Haiti is a place opposites. Oxymorons. Juxtaposition. And contradiction.
A place of bleeding heart beauty.
A place of pure happiness, yet utter sadness.
A place of spiritual fullness, yet bodily hunger.
A place of hope in what seems like hopelessness.
A place of wide, happy eyes in place of large, sad tears.
A place of peace in the midst of chaos, and joy in the midst of despair.
A place of spiritual riches amongst a tower of earthly trash…
While my heart is broken, I have never been more complete.
Which leads me to a beautiful segue…the eight Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3–12 during the Sermon on the Mount:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (5:3)
Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted. (5:4)
Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth. (5:5)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled. (5:6)
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God. (5:8)
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God. (5:9)
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (5:10)
Giving is truly receiving.
How blessed and humbled am I to receive the gift of Haiti.
- Kelly Puspoki
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Wednesday was a water truck day, meaning we delivered water to the people of Cite Soleil. Cite Soleil is the poorest impoverished place in the Western Hemisphere. We had three stops and three full trucks. We delivered over 9500 gallons of water today to people who won't likely see water again until next week. Pulling up to the first stop I couldn't help but start to cry. Children, hundreds of them, most without bottoms, some with no clothes at all, running up to our bus. Screaming "hey you!" I dried my eyes and 2 minutes later was holding a little boy almost immediately after deboarding the bus. It took me a minute to notice a boo boo, and another 10 to notice that he didn't have any bottoms on. Honestly I was so immune to that after wiping the tears I didn't care. I think in total I held maybe 30 kids and only two were fully clothed. We fixed up his boo boo and at some point I put him down to help with the water hose. That was fun and so organized. Buckets from every direction there were times that it felt like we were really good about not wasting a drop.
On the first stop we went to visit Hope Church which is a legit building where last year there was just rubble and garbage (for the four people who came last year this is an amazing transformation). There will be a school there for the children that were crawling all over me today. At one point I think there were 6 little boys climbing on me. Brunet (one of our translators) had to help me at one point. It was hard not being able to talk to them as much as I would have liked. I don't know much Creole and they know no English besides "Hey you." Each stop was different, the children, the people, the chaos or lack of chaos. The last stop there were much older more aggressive boys that had clearly been influenced by the gangs a bit. I hope that they find the place we went next before its too late.
After three stops we went and played soccer with the boys 9-11 years old. They play with a group called the Haitian Initiative. These children that would normally be on the street now have the opportunity to go to school, learn real life skills, get a hot meal every day, and have a future.
In July, if their grades are good enough, they travel to Minnesota to play in a tournament. All they have to do is come to this safe environment (everyday), play soccer, be respectful and get good grades! Sounds a plan! The program has been running for 4 years with great success. They have three groups; one for girls of any age over 9...they learn about being responsible with their bodies as well. Everything today was so amazing. Best day so far. Enough to make me want to come back every year!
- Lynsey Hochstetler
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