On March 20th my daughter Rosey and I arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This was my third trip to Haiti and Rosey’s first. We took a team of 23 from Wisconsin and met up with another group of 20 from other areas of the United States. Brent Gambrell Ministries organized the trip, and Brent led the team.
The airport in Port-au-Prince has changed quite a bit since the earthquake. Baggage claim and immigration and customs are inside an airplane hanger. All the baggage is dumped on a pile and people wade through it looking for their bags. Outside the airport hundreds of people crowd the streets hoping to help new arrivals and receive tips. This is nerve racking; however, the translators were waiting for us outside the gate and we crossed the street to a big green bus, which we took through Port-au-Prince and up the mountain to New Life Link’s Bethel Guesthouse.
This week changed my life for many reasons, but the most important being that we met our son, Judson Candy who is called Jetson by Dr. Bernard and his staff. Rosey was the first one to find him. We knew that we might receive our referral for our son while in Haiti, and actually, we had been praying about it and trusting God that it would happen. Anyway, like I said Rosey found him lying in a crib in the back room of the crèche. His biological mother had just given him up on Monday and we met him on Saturday. He was in failure to thrive, at nearly six months old he weighed just 10 lbs. He didn’t even cry when he was hungry. In addition Jetson has a tongue-tie, so he won’t be able to eat food or speak until he has that fixed. When Dr. Bernard offered us Jetson to adopt, I was unsure what to do or say as I’d been praying for that moment for so long and it was finally here. I just kept saying, I need to call my husband, and I did. Immediately Jerry (my husband) and I knew he would be our son. On Monday night Jetson moved into the guesthouse with us, and although he stayed in the crèche when we went out to work, he spent the week with us.
This is what our weekly schedule looked like:
Saturday: We arrived at NLL late in the afternoon. We unpacked, played with the babies in the crèche and had dinner. At night we had devotions and a team meeting. Saturday afternoon was the first time we met Jetson.
Sunday: In the morning we went to church in Port-au-Prince with Julie, Melo and other children from the crèche. In the afternoon we sorted the approximately 4,000 lbs of food, medical supplies, hygiene products, shoes, etc that we brought with us. The food was for the orphanages, and the medical supplies were for families, the medical clinic we held in Canez, and for area hospitals and clinic (approximate 40,000 dollars worth of donated medical supplies went into Port-au-Prince). Again, we spent time loving on children at the crèche before evening dinner.
Monday & Tuesday: We spent two days working at the crèche. During the earthquake the original crèche collapsed, but all the children and workers made it to safety. But since then the babies moved into the crèche at the Bethel Guesthouse. There was very limited storage, and everything was just thrown in there without any system of organization. We built and stained shelves, setup and organized the rooms for the children, and those with special skills worked on electrical and mechanical issues with appliances and such. In addition, half of our team went into Port-au-Prince to help with building homes for widows. One of New Life Link’s new projects is building homes for the widows from the church who lost their families and homes in the earthquake. Tuesday afternoon, many of our team went to the older children’s orphanage while others of us stayed to work at the crèche.
Wednesday: We went to the village of Canez. It took about 3-4 hours to reach Canez, which is located in the desert north of Port-au-Prince. Here lived the poorest people I’ve ever encountered in Haiti. There were 68 homes on a beautiful lake of salt, which the people cannot drink from. Instead they walk 1 ½ hours a day for drinking water. The children have orange hair from malnutrition. And aside from their small straw huts the people have no place to get out of the hot sun.
When we drove down the road toward the village, the people saw us coming and were dancing and clapping. Some of the girls could not stop touching our white skin and kept saying, “bel, bel,” meaning beautiful. We visited each home with the gospel, and found most people were Christians. There is a small Haitian church which comes to the village occasionally to share the gospel; however, they are poor too and have no way to help with the physical needs of the people.
We gave each family three large bags of hygiene products, shoes, and clothing. They also received a first-aid kit and children’s and adult Tylenol. Each family received a 50 lb. bag of rice and we held a medical clinic where the ill and injured were treated by one of the five nurses on our team. Those in need of it received prescription medications. (Since we left Canez, the team that came after us constructed a huge wooden shelter and there are plans for clean water, a goat farm, a church, and a school.) All of this is sponsored by New Life Link.
The people of Canez were very grateful, seeing our arrival as an answer to their faithfulness and prayers. One woman said, “I don’t see people; I see Jesus.” Eight people gave their lives to Christ that day.
Thursday: Some of us worked at the crèche helping and playing with the children: Each baby received a baby massage with conditioning lotion and had their nails clipped and filed. Some of the babies had been scratching themselves with their untrimmed nails. The babies were played with and given individual attention. In the afternoon we held a pool party and the children got to go swimming.
The other members of the team went to the older children’s orphanage were they stocked shelves with food, gave out schools supplies; the boys also received soccer balls, board games, backpacks, and deodorant; the girls received nail polish, body sprays, lip gloss, flip flops, combs, and sunglasses. Each child received a flashlight.
The construction team spent the day at the homes for widows; they continued the cement work and assisted the other Haitian volunteers from the church.
Friday: We spent the morning at the Baptist mission. We shopped in the stores and bakery and visited the church, medical clinic, and small zoo. There is also an orphanage at the mission. In the afternoon we played with the children at the crèche.
Saturday: We left for the airport.
Each night we had devotions and many testimonies were shared.
I worked at the crèche as much as possible so I could spend time with Jetson. He slept in a pack and play in our room; he’s a good sleeper usually sleeping 8-10 hours a night. We tried without success to get him to eat baby food, but due to being tongue-tied this wasn’t possible. I pray every day that we can get him home soon so that he can have what will be a simple procedure in the U.S. but what is a major surgery in Haiti, not to mention the unsanitary conditions for healing.
This was an amazing week. I cannot describe the heartache we encountered, and every time I turn on the shower I think of the people without water in Canez. It has been a tough adjustment coming home, and I cannot wait to return this summer--return to the work and to Jetson. When I’m in Haiti, my life has such purpose, and I feel God's presence constantly. The poverty, the need is overwhelming and yet the people are loving and generous. I still cannot fully understand all we saw, heard, and experienced, but God is in Haiti and his love is flowing there.
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