Overload

Sunday is church day in Haiti.  All over, the Haitian people were getting ready to go to church.  At the Christian Light Mission we were also on our way out this morning.  The little kids and the big girls get to ride in the truck to church while the big boys walk about 15 minutes through Port Au Prince.  We American teachers walked with the big boys through the streets/paths/puddles of Port Au Prince today.  I didn't take any pictures as I was simply overloaded and didn't think about how useful these might be for others to share in the experience.  To help you visualize the walk, picture twisted rubble-coated paths filled with stinking garbage everywhere and people of varying degrees of cleanliness with curious eyes for white foreigners.  The buildings are either fallen down cement or make-shift tents made from pieces of scrap metal and random tarps.  This was the basics of the beginning and ending of the walk to church.  Right in the middle we walked through what the locals call "The Ravine".  This is basically a trickling stream that flows down into the city from the mountains.   All along the Ravine are little shacks and houses and people crowd the water for drinking and bathing.  The water is dark with filth and you can almost smell the sickness.  Contaminated water has been the source of Haiti's cholera outbreak that has impacted thousands upon thousands of families.  Needless to say, by the time I got to church my mind was spinning!

I chose "overload" for the title not just because I have been struck today by the poverty I am surrounded by, but also because of the amazing positive experiences that stuck with me today.  As we walked into church the kids and volunteers spread out across the room.  Shenider, an 11 year old boy who came with his brother to the orphanage after being abused followed me in and sat beside me.  Shenider started the sermon by translating from Creole to English for me.  Then he started looking through the pages in my Bible and reading different notes that I have left in there.  By the end of the service he had fallen asleep on my shoulder (a no-no in Haitian culture- but I certainly wasn't going to disturb a peaceful child!)  Seeing a child who has had such a troubled life find quiet and peace while the pastor speaks about a God who loves us was another source of overload for me. 

In America where we so desire peace and comfort, it is difficult to process the extremes of the Haitian culture.  Although I am overloaded today, I am thankful for this experience and think that I should feel this way more often as life certainly seems fuller to me here!  I'm looking for depth of experience instead of looking only for peace and comfort all the time!  Anyway, thanks for continuing to follow along on this journey! The following pictures are from my newly painted and tiled 2nd and 5th grade classroom.  A few kids, and Snoopy the dog, were helping us settle in for tomorrow's lessons!  In Christ, Jessie