Our final two full days in Haiti were an unexpected gift. Our original plan was to go work at Lophane's or other various things that required a bus to get us there.
While we were in Haiti this time, we were getting email updates from the Embassy about various protest or "manifestations" as they call them about the gas prices. We heard anywhere from $10/gal to $20/gal is what it had gotten up to. Regardless of how high it had gotten, it was too high. Think about how riled up we get when gas hits $5. Now imagine your power source was a generator that ran on gas. And your water source was a pump that only ran if you had electricity (which is sketchy at best there) or your generator. And now imagine you lived on $2/day.
That is in a nutshell the status of many, many Haitians. So they planned a transportation strike for Monday and Tuesday. This meant that no vehicles would be on the roads. Road blocks were put up and there was talk of some rock throwing and vandalism if you did drive. Motos were allowed to some degree and bicycles. We thought it was best if we just stayed put at Gertrude's, which ended up being pretty amazing. We needed every last minute to divide up and organize the donations you all sent.
We were able to take some of the special needs kids out around the block. Which you can tell is no small feat considering the road conditions. It was a workout, but they loved it so much! The young man I had was so happy! He had this little beat in his head that he would thump out on his chest. We chatted and talked as we walked.
We still had so much rice and beans to divide up so we spent time working on that, as well. Alana and her painting crew worked on the mural and the baby room too!
The real blessings of the days came when we were able to walk to an orphanage just down the road. It was about a 10 minute walk, but with no vehicles on the road, we had freedom to roam a bit. We found out about the orphanage, Family Care Center, because Lauren, who has been working for Notre Maison for over a year is engaged to Chedner, who owns this orphanage. Chedner is Gertrude's nephew. 
These two boys were great artists. They were drawing color pages for the younger ones to use.
Their needs are great.
But their smiles were big.
We went back the second day and noticed some of the children had put on some "fancier" clothes. Lauren told us they knew we were coming this time so wanted to dress extra nice for our visit. The sweetest.
Some fun happened on one of our walks back. We got to play some basketball! One of my favorite memories, for sure, mostly because it was unique to the circumstances. The roads were clear so the boys were playing right on the street. We asked if we could play for a bit and they were all about it. We had quite the audience by the time we finished :-)
We were also able to just be with the kids at Notre Maison which is rare for these trips since we're always "out." We took them down to their school yard and ran around. Little Alvarez found some baby chicks and a momma along one of the walls and I walked over with him. He was yelling at them, 'Ey, sak pase!" (Hey, what's up?) Made me giggle :-) We wore him and the others out that day. I wasn't too upset with some snuggle time!
The extra time also gave us opportunity to get to know Lauren and little Nadia better, which I'm very grateful for. I love her sense of adventure and trust in this stage in her life. It is not easy to live in Haiti, but she is building her only little family there and writing a beautiful life story.
Final day started early and ended late. We left for the airport Wednesday in the morning and got home around 1:00 am Thursday. It is always hard to leave, but I came back this time feeling excited and with energy I hadn't really felt on previous trips. I know it was adoption related in some degree in that we knew we were starting the process once I got back. But also, I think, I'm getting it, little by little. I'm learning to love two places and be at peace with that. I'm learning to be present where I am in location and in circumstances. I'm learning that these people are becoming our friends and not just a place we visit. I'm learning to be still and watch as our story unfolds in Haiti. I'm learning...
Next up...Adoption news!! Woop, woop!! ;-)
You are learning but also teaching through this. Teaching us as you learn. I love you and your heart so much, sister.
ReplyDelete