Day 4 (May 5)- This was our last full day in Haiti. We woke up to the same wonderful noises as yesterday. Some of the older kids were already at school (it costs money to attend school in Haiti, so only a few from the orphanage are able to go... to rest are taught in the orphanage). The younger timoons were eating breakfast around the big green table.
We ate another delicious breakfast as well (I had Peter tell Carole that she needs to write a Haitian cookbook... it was amazing food).
I held baby Lovely for a little bit. She started to get fussy, so I laid her down in her bed and stroked her little face. She became drowsy and eventually fell asleep. It was a memorable moment for me. Little heaven.
We spent the whole day in Saint Marc. I loved getting out of the car and mingling with the people. There is an energy and point of view that you just can't feel from the car. We walked up and down the streets and alleys, watching men haul wheelbarrows, women tend for their children, merchants trying to sell anything (mostly used clothing... it was like one huge garage sale), teenagers hanging around, motor scooter taxis dodging each other on the road... a word comes to mind that describes it best - mayhem. No rhyme or reason... just lots of things happening at once.
We dodged through the main market. It was mostly women selling things. There were a few canned things, but the majority of the food being sold was from the land... fruits, veggies, meats. It was the meat part of that equation that made me dry heave. As we walked through the "meat market", everywhere I looked I was that much closer to throwing up. There were intestines in a bowl, crabs crawling out of the bowls, fresh meat just chopped covered with flies, bloody things, chopped chicken feet hanging out on the table, every single part of the animal displayed on a table in the 100 degree heat surrounded by millions of flies. The stench was nasty and I was praying that Carole didn't buy her meat here :). Oh, how grateful I am for the
Albertson's meat department.
As we left the meat section, Peter showed me a bowl filled with grey, circle-shaped discs... they were dirt cookies... made from dirt... and people ate them. My heart became heavy as I thought about how destitute one must be to resort to eating dirt. It really was a whole different world.
Just as I felt tears swelling up in my eyes, we came upon some women selling clothing. One woman looked at us and proceeded to give us "
blancs" an Oscar-winning performance. She rolled on the ground, pretending to be dying, at one point pretending to be having enormous seizures, all the while saying "help me,
blancs... I am dying." Please don't think that this was serious in anyway. Everyone around us (including us) was dying as well... of laughter. It was hilarious. She gave everyone in that market a good show and oh, how I wanted to send some money her way. Heaven knows she earned it. Both
Fritzner and Peter warned me again to not pull out any money in a crowded area, and it was most definitely crowded. Darn it.
Near market was a Deli Mart where we ate lunch (the same fast food chain that we ate at yesterday in Port
au Prince). I have never been more thankful for air conditioning (I'm sure the employees appreciate the generator as well).
Something that I never really got used to was the amount of "security" walking around with loaded guns strapped to their torso. We were sitting, enjoying our sandwiches when a young security guy (18 years old or so) walked in with his gun. Because Haiti has been under Martial Law for quite some time, people with guns is a common sight. Peter told me that when he was on his mission, he would see dead people lying on the street who had been shot because they were trying to steal something. If you are driving and hit and kill someone, people will immediately burn you while you are still in the car. All of these stories had me a little on-edge the entire time we were there. Especially as we were driving through crowded streets and hanging out in the marketplace.
Our next stop was at a local school where
Fritzner is on the board of directors (yep, something else). A squeaky gate was opened and we entered into a little courtyard... lots of stares for the
blancs :).
We met the kind principal who took us into every classroom to meet the children (K-12). Peter spoke with each class, asking them what grade they were in and usually told a Peter joke.
My favorite was in one of the older classes, they asked Peter how it was that he spoke Haitian Creole so well and Peter retorted "I AM a Haitian, my mom just drank some bleach". We all thought that was pretty funny. In the last class, Peter shoved me to the front and translated my
blabberings to them. They were all so gracious.
We went back outside to the courtyard to find the
Kindergartners at recess. I walked up to them and taught a little group how to give me a high-five. I turned around to find some more darling faces to high-five. Within a few minutes, I was surrounded by the sweetest little group of
kindergartners.
Once again, I was entranced by their deep, beautiful eyes and infectious smiles.
I took photos of them, they sang and danced for us, we gave more high-fives and then it was time to go. I can't think of a way to express in words what a beautiful experience this was. It just was.
After visiting this school, we drove down some of the main roads. At one point, I quickly saw the ocean and never realized how close we were to it. It was literally a stones throw away. The crazy thing was, it was almost impossible to see. I kept trying to get a picture as we drove past little alley ways, but I was unsuccessful. Here in California, ocean front property is out-of-this-world expensive... in Haiti, it is apparently where the "crazy people" live. Because they have so many hurricanes, people block the ocean, and generally try to steer clear of it. Such a shame seeing as how beautiful it was.
We drove north for about a 1/2 hour to one of the only "resorts" in Haiti. It is called Club Indigo, and compared to what we had seen the past few days, it was pretty nice. The greatest part about it was the open beach... it was beautiful.
There was sand, lounge chairs and ocean as far as the eye could see. It was also desolate... I swear I heard crickets chirping. If anyone wants to go on a vacation to Haiti with us, we can stay there and give that poor place some business. Next time.
We had some time to kill before picking
Kemley up from school, so what does a Stake President do when there is some time to kill? Visit members. We pulled up to a tiny home with dirt floors and a gorgeous garden out front. We were introduced to
Roseth, a woman in her 80's and one of the first members to join the church in Haiti. She greeted us all with a warm embrace and kisses on both cheeks. She was radiating love. She lived with her daughter and granddaughter who both joined us on the patio. Every once in awhile, someone would peek from behind the sheet door. It was someone different each time and made me wonder how many people actually lived in this little home.
We sat on their porch and all of the beautiful foliage provided nice shade relief on such a horribly hot day. I hated that I didn't speak Haitian Creole. It killed me when I desperately wanted to ask the orphans something, when I wanted to tell
Fritzner and Carole how amazing I think they are, and in this situation, wanting to hear all about
Roseth's life experiences. I just had to sit there, smiling, hoping that they knew I was genuinely interested in all they had to say... whatever it may have been.
After our visit, we took a photo out in their garden and Rose, the granddaughter, had never had her picture taken before. She was so excited that we took one of just her... she didn't say anything, but her eyes expressed all of her excitement. Another lesson learned... enjoy and appreciate the small things (like a photo of yourself).
We picked up Kemley from school and headed back to the orphanage. Once again, I loved the honk of the horn, one of the older kids running down to open up the gate and all of the little smiling faces up above on the second floor as we pulled in.
As we walked in, we saw the kids coloring and playing with the goods from their backpacks.
Maya had taken a washcloth and wrapped it around her baby bear. They were having such a great time.
I sat and watched while holding little Lovely.
We ate dinner and then prepared to give them the rest of the items from Danny's eagle scout project. We locked ourselves in our room as we pulled out all of the clothes, toys, towels, medication, hygiene supplies, shoes, etc. We brought it all out and placed it on the kid's
bunk beds for
Fritzner and Carole sort through.
Before letting the kids come in and see it all, we presented the envelope filled with money from
Dallin's fundraiser to
Fritzner and Carole.
Dallin raised over $850 for their orphanage. They were overwhelmed.
Fritzner told us over and over again to thank
Dallin and let him know how grateful and amazed he is that a 7 year old boy would do something like this for others. I have to agree...
Dallin is one special kid.
The kids then lined up and walked into their room one-by-one to find all of their new stuff. They were each able to pick out a toy (which they were super-excited about)! There were jump ropes, frisbees, soccer balls, etc. They went right to it. The boys were passing the balls to each other, the girls were jumping rope together, and some of the older women were using the frisbees to fan themselves in the Haiti heat :). It was fun madness in that little room and we could tell that they were thrilled to have something besides dominoes and blocks to play with.
Okay, so it was my turn to play... dress up. Little Anna came up to me and wanted to look at the new clothes. She chose a darling little dress (one of Claires) and I helped her put it on. She looked beautiful.
I looked up and found that a line of little girls had formed... all wanting to play dress up too. One by one, they would come over and I was able to help them find something lovely to wear. We were all in girl heaven.
It really wasn't dress-up though, it was an outfit to call their own. An outfit that they would probably have on for the next week or so.
After I was done with the little ones, I saw the older girls standing there with hopeful eyes. All of the clothes collected were for kids, so we had no adult or teenage clothing. I could tell they were disappointed.
I went into my suitcase, grabbed whatever shirts I brought and showed them to the girls. Their faces lit up and they immediately went into the back room to put them on. The phrase "giving the shirt off your back" had a whole new meaning for me... and it felt so good. Anyone in that situation with those girls would have done the same.
We all gathered in the main room, all dressed in new clothes and sang "We are the World" together. I cried again, but this time because it was our last night to be there... with them... witnessing such beautiful children who have so little, yet have so much.
I had such mixed emotions as I watched them sing. I was
happy to know that these kids have such a nice, safe home... one free of disease and heartache. I felt
peace knowing that Fritzner would find wonderful homes for each of them. I was
thrilled to have been able to see them play, interact, and live their day-to-day lives. I was also
sad to know that our journey was over and that I may never see some of these beautiful faces again. Peter and I talked about how the next time we visit, it will probably be a whole new group of orphans (Fritzner is very good at placing kids in good homes). I cried harder. I loved these kids. Kids that I have never had a conversation with, kids that I had only spent a handful of hours with, kids who somehow touched our lives in such a short period of time but will remain with us forever.
We were not ready to say goodbye just yet...
When I was pregnant with Claire, I had a bunch of girls names that I really liked... Grace was one of them. How grateful I am that we opted out on that name... because as wonderful and beautiful as Claire is, she is not very 'grace'ful.
