Today we
woke up bright and early and headed to beautiful Vialet (more specifically,
Four-A-Chaux). This would be my second time coming to this village. On our 2012
trip we came here to see the 50 homes that Performance Services had built. In
addition we did a shoe distribution here with Samaritan’s Feet.
<-- 2012
After almost 2.5 hours in the bus
we spotted the Performance Services/ Four-A-Chaux (pronounced “fūa-sho”) sign. I was
blown away by the welcoming committee they had pulled together to greet us.
They had a small band, teenagers marching and dancing in unison, and a crowd
holding a sign that read “Welcome Performance Services: Tim, Jim, and Friends!”
Everyone was waving around tree branches- I felt like Jesus on Palm Sunday! They were all
clean and wore the nicest clothes they owned. The school children walked
hand-in-hand in neat lines wearing their new uniforms. They all went ahead and
lead our bus down the long dirt road to the school. It was so muddy that after
a certain point, the bus could not get through it. That turned out to be such a
blessing though because we were able to get out and walk with the villagers. By the time I reached the school, I had at
least 4 little kids hanging onto my arms and hands! The whole thing felt like we
were in the middle of a giant parade. Everyone was incredibly gracious and
welcoming- much more so than in any other village we had been to.
We filed into the community center that another
group of donors had built since we were here last. A number of different people,
both from our group and from Four-Au-Chaux, spoke and a couple of the villagers
sang songs. We got to hear from the school’s principle and teachers. Lesli told
part of his own story and challenged the people of Four-A-Chaux to take care of
what they have been given and to put their education to good use. Two young
schoolgirls were fascinated with Lauren’s hair and played with it during the
entire inauguration. While the ceremony was long and very hot, it was amazing
to see how much this community has developed in the past year. Most of the
people in our group had not seen the town before, but I could hardly tell I was
in the same place.
The last portion of the inauguration ceremony was
cutting the ribbon in the school building. We got to walk around and see all
the classrooms while the priest blessed them. Before I knew it, my four little
friends were glued to my arms again. Within five minutes there were at least
three more… Walking with seven other pairs of feet is not an easy task! Fitting
through doorways was a struggle, but I would not have traded those few minutes
for anything. Every second in Haiti God had been filling me with more love than I
knew was even possible for one person to contain. Vialet was like a tidal wave.
I was on cloud nine the entire day.
As we finished up our tour, I heard music playing
and a dance circle quickly formed. Wow, those kids can move. I have to admit
that it caught me off guard a little bit at first. I think a lot of Carmel moms
would have been appalled if they saw their 8-year-old daughters move their hips
like that. In Haitian culture, people are definitely not shy when it comes to
dancing and singing. I drifted away from the circle when my seven buddies
wanted me to dance in the middle- haha yeah that would have been interesting. The
beautiful thing about our day in Vialet was that we had a lot of time to
interact with the people and just have fun! Luckily, we also had bubbles and
face paint on hand, which made a perfect distraction.
I unlatched all the little hands holding onto me
and pulled out a bottle of bubbles. I showed them how to use it and then handed
the container to the girl in the yellow romper. That turned out to be a huge
hit. Their faces lit up as if they had just seen magic or something! Later on,
one of the other girls pulled on my shirt and pointed at the sky with a huge
smile on her face. She was mesmerized by the shiny bubbles still floating high above
the trees. They soon discovered face painting and wanted to try that as well. I
grabbed the white crayon and just drew simple designs on all of their cheeks- stars,
hearts, smiley faces, etc. The kids were so proud of their drawings, and none of them even knew what they looked like!
On our first trip to Haiti, I was upset that I
never actually got to see the inside of the FFP houses that Performance
Services had bought. So, I broke off from my little followers for a moment and
toured one. The house had about as much square footage as my room at home, but
it was a castle to them. The amount of pride and dignity that a house can bring
to a family continually amazes me. One thing that I have learned from my
involvement in Haiti is that the people there don’t need the kind of life that
we expect here in the States. A nice home there looks like a small cinderblock
hut to us. Our goal is not to provide them with luxuries they didn’t even know
they were lacking. It is to meet their basic needs to that they can live with
peace and dignity.
Sadly, our time in Vialet had to come to an end so
that we could get back to the hotel before dark. Since the trail was still too
muddy for the buses, a pick-up truck shuttled us out to the main road in small
groups. I made sure I was in one of the last groups because I didn’t want to
leave! The music and dancing and joy continued even as we loaded into the truck.
Once again, it was so difficult to say goodbye to those kids, especially the
seven who had literally been attached to me for the past few hours.
Just as I was climbing into the bed of the truck,
I caught a glimpse of a familiar face. I had to do a double take- I recognized
a little girl in the crowd from a photo that I took last year. The image of her
from 15 months ago was engrained into my mind from seeing it so many times. She
used to be a boney, with a bloated belly, dirty skin, matted
hair, and no life in her eyes. Now she was standing before me in a neatly
pressed school uniform. She looked clean and healthy, her hair was in perfect
braids, and her eyes sparkled as she looked up at us. Best of all, she was
laughing and jumping around as she waved goodbye. I wish that I had thought to
take a picture of her right then and there. With or without a picture though, I
will not forget this little girl who perfectly embodies the transformation I
have seen in this community as a whole. They are alive, organized, joyful, and
dignified. Last year, in addition to the houses, Performance Services gave the
village 30 cows as a part of FFP’s animal husbandry program. Since then, they
have bred 25 calves. Not to mention digging a well, raising tilapia, and
organizing a full on celebration for us. That’s when you know that your gift
(Performance Services’ in this case) has had a huge impact; when it enables
people to take care of themselves.
^(The girl in the green)
On the flip side of that, there remains a level of
desperation despite the hope. Some of the families in Four-A-Chaux do not
actually own the land they live on, making them unable to receive a good home
or other property from FFP. This heartbreaking reality was made apparent to us
just before the truck took off. There was a girl named Keely who Olivia had
been holding and cuddling the entire day. She was probably two or three, but
still resembled a baby. At one point she tried to put the girl down, but she
was so weak that she wobbled and could hardly stand on her own. Olivia couldn’t
take it so she scooped her right back up. Eventually she had to put the Keely
so that we could leave. While we were loading into the back of the pick-up, the
child’s grandmother ran over and desperately begged Olivia to keep her. She
knew that she did not have the means to provide a good life for her. Seeing the
look in that woman’s eyes and having to say “no” broke Olivia’s heart. Mrs.
Bedford, who was sitting there witnessing the whole thing, got very emotional
several times just talking about it. I cannot even fathom how desperate a
mother (or grandmother) would have to be to give her child to a stranger so
that she could have a good life.
That is the paradox of Haiti. The week we spent
there was so full of hope, and beauty, and joy that I can hardly contain
myself. Yet at the same time and in the same place, there is unimaginable pain
and despair. It is so discouraging sometimes to know that no matter how hard I
work, the effect I have will still be just a drop of water out of an entire
ocean of poverty. We talked about that a lot on the way back to the hotel. We
are human- there is only so much we can do. If we can change one life, the rest
of the world may not care, but it will matter to that one person. In the words
of Mother Theresa, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things
with great love.” I cannot fix all of Haiti. I cannot provide for all of Gros
Mangle, or Ganthier, or Four-A-Chaux, and I wouldn’t even know where to begin
in Port-Au-Prince. But if I can love one Wycliffe, one Ralph, one Nini or Gemi
or Keely, one future Lesli; it matters to that one child of God.
We got stuck in heavy traffic on the way home, so
we began reflections on the bus. God, I love Food for the Poor! We went around
and shared our experiences of the day. We talked through some of the emotion
and impact of each day. We prayed and discussed our future plans to do more in
Haiti. Lesli was emotional as he talked about the hope and joy he saw. He
thanked us for helping “his people” and emphasized how personal all of this was
for him. For an hour or so that bus became our secluded oasis. I completely
forgot the outside world and the fact that we were stuck in traffic on a
crowded road.
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