Last Day In Haiti

I made a joke today that I worked harder my last day in Haiti than my entire time here. This is definitely not a true statement; however, with the end in sight it made the work all the more harder. The Base Camp that we stay at is closed up for the rest of the year, as the missionaries and staff are all leaving for Christmas. There will be a Haitian family that will be staying in the "house" while everyone's gone. We had lots of supplies, equipment, and resources that we had to put away and store. Originally, a team from Beaverton was scheduled to help with the closing process, but because of the "Political Drama" their flight was canceled... which meant more work for us.


It was a blessed day as I received some money from a person in the states who wanted to pay for Huberman's hospital bills concerning his mother. I also gave Huberman one of my dress shirts so that he'd remember me, and he told me that he'd wear it to church on Sunday. (The one he's wearing in the photo is the one I gave him) His mother looked very healthy and she told me that she's eating and continuing to take her medicine.

In this next picture I grabbed a few of the kids who live in the tent camp to join us in this picture. It's an amazing feeling to recognize faces and see people smile when you say their name. On a walk between Base Camp and our church, a few kids from a neighborhood that I've visited often to hand out clothing, school supplies, and benches, walked towards me... I yelled one of the boys names, "Lilly!!!" and when he heard it he came running with the biggest smile.




I will definitely miss this place. It's always hard to leave something once you get in a rhythm and flow of things. Not to say Haiti is easy to adjust to, because daily you run into difficulties through language barriers, a slow moving lifestyle, hurt and broken lives... All the while dealing with the fact that anywhere you look you see trash, tent houses, run down businesses, filthy water systems, pothole filled roads, people walking in mud and dirt. It's beautiful really, because somehow these people continue to live, continue to dream, and continue to give thanks. They are a nation whose people model great and humble hearts. As I leave here and head back to my comforts of the American life, I envy these people's ability to endure, their passion to live, and how they make much out of little.