He is here

Morning in Haiti is my favorite time of the day.  It’s dark and quiet, except for the sound of roosters crowing, and the coolness of the air makes it hard to believe that in a few short hours it will be over 90 degrees.  Beyond the walls of guesthouse, peeks of Port au Prince are lit up in the pre-dawn light and the sounds of worship are just building at the nearby tent service.  And best of all, it’s alone time with God. 

When I made my first trip to Haiti three years ago, I had no idea how present God would be in this desperately poor country.  If I had to guess, my assumption would have been that our Lord would be hard to find amongst the dusty roads, the bedraggled people, the worn out buildings, the poverty.  But much to my shock, His presence was more palatable than I had ever experienced.

On every trip I’ve made to Haiti since my first one, I find myself looking forward to that strong bonding with God.  On this trip, we have already looked into the face of God on school children, orphans, sick babies and adults, and on handicapped children.  Tomorrow we will look into the face of Him on some of the beautiful elderly people of Haiti.  It has been a joy to observe my team members so effortlessly opening their hearts and letting God work through them by serving the people of Haiti in His name. 

Equally, I love observing the love of God in the Haitian people.  In the midst of trouble and sadness, His presence is strongly felt.  God is their resource for hope and survival.  Many days, God is all they have.  In prayer and song, they praise Him vehemently, and their faith in Him sustains them. 

At morning Mass two days ago, Father Tom talked about the faith of the Haitian people and how they count on God’s presence to get them through each day.  He said they simply say, “Jezi la.”  (“God is here”).  And He is.

Ann Brau

Simple, but Profound

Day 3 (March 11, 2015)

The day started for some of the group with 6:30 a.m. mass in the dark at the Missionaries of Charity chapel.  It was like so many of the experiences thus far in Haiti, simple, but profound.  Not a pew or kneeler in the place, but as sacred as any cathedral.  Fr. Tom spoke of the natural order – 1.Right to life.  2. Right of possession (in this order).  He also spoke of the three dimensions that must be present to be fully human – Love of God, Love of others and Love of self.  Anything less is to be less than fully human.

This was a day of constant change, but as our group has quickly acclimated to the Haitian pace and culture, the day turned out 
wonderfully.  Despite the best-laid plans, it turned out that several planned stops for the day changed.  (Some of the words of the day, included resourceful, adaptive, flexible and go with the flow.)  We were even turned away from our first DeliMarket stop.  Our Haitian escorts, Jonas and Maxim, and our trip leaders, Ann and Rebecca, persevered to make the day a special one.  We eventually found our way to another DeliMarket and were able to stock up on supplies for our stop later this week to an Elderly Care facility.  Our first visit included a tour of a home for sick and dying babies where dedicated nuns serve our God through their baby care ministry.  We met a little baby that had been burned that barely had enough energy to cry because she was in so much pain and could only loosely cling to a finger.  We were able to hold a number of babies in the various rooms and share some loving.  Some of us relearned our diaper changing skills and helped air dry some babies after their sink baths.  All walked away with a deep respect for these special nuns and their vocation.

During the middle of the day, our group visited the Papillon Enterprise, where the future of Haiti can be seen today.  This company is bringing opportunity to hundreds of Haitians through the manufacturing of various products (jewelry, pottery, handbags, hanging ornamentals and much more) onsite.  By working with global designers, this company is showing that a local Haitian company can compete on the world stage.

Our last visit of the day ended at an orphanage, where we rewarded with the opportunity to be with several kids that each tugged on our hearts in their own special way.  I met a little three year-old girl named Christie that ambled into my arms and did not want to let go for the next couple of hours.  I learned some Creole (Ki jan ou rele – What is your name?) and Christie learned some English (“high five”, “chalk” and “God bless”), but mostly we communicated through the universal language of laughter and smiles.  Through these visits our group learned again the power of holding a baby and what the experience can teach us about life, those around us and ourselves – simple, but profound.

During our trip back to our Haitian home, while Maxim navigated around a bad spot in the road by moving to the left side of the road, the truck coming at us automatically moved to the opposite of the road.   Both passed each other uneventfully, no accidents.  Simple, but profound - especially for the nearly twenty people in the two trucks.

We are all excited for what awaits us during the rest of our visit to this most intriguing country as we learn about the Haitian people and culture, our fellow group members and ourselves in both simple and profound ways.

Gary Noel on behalf of the March, 2015 Reiser Relief Team

Quenching the Thirst

Day 2: Today is our first day in the Field. We started with our first breakfast in the house. Yummy! Scrambled eggs, French toast, oatmeal, avocado, mango, pineapple and watermelon. We loaded up into the tap-tap with a few bags of supplies. Our 1^st stop was Terre Promise School where we met Elder, the leader of school.  We carried donations of 50 lbs. bags of beans and oil. We visited the children in their classrooms. They were singing and clapping and they wanted hugs. I touched their cheeks, hugged and tickled a few of them. Then I taught them how to “twirl and dip” – they’d giggled! They wanted to stand close to you. A highlight of the day was handing out pillowcase dresses, which were made and donated by a group in MN. The girls’ faces lit up! They were beaming with excitement. We met Rivka, who is the 14^th student sponsored by Reiser Relief. She starts her classes next month and wants to major in Agronomy. As we left the school, we received lots of hugs and “merci” from the staff.

Next stop was the 1^st water stop in Cité Soleil (the largest slum city in the western hemisphere). As we entered, the tap-tap honks the horn and the kids come running out and people start lining up with their buckets. As the doors on the tap-tap open, the kids are waiting for us. They would point to us and say “Hey you!” It’s like they pick you.

Then we’d pick them up and love on them, touch their cheeks, hug them, rub their backs, tickle them and speak positive words into them. As I stood there with a child on each hip, I observed what was happening around me. The men at the water truck were holding the hose and spraying water over the buckets, filling them to the top. Some Haitians were orderly. Others were trying to sneak into the front of the line. Maxim, Patrick, and Jonah (our 3 Healing Haiti men) would provide interpretation, security and order when needed. The kids in our arms just wanted love, more hugs and our attention. It was time to head back to the tap-tap. Hard to say good-bye to these little faces. The mind wonders about their lives…our lives…their circumstances…our circumstances. We are all blessed!

Back to the water truck station to re-fill the truck for our next stop.  It was an opportunity to watch the process of the trucks driving around the loop and waiting in queue. There were 4 lines where the pipes were gushing well water into the truck’s tanks.  

Onto our 2^nd water stop…horns honk. Kids line up. Doors open on the tap-tap.  Hey you!  This sweet girl grabs my hand. I scooped her up and she snuggled in. I found some smiley boys and started teaching them some hand games: fist pumps exploding and high five tricks. I was asked to lift up buckets onto girls’ heads. Hard to imagine they can carry that much weight.   I was asked to carry full buckets for 3 different people.  I always found a partner and we walked a bit, but always within sight of the water truck and tap-tap. Three of us carried water back to a group of pregnant mamas.  It was time to go back to the tap-tap truck. We all agreed – the children’s faces were filled with smiles, laughter and happiness.

Next, up the Soccer Fields… An opportunity to run races with kids, play games, play soccer and take pictures. The boys wanted their pictures taken, then to see their photos. They really wanted to take the pictures themselves with the camera. After we played, we all lined up and walked down the street and into the soccer building. We sat at concrete tables, talked and played games like arm wrestling. The kids got in line for their post practice meal. We prayed before they ate and sang “Johnny Appleseed” and “Amen”. Each child received a donated drawstring  backpack and water bottle. They were elated! Each one of us got hugs and thank you’s from each child. After a few group photos, it was time to go.  Back to the tap-tap to return to the Healing Haiti guest house.  A cool shower is a very refreshing reward after a hot and dusty day! Our evening was a wonderful time to reflect and share stories from our day’s experiences.

Heather Bye-Kollbaum

- a mama from Minnesota

How can we help them all?

Monday 3/9/15 2:22 AM, I am awake as with most mornings but different.  In another hour it will be the official time to rise and prepare for the 4:30 AM rendezvous at the Lindbergh Terminal.  Lindbergh?  Give me Humphrey! Too many thoughts to return to a sleep, might as well get up.  I think that later today, I will see and maybe hold my first Haitian baby and that only two days earlier and 3200 miles ago I held my first grandbaby, Laurel Elliott. Such a difference between two worlds and two babies loved…. how can we help them all?

 

PAP landing.  The view from 25,000 feet was breathtaking – how can such beauty hold such despair?  Land at an airport much more ordinary than imagined.  It housed real hallways, real AC, real security, clean, well-organized, easy passage. Outside, it was a different story.  We were 15 people with five carts of five or six suitcases each.  Men in uniform of some sort set upon us to help push our carts 50 yards to the waiting TapTap.  It seemed a need not worth filling yet alone buying.  But then it became clear, hire one and he will be your stalwart against the rest.  But even then, desperate men cling to our buggies looking for the least bit of assumed labor in order to earn the least bit of a fee, kind men, sincere men, trying to provide for others.  How can we help them all?

The TapTap designed perhaps for 10 people took 15 plus one driver plus 24 big bags of checked luggage and 15 roller boards.  We crept along a street of nothing more than lanes of rubble and stone.  Two miles and 20 minutes later with the sound of our horn, a gate slid open to welcome us to our home for the week.  We were in a different place greeted by our hosts as if we were long lost family. 

Once moved in, our host, Gates, escorted us by foot through more debris-strewn streets not more than 200 yards away, past hollowed-eyed men, hopeful women and untroubled children to a little oasis of cool water, cold Prestige, and a group of 15 strangers, already now friends.  It is warm but the weather hot.  And we will help…one at a time.

Bill Engler