Today we spent the day delivering water to Cite Soleil. On
our first day really getting into Haiti, we couldn’t have asked for a more
powerful way to connect with the Haitian people. It’s easy to take for granted
something as simple as clean water in our every day life. Today we had the
opportunity to reflect on the things we often refer to as necessity – food,
water, clothing and shelter – most of which are pretty easily accessible to us.
These people struggle to have any of those things.
We learned today that Cite Soleil is the poorest slum in the
western hemisphere. From the wild pigs eating garbage along the streets, to the
naked children running around with no clothes on their back, I haven’t ever
seen poor like this. However, from the time we pulled up in our tap-tap to
deliver water, it became apparent that the Haitians were giving to us all day
long. You could see this on the little girl’s face who gave me a little pout
and just wanted to give a kiss on the cheek and a smile. From the minute we
walked onto the street, the children would literally cling to us, just looking
for someone to carry them and hug them. If you dared to set them down, they
would be trying to climb back up. It wasn’t a rare sighting today to see
volunteers carrying several children at once. They also shared their gifts and
culture with us – braiding hair, jumping rope, playing hand-clap games and
singing. We were even surprised at the kids doing the Nae-Nae dance for us.
After delivering water, we stopped by a soccer organization
to play soccer with the kids and give them each a pair of gym shorts that were
donated by a MN school. All of the shorts were size XL. My first thought when
looking at these very small Haitian kids was that the shorts weren’t going to
fit… but I was quickly reminded that these children have next to nothing. When
we passed out the shorts, the kids were as happy as can be. With bright smiles
they all responded “Thank you!” no questions asked, no hesitation. How often
during Christmas time have we all first checked our gifts to make sure they’re
the right size, brand, style, etc, before showing our gratitude for something?
It’s a pretty incredible thing to witness.
We were all pushed outside of our comfort zones today. But you
know what they say – there’s no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in
the growth zone. We’re all looking at things a little differently today.
- Brittany
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