"Less Then Nothing", is the translation of a city we visited today called Titanyen. We drove 45 minutes into the mountains passing beautiful Caribbean water along the way. The town was comprised of twisting streets no wider then 6 feet at times, just enough for our Tap Tap to fit through. We stopped at the market to buy 8 "box lunches" of rice, beans and pork. Our first visit was to a woman named Maria, who was 105 years old. Simply a miracle, She has lived in the mountain-side village in a 8x8 foot house her whole life. There she was sitting on the floor with a huge smile on her face. Rock began cleaning and applying lotion to her feet and legs. AJ told her that he had a crush on her and she giggled uncontrollably, almost blushing. We prayed and sang songs with her, and when asked what we could bring back to her, she immediately started chanting "COFFEE, COFFEE, COFFEE". It was hilarious and we are set to bring her coffee on Saturday.
We then visited the houses of 5 other elders, Marilyn 82, whom David washed her feet, gave her a meal and prayed with her as we sang songs, We visited Edmund who is 80ish. Boe placed his arm around him in his 6x6 foot home, and he melted into Boe's arms, simply because he cherished being touched and it had been so long since anyone touched him. He and Boe are BFF's now.
AJ and Boe washed the feet of sisters Antoinette and Ancholla. They live in huts on the mountain right next door to each other, they were in their 60's and asked that we return on Saturday to construct their kitchen. Which is a pot outside of her hut, with 3 tree branches configured in a V, with a pot and a fire pit and a stool. We will go back and put tarps and construct her a true kitchen on Saturday.
Rick washed the feet of a elder named Maricia. She has a larger house, with a front gate constructed of a sheet metal door pinned to a tree branch. Brian asked her if he could rub her shoulders and lets just say, she was enthused to let him!
We then went up the mountain to Grace Village, a new school constructed 3 yrs ago, that houses 400+ students. It was a fantastic property and structure. We toured the school, library, aquaponic garden, and the dormitory's where 40 of the orphaned kids live year round. We ended the day there with a mean game of pick up basketball on the blacktop. Lets just say, the Haitians beat the Americans 11-4. The highlight of the game was the fact that no matter how hard we tried, none of us could dunk the 9 foot goal. It was fun watching the Haitian kid try and try over and over.
On the way home we stopped at the mass grave of Titanyen where 100,000 bodies were buried from the earthquake that struck 5 years ago. They are currently constructing a memorial on the site, but it was extremely chilling to be standing on the ground with 100,000 bodies beneath. Kind of puts it in perspective real fast.
After dinner, we played pick up Soccer with the neighbor kids. We constructed 2 goals out in the hilly street with large boulders. The ground was rubble and rocky. Needless to say the Haitian youth were the stars of the game. Boe and Rock took tumbles in the rubble, leading to bruised ribs for Rock, and the need for us to break into our first aid bag for Boe to patch him up with Neosporin and band aids. It was an amazing day capped off with a great show of sportsmanship and camaraderie.
Posted by AJ Austerman - Calvary Team Member
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