Thursday: Thankful

Bonswa!

Today we had the opportunity to do elderly visits in Titanyen. We visited four elderly in their homes: Marie, Merolen, Edmond, and Marcia. It was an honor to be invited into their homes and to take care of some of their basic needs. We brought them each a sandwich, juice, water, and applesauce. We then had the opportunity to wash their feet, legs, arms, hands, and backs followed by lotion and massages. For the ladies, we painted their nails and they all chose bright colors.

Marie was our first visit. She is the oldest elder that Healing Haiti works with at 104, but you wouldn't be able to tell by her joyful and vibrant personality. She is a prayer warrior. She was praying over us as we washed her arms and legs. She loved singing along with us.

 Marolen was our second visit. She was a quiet-spirit in comparison to Marie, yet she was very gentle and giving. She cared a lot for her family. She loved watching us work and pamper her. While we were visiting, she was listening to Matthew 1 on her audio bible. She really appreciated being prayed for by the team.

 Edmond is blind and almost completely deaf but that doesn't stop him from finding joy in life. He has a beautiful smile. He was very thankful for our company today. We sang and prayed with him and he loved having people sit next to him.

Marcia was our last visit. Right after we arrived she got up from her chair and gave everyone in our group a hug. She was so excited to see us and her personality came to life. She chose bright pink nail polish which was just like her colorful, lively personality. She had very contagious laughter that brought joy to our group.

After our elder visits, we headed up to Grace Village. Grace village has a school for 450 students as well as a home for 45 orphans. We got to spend some time with the kids while they were on a short break from classes and then we had a tour of the compound. Grace Village is currently expanding. There is an aquaponics center where they are growing plants in water troughs and raising fish to provide fertilizer and food. They are also working on building a bakery which will provide jobs for local Haitians as well as bread for the community. The school is also adding on a new library which is just getting started, and they are working on getting a computer lab with internet up and running. It was really cool to see how all the workers at Grace Village are Haitians and to see their passion for serving the kids.

On the way back to our guesthouse, we stopped at the mass grave site from the 2010 earthquake. It is estimated that 300,000 Haitians were buried at that site. We were not able to go in today, but our translator was able to share his earthquake story with us. It was really neat to be able to hear how he was affected by the earthquake personally.

When we returned to the guesthouse, we refreshed and had some fun in the pool. It is really cool to see how our group has bonded through serving and having fun with each other these past few days.

Thanks for your prayers!

Glwa Pou Bondye (Glory to God)

Christine and Ashley (and the rest of our team!)