So basically this whole trip started when my aunt Amy sent me a text on Friday night. Oh you know it was just a simple little “Want to go to Haiti?” text. Immediately my heart was all in it and I knew I wanted to go within seconds. It wasn’t that simple though. I had to wake up the next morning at 8 to try to call all the travel clinics in MN to see if I could get my shots. After calling all of them I possibly could, and getting declined from everyone, I lost hope. I called my mother and told her that it was impossible for me to go. Within 15 min she called me back saying “Go to Chaska now they can get you in.” I tell you my mother has a way with her words. She can talk her way through anything and a lot of times do the impossible, or at least what I think is impossible… After getting my shots and booking my plane I had to pack everything up to go back to Madison, and send it with Chloe Hedberg (again I am sorry about my bags). I caught a bright and early 6am flight Monday morning and knew there was no turning back now. I couldn’t believe that this whole trip worked out and that everything I thought was the impossible, God made possible. The thing that I was thinking about the other day was that, even though this was a last minute trip for me God had it planned out all along. I am walking into this trip knowing that I will face hardships and have my heart torn apart, but to be honest I am walking into this trip basically blind to everything that God has planned out for me. I know he has sent me on this mission for a reason and he is my leader/ travel guide through this next week. He will be my strength through it all. I can’t wait to see all what he has in store for me.
I am down here with my aunt Amy, her friend Mary, a lovely lady named Kerry-Ann, the leader of Healing Haiti, Jeff, and his staff. Everyone is so amazing and each brings so much to the table. I know that we are all meant to be here together and we will all make an impact on each other. I can’t wait to get to know all of them more.
We are staying in a guesthouse of Jeff’s that can sleep 15 people. It is a cute little cozy place that was decorated by his wife. It just makes you feel at home when you enter it. Karry- Ann, Mary, Amy and I all bunk in one room while Jeff and Jean sleep in other rooms. Last night and this morning we all worked together to make the meals and clean up. Nothing is better than a little kitchen bonding!
Today was basically the first day, day number one to an eye opening mission trip. My biggest prayer today was for God just to open up my heart and have me reach out to others with a loving soul. I prayed that I would see what life is really like for a big portion of the world, and for me to be his hands and feet for trying to help other people in need. So today was the water truck. YES I said the water truck. Don’t ask me why I just repeated myself, I just think it sounds intense and masculine… We started off bright and early and went to meet up with Jeff’s crew that runs the truck. They are all super nice. Their names are Johnny, Enel, Maxim, Kenol, Jack, and Junior. They are genuine Christian Haitians who have a heart to help others. To be honest I don’t know how Jeff met all of them and hired them, but they are a pretty amazing bunch. We made three different stops today. We were in City Soleil. To give you a brief definition this town is the poorest of the poor. It literally looks like “Slum Dog Millionaire.” They have little shacks made of tin and wood everywhere. I can’t even describe it to you. You will have to see a picture. So I was riding on the outside of the water truck and I stared into the distance and thought, YEEE buddy rolling like a big shot!! Kidding kidding kidding! But I did love riding out there and waving to people. When they didn’t wave back it was just awkward. When we arrived at the first place the truck honked its horn many times and people from all directions came running up with buckets in their hands. It was a swarm of people. Since Jeff has been doing this for a while, many Haitians knew how the whole system worked. They all line up and have 6 people come up and get water at a time. This consists of a lot of work for the volunteers and the crew. I helped with the hose for a little bit, and if you asked anyone I was horrible. For some reason I couldn’t get the water in the buckets and basically gave a few crew members a bath by soaking them. After a while I took a break and went to go hang out with the little kids. When you go over and just stand there all these little kids just come running up to you. Right then my heart melted and a huge grin was on my face. I reached out my arms and ten or so kids came running up and hugged me. It was like nothing I experienced before. I sat and played the hand slapping game (which hurts after a while), counted to 10 with them in English and then cheered, made animal noises (which are my specialty), and sang songs. I was having the time of my life. We walked through some of the slums and just walked onto the beach (which was also a public restroom.) Stepping back and seeing the view from the beach and the slums all around it can only be described as breath taking. The whole beach was filled with garbage, the slums were everywhere and all these little kids were around us and just wanted to be loved and held. They had tattered clothes on and many were naked.
You know it just made me stop and think. I am truly blessed with everything I have in my life, my family, education, home, and friends. Also, that I take many more things for granite than what I should. Last, it made me really want to reach out and help all these little kids. I wish I could just pack up many planes with these kids and bring them all back home.
At the next two stops I made some buddies, and I loved hanging out and playing with all the kids. A buddy of mine kept coming up to me and saying “take me with you.” He would hand me his medical papers and not let go of my hand. My heart just dropped when I said I wasn’t able too. But let me tell you this kid had all the Michael Jackson moves down and even the voice. OHH and he could even sing the Justin Beiber song- Baby. He was too funny!
At the third stop I helped these little girls with water buckets. A few just needed help picking up the bucket and putting it on their heads. These other two girls wanted me to help them bring their buckets to their house. I helped picked up their buckets and before I knew it I was walking back in the slums to a place that I had no idea where I was going, and without anyone I knew around me. I knew it was time for me to go back before anything could get scary. On my way back I saw Amy just balling and everyone was freaking out that I was gone. I felt horrible, and trust me I learned my lesson.
After getting cleaning up (my hair was so dirty that when I took my pony tail out it didn’t move) we sat in the living room and talked about our words of the day. Then we dug deeper into why Haiti is like this and why the U.S. is so wealthy. Also, what we think the true meaning of poor is. You can have all the wealth in the world, but if you don’t have Christ in your life you can feel like the poorest man there is out there. As Jeff keeps saying, “ The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” I truly believe that, and know that even if you have all the luxurious things in the world the only thing that will ever make you happy is having a deep personal relationship with God.
After having some yummy pizza (yes pizza in Haiti), some weird tan lines on my feet and body, many mosquito bites, and writing this long thing I am going to hit the hay. It is only 10 here and that is really weird for me to go to bed that early, but let me tell you I am worn out!
I am so thankful for this trip and this opportunity and I can’t wait to see what God all has in store for me. Also, I can’t wait to share it with you! P.s. I am THEE WORST speller there is on the face of this planet. And my grammar skills are horrendous. So if you are going to read my blogs I am super sorry!!
LOVE YOU ALL!
God is Good!
-Alana
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