love, dirt and coffee

Since being back in the States after mission in Haiti, I am already seeing some of the fruits that have come from my time there. There hasn't been a moment when I don't miss it and desire to be there. Reflecting on my time there has been hard, but so helpful in understanding what I experienced there. The people of Haiti are so beautiful, humble, and joyful; from the orphans, to the elderly, to those on the home visits, to the people who served full time with Haiti180. There was not a moment over there where I wasn't loving on others, but also being taught how to love more fully. Every day I came back with the dirtiest feet from all the walking, playing and working. In every moment, there were so many things to be thankful for, from the smiles and giggles of the orphans, to the joyful eyes of the elderly, to true gratitude of the people during the home visits, to the clear sky at night, to the most delicious coffee ever, to the day at the ocean. All of my time in Haiti was filled with learning about joy, acts of love, and encounters with mercy. 

Each day of the mission, so many things happened. Some days were more filled than others, but for the most part we played with the kids, dug out the patio, sat with the elderly, went on home visits, reflected on the day as a team and learned about the Haitian culture. This mission was one of relational ministry, even though there was a language barrier. But the amazing thing was that they didn't care that much. The children and the elderly just wanted someone there to love on them, play with them, sit with them, show them their dignity and be joyful around them. I went over to serve them, but it feels like they served me more. After being there for a week, my heart has changed. Those kids showed me the love and joy that Christ speaks of in the Gospel when He tells us we need to be like children. Their childlike faith, wonder and curiosity was so inspiring and authentic. Every morning we prayed rosary with them and every night we prayed in the chapel with them. Their holiness and love of the Lord showed through in those moments, especially when walking into the chapel with them loudly singing beautiful songs of praise in creole. They have so little materially, but much more than I have spiritually. There is so much that children can teach adults about faith, love and joy. They taught me about the love of the Father, running into His open arms daily, and resting in His embrace. It was truly amazing to see them in prayer every day and to see their joy in the little moments. Whether we ran around chasing them, sat with them as they showed us their homework, let them braid our hair, took selfies with them, let them take our glasses, or just hold them, they were so thankful, smiley and joyful.

In general, Haiti is a beautiful country. Not just the people, but also the nature. Walking around every day to work on the patio, visit people at their homes, getting up before the sunrises to hike a mountain, or going to the beach; everything there is beautiful. But honestly, every aspect of that trip was beautiful: the people, the food, the work, the nature. I loved it all and I will never forget what I learned there about myself and the country.

While in Haiti, I learned about love and joy, experienced dirty feet every day and thoroughly enjoyed their coffee and hot chocolate. And in all of these moments, my heart and perspective on life have been altered and affected.

love: No matter where I went in Haiti, I felt the love of the people around me. Whether it was from the kids, the elderly, the workers of Haiti180, or my teammates, I learned so much about love and how to love better. The kids showed me the joy and wonder of children, but also their desire to teach. One morning after morning prayer, a little girl pulled me aside, sat on my lap and began teaching me the alphabet and the body parts in creole. She was giggling and smiling as I struggled to pronounce them, but was so happy when I finally got them right. When one of the older girls came over, she showed off what she had taught me. Before she left for school, she asked me to carry her over to the bus and gave a big hug before she left. Other times through out the week, the kids would hold their hands up towards me to be held, or the elderly would just hold my hand or smile at me with crinkled eyes and laugh out of joy. The love they possessed, they were so willing to give out and so receptive to the love I gave back to them. On the home visits, some of the situations were hard, but even a little touch on the shoulder or telling a little girl she was beautiful would make a big smile break out on their face, or blush out of shyness. Every person I met there was beautiful, so loving and so very joyful. They truly taught me how to love well, be more joyful and be thankful for the little things in life.

dirt: Everyday on mission I always had the dirtiest feet. I have no idea why, but it was just attracted to me. From my ankles to my toes, my feet were black. But it was a reminder to me of the work I was doing. I was in Haiti to serve the people (even though they served me more than I would have ever thought) and my dirty and dusty feet showed me how much I did each day. At the elderly home, we leveled some ground so that they could pour concrete for a patio. This means that the whole week we were shoveling dirt and gravel, standing in dirt, moving dirt, surrounded by dirt. I felt that I was always dirty during the week, even after going to rinse off in the river at the end of the day. That little insecurity of always being dirty humbled me the whole week. I probably smelled terrible as well for the whole week but I was okay with it (kind of) because I wasn't in Haiti for my personal benefit. I was in Haiti to show love, joy and respect to the people I would be serving there. For a week, I put my own personal insecurities and complaints aside so that I could adequately serve the people who needed to be shown my love, my joy, my happiness. As little as dirt my seem, it really did have an important affect on my experience in Haiti because through being dirty the whole week, I learned a lot about humility, joy when I'm not comfortable and placing the needs of others above my own without complaining or desiring something in return.

coffee: Coffee is probably my favorite drink in the world. I am always trying new coffee shops, different flavors and brews, and always, always talking about coffee. So when I found out I was accepted onto mission, I thought I would have to give up coffee for a week. To my great surprise, there was coffee available at every meal of the day. (Side note: Every single meal that was served was the best food that I have probably had all semester. There was always rice and some sort of meat, vegetables, bread, fruit and different sauces for the rice.)  Having this little taste of heaven during the week sure did help my caffeine cravings, but at the same time it created conversations at breakfast, lunch, or mid afternoon down time. This included laughing over what happened earlier in the day, deep chats about what I'd learned so far during the trip, or just a simple smile at breakfast between the four people waiting to get some of the precious coffee in their mug. Even in the little things in Haiti, like the coffee, there was still beauty, love, joy, and laughter. 

As cliche as it may be, Haiti has truly changed my heart and altered how I perceive the world. I learned a lot about myself, the people of Haiti, and how to love with a full heart. If there is one thing I learned through serving, it was allowing the love of the Father to enter into my heart in a more profound way than before. I feel more love in my heart and more ready to give out love to the people I meet. Now, this isn't specifically from the people of Haiti that I served, but also from serving alongside some pretty rad people from my university. Not only was I shown love through the orphans or the elderly, but I was shown love through the other members in my mission group through their interactions with the people we served and personal conversations with them. Needless to say, there was a lot of love present in Haiti and now even more love present in my heart.

Here are a few pictures from the trip filled with love, beauty, and joy


(when we first arrived in Port-Au-Prince)


(riding on top of the truck on the way to the orphanage)

(at the elderly home)


(goofing around with the orphans)


(walking to the school to play with the kids)


(the local market)


(hiking to a home visit)


(at the top of a mountain to watch the sun rise with my mission team)

si ou ka pale, ou ka chante. si ou ka mache, ou ka danse. si ou ka imajine, ou ka fe tout baggy. 

(if you can talk, you can sing. if you can walk, you can dance. if you can imagine, there is nothing you can't do/you can do anything.)