Another day at the clinic! As we arrived there were people lined up outside the building and as we made our way inside, we found it packed full of people. Got to seeing people right away. Later on, Bob, Michael, and I were able to head outside and begin taking down the bamboo which supported the plywood to pour the concrete roof. Very tiring and sweaty job. You can see pictures of the bamboo on my Facebook page.
Today we were able to go out and see more of the city. After lunch, Bob, Michael and I went with Jude and Micah to go tour more of Gonaives. We are trying to compile as much video and as many pictures as we possibly can so that we can create a DVD for Living Water to mail to supporting churches and so they can get their mission heard in America.
Salonique and his family have a Toyota 4-Runner that they very rarely use. Since the road conditions are so bad, it is almost faster to walk rather than drive. Micah (Mee-kah) and Jude showed up at the house around 2:30 and went to go get the car out of the garage however since it has been sitting for so long, the battery was dead. We managed to find a spare battery and cables which we used to jump start the car. Micah then backed it through the narrow gate and into the “street” we it got stuck in the mud. After Bob was covered in mud we managed to push it out.
The trip began. We traveled to some of the pourer areas of the city and it was something we hadn’t seen since being here. We came to our first stop and got out of the car where we walked through a “subdivision.” Walked across and loosely made bridge and began walking along the metal walls surrounding some of the homes. A little further up the trail, boys were playing in the water/river naked and ran up the hill to greet us.
The living conditions of these people were extremely lower than what is around the Adolphe’s house and Living Water. One teenaged girl walked towards us with a small girl, 2 or 3 years old, who was balling. The closer she got the louder she screamed. The teenager and everyone around us were laughing. My guess is that this little girl had never seen white people before and was very scared. Everywhere we walked, people would scream “Blaho’s!!! Blaho’s!!” which means “white men” or “the whites.”
Many and most of the Haitians do not like there picture taken which made it very difficult for us. Bob and Michael each had a camera and I had the video camera. We made another stop and walked through the streets where people were talking loudly at us. The only reason we knew this was because we recognized the word “blaho.” We continued walking as I held the camera below my waist so it didn’t look so obvious that I was filming. Bob and Michael each held the camera at the belly button with one hand and were taking pictures that way.
When we were on the way to another location, we came to a street corner where a girl yelled something at us in the vehicle and another boy yelled something shortly afterwards. Both Micah and Jude began laughing. After asking them what they had said, they told us that the girl said “Please! Don’t take my picture!” and the boy followed after her saying “Please! I want you to take my picture!” As you can see it made it very difficult for us to get video and pictures as we had to try and make it as discreet as possible.
We then made our way to an area packed full with white tents. There appeared to be hundreds of them scattered around this area. Micah began explaining to us that these tents were set up after the hurricane hit Haiti. These people that lived in them had absolutely nothing. They lost everything. They had no home, very few clothes if any, and no food or water whatsoever. We stepped out of the car and a young man, probably in his 20’s, immediately noticed the cameras and began talking in Creole. Very weird for Michael, Bob and I as we have no clue what is going on. Apparently there are a lot of people that come to this place and take pictures etc. and, respectively, they get tired of having tourist people doing that. He was trying to get us to pay them to get in and take photos however Micah and Jude told them that they are not tourists…they are native Haitians. It appeared that they ignored the man and we continued walking up the hill, weaving through all the tents.
We came to a stop as Micah and Jude began talking to a family sitting outside their tent. I noticed heat coming behind my left leg and as I turned around I found some sticks that they had used to boil mango that were still putting of some heat. Micah and Jude said this was something they had never seen and was very strange to them. This is how poor these people were. They were boiling mangos which they had probably bought in market and were scrapping off slivers to eat.
We continued walking up the hill so we could get a better shot of the area. The young man who was still upset continued to follow. We passed families sitting outside their tent, some wearing clothes and others not. We finally made it to the top of the hill were we were able to get a better view of all the tents. The ocean was in the background and mountains were behind us. The young man and another older gentlemen then came up to us and asked us why we were doing this (at least that’s what Micah and Jude said they were asking).
A very heated discussion started between the people living there and Micah and Jude. Us “blaho’s” were starting to feel a little uncomfortable, as we had no clue what was being said or what was going on. We tried to talk amongst ourselves about the scenery, hurricane, etc. and quickly turned off and put all of the camera’s away…figured that would be the least we could do. After several minutes, they began giving Jude their phone numbers.
I guess Living Water delivers some rice and beans to the area every once in awhile. After Jude and Micah told them they are planning to deliver again, they gave them their numbers so that they could call them before hand. They also asked that the police came with them when they made the delivery to help keep it somewhat civil. As we made our way back down the hill, others too asked that when they came back with food that they bring the police with them. Micah told us that there is a Haitian proverb that says “A hungry dog is a violent dog.” How true in this case.
We made it back to the car and breathed a sigh of relief. This whole time we were driving in the car, they had a CD playing of music in Creole. We came to a building along one of the main roads and Micah jumped out to go do something. We sat in the car and a song came on in English which surprised me. After just visiting these people who had absolutely nothing, no food or water to drink, here I sat listening to these words:
“You’re all I want, You’re all I’ve ever needed, You’re all I want, help me know You are near.”
Here were three Americans sitting in the back of a car. We have more then we need…more then we want. And we had just seen people who had nothing, living in a depraved country. We passed by people who set up booths and try to sell things just to get a bite to eat that day or maybe a sip of water. They live like this day to day, week by week, month by month.
What do we, Americans, long for? What do we want? A quick glance at our country shows that we long for inward happiness, self-centered satisfaction, material possessions. Do we leave each day longing for the next best thing? I don’t think we realize how blessed we are. Even in just the simple things such as walking up to the fridge and pushing a button and fresh, clean water comes out. We can even push a button to make ice come out so we can make the fresh, clean water cold. We can take a shower with clean water. We don’t have to worry about getting it in our mouth or in our eyes. We can even move some knobs to make it just the right temperature we want.
Our hearts were really pricked by this experience today. Are we really being good stewards of what God has blessed us with? How can we go to the store and buy some of the things we do with a clear conscience knowing that there are people like this who are barely surviving? How can we go to car lots and spend tens of thousands of dollars on a new car when the one we have works perfectly fine? A cashier who works in a big city like Port-Au-Prince is lucky to make the equivalent of $10. Imagine what these people make in the smaller cities. Imagine what those people who live in the tents could do with even $.50 a day!
Living Water is doing their absolute best to help these people. They are constantly distributing food to families in need but they can only do so much with the support they have. The more support they have, the more people they can show the love of Christ too. The more people that can learn about the hope and salvation we have in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Is He all we want? May He be the one we serve . May he be the one that we long for. After we realize that He is all we need, we can open up other areas of our lives to serve people, to give money to people, so that they can have a meal…a meal that could change there life.
Is He all we want? Is He who we strive and long for? I challenge you to make this your prayer:
“You’re all I want, You’re all I’ve ever needed, You’re all I want, help me know You are near.”
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