Haiti Day 5

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.

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