HungryForLifeInternational

April 28
a.m.
The question of the day a few days ago was what one word describes your experience in Haiti so far? For me the word was “eyes”. I have the role of photographing our experience here. I am constantly looking for pictures that help tell a story, that paint a picture that reveal what is behind the eyes of the people we are seeing. As I look into people’s eye’s I see much more industry, much more strength then the label of poorest country in the western hemisphere would suggest. My eyes are being opened while looking into the eye’s of Haitians. This morning we trekked up to the school, 15 minutes uphill over gravel roads strewn with trampled plastic pop bottles past staring, sometime curious sometimes sneering on lookers. When we ascended the 50 meter goat trail to the school we were greeted by uniformed children lined up and getting there morning drink before heading back to class. Our team scattered to set up stations so we could get the biographies of one class of students while ten of us checked out a spot to take the children’s photos. When it came time to take pictures it was also time to address a language barrier too. Apparently the English words for sit stand here and smile get lost in translation. We got a system going and soon we were moving along fairly smoothly. What cute kids. What where they’re stories? What did they think of these funny looking white people pointing black things them so they could see themselves in them? I may never know. I just know that I am doing my part to make a difference for these kids and their families.
Steve Dove

Wow. So I think we’ve all heard the stories from our parents (or else we’ve told these stories) about how back in the day they used to walk to school, and it was always snowing, and it was uphill both ways, and it always took half an hour to two hours. Well I think that our team topped that today. We decided that we would go and visit two families whose children attended the school we were working at. Well, two families eventually turned into four families, but that’s neither here nor there. ANYways, our team (minus Patricia and Donna who were working at the orphanage) went on what was supposed to be a twenty minute walk to visit these families. Apparently, in Haiti, a twenty minute walk actually means a three hour hike over a mountain and through a valley. We actually forded a river TWICE on our hike. So with shoes in hand and (if you were a girl) skirt hiked up to your knees, we crossed the river. After the river on the way there, we walked along the main road (which was a cattle path) for a little bit until we reached a side road. By side road I actually mean a partially overgrown footpath. So we trekked across a little bit of hillside until we arrived at the first child’s house. His mother was a Christian, but his father was not, so our two Haitian guides, JoJo and Tim, witnessed to the father telling him that it was because of the love of Jesus Christ that we were there. After praying for the family, we left them with some soap and washcloths and continued on to the next house. Luckily for us, the next two houses were side by side, so we really only made one stop. The parents of both the families were not Christian, so once again JoJo and Tim witnessed to them. One of the fathers asked why we had come to visit him, especially because he did not have a large house. Tim told him that it was because we were Christians and it is through Christ’s love that we loved them and wanted to meet them. He was overcome. After those two houses, we walked to the last house. Unfortunately, the parents weren’t home, so we could not stay to visit, but most of the team was rather relieved, seeing as how pretty much all of our water was gone and we still had a 45 minute hike ahead of us to get back. By the time we got home to our hotel, all ten water bottles were empty, all snacks were eaten, three hours had gone by, and we barely had the energy to fill up our water bottles. Even though we all went to the pool, there was no swimming, just trying to stay afloat in the shallow end. Even though we were all exhausted, I know that nobody would trade our experience for the world. It was life-changing, heart-breaking, and soul-searching. I thank God for the opportunity and the experience. And also for the images we saw. I can’t speak for the entire team, but I know that I was praying for the land and the people of Haiti as we walked through the poorest district in the Western hemisphere. Please keep all of us in our prayers as we seek to do God’s will, and also pray for Haiti, for it is only through the power of Jesus Christ that any changes can be made. God bless,