Haiti PAD 17 - Your Addiction

Let me warn you in advance, there are going to be several pictures in this post.  I finally had to just stop.  I could've posted something about every picture in my file.  Some may say my addiction is the children of Haiti. They are precious.  Their smiles are contagious.  Their urgency to gain your attention and desire to be held and hugged and loved by you is insatiable.  Their fortitude to persevere in conditions we would never consider for our own children is admirable, yet heart wrenching at the same time.  Certainly, I am drawn to them and very interested in their educational experience as well as their health and wholeness.  Some could say I am addicted to the adults of Haiti.  They are hardworking and eager to provide for their families.  Although their practices may not be what we would consider an acceptable standard, they are doing the very best that they know how to do.  That is why I love the work of The Church of Hope and their consistency in communication and monitoring of the needs of families.


 My addiction is the HOPE of the Mission of Hope.  My addiction is seeing lives changed and young people become disciples for the people of their country.  Such as our translators for the week.  We have always had the most amazing translators on our visits.  They allow us to share God's love when communication could be a barrier between us.  They minister to me greatly through their devotion and boldness when talking to, praying with, and laboring for the people we visit. Their lives are changed by God's love and my life is changed by the HOPE of how God will use their life to transform Haiti.

My addiction is young North Americans who give their time and money to serve the nation I love, for weeks and months at a time.  They sometimes move from campus to campus weekly - living out of backpacks.  They take cold water showers; drink hot water gatorade; eat the same 4-5 meals weekly; and never complain about a daily dose of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I hope their lives are forever changed by their experiences during their stay in Haiti.  

My addiction is the love I see in my children when they are in Haiti. They never cease to amaze me with their tireless work, unconditional love (even for those who aren't wearing pants :0), flexibility in schedule and appetite, and most of all a passion for missions.  No matter what role they may play, I am certain that these trips in their early years will impact their lives for as long as they will allow it.  I am never more proud (and scared) as when my 12 year old asks what kind of college degree she needs to get to go work in Haiti.

 My addiction is HOPE for a nation.  Hope for transformation for every man, woman, and child who will in turn transform their nation with a focus on God.  Hope for restoration, provision, and continuation of God's work in the people of a nation that will forever be a part of my life and love.

Catch Up Haiti PAD 11-16

I know I haven't written in a while but I have a good reason.  Our team was sharing our pictures and I was waiting to share some of the other pictures from our group.  Since I have been several times, I forget to photograph what it would look like through the eyes of a first timer.  So I have a few more pics to share in this post.

PAD 11 - Letter.  I know this is a Cross, but it also makes the letter 't' and it is just a great picture.  This is on one of the hills between the church on a high hill and the valley of one of the sections of the village of Laveque.  It is such a beautiful view and you can tell how big they made this Cross in relation to the person walking beside it.

PAD 12 - Texture - So this is a picture of the cloth closet at 3 Cords.  It is amazing the various types of textures and colors that they have been so blessed with.  If you haven't heard the story of 3 Cords, visit their website at http://www.3cordshaiti.com.  You can also purchase their products there.  You will be blessed by their stories and the quality of their products.  

PAD 13 - Open - This is a typical working day in any major city or village.  They are open for business.  I believe this was probably taken in Port au Prince, but am not certain.  It just looks like a regular scene in PAP.   You can buy just about anything that you would want or need in a single market setting.  

PAD 14 - Building - This is a bathroom that you will find every few houses in Laveque.

PAD 15 - Finger - This guy was just too cute and he happened to be chewing on a finger!

 PAD 16 - Sign - This is one of the mobile clinics that is placed at Bercy.  I think this is just so cool!

Haiti PAD 10 - My Favorite Color

Haiti PAD 10 is My Favorite Color - Well that is so hard to choose out of all of my pics.  So I chose the one that truely is one of my favorites and has many colors.  These houses are in the same community that I posted the pics from the garden earlier.  This community was established after the earthquake to house those who lost their homes and were living in tents.  One section of this village houses a deaf community.  They recently built a church right behind where I am taking this picture from - up on a hill where you can see the entire village.  They even have a sign language interpreter for Sunday services!  The Haitians really love bright colors and you can see in this picture the various colors of homes.  The Mission of Hope visitors have painted the inside and outside of these homes.  You will see purple, pink, dark green, turquois green, yellow, beige, blue, red, and more.  On this day, Leslie and I were drawing a "map" of the villages for the Village Champions and the Mission to have for reference.  Well guess what we used for markers of rows?  Yep - the color of the houses.  The vegetation has grown so much that you can't see all of the homes, but it is a beautiful sight to see the sea of colors from that mountain top.  The goal for this community is to build 500 homes.  They are well on their way.  If you look back through the last couple of years of my Haiti albums, I have taken pictures from each year from this view.  It is amazing to see the rapid growth of homes, greenery, and life in general.  They have also starting the building process for the elementary school in this village!!  That makes me so happy!!
Tori

Haiti PAD 8-9

Haiti PAD 8 is LUNCH!  So this is a traditional Haitian meal that we eat a couple of times

while in Haiti.  Once on Sunday evening from a restaurant that was established by a couple of brothers who are graduates of the School of Hope.  And the other time is at the beach on Friday.  It is 3 chicken legs covered in some kind of delicious red sauce that I can't describe, beans and rice, fried plantain, and a spicy slaw.  It is delicious!  Also at the beach we take some fresh pineapple - the BEST you will ever eat, watermelon, AVACADOS....big ones!  You can also purchase fresh crab and lobster straight from the water and have it prepared and brought back to you, or a coconut.  I guess that is why I can never finish my meal!  Most days our lunch consist of PB&J or chicken/tuna salad sandwiches so we are always looking forward to this meal. All of the food is very good when we visit.

Haiti PAD 9 is BIG!  The mountains in Haiti are enormous and beautiful as seen here.  The translators were asking me if we had mountains in Texas.  I could only laugh and try to explain what a "hill" is.  A couple of years ago, we drove up in the mountains to a waterfall and the view was breathtaking.  On the drive to the beach, you can look and see huts far up on the mountainside.  I have no idea how they get there, but they do.  Oh yes - on the motorcycles that they make seat 4!  I tried to put these pics together but they turned out too small, so I decided to share them all.  The other BIG for today is the ocean.  Of course being from Texas and seeing "Texas Beaches" as well as the southern coast from Texas to Florida and even California, this is just.....well.....I don't know the right word.  Beautiful doesn't really describe it for me.  I know there are pretty beaches everywhere, this just happens to be the best that I have seen.  Perhaps it is because of the experiences I have during the week and then when I see the majesty of God's creation, I am encouraged and overjoyed to know that God has given the Haitians such an amazing landscape.  I know he desires to restore that nation for the transformation of every man, woman, and child.

Tori

Haiti PAD 5-7

Ok, busy few days, so I have some catching up to do.  July 5 is On the Floor so I have added a couple of photos of some of the activities we did on the floor.  Like jump-rope, soccer, and most of the time we are on the floor just holding kids and letting them look at pictures on our camera.  There are many more pics of us in the the floor with kids in my facebook album.

Day 6 was Chair and I posted a pic of an adorable chair on Day 1 so we will just call that one good.

Day 7 is Garden and I have some perfect pics for Garden.  3 years ago, our team actually cleared this land with machetes.  Its hard to believe this is the same land.  On this particular day, we visited this house and while a few of our team and interpreters talked with the family, the rest of us cleaned up the garden.  They were growing beans, watermelons, and plantain trees.  Other gardens included lots of flowers, various herbs, banana trees, mango and papaya trees, and other vegetation.  They use the "clean up" vegetation around the base of the trees for a sort of compost I guess.  We were pulling what we thought were weeds and putting them in a pile before they told us to put it around the base of the trees and evidently, some of what we were pulling wasn't weeds - oops.  There was this one tiny guy that was just working away with us.  He was adorable!  He worked so hard.  This was a very hot/humid day, but the reward of their faces and gratefulness was well worth the sweat and sores.
Tori

Haiti PAD 3 & 4

PAD 3 is Favorite Part of Your Day.  In Haiti, my favorite part of the day takes place on Tuesday evening at the prayer and worship service.  I know the pic isn't the best, but it was dark and people are moving and jumping and it is just hard to get a good pic with your camera waving in the air.  It is amazing on Tuesday how many people walk from surrounding villages or countryside to the Church of Hope for a time of worship and prayer.  They are relentless in their worship!  It is SO loud in that tabernacle.  There are really no words to describe or video to show how electric the atmosphere is at that service.  We sing in Creole and English and I love to hear them belting out the English words.  I don't know if they know what they are singing, but they shout the words as loudly as their Creole words.  On this night, we even ended with a Conga Line!

PAD 4 is FUN!  On Friday, we have a beach day at an amazing resort.  It is so beautiful and relaxing. They have rowboats that you can take out for some snorkeling (rower included), crab and lobster straight from the water for lunch, a plethora of souvenirs, and as you can see, jet skis.  Cooper wanted to ride with someone crazy so Aaron took her for a little ride.  I loved hearing her screams when they took a dip or hit a wave!  She had FUN!  Beach day is always kind of a mix of emotions for me.  You almost forget where you are with the beauty of the water, the flowers, and the facilities.  But for me, it means it is my last day there and the next day I will be leaving the people and place that I love.

Tori

July PAD - Busy

The photo for today is BUSY.  I just put a few pics together of various things that kept us and Haitians busy during our visit and every day.  Top left is a man named No-No.  He is a technician at the prosthetics lab at the mission.  While we were there, he was busy trimming down the form for a patient's leg. They stay very busy at the lab building, fitting, teaching patients of all ages.  Top mid is one of our days in the village.  We are always busy holding children and visiting families while in the villages.  Top right - just a couple of girls painting a house.  You can always count on a painting project while in Haiti.  They love for all things to be COLORFUL! Bottom left is several children who were busy braiding Aaron's hair.  Bottom mid was a family that we visited.  A man and his 5 GORGEOUS children.  Not only do these children keep him busy, but we also saw him working with the men at the 'community center' on another day that we were there.  He also told us that he has like 17 kids around Haiti and the US.  I guess he is busy.  Right mid - more painting, but Taylor is so cute, I had to post it!  Bottom right again is one of our visits to our focus village.  On this day, we were busy walking the roads, visiting families, praying for them, and just offering to help with anything that we could do.  I always tell our groups that after the first day, this trip goes so fast because we stay so busy.  There were lots of other activities that kept us busy, but I'll save them for another day.

Tori

July Photo A Day Challenge - Haiti

So I thought I would do another monthly challenge for July and use my Haiti pictures and stories.  I only uploaded about 300, surely I can find 31 that will work.  So July 1 is a self portrait.  This isn't really a portrait, but it is a fun pic.  This was taken on our first work day in Haiti.  We were painting the inside of a lady's house.  She cleaned everything out so that we could have room to paint.  This tiny chair next to me is a staple in Haitian homes.  We joke that all of the children do the "Haitian Squat" because they squat very close to the ground to talk and play and stay there much longer than I am able to.  So I guess this chair is good training for that.  There was a team member with me that was holding a child and the owner of the chair insisted that this member sit in the chair to hold the child.  You can imagine the troubled look on her face as I encouraged her to take a seat.  Surprisingly, these little things are very sturdy.  So I guess you could get a few lessons out of this story.  1) even if it's too little, still try to fit into it (lol) 2) offer a lady holding a baby your seat and take a seat when offered  3)  sometimes the small ones are just as strong or stronger than the big ones - faith, prayer, actions, words, gestures, etc...   So I hope you don't grow weary of my pics and stories over the next month.
Enjoy -
Tori