to just hit the highlights.
Here are some things that stood out to me though. It's amazing to me that Haiti has all of the problems that it does (extreme poverty, a very corrupt government, and huge strongholds of voodoo practice) yet they are only around 300 and something miles from the coast of FL (an hour and change flight. It amazes me how hard-working and giving the people there are. You could have a kid that hasn't eaten in days...give them a cookie...and if they see another kid off to the side or even me (who really needs a cookie... ha), they will go over and offer some of it to them.
All of the kids at the orphanage share everything including their clothes. They're extremely smart and loving. Also, the three women that run the orphanage are truly amazing to me and really strong women of God. It was truly a privilege to get to watch them interact with the kids and to love on them. I really do think that watching Danita with the kids is the closest I've ever gotten to seeing somebody like a Mother Teresa. It was also really neat for me to be with the younger boys so much and to also get to hang around the older boys as well.
It seems all boys are the same, no-matter what country you are in across the world. I think that's comforting to know. It's also very evident at how much they desire to have a male figure (a father figure) in their lives. They have some awesome mothers for sure and pastor Samuel that is there surely does a great job with them as much as one man can. However, you could see them wanting to be around all of the men at the orphanage. It felt like they were trying to soak up all of the masculine strength around them like a sponge in some ways. There's nothing like having 10 little boys all trying to jump on you and take you down at the same time...or sitting on each side of you all taking punches at your upper arms while your flexing.
There is definitely a great need there in Haiti. Probably beyond what most of us can really understand or grasp. While I was there I was really trying to figure out why God had led me there and what I could really do to touch such a large need. I think that after thinking about it I just realized that I could do only what I'm capable of and I had to do whatever I could. One person can make a difference for sure, but it's pretty awesome to see what that can look like when millions of people offer themselves in different ways to just help out in any way that they can. That's when you really see things come together for sure. It always starts with one person.
So, I think that I will wrap things up here and I appreciate you taking the time to read everything if you've made it this far. My trip was a great reminder to me at how truly blessed I am here on this end with my family, friends, country, life, and resources. I don't ever want to take it for granted and it really is a great responsibility to have been blessed like we have.
I am also really proud to be an American after going on this trip and seeing the out-pouring from Americans trying to help in anyway that they can. Thanks so much for your support and I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!
On Saturday I went with a couple of guys to take an extra mattress, an old metal frame, and some cinder blocks to a blind widow with diabetes. This lady had a small son who had to be around 3-4 years old who led her around. The orphanage really tries to help her out as much as possible with food and medical attention. She had never had a proper bed before and was sleeping on the dirt floor in the little wood shack she was living in. She was so excited when we came and she didn't realize that we were going to do that. After we set it up she walked around yelling "Glory to God!" in Creole and hugging and kissing us on our cheeks.
Later that day I rode in the big truck with several of the other team members to the "air strip" on one side of the city. We had to go there because Danita had found three more kids in Port au Prince that had had amputations and could not travel to the orphanage via a truck. So, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) flew them in that afternoon and we were there to pick them up. It was really hot in the sun and probably around the upper 90s. When the plane came there were hundreds of people around our truck trying to see us and the plane that was landing on the grass field. In fact when the plane was landing and taking off we had to work really hard to keep everyone off the field and out of the way.
Once we had the kids we loaded them up and took them back to the orphanage. One little boy had had an amputated arm to the shoulder and a broken femur that was casted without x-rays and was in a body cast from the waste down. Another little girl also had a broken femur and was casted from the waste down without x-rays. The third little boy actually had severe cerebral palsy and his mother had took him to a hospital for a few stitches and then abandoned him there without anybody to take care of him.
The rest of the day we took care of the kids and I started to help a little boy named Johnny to learn how to walk again. (He had had a broken femur and was able to have pins put in it after he had crawled around for 11 days with it sticking out of his skin in Port au Prince).
Later that night we had the biggest scare of the trip. On our way back to our houses around 10pm the first group had a guy on a stolen motorcycle come around a corner on a street and hit one of our team members head on. The lady was named Robin and she is actually Amanda's (our trip leader and Executive Director of Visiting Orphans) sister. When she was hit she thrown around 10 feet away and most everyone right next to her thought she was either dead or seriously injured. The bike was broke and the guy ran away before anybody could get him. After the doctors on our team checked her out we found out that she only had some really bad cuts, bruises, torn clothes, and a busted lip. There truly must have been angels protecting her that night because she should have been hurt really badly. So needless to say, we were on the look out the rest of our way walking back to our houses.
By Sunday we were definitely settling into our routine and our jobs as a team. We got up early and were at the compound by 7:30am. We helped get ready for church service which was outside because of all of the bunk beds in the church. There ended up being around 500-600 people from the town that came for church. The service was really great and I was able to sing along with most of the worship songs in English, even though they were being led in Creole. After church we picked up all of the chairs and settled into the afternoon.
I continued to help Johnny to walk. He is so young and is afraid to use his leg because of the slight pain he still has so it was really difficult to get him to try and use his leg. Some times I bribed him with candy or going to the swings, and other times I would just make him do some shuffling with his leg to get places as much as I could. We made a lot of progress over the first two or three days that I was working with him so that was great. Later in the afternoon I also went around with one of the doctors and a nurse and helped clean the wounds and bandages of the kids with amputations. It was pretty wild seeing the wounds and how they were healing from the surgeries. You could also tell if a kid had had a good surgeon or just a normal person like me to cut their limbs off after the earthquake. In the evening we started to pack up our things back at the house to get ready to leave out on Monday afternoon so I tried to continue to take in as much as I could that afternoon and evening.
On Monday we got up and headed over to the compound. The little boys came over as well so there were a lot of kids running around. All of the kids were out of school across the country because of the disaster. It was tough that morning having to start to wrap things up and to start to say good-bye to the other team members from the US who were staying a little longer. The rest of the morning I hung out with the kids until we had to leave. The hardest part of the whole day was as we were leaving, several of the boy from the house I was staying in started asking if I was really leaving and that they wanted me to stay with them. They said that would come to America and bring me back some day. It was very touching and I really do miss those guys. They reminded me a lot also of my youngest nephews.
From there we started walking back to the Dominican Republic. It was crazier this time because it was a "Market Day." Basically there were thousands of people in fields, along the roads, in the roads, etc. All crossing the boarder back and forth buying and selling goods. (Fridays and Mondays are market days there) and it's absolutely crazy. You basically had to put everything in your pockets in your backpack and then carry your backpack on the front of you. After a while we finally made it back to the Hotel Massacre and our waiting mini-bus. From there we drove back through all of the military check points and to our hotel. We all had dinner together that night and hit the hay.
On Tuesday morning we woke up early and headed to the airport. We spent the whole day flying from Santiago to Miami (and through customs), then to Dallas and back to Nashville getting in around 7-8pm that night. The next morning I was back at my desk at work at 7:30am.
So, it was definitely a wild trip and I was really glad to be able to go and to experience all of the people, kids, and events that I did. There was so much that I left out of these two posts, but there is no way that anybody would have read it all had I written it down so I tried to just hit the highlights.
Here are some things that stood out to me though. It's amazing to me that Haiti has all of the problems that it does (extreme poverty, a very corrupt government, and huge strongholds of voodoo practice) yet they are only around 300 and something miles from the coast of FL (an hour and change flight. It amazes me how hard-working and giving the people there are. You could have a kid that hasn't eaten in days...give them a cookie...and if they see another kid off to the side or even me (who really needs a cookie... ha), they will go over and offer some of it to them.
All of the kids at the orphanage share everything including their clothes. They're extremely smart and loving. Also, the three women that run the orphanage are truly amazing to me and really strong women of God. It was truly a privilege to get to watch them interact with the kids and to love on them. I really do think that watching Danita with the kids is the closest I've ever gotten to seeing somebody like a Mother Teresa. It was also really neat for me to be with the younger boys so much and to also get to hang around the older boys as well.
It seems all boys are the same, no-matter what country you are in across the world. I think that's comforting to know. It's also very evident at how much they desire to have a male figure (a father figure) in their lives. They have some awesome mothers for sure and pastor Samuel that is there surely does a great job with them as much as one man can. However, you could see them wanting to be around all of the men at the orphanage. It felt like they were trying to soak up all of the masculine strength around them like a sponge in some ways. There's nothing like having 10 little boys all trying to jump on you and take you down at the same time...or sitting on each side of you all taking punches at your upper arms while your flexing.
There is definitely a great need there in Haiti. Probably beyond what most of us can really understand or grasp. While I was there I was really trying to figure out why God had led me there and what I could really do to touch such a large need. I think that after thinking about it I just realized that I could do only what I'm capable of and I had to do whatever I could. One person can make a difference for sure, but it's pretty awesome to see what that can look like when millions of people offer themselves in different ways to just help out in any way that they can. That's when you really see things come together for sure. It always starts with one person.
So, I think that I will wrap things up here and I appreciate you taking the time to read everything if you've made it this far. My trip was a great reminder to me at how truly blessed I am here on this end with my family, friends, country, life, and resources. I don't ever want to take it for granted and it really is a great responsibility to have been blessed like we have.
I am also really proud to be an American after going on this trip and seeing the out-pouring from Americans trying to help in anyway that they can. Thanks so much for your support and I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!
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