Life in Perspective...Lessons we can all learn from » Hands Across the Sea (HATS-Haiti)

We arrived home safely from Haiti late last night. Well, most of us did! Heather ended up on a different flight from Miami to Dallas and when her Miami flight was delayed, she missed her connected in Dallas where we were waiting for her. She literally arrived at the gate a minute after the doors were closed ?. Heather is such a good sport, she sent us a message saying she is enjoying a mini-holiday at the hotel courtesy of American Airlines. She will be back in Calgary today.

We wrote updates the last few days in Haiti, but the internet died, leaving us unable to send them out. I’m hoping the great blog that Heather wrote will be able to be posted soon when the internet is restored. Here is the what happened in the past few days.

Sunday saw us in church with Heather and Mariah giving an inspiring message to the children and staff gathered together. The afternoon included a visit to Luckner’s house and to visit Liette’s friend Rigaud and his family, then a fun soccer game with the children. After Rob finished being goalie, JJ and Dickieson worked together as an incredible goalie duo!

School was back in session Monday and Tuesday so we were busy getting hundreds of letters completed and photos taken of the children. The teachers and elementary and secondary directors were so helpful, working hard to get us through 90% of the students on Monday. Awesome teamwork! Rob took up the photography mantle from Keith, but had less success in getting them to smile. But he only made one little preschooler cry so that’s good ? Rob also made some kids very happy when he fixed the water faucet at the school.

Monday also brought the girls new handmade dresses from a donor in Calgary and a ride to Verrettes to do some shopping for the children’s home. Riding in the back of the truck is always a treat!

Everyone pitched in to help with the translating of letters including the intrepid Mercy who worked in tandem with Dieunel to translate letters. It’s a great way to become familiar with Creole! Because we had to to do all of the letters and photos on the last two days of our trip, the translation work is far from done, so I (Liette) will have my work cut out from me in the next few weeks trying to get them all done and ready to send to sponsors.

Goodbyes are never fun so there were lots of hugs and some tears on Tuesday evening when we said goodnight to the children. We had some wonderful times with each of them during our week and look forward already to seeing them again. Our travel out of Haiti was smooth sailing – it seems that life has gone back to its regular organized chaos after the week of political upheaval and violence.

Haiti is a beautiful place in so many ways and I already miss the early morning walks with Yvette, the hugs and fun with the children, the hard work during the day, and the lovely evenings laying on the room looking at the stars. Haiti changes everyone who travels there and it brings so much of the rest of life into perspective. Things going wrong – take a deep breath and make a joke like Haitians do. Long line up getting you frustrated – relax and chat with the person in line with you like Haitians do. Going through tough times – work hard, love those close to you and trust in God like Haitians do. Lessons we can all learn from.

~Liette