There have been so many things that have touched me on this trip to Haiti, it’s hard to choose one that has meant the most. But one morning does stand out to me more than any of the others.
Haiti Arise began with a heart for Haiti and it’s people- especially it’s children. The Children’s Village was built for just that, a place where orphans or children who can’t be taken care of by their parents, can go and live with a mother and father and other children who are in the same situation. Each family lives in a home and are surrounded by love and get the care a child should receive. It’s a beautiful place….each duplex housing 2 families each.
On this particular morning I was able to go with a small group- including a translator and Social Worker, to interview various people as to get a history for each child which lives in the village. One particular interview has gotten a hold on my heart like no other.
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We made our way through the busy market, weaving in and out of tables and wheelbarrows, people and cement walls. Turning to the right we left the chaos of the market, and made our way down a dirt pathway. Coming around a corner, we found an elderly man sitting on a partial cement wall. The social worker spoke with him, and he stood and led us through a pathway strewn with voodoo symbols and bottles hanging from trees. He hobbled up some steps and entered a one room cement home. It was small but orderly. His one good shirt hung up on the wall, his everyday clothes in a small pile on a corner of his bed. A wooden chair sat at an end. Other than one small pot of rice on a stand beside the door with a few small items, that was all that filled the tiny cement home.
The elderly man reached for his crutch and then carefully sat down on the edge of the small bed. He then began to tell his story of how his granddaughter ended up in the Children’s Village.
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His daughter had been living with him along with her 3 children. For some reason she would leave early in the morning, and not return until late, leaving him with his grandkids day after day. He asked her to please get help as he was too old to continue raising the children on his own- but instead, she left with 2 of her children, leaving him with the youngest girl.
He tried to care for her. He would make her a lunch and take her to school, picking her up at the end of the day. Because of his trouble walking, this became increasingly difficult and hard for him. He decided to reach out to a school within Grand Goave to see if they could assist him. For some reason they turned him away. Then, using his crutch, he walked miles up the side of a mountain to an orphanage there, asking if he could leave his granddaughter there as he couldn’t care for her. He again was turned away.
In one last attempt, he decided to make his way across town to Haiti Arise. Knowing that there was a place there where children could live and be taken care of, he was determined to take her there. Showing up at the gate he told us “he made a scene” so that they would pay attention to him and what he requested. And as bittersweet as it was, he left his granddaughter in the children’s village. Bitter- because he was giving up his granddaughter, but Sweet, because his love was so great he was willing to give up so she could live a full and rich life.
As he spoke in that tiny humble cement square of a home, his gentle spirit and love for his granddaughter filled the room. Every so often he smiled as he remembered his granddaughter, but nothing was more precious than when he was given a picture of his granddaughter. His face changed and the love he has for his granddaughter lit up his face. He couldn’t take his eyes of the picture. I choked back tears watching the emotion cross his face.
We then asked him if he has gone back to see his granddaughter. I will never forget his words in his soft voice…”There is wisdom in love. I do not want to show up to remind her of the difficult time in her life.”
Throughout the rest of the conversation, we found that his wife had left him years ago because he was crippled, and the home he lives in now will no longer be available to him within the year as the owners will be returning.
Here sat a man who had basically nothing in the way of material possessions. People had left him. He is alone and doesn’t know what lies in store for him. And yet, his love shone through and covered everything that seems wrong in his life. His gentle and calm spirit touched me like nothing ever has before.
Before we left, we gathered around him and prayed. In the depths of Haiti, in a tiny cement home, God’s presence filled the place.
On the surface, Haiti is a harsh, litter-filled and chaotic country. It’s filled with turmoil and material poverty. And yet, if you peel that all back there is so much more. Each person here has their own story. There is so much depth to this country. The people are full love- regardless of their circumstances. It’s overwhelming. We have so much to learn.
God IS working here in the people of Haiti. He is working in the churches of Haiti. He is working here at Haiti Arise.
“God IS alive and well in Haiti!”
~ Dawn
