Haiti - a place we first left our hearts in 2009. Taken captive by the stark reality of the picture of poverty in a developing country. What of value could we possibly bring? Suitcases filled with medicine, baby formula, and blankets. Suitcases filled with school supplies - crayons, notebooks, pencils, world maps, and picture books. Baggies filled with seeds in the hopes of each school cultivating a Creole garden to help feed children and communities. Hearts filled with love. |
Last summer Brian planned to work on finishing putting soffit and rainspout around a new building he helped roof in February. Teacher training consumed Tara and me as we sought to motivate and inspire teacher leaders to share teaching strategies with others. 2018 was year three of a three-year commitment by 15 schools, 45 teachers, and five teacher leaders. We "graduated" teachers that did not have the benefit of higher education but had the loving heart to teach. We came to bring one drop of water into a very large bucket as we taught lesson planning, text clues, number sense, and writer's workshop. All was dampened by an epidemic of Cholera. The new building became a safe-house for those suffering from this terrifying disease. We watched donkeys deliver the ill and then receive a bath of bleach water to disinfect and prevent further contamination. We saw interpreters cover our classes of drink in order to keep flies from carrying the germs to us. We saw kitchen workers carefully cook all of our food to assure safety.
My husband's 107 year old grandmother was asked what was the greatest change she had seen over the past 100 years. To our surprise, she said it was the roads. Living on a road that turned into a four-lane highway provided her with an insight into the fact that through ease of travel, activity increased. Norm Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize winter and who fed over a billion people during the 20th Century, understood the importance of roads to transport produce in a timely fashion. When he visited countries around the world, one of the first things he encouraged was creating a system of roads which in turn would increase economic development.
The roads of Haiti stand out as a struggle for those who travel them. They are rutty with a variety of rock sizes. Rains will draw huge gullies in the roads, and turn the rough terrain into a slippery mess. These roads are the ones that sick travel to our lone health clinic in this poverty-ridden rural area of Haiti. Roads, even the roughest of roads, provide a journey to clean water and health care.
One Sunday we awoke to travel down the mountainside to church. We carefully made our way down with Abraham and David as escorts. They were by our sides to grab a needed hand or offer a needed arm for steadying us on the journey. We made it to church and we were called forward to say a few words at the end of mass. The congregation welcomed us with smiles and "Bonjour!" We were invited to the rectory for a sit down conversation with the priest.
As we headed back up the mountain, it became clear to me the possibility that I might not make it. It was on that mountain road we saw the beauty of the Haitian people as they smiled at us and offered encouraging words - many of which we could not understand but we did understand their smiles of encouragement. One mother said, "The sun is hot, the road is hard. Get going!" Another Haitian woman came up to us and urgently ordered us to keep moving - she pointed to the storm clouds that were rolling in. Young children walked slowly with us and even though we could not understand their words, the kindness in their eyes showed the spirit of the lovely people of Grand-Bois.
In 2019, we now sit waiting for the Travel 4 advisory to be lifted so we can return to the work that calls us back. Civil unrest has temporarily stopped our visits - 3 postponed trips this winter to carry the much-needed supplies to the Grand-Bois clinic. We made it to the top before the storm hit that Sunday - to the top because of the encouragement of so many along the way. Maybe that's why Haiti calls to us - those voices of encouragement. We know in our heart it is our turn. Our turn to be the encouragers along the road, captivated by the spirit of the Grand-Bois people - anxious to assist others on their long journey on a very rough road called
life in Haiti.
