Today we had the opportunity to go on 2 water truck stops
and to visit the Home for Sick and Dying Babies again. I think we all felt like we knew what to
expect since we had previously done both earlier this week. Of course – nothing
is ever as we expectJ We stopped at 2 different places in Cite
Soleil – each were so different than what we had seen on Tuesday. Last night we
had rain – the streets had puddles and standing water in lots of places. It was
hard to find a place to stand or to sit. There seemed to be so many kids at
this first stop and so much other street activity – carts, bikes, motorcycles
and even another truck. It was almost overwhelming for some of us. Bucket after
bucket was filled and carried until the water ran out. Once the water is out –
we head back to the filling station and wait to be refilled. Kids come from the
neighboring tents to hang with us by the tap-tap – it was so fun to see some of
those kids again today. In this big city
to see some of the same faces again is pretty special. Once the truck is full,
we head out again to the next stop. At this stop – the street was wide and there
looked to be two story apartments. The line was short here. We had to stop the
water a couple of times until there were enough in line to run it again. After
a couple times of stopping the hose – we decided to go back to the first stop
until the water was out.
We were able to have an hour and a half of ‘downtime’ before
going to the hospital. A needed break after the water stops. When we walked into
the Home for Sick and Dying Babies it
was so uplifting to see many of the same babies that we had seen on Wednesday.
One precious little boy was off of his IV’s and was able to so easily be held.
He even ate all of his food. Amazing what progress appeared to be made in just
2 days. One little boy in the corner just melted the hearts of many of us. He
is 3 years old and is severely malnourished – unable to move and can not sit up
on his own. His crib is in the corner and he lays twisted – but as you walk towards
him his face lights up brighter than you can even imagine and he starts to sing
or talk. Today I was able to watch how he touched two of the men on our team.
Our time here was short – it was a hard goodbye. I think everyone we put down
cried – so hard to leave. One little girl ran after us crying “manman”. A
worker at the hospital had to hold onto her as we left.
Each night as we unpack our day – we each pick a ‘word of
the day’ to sum up what today was for us. It really has been amazing to see the
day through each other’s eyes. Today I felt that there was a mix of words –
joy, wish, anger, fulfillment, smiles, challenged, innocence, loved, sadness,
parenting, selfish and images.
Personally, today I struggled with anger. My heart was broken at the first
stop for a few older girls. I don’t know their stories but I know enough to be
angry. I found myself wrestling with the culture here and the way it appears many
women and girls are treated. Seeing the sadness in the older girls versus the
smiles of the young ones. What can be done to stop this, how can this problem
be fixed? I kept trying to turn my anger around – consciously asking myself
“what is God trying to teach me?” As we watched our nightly slideshow I felt I
got a small answer to my question. The
song “Sometimes He Calms the Storm” was playing in the background. The chorus
says
Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea
But it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child
As I listened to these words, I thought about calming the
problem versus calming His child. Each child loved, each child played with,
each child saved is calming the problem and ultimately Healing Haiti.
e cH
