Mesi, Mesi

Today marked our fourth day in Haiti. It felt like the longest day thus far but was amazing every step of the way. We started off the morning bright and early by loading 26 of us, from both teams, in the tap-tap and heading to tent church around 5:45am. Being surrounded by praise and worship, we found our spots and joined in the prayer. Even though no one knew what the Haitians were saying, their love and gratitude for the Lord was evident. It was a very uplifting morning to be apart of and it was a good reminder of what it means to be grateful. After walking back to the guest house and scarfing down another delicious breakfast, we headed out for another day. 

Our first stop, Grace Village in Titanyen. This is my second time visiting Grace Village, the first one being on my trip with Healing Haiti in January. It was even more beautiful seeing it for a second time and also fun being able to recognize some of the kiddos from my previous trip. We were given a tour of Grace Village and got to see all the new improvements from a new pavilion next to the playground to the commercial bakery down the hill by the church. We received a tour of the school, family homes, aquaponics, feeding center, and clinic at Grace Village. The whole time at Grace Village we were accompanied by the boys and girls that live there, some holding hands of our teammates and the others in their arms. 

After our visit, we packed in the tap-tap with 5 hot meals ready for the elderly of Titanyen. We visited 5 of Healing Haiti's elderly, delivering them a hot meal, water and a care package. At our visits we took turns washing their hands and feet, applying lotion, painting their nails (if requested) and concluded our visits by singing and praying with them. Visiting the elderly was another eye-opening experience. Most of them were sitting or sleeping on the cement floors in their houses when we arrived, one on a flattened cardboard box and another sleeping under his bed because it was cooler. Marie is 105 years old and had the most "spunk" I have ever seen for anyone remotely close to her age. The elders showed so much joy and appreciation for us serving them, they prayed for us and would not stop saying "mesi, mesi." It was an amazing feeling serving the elders of Titanyen and being able to honor them for hard life. Seeing the joy on their faces is something I will never forget. 

Our day ended with a stop at the mass graves. The mass graves is where they buried over 300,000 people after the earthquake in 2010. At the mass graves we had the privilege of handing out Feed My Starving Children food and water packets to the families in the surrounding areas. Once we brought the boxes of food and water out, adults and children came out from the hillside and surrounded us. Eager for the food and water we had them make a line and we handed out the food and water one by one. It was a less chaotic experience than I was expecting and there were again many people saying, "mesi, mesi." It was a great feeling knowing those families were going home with a good meal and water for the night. We finished at the mass graves by admiring the memorial and praying in honor of all of the lives lost in the earth quake. 

After a long day of serving the people of Haiti, we loaded back into the tap-tap and headed home to rest up for what tomorrow will bring. 

- Ashley Bruber