Haiti Happenings 3

Day 3 (May 4) - We slept in (dang time change). I don't know HOW we slept in considering what we were surrounded by. To the right of our room was the kitchen and laundry "room" with the women chatting and cooking (there were just screens, no glass windows), behind us was an alley way that the kids would run through right next to the clucking chickens, there were the goats making their goat noises up on the hill, and to the left of the room was the kids room (and they get up around 5:30 am).

I actually laid in bed for a few minutes when I was finally fully awake just to take it all in. We toweled off, put some clean clothes on and emerged from the room. The kids were happy to see us this time which thrilled me (since I was deeply in love with them at this point).

We walked in to find a wonderful breakfast. The only thing I was confused by was the spaghetti... Peter quickly educated me. Apparently spaghetti covered with ketchup is a popular breakfast food in Haiti because it is filling and sustaining and may be someones only meal that day. I felt guilty knowing that an incredible lunch and dinner were carefully being prepared for us, and that the person across the road may not have anything else for the rest of the day.

It's a hard pill I had to swallow many times while we were there... the feeling of guilt. Who am I to have such a beautiful home, healthy kids, a full pantry, money in the bank, a knowledge of the gospel, on and on and on. I looked around and I was no different from anyone else. We were all living our lives, trying to do our best, trying to be happy and yet, somehow I have been richly blessed. It was on this day that I knew I could never turn my back on these people we now called family.

Right before Peter and I got on our flight to come to Haiti, we attended our sacrament meeting at church. I felt so nervous sitting there in the chapel pew, thinking about the unknown journey we were about to embark on. I was wondering if we were crazy to go to Haiti at such a dangerous time... I was having hesitations. The closing hymn brought tears to my eyes and I knew it was a tender mercy from the Lord. We sang:

Because I have been given much, I too must give

Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live
I shall divide my gifts from thee
With every brother that I see
Who has the need of help from me

Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care
I cannot see anothers lack and I not share
My glowing fire, my loaf of bread
My roof's safe shelter overhead
That he too may be comforted

I shall never be the same. I knew that this was a journey to help our friends in Haiti, but I then realized that this was also going to be a journey to help myself as well. I was learning and my teachers were the humble, wonderful people of Haiti. I needed a good dose of reality. In all of my complaints such as: my house is too small, I don't get to be with my husband enough, my kids are driving me crazy, why do I have to pay a $20 co-pay each time we go to the doctor, my carpets need to be cleaned, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. I have learned to shut my mouth. I never heard one complaint from anyone while we were there (even if they did, I wouldn't have understood :)), but they were content to be alive and have some food on the table... even if it was just a plate of spaghetti for the day.

Okay, off my tangent... here is what we did on day 3:

Captain (our brave driver) took us back to Port au Prince to see the devastation. We drove through this city for hours and the destruction was never-ending. "Sa trist" in Haitian Creole means "so sad", and I think Peter and I said that about a million times while we were there.

It was unbelievable. People were still buried under the rubble.

There is not enough equipment to move the rubble, so people are going about their lives as usual, except they are now living in a horrible tent on the side of the road and having to walk around and over buildings that have fallen.

Again, no one was sad or complaining, just happy to be alive.

The kids had make-shift schools made of sticks and tarps, people were literally living on top of one another in the "tent cities".

They were bathing themselves on the same street that their neighbor just went to the restroom on.

Not much seemed to have changed in the 4 months since the earthquake and it made me wonder how long these wonderful people were going to have to live like this.

As tears streamed down my face and my lips uttered "sa trist", we pulled up to a gate. We hopped out, listening to some darling kids recite words at a "school" in the middle of the road we were parked on. Fritzner opened the gate and we emerged into a beautiful, quiet and clean place. It was the Port au Prince stake center and I cannot even begin to describe the stark contrast from the two sides of that gate. To the left were church members volunteering of their time to keep the grounds looking beautiful. To the right was the church filled with missionaries, members cleaning the chapel, sisters, brothers... all in this quiet refuge on a Tuesday afternoon. If I lived in Port au Prince, I would have been there too. It felt so good. I love that the church is the same no matter what country, what language, or what circumstance you are in... we are all studying the same Old Testament gospel doctrine lesson this week. It is amazingly wonderful.

Peter looked over to see a man pulling weeds and called out "Alexander!"... a good friend from his mission more than 13 years ago!

A few miles away from the Stake Center was the mission home. We pulled up to it's gate, honked and the gate was opened by the security guard donning a large, loaded shot gun. The church doesn't mess around :). I was a gorgeous building and it's where Peter and Fritzner lived for some of their mission and spent a lot of their time. (picture below was Peter's bedroom when he first arrived on his mission)

It was currently vacant (under renovation), but it was so fun to walk around and see where "my missionary" worked and slept. I could sense Peter's excitement of being back on some old stomping grounds (that hadn't been destroyed). I loved finally getting to see what I have always heard so much about.

We drove around some other parts of the city. We got out of the car to witness the damage to the capitol building. Unbelievable.

It felt like we were on a movie set in some action scene that just destroyed the most important building in the country. Not a movie, but complete and utter reality. Sa trist.

Here are a few of the 100's of photos I took of the devastation and living conditions in Port au Prince:

Along our journey, Fritzner stopped and bought some sugar cane on the side of the road... one of Peter's favorite snacks from his mission. As you can see, it's not one of my favorites :).

We did stop off in the middle of the city to eat lunch at a fast food place. It was very Americanized... pizza, cheeseburgers, ice cream, chicken nuggets... you know, all the stuff that makes us the most obese nation in the world :). We opened the doors to find Haitians with money, and blancs.

Again, I felt so guilty being in there with all that was going on "out there". Was it really impossible to buy everyone in Port au Prince a pizza? Those thoughts consumed us our entire trip.

Our journey through Port au Prince was difficult on the eyes, but tender on the heart. Something I will never forget and something we will never be able to turn our backs on now that we have witnessed it with our own eyes. It's like knowing CPR and not helping someone. We were now educated and with that knowledge comes responsibility. We began concocting little ideas on our drive back to Saint Marc.

When we arrived at the orphanage, we were greeted (as always) by Mido, the crazy guard dog. I wanted to pet him, but I think he would have pounced me to death.

We ran upstairs to find the darling "timoons" (kids) playing with the only two games they owned... dominoes and blocks. They would sit around that green table all day taking turns, playing those games, never fighting or arguing. I wish my kids could have witnessed it.

We turned the corner to find another delicious meal by Carole. I was a little nervous to see a whole fish sitting on my plate, head attached and the eyes staring at me. I sat down, didn't think too hard about it and dug into my friend the fish... it was delicious.

After dinner, it was time for Peter and I to hand out the backpacks that our friend and ward member, Danny, put together for his Eagle Scout project. We were both so excited to play Santa Claus. Peter explained to the kids where the backpacks came from and how much love was put into them, and then we handed them out. Pink for the girls, blue for the boys. The backpacks were filled with school and art supplies, hygiene kits, a stuffed animal, etc.

I was a little disappointed with their reaction at first. They just sat there, opened up the backpack and quietly thumbed through its contents. We took some photos and then went into our room to tidy up.

When we came back out, we saw a differernt story...

they were smiling, coloring, cutting, putting on hand sanitizer and deeply smelling their hands... they were happy. I realized they were overwhelmed at first. I honestly don't think any of them have had their own anything and now they had their very own bag filled with amazing things some had never seen before. One of the youngest boys (3 years old) even fell asleep holding his backpack that night. Maya made a purse using paper, scissors and glue. Fritz-Carl was tracing from his coloring book. DJ brought me his coloring book and literally forced me to color one of the pages in his book. I then taught them how to make snowflakes with their paper and scissors and many spent the rest of the night doing just that.

While Peter and Fritzner were up on the roof chatting, some of the girls pulled me into the other room to teach me dominoes and clapping games. I honestly don't think they ever caught on to the fact that I don't speak their language. They just jibber-jabbered to me and I would smile and say "enfom"(meaning "cool"). They probably just thought I was dumb... and yet they still liked me.

Each night, we were able to experience a recent "Foyer Coin des Cieux" orphanage tradition. Somehow, they had a DVD of the recent remake of the "We are the World" music video made for Haiti. Fritzner would turn on the generator and the tv and the kids would sit in their little chairs and belt out the words to this song as they watched their fellow Haitians highlighted in the video. I cried every night. It was nothing short of touching. Enjoy...

Haiti Happenings 2

Day 2- We switched airplanes and flew from Miami to Port Au Prince. Our massive plane was filled with humanitarians, doctors, architects, Haitians, and others that we wish we could have interviewed as to why they were there (obviously not for vacation purposes). There were a lot of good people on that plane, ready to do some good. After getting through customs, we grabbed our bags (it was a zoo) and headed out of the airport to begin our life-changing journey.

This began with a slew of men dressed in blue shirts desperately trying to get a hold of our baggage (trying to "help" us out so that we would have to pay them). It was out of control. Peter warned me about them and told me be strong and hold my own (it was a bad idea to pull out cash in front of large groups of people there... no matter how badly we wanted to give them money). We both ended up losing the battle and paid them as discreetly as we could.

In the middle of all the craziness we saw our dear friend Fritzner waving and smiling at us. It was so wonderful to see Peter and Fritzner embrace... they had a special bond as mission companions and still have it years later.

We pushed our way through the insanity and hopped into a truck... a truck that had air conditioning!!!! (it worked when we drove, and stopped when we stopped... I prayed for no stopping :)). We met our driver for the trip, "Captain" as well as our security guard (not kidding), Richard. Captain was pretty good with English, so we bonded immediately. It was fun to listen to Peter and Fritzner catch up in Haitian Creole with lots of laughter intermixed.

Our destination was Saint Marc, a town about 50 miles north of Port au Prince. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there due to the roads, the crazy drivers, having to drive slowly through random towns (so we wouldn't hit anyone), etc. I was amazed at all of the buses with people riding on the top with no personal space, the women carrying large things on their heads (anything from baskets, to large bushels of bananas, to water jugs), the men just sitting around watching the women work, little kids running up to the window to beg for money, vacant "homes" waiting for someone to finish them, the horrible "tent cities" that were their current homes, people riding donkeys on the side of the road, etc.

We finally arrived and I immediately saw such a difference from Port au Prince where we had just landed. Saint Marc seemed to have survived the earthquake much better.

The devastation was small. We drove through town keenly aware of all the looks we "blancs" (white people) were receiving. We definitely stood out.

Our first stop was in town to see the youth center Fritzner runs.

He received a grant from the US to open this center that helps educate teens on the effects of AIDS and Malaria. It also teaches them how to volunteer in their community which often leads to jobs (a rare commodity there). I was becoming more and more impressed with Fritzner and his dedication to his country. He is an ambassador for Haiti, travels to the US often, and could move his family here in a heart beat, but refuses to turn his back on his country that needs help... especially help from someone as loving and capable as Fritzner.

We then stopped by the LDS church in Saint Marc. Not only does Fritzner own and run and orphanage and a youth center, he is the Stake President. The church was gorgeous and it made me feel at home. Everything was the same... the hymn books, the pamphlets, the posters on the walls... just in Haitian Creole.

I loved just walking around seeing how well the grounds and building were treated. It was a little piece of heaven in a country that seemed to be going through hell. What a blessing the gospel is.

We hopped back in the truck, drove a short distance, then all of a sudden Captain honked the horn, a nice girl opened the gate, and we pulled into the orphanage "garage".

Immediately to the left, we walked into Fritzner's office. I imagined in my mind the women who have walked through that very door and sat in those office chairs to sign over their baby to Fritzner and then walk away. It was something I couldn't comprehend, yet as I walked up the stairs to find a beautiful, sturdy home, with beds and food to eat, I couldn't blame a mother for wanting a better life for her child. The faces I saw seated around the big green table were heavenly.

I went around and shook all the children's hands, asking them their name. They were horribly shy. I had to think of some way to help them understand that we were there because we loved them.

I noticed signs all over the walls that said "Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Waldron"... we did feel so. Especially as we were taken back to our room... a beautiful room with tile floors and a queen sized bed. The windows had screens and it even had a working toilet!! I imagined myself sleeping on the floor, underneath the mosquito net I brought, getting attacked by bugs (we did, however, have some large bug friends sleep with us in that room). What a welcome surprise. I know we took Fritzner and Carole's bed, it felt horrible, but they were thrilled to give us that space. Richard brought the load of suitcases into our room as we sat down to an incredible meal of rice, beans, goat, fried plantains, green beans and a spicy clove sauce.

I knew at this point that my hope of getting dirty and helping out was out of the question... they were going to treat us like royalty. After about 10 attempts in my English dorkiness to express to them that they didn't need to do so much, I gave up. They were all so excited to have guests and to treat those guests well. I shut my mouth and enjoyed the beautiful space, the kind welcome signs, the incredible food, and the special moments that the generator was turned on :).

We were then given a tour of their home/orphanage:
-the kitchen...

the "laundry room"...

up the hill, in front of Captain and Richard's home...

After lunch, I was still determined to make those beautiful kids my friends, so I busted out the Twister hopscotch game we brought them. Peter and I set it up, Peter explained how to play, and they shyly one-by-one took their turn.

It was kinda fun, but definitely not an ice breaker. We left the room for a moment and came back to find the game disassembled, the rings in the hand of a beautiful girl who was throwing them for another little girl to catch. Now THIS was fun.

As I watched the kids, I quickly fell in love with 3 month old Lovely. She was the best baby... so content. I loved holding her. She smelled like a combination of formula, sweat, and baby... a divine smell I will never forget. She was heaven.

We hopped in the back of the truck to go pick up Kemley (Fritzner's daughter) from school. Once again, I loved the looks geared towards the blancs hanging out in the back of the truck.
When we arrived back home, I pulled out my camera and started taking photos of the kids. I took a picture of adorable DJ, turned the camera around to show him the photo and he was amazed.

I quickly realized that digital cameras were a new thing for them. After each photo, the kids would run to the camera to see themselves. I can't even begin to tell you how happy they were when I put it on video mode. Guess what... we were all now friends :).

After playing with the kids and eating our yummy soup dinner, we gathered for Family Home Evening.

As I sat on that couch and listened to Fritzner give the lesson from Mosiah 18 and D&C 4, my heart swelled with emotion (as did my eyes) as I felt his love and the spirit so strongly. Peter was quietly translating for me and we were both incredibly touched by the kind lesson. Fritzner shared stories from their mission. They were companions when Fritzner's mother died. She was on top of one of the "tap taps" (taxi buses) when it rolled over. Fritzner became emotional as he shared the story of how Peter was there by his side in the hospital, at her funeral and throughout his mourning process. He continued to tell the kids that he and Peter are more than just friends... they are brothers, and they have been there for each other ever since. Peter responded with just as much admiration and love for Fritzner. I cannot even begin to describe how it felt to be in that room.

After the powerful lesson, they asked me to say the closing prayer (which I did often... they liked hearing it in English) and then we handed out the peanut butter cookies, couretsey of our friend Olivia from the airplane (see previous post).

When the kids were in bed (they slept 2-3 on each small bunk bed mattresses), we walked upstairs to the roof to sit and enjoy the night breeze and the bugs :). It was beautiful up there in the pitch black with only the stars in the sky. We sat and chatted with Fritzner and Carole (Peter chatted, I listened ;))... a perfect way to end an absolutely unforgettable day.

Haiti Happenings 1

We left, we were there, and now we are back... forever changed by the experiences that we had. We were there for 4 days, took 600 photos, and have 100's of stories to share. Here we go... this could take awhile.

Day 1 (May 2)- we took a red-eye flight from LAX to Miami... it's amazing how fast a flight goes when you are asleep. We did have some time, however, to get to know the lady next to us (on her way to Costa Rica for a girl's trip). She was moved by the journey we were embarking on and asked if we would take a large bag full of peanut butter cookies (that her mom made) to the orphans. Needless to say, the kids loved them.Something that I really learned from this trip is how we as human beings are always looking for ways to do good (even in the smallest ways). We often get caught up in the world, but when we really get down to our core, we just want that amazing feeling that comes from when we give of ourselves. A lot of people were able to give recently... even new friends on a flight to Miami. How blessed I feel to have witnessed both the giving and the receiving ends.

More to come...