The first night I was kind of nervous. In Haiti, you usually only have a couple of hours of power at night. That means you only have a couple of hours at night to see things. You have flashlights, but that's pretty much it other than the moonlight. I hadn't even thought of it until the time came. If you know me well, you know that I absolutely hate the dark. At night I have to take my implants off to charge them so I already can't hear. When you put in the complete dark without my ears on, I panic.
That first night I prayed that I would get to sleep before the generator shut off so I could just sleep through it. Not only did I get to sleep easily, the generator stayed on until four in the morning! It was very encouraging that I already had an answered prayer.
I had woken up at six to get ready before breakfast at seven. We ate our breakfast and then headed out to our first clinic. Some of us were in a van and others went in a truck. I was in the van with most of our church group. It was an hour and a half long drive to the clinic. To me, the ride was absolutely fascinating. I loved looking out and seeing all the people and animals. I loved waving at the children as we drove by.
We arrived at the clinic around nine-thirty and we set our things up and started. I was with the eyeglass part of the clinic. My job the first day was to grab the glasses we needed for the people and to hand out the goodie bags we had for the people.
It made me smile when the people tried on their glasses for the first time and could see. They would try them on and we'd ask if it was clear. They would tell us "yes" or "no". If they said "no" we would try another pair. If they said "yes" we would give them a mirror and show them what they looked like. Every single time, they would smile and nod when they saw themselves. It was amazing.
Around twelve, we took a break and ate lunch and then started up again. We went until two and total we saw about forty people. We packed our stuff and went back to the Mission House. The drive back was breathtaking. I couldn't get enough of the mountains, the land, it was beautiful. The surroundings also never really stopped surprising me. People scrambling around to get to where they needed to be. Women were doing each others hair and doing laundry. Little boys and girls were walking up and down the chaotic street. Goats, pigs, dogs, horses, donkeys, and cows just minding their own business.
Everything felt so surreal. I couldn't believe I was actually watching people live this way. It felt like I was in a magical land far away, which in a way I was. What really surprised me was the women who carried loads of heavy stuff on their heads. Not only were the loads on their heads, but they didn't even use their hands! It was incredible!
The Haiti trip was so strange because I was way out of my comfort zone. Way out of my comfort zone. I didn't mind though. Not even a little bit. I didn't mind sleeping with a mosquito net over me. I didn't mind being in the heat. I didn't mind drinking lukewarm water. I didn't mind taking military showers. I didn't even mind being away from home, which was big for me. I normally don't like being away from home, but this was different. I have never been anywhere for more than a week and not been homesick. I hadn't been homesick yet, it was just so crazy.
That was my reminder that I was supposed to be there. Otherwise, those things probably would've been bothering me like crazy. I was loving this place with all of my heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDQ1O3NRvAk&t=78s
No comments:
Post a Comment