Haiti: Day 5
Today was another day of contrast. We began our day with going to church. Church here is very different than American church: it lasts for hours. However, we ended up getting to church late and were only there for an hour. What's interesting is that many people show up at various times, so it wasn't uncommon that we were late. After all, a man came in during the sermon, knew I didn't speak he language so he translated the whole sermon. It was a neat experience.
We then walked with some of the teenagers we had befriended on the trip to their homes. This was my first time walking the streets of Haiti. We made it to Sheelove's house and met his whole family, whom Jen and Dave had already been helping with school and English studies. From there we went to Stephane's home, met his parents and siblings. It also was a great experience because Karen had given so much to the family. We then went back to the orphanage to eat lunch.
We wanted to do something fun with Stephane and Sheelove as well as for our driver Jacnel and his sons. We ended up connecting with a couple that Jen met on Facebook through he adoption process. We went to a hotel in patien-ville, a very wealthy part of Port Au Prince. It was Sheelove's first time swimming, he learned quickly to not open his eyes under water. Also, the teenage thought process is universal because he thought that even though he couldn't swim, he would jump into the deep end...I saved him. He's a 16 year old. From the hotel we went to see the capital. It was neat, but the difference in that part of town from where the orphanage is night and day.
Dave and I talked on the roof of the orphanage about how much of a difference a government could make if it cared about all of the people, especially the poor. The city is overrun with sewer water, trash and tent cities. There have been riots over the government raising the price of goods. We further feel like we need to continually invest in people who have the vision to make this a better place, to inspire people to have pride in themselves and in their home land. We feel as if we have met some students that could do just that.
We then walked with some of the teenagers we had befriended on the trip to their homes. This was my first time walking the streets of Haiti. We made it to Sheelove's house and met his whole family, whom Jen and Dave had already been helping with school and English studies. From there we went to Stephane's home, met his parents and siblings. It also was a great experience because Karen had given so much to the family. We then went back to the orphanage to eat lunch.
We wanted to do something fun with Stephane and Sheelove as well as for our driver Jacnel and his sons. We ended up connecting with a couple that Jen met on Facebook through he adoption process. We went to a hotel in patien-ville, a very wealthy part of Port Au Prince. It was Sheelove's first time swimming, he learned quickly to not open his eyes under water. Also, the teenage thought process is universal because he thought that even though he couldn't swim, he would jump into the deep end...I saved him. He's a 16 year old. From the hotel we went to see the capital. It was neat, but the difference in that part of town from where the orphanage is night and day.
Dave and I talked on the roof of the orphanage about how much of a difference a government could make if it cared about all of the people, especially the poor. The city is overrun with sewer water, trash and tent cities. There have been riots over the government raising the price of goods. We further feel like we need to continually invest in people who have the vision to make this a better place, to inspire people to have pride in themselves and in their home land. We feel as if we have met some students that could do just that.
posted by Levi at
6:03 PM
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