Just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your help and support on our trip to Haiti! In case you missed it, you can go back and read the blog posts from our trip here: http://hchtripmay2009.blogspot.com/
Each team member took a chance to blog about a certain event that happened during the trip and share a part of their experience.
I personally had an amazing time, as I believe all the people on the trip did. It is such a humbling experience to go to a third-world country and see the beauty of the country in terms of the landscape, but also see the extreme poverty and appalling living conditions. It was an amazing and heartbreaking experience.
While we were there, our main task was fixing up a lower level of a house that is home to 5 boys who are in a scholarship program to go to school. These boys are mostly from the mountains surrounding Jacmel, and wouldn’t be able to afford to pay for their high school education. Through the work of the Haitian Children’s home, these boys are given food, shelter and education, providing they maintain their grades. Our project was to scrape the peeling paint in their rooms and repaint the 6 rooms in their level of the house (storage room, 2 bedrooms, bathroom, dining room and kitchen). The boys had been having respiratory problems and we found out there was mold under the paint which was most likely causing their issues. We scraped, bleached and repainted the rooms and even got some decorations for the walls. The boys were so grateful to us for redoing their rooms, and were great about hanging out with us, teaching us some of their language and telling us about themselves.
We also got a chance to help with our friends, the Mangine’s, home. We organized and put away the kids’ clothes and toys, sorted and unpacked bins, and put up some shelves. It was nice to be able to help them get a little more settled, because its obviously no fun to live out of bins for anyone, let alone with all the adjustments they’re going to in their move to Haiti!!
Obviously, a great part of our trip was getting to connect with the HCH kids. My favorite night was when we went over to the house and had dinner and a dance party with the kids. It was so fun to run around and dance and laugh and sing with them. They’re so sweet and funny, its hard to remember sometimes the lives they were living before they came to live with Danny and Leann at the home.
I’ve posted a couple pictures of my trip. Obviously I can’t include them all, considering I have 500+….but I’ve posted some of my favorites. As we’ve gotten back here in the states, I ask that you continue to pray for my team. Almost all of us have had some stomach issues, readjusting to American food and water. Many of us have had respiratory issues as well, most likely from breathing in a lot of mold, dust, and paint fumes. Its also difficult to come back here, feeling like we did good work but knowing there was so much more we could have and want to do. It is hard to adjust to the relative quiet, the overwhelming amount of cars on the road, the amount of people in the grocery store, and the monotony of work.
Thank you again for all of your support- it was an amazing experience and I’m so thankful for the chance to have gone!
