--Traffic in Port
--Tents near airportToday was my first trip to Port-au-Prince during the daytime….
When I flew into Port it was already dark so I did not get to see much of it. It was just as shocking as I figured it would be. It is almost 2 hours away from Canaan. If I thought traffic was bad in general around Haiti, Port tops it all. When you first get into the city, it is a fight to be able to turn left onto any road. You really just have to pull out in front of people, which was kind of scary being in the passenger seat. There literally were hundreds of endless tents set up alllll over the city. Everywhere you looked it was just solid tents. People set up in the port because they knew they would be closest to the aid coming in from the airport. It is a year later and really does not seem like much progress, if any. The rubble is still all over. Some of the people here told me there is at least 80% of the rubble still just laying there. Just on the outskirts of Port we passed a mass grave site. There was a huge area of land next to the mountain where they dumped hundreds of bodies after the earthquake, with tiny crosses all over. It was really sad. It seems as though these people are just content living in these tents, many don’t have any other option at this point. The tents more on the outskirts looked as though they were making them more permanent homes. It amazes me how bad off these people have it. But it is very hard to find anyone without a smile on their face. And most of their daily lives are surrounded by worship and God. I fully believe the only reason most of these people are still alive is because of God and the faith they have. There is no earthly reason why some of these starving people should be surviving, but by the grace of God.
We have a missionary visiting this week. He has traveled all over the world, and he said today in his sermon, this is by far the most spiritual place he has ever been, and the children here are something he has never seen. It really is an act of God. Being surrounded by such grateful people who have absolutely nothing, except God has been such a rewarding experience. Whether I teach these children anything, they have definitely taught me something I could have learned nowhere else. I hope to bring a piece of this love back home with me.
We have a missionary visiting this week. He has traveled all over the world, and he said today in his sermon, this is by far the most spiritual place he has ever been, and the children here are something he has never seen. It really is an act of God. Being surrounded by such grateful people who have absolutely nothing, except God has been such a rewarding experience. Whether I teach these children anything, they have definitely taught me something I could have learned nowhere else. I hope to bring a piece of this love back home with me.
--Mass gravesite
--Tents
1 comment:
Isn't it funny that in order to be thankful for what you have, you have to be taken back to the point where you don't have anything. I take for granted that when I wake up I am going to be able to cook my breakfast, that I will be able to have a nice lunch, and that I will have a dinner that will sustain me until the next morning. I have no idea what it is like to go without a meal unless I decide that is what I want to do. What a spoiled person I am and yet I am not smiling all the time like the Haitians. What makes the Haitians happy? Is it the simplicity of their life? Is it their belief that God will take care of them? I need to find the answer to that! Remember that I love you and I am SOOO proud of you! MM
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