Bonjou! We are the team from the United States and today we will take over the blog and tell you all about our favorite parts about the mission.
We also want to share a bit about today and the going away party we had with the kids. So first of all let’s talk about the party!!!!
We had sooooo much fun. The day started as usual with the flag salute and prayer. Then the 6th grade class had a special surprise! They performed a song for everyone. They sang in Creole aaannnnd in English!!!! They did an amazing job and they were so proud of themselves. Afterwards we played games. We played limbo, soccer, pop the balloon, capture the flag, and many other games. By the time we knew it, it was lunch time! We had chicken rice and beans (soooo good). Afterwards we went back to the classrooms where the kids got special goodie bags as goodbye gifts. They did not want to leave. Kids kept asking us to stay here in Haiti. If only we could. So afterwards, we had to clean our classrooms and pack to leave Haiti in the morning. After the hard work we returned to having fun with the kids. We played music and taught them how to dance new dances. They can do the waltz now. The rain came and the kids went home. We will always have Haiti in our hearts and we pray we can return one day. Now that we told you about today here are the favorite parts of the mission from each missionary.
Kayla
Hi my name is Kayla, I’m 18yrs old, and from Madera California USA. Being in Haiti for two weeks is an experience I know I’ll never forget. I came here thinking that I was going to teach the kids but little did I know that they would teach me and open my eyes. My favorite part of this trip was getting to know the children and realizing how spoiled and blessed I truly am. I might not live in a big house or have expensive clothing but most of these kids don’t even have a safe house to live in and clothing is more of a luxury for them, not a necessity. This was my favorite part because I know that it changed me definitely for the better, and I will always carry this and these past 2 weeks in my heart .
Gabriel
Hello my name is Gabriel Garcia I’m from Madera, Ca and this is my first time going to the Haiti mission trip. What’s probably the best part of the mission trip was playing soccer with the kids. After I started playing with the kids they started getting closer to me and calling me by my name because I would always have the ball. It made me feel special because they would always come to me instead of everyone else.
Jesús
Hola mi nombre es Jesus Mendoza y vengo de la ciudad de Madera, California. Es la primera vez que vengo a Haití para tener esta experiencia de misión con los niños del colegio y al mismo tiempo con algunas de las familias que viven cerca del mismo. En esta experiencia en Hai hemos pasado muchos momentos divertidos y también hemos tenido la oportunidad de poder convivir con los jóvenes misioneros que se encuentran en Consuelo, República Dominicana ya que han venido a visitarnos aquí en Haití. Dentro de la visita de los misioneros de Consuelo pudimos ir de paseo todos juntos y así poder conocernos más, ya que no habíamos tenido tanto contacto con ellos, bueno especialmente los que venimos de Estados Unidos .
Ana Rosa
Bonjou! Koman ou ye? My name is Ana. I’m 25 years old. I am a returning missionary. I came to Haiti last year and I was blessed to come again! This year I was able to communicate alot more with the kids. So I have to say that every conversation was my favorite part. I learned so much about the kids. One wants to go to college in the U.S! Another has sisters and brothers living in different parts of the world! Another one just kept asking to play with the ball. I was also able to tell them alot about myself. They are so curious. I even managed to tell them the names of my pets! I have to admit that I didn’t join in playing games with the kids, instead I prefered to sit and talk with them. We managed to talk through my limited Creole and French and their limited Spanish and English. One boy had a French to English dictionary and I had an English to Creole dictionary so if you were to go by my classroom you would most likely find me and the boy next to the blackboard talking and writing out a conversation. There were alot more wonderful and great parts of the mission but, well, it will take too long to talk about. So orevwa mezami!
Teresa
Hello my name is Teresa,
Going into this mission I had a little bit of understanding as to what the two weeks would entail as I had been a part of the mission the year before. That being said, even though I somewhat knew what to expect the experience still shocked me. Not because of the poverty in Le Chat, though that is a huge issue, but more because of the great need for love and attention that the children have. In my previous class the children were anywhere from 9-12 years old and at that age they’re better at hiding any need for affection as disobedience and at the time I was not always able to see it. This year my class were all around the age of three so they had a harder time hiding their feelings. When they were sad they cried, when they needed attention they asked for a hug. The amount of times that those occasions came up is what shocked me initially, but after hearing about their living situations, I became worried. For example, one of my students is currently being taken care of by her 7 year old sister, as her parents are not present; another’s mother abandoned him when he was much younger. These children, though I can’t say all, are starving for love and attention. As much as it pained me to know these things, I was more than happy to provide God’s love for the children to the best of my ability. They all have different God given gifts and talents already and I hope that the little I have done in the past two weeks is just enough to give them the confidence to utilize those talents in a way that betters themselves and others.
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Keep us in prayer.
