Still Here

My last Thursday. I never thought I would reach this final countdown to my time in Haiti It makes me really sad to think that I now have less than a week here. I didn’t think that five weeks would ever feel like it went by so fast. I am thankful though that my last Thursday in Haiti was a fabulous day in Haiti. 

 It all started at breakfast: pancakes and then continued into my personal preparations for the day. Lisa was so kind to me this morning when wrapping my burn. I was informed that while I have sent out a couple of e-mails about this, I am not sure if I have in my blog yet or not. Either way, I have a burn. Not too bad of one, but a burn indeed. I acquired such a burn when my skirt got caught while trying to gracefully dismount from a moto on Saturday when we arrived at Charlie Beach. Lisa was so great about it. I feel better about having a burn while in Haiti knowing that she is here. I also had a fantastic quiet time. 

To add on to my excellent start to my morning, when I went down to the Miriam Center I was able to hang out with three of my favorite kids in the severe and profound classroom. I went to Lovejinie first, followed by Gildine and finally my boy Berto. Every single time I hold Berto he just warms my heart so much. I love that kid.
 It was while I was downstairs they Heather popped in and told me that if I would like to do some laundry in her washer in her room that I could go run upstairs and grab it. Would I ever! I was about to have to seriously start rewearing some clothes if I didn’t do some serious washing soon. However, when I hand wash all of my clothes it can typically take me about an hour to an hour and a half to do some. This is time that I simply just don’t have with group here. This was such an incredible blessing for me. I don’t know if Heather knows just how much she helped me out today! 

Lunch with the kids also went so smoothly today. A group of American’s from Caitlin’s group came down to help us with feeding. I spent the first half of feeding simply assigning every American to a kid, passing out bibs and bowls. The Haitian staff seemed to have grabbed most of the more difficult kids to feed that left the easier ones to us. I only had one kid this afternoon because everyone else was so efficient. I love when groups are here in terms of feeding. 

 The little boy I did feed today was Christ-Jerry. Pronounced Chris-Jerry. I don’t think that I have shared his story with you yet, so I will now because it is amazing. Christ-Jerry was not expected to live when he was first born to Papito and his wife. The doctor came into the waiting room of the hospital where Papito and his sister were waiting when his wife went into labor. Please understand that this is not the typical order that Haitians do things here. It is very rare to see a married couple have their first child within marriage. It was then in that waiting room that Papito was informed that nearly the baby nor his wife were going to survive the next half hour. Papito’s wife died within a few minutes of hearing this news, but the baby pulled through the critical period. The doctor said that even though the child had suffered a severe lack of oxygen for a considerable amount of time. Papito’s sister, who was with him, suggested that they give this boy a strong name though since he was such a fighter, so they named him Christ-Jerry. Christ-Jerry is both blind, deaf and has a considerable amount of cognitive disability. Even with the stigma that special needs kids have in Haiti and even the profound amount of disabilities that Christ-Jerry has, Papito chose to keep Christ-Jerry. This is so rare, especially for a man to do since here in Haiti woman are seen as the true leaders of a house hold and it is common for a father figure to not be present.  Not only did Papito chose to keep his son. Christ-Jerry is apart of the Miriam Center to help Papito with feeding and caring for this adorable little angel. Papito is still fully present in Christ-Jerry’s life though. In fact, he actually works at the Miriam Center spending his days caring for the kids, including his own son. 

It is so clear how the Lord has worked in the lives of this father and son. It was such a blessing to be able to reflect on this while feeding this cute guy today. 

Outreach today was once again a little bitter sweet. I had the privilege for working one on one with a little boy names Paul. He is such a cutie. When he grows up he is gonna be a ladies man for sure! I had such a blast working with him today. His mom is such a sweet woman and you can so clearly she her love for her son. She is so involved with his therapy! Today was the last Thursday that I will be at Outreach with them this summer. Autumn and I were able to get quite a few pictures with them though before they left today, which made saying goodbye a little easier. I pray that I will see them all again some day soon!

It also rained this afternoon. However, unlike most times when the rains travel quickly by, the clouds seemed to slowly roll in today. Being just before sunset the gorgeous view from my dorm room was made even more beautiful by the contrast between sun and shade. It made for a very peaceful time to reflect on my experiences so far.
What I have determined is well, a lot of blessings. I am not capable of anything. The Lord has used me in some pretty incredible ways this summer and I am so thankful for this. I have seen more, loved more, served more, sweat more, fed more, danced more, sprayed bug spray more, smelled more, slept outside more, cared more, prayed more, been bless more, been moved more, experience the Lord more in these five weeks than I ever have in my entire life. This may be my last Thursday in Haiti. But it’s my last Thursday in Haiti this time. This trip. This internship. Who knows when I will be back? How long I will stay? Who will be with me? Only the Lord knows. All I know is that I am STILL here and STILL doing his work here in Haiti for the next five and a half days. My time may be coming to an end, but I am still here.