Today is day five of our teams trip in Haiti. Each day has brought so many different experiences whether it was delivering water in City Soleil or rubbing lotion on the elderly. Today was a completely different day than all the others so far. Four members of our team left early this morning for the opportunity to help at the Port-au-Prince wound clinic, however it was not meant to be as the the spots needed had already been filled. Although it was a bummer that they did not get to participate in what would have been an experience of a life time I was glad to have our whole team together for taking the Grace Village kids to the beach.
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| Marie praising God for the coffee. |
With our entire team together we set off for Titanyen. We made a return trip to visit Marie with a hot cup of coffee. We all agree that seeing her reaction to a cup of coffee has been one of the highlights of the trip. Even though we couldn't understand what she was saying, we knew that at that moment she was in a state of elation. After her cup of coffee and a quick little visit, the team put up a tarp in front of Marie's home to provide her some shade. It took a little ingenuity and a couple changes in materials before we declared it a success. After visiting Marie the team went to the twins Antoinette and Ancholla and constructed them a covering for their outdoor kitchens. After visiting them on Thursday and then again today, I am still amazed at how grateful they were of not only what we provided for them but also just our presence.
With those quick stops completed, thirty of the Grace Village kids crammed into a tap-tap and headed north up the coast to Montrouis to the public beach for a day of fun in the sun. We all got a glimpse of a different side of Haiti today. One without the smell, the garbage and the despair that we have witnessed the past four days. One with palm trees, beautiful scenery and turquoise water. Today was different, we got to make the lives of thirty kids better by just letting them be kids. We all had great stories to tell afterwards about our experiences with the kids at the beach. Whether it was the Eddie saying Jellyfish over and over to Allie or Boe and AJ finding the next star of their youth baseball team, it was great time.
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| Establishing a perimeter around the children. |
We concluded our day with a dinner at a restaurant nearby the guesthouse where we had a delicious meal of pizza, fries and Coca-Cola. The ride to and from the restaurant was quite amusing as we would all cheer from the back of the tap-tap when Valery would drive more than 3 MPH. It was a great way to conclude an amazing day in Haiti with an amazing group of people.
-David Bumgarner
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| Tap Tap the children rode in to the beach. |
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