The Haitian Experience

Well I have officially made it back to the states. I am now sitting in Atlanta with a couple of hours to kill. The last 24 hours has been hard. I had to say goodbye to all the wonderful people that I had met over the month of January. I came across this quote this morning and I thought I would share it with you.

"Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But thats okay. The journey changes you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you... Hopefully, you leave something good behind."-Anthony Bourdain

This quote is so true. Traveling pushes you to see life from a different perspective. It often shows you what is important in life and what is not so important. Traveling truly does change you as a person. It pushes you to your limits and is usually way out of your comfort zone. That is why I love to travel it helps me find myself. Through traveling I have found that I love working with children in poverty. Even though I can't provide these kids with the material need I can provide them with love and compassion. I believe having love and compassion from others is way more important than what you own. If you have never traveled I challenge you to go out of your comfort zone and do it. I also am not pushing you to go to an all inclusive resort. (sorry) I believe that going to an all inclusive resort you will not get the true feeling of being in a different culture. These resorts are Americanized. Last night we stayed at a nice hotel and I felt guilty. The night before I was sleeping in an orphanage and the next night I was in a nice clean hotel room.  Go to the little hotel that looks a little sketchy. Those are where you meet the truly amazing people. Meet the people who are walking trough the streets they have pretty amazing stories to tell. All of the people that I have traveled with are still close friends in my life. These people may look different on the outside but they are so nice. I already miss the people of Haiti. Every person I came across out there said Hello to me. I have been off the plane for over and an hour and not one person has said hello. Their kindness is indescribable.



With that being said I will also warn you that traveling is not easy. For the last twenty four hours I have been on and off crying. I wanted to run the complete opposite direction of the airport and go back to the kids. I wanted to give them all one last hug and tell them that everything is going to be okay. I can't even get myself to look at my pictures because I fear that if I do I will start crying again. Leaving a place that you fall in love with the culture and people is so hard. It changes you. You look at life differently. I have some really great memories from this trip along with some that I wish I could erase from my memory.

Before I had left for the trip I had added some new songs to my phone. One of the songs I added was "Do Something" By Matthew West. If you have never heard the song you should defiantly listen to it. It talks about how there is poverty and pain in this world. It questions why did God create this in this world. The song goes on to say he created you to help those people. This song hit me hard on my way  to Port Au Prince last night. I know that I left somewhat of an impact on those kids. Amazingly, I think they left more of an impact on me. Even though they have very little I have learned so much from them. In my final blog I encourage to do something. Follow your dreams. Don't let anything stop you. If it is meant to happen it will happen. Trust that God will lead you to where you want to go. He has a plan for you all you have to do is trust him. So go out and live you life and be happy! Don't worry about the little things they will all fall into place!

With Love,
Abby

Goodbye

Today was by far one of the hardest days I have had. I spent the morning and early afternoon at hotel getting everything taken care of and packing up. I was getting excited to head home but that soon changed after I headed to the orphanage. After loading the car we stopped by Sean and Carolines to say goodbye. They became really good friends over the last couple of weeks and I will miss seeing them everyday. As we were driving away from them I already had a lump in my throat. I couldn't even think about saying goodbye to the sweet little angels at the orphanage.

One of the hardest things for me is telling a kid that I am going to be leaving. Once you tell the kid that you are leaving they distance themselves from you in hopes that you wont leave them. This happens to me all the time with my nieces but its easier when it happens with my nieces. I know with them I will get to see them in a couple of months after saying goodbye. The orphan kids it was completely different. They kept asking when I was going to come back and all I could say was I am not sure. Many of the kids would not play with Haley and I and that made it so much harder. They also were not acting like normal. They were all really quiet and not nearly as energetic as normal. So I found myself a spot on a chair and just watched them. I was seeing what life was like for them when we are not around to play with them. I watched them carry water buckets across the yard so they could wash clothes. I watched the little ones play with sticks in the dirt. As I was sitting there it got harder and harder for me. Finally they said it was time for us to go! What happened next made it so much harder to leave.

The kids all sat outside on a sidewalk and sang to us for ten minutes. They sang all different kinds of songs that I once sang when I was in Sunday School. As they were singing it started to rain and I thought how fitting. Usually when the kids sing for us they are screaming and smiling and having a great time and today they just looked sad. As I was watching them sing the tears started rolling down my face. I was thinking about all the different memories I had with each of the kids. I was thinking about how I have no idea if I will ever be able to see them again. Ellsie gave us a huge hug and thanked us for all or help. I quickly went to the car because I didn't want the kids to see me crying.  Then they all moved beside the car yelling, "Haley, Abby, Haley, Abby." Its a moment I will never forget seeing them all waving goodbye and I couldn't even talk because I was lost for words. Out of the corner of the window I saw Indaina sucking her thumb and waving goodbye at me. I stuck my tongue out at her and she smiled. After that short moment we left the orphanage. I was happy to be leaving so the goodbye to the kids would be over.

As we were weaving throughout the mountains all I could think about was the sweet kids and all the memories I had with them. Sure enough, the tears would start falling again. Its crazy to think that over 3 short weeks this country could have such an impact on my life. I had no idea what I was getting into when I arrived! I also had no idea how hard it would be to say goodbye to them.

With Love,
Abby

A Night at the Orphanage

To start off our day we headed to the beautiful beach for the last time. Haley and I headed to the beach that we have pretty much lived at since we found it. The water had sea weed but that did not stop us from swimming. The waves were actually pretty big today and a couple of times took us under. One time Haley and I were talking and not paying attention and a wave totally took us under and we were laughing so hard and another wave came and took us under again. We both got our salt intake for the day. After a morning in the sun we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go to the orphanage. We were told at the beginning of the trip you don't get the true Haitian experience until you ride a tap-tap with chickens. Well we got to ride with for chickens today. Haley thought they were dead until one started squawking. It was pretty fun and interesting. 

We got back to the hotel and quick took showers so we could go hang out with the kids for a little while. We got to the orphanage and it was odd because none of the kids were outside playing. The girls were all waving for us to come into their dorm. We asked them why they couldn't come out and play with us. Apparently they were in trouble for something and were not allowed to leave their rooms. We went inside and played with the kids for awhile. The girls were constantly asking if we were still going to stay the night with them. They kept pointing to their bed and pointing for us to sleep with them in the bed. After spending the afternoon with them we headed back to eat some supper and pack some items.  

For supper we decided to head to Sean and Carolines to have our last meal with them. We ordered our meal from this barbeque chicken place up the street. We had this the very first night we were here and decided to have it out last night too! We had spicy chicken, plantains, salad and french fries. It was so good. I am really going to miss the fresh food that we get everyday. I don't think my digestive system will be ready for the processed food that we have at home. We also tried cashew juice and it was really good. The texture was different because it was blended up cashews. We played with the kids for awhile talking about all the different Disney movies we have seen. Soon it was time for the kids to head to bed and for us to go to the orphanage for the night.

Haley and I were heading back to our room to grab shells for Ryan and Riley. We had found a whole bunch at the beach one morning and did not have room for them in the suitcase. There is a very steep cement hill outside the hotel. You have to be careful when walking on it because it has a few holes and lots of rocks. Haley was not paying attention at all and fell really hard. I had saw the whole thing happen and could not stop laughing. I was crouched over on the side of the hill laughing. I caught up to Haley and apologized for laughing but it was so funny!!

In all honesty I was a little bit skeptical of staying at the orphanage. I had no idea what to expect since I have never done anything like this before. I was also very excited because it was something new that I have never tried before. If you can't tell already I love to try new things and not many things seem to scare me. :) I kept telling myself to just think that you are camping or that you are at wilderness camp.

We arrived at the orphanage and the kiddos were so excited. They ran up to us and were speaking a million miles an hour and I have no idea what they were saying to me. When we got there they were outside but soon we moved into the dorms. The girls were playing hide and seek with us along with showing us where they sleep. They also showed us the bed that we were going to be sleeping on. They gave us new sheets to sleep on! We were getting the royal treatment. 

All of the sudden the girls were pulling our hands and saying, " Pray, Pray, Pray." We headed towards the building where they have all their meals. We sat down at the large picnic tables and waited for all the kids to pile in. Once everyone was there they started singing a few songs in French. I could pick up the tune of the songs but could not put a name to them. After they sang we did a short prayer and message. They translated the message for us. They were talking about how we need to treat others the way that we wanted to be treated. Do unto others as you would want done to you. They talked about the importance of forgiving each other even when it is difficult to forgive. They also said that if they never see us again they hope that someday they will see us in heaven when were are away from all of this pain. This was so sweet and melted me to pieces. I will also never forget during the message I had girls holding my hands and some laying on my lap falling asleep. They have stolen my heart and they don't even know it.  It really made me sad thinking about leaving this place in a day. After they sang a few more songs the kids were dismissed to go to bed. Since it was later some of the younger kids fell asleep on the tables. They were so tired after the long day. We got back to the dorms and Haley and I soon realized if we didn't crawl into our beds they would never go to bed.

We both slept on the top bunk and were getting situated in our beds when they little ones came bringing us blankets. They were throwing them on our beds. They also gave us pillows. It was so sweet seeing how much they cared about us being comfortable for the night. I had a fan right above my bed and it felt really good because it was really hot in my room. Soon the girls came in and kept asking to turn the fan off and I said no its okay! Then they all made the action of me getting my head cut off. They thought if I slept so close to the fan my head my get chopped off! I told them it was okay and that I would be careful not to go near the fan. After that they all head to their own bed for the night.

So Haley had a fan by her bed and wanted to turn it on so we had more air movement in our room. We both thought the fan looked a little funny but were not too concerned about it. So she told me to get out of bed to turn the the fans on since she is scared of heights and did not want to get out of the bed. I got out of bed to turn the fan on and soon the one by Haley made a really funny noise. All the girls came running back to check on us and guess who got in trouble. Abby. Haley is the one who turned the dial on the fan but it had looked like I was the one who did. Haley thought it very comical that they all thought it was me who did it and not her. I guess it was payback for laughing at her when she fell earlier.

After all the commotion the girls went back to their beds and the lights were turned off for the night. I laid down and realized that they beds here were better then the beds we had at the hotel. About ten seconds after laying my head down the chickens started squawking. It took a little bit to get used of it. I bet their was at least fifteen chickens outside the window. In the middle of the night I woke up to the sound of what almost sounded like rain coming down. Soon I figured out it was pigeons on the roof. It sounded like they were sliding down the roof. At around 5:15 this morning I started hearing little footprints walking past our beds. They were trying to be so quiet and not wake us up. I was just laying their watching them all stumble outside to go brush their teeth. Each time they walked by they would look in the bed and smile at us! Even though they looked pretty tired they were all smiling and excited to see us. We said goodbye for the morning and they all said, "No." They thought


we were leaving for good and were really sad. We told them we would come back later to say goodbye.

I have been trying to absorb every last moment I have left in Haiti. It has been so awesome getting to know all these people and their culture. I have learned so much from them and they have made me look at life a little differently. I think I will be forever amazed by these kids work ethic. Even at 5:30 in the morning the kids start doing their chores without complaining. They all work together to keep the orphanage clean and running. Some days they make me feel real lazy. Many of these kids have already done chores before I even get out of bed in the morning. These kids are also so independent. They do everything on their own and rely on no one to help them. As the end is drawing near I am getting excited to head home but part of me is sad that I will be leaving. I just keep reminding myself that I am so lucky to have this opportunity and I should be happy that I was given the chance to get to know these kids and this culture!

I will have one more blog post not sure when I will have internet again but I will get it up as soon as possible! :)
With Love,
Abby

Do Something

First of all I am just going to say this but I am in no way complaining but it was HOT today. I mean it felt like a super hot summer day in the states and the Haitians told us that this has been a cold winter. I am a person who does not sweat easy or often. I have never sweat so much in my life. Haley and I went to the beach for a little bit this morning. We maybe could stay out of the water for twenty minutes before we would both have sweat pouring off of us. Once again I am not complaining I am just making a statement. In no way am I ready to face the cold that you guys have been dealing with all January. I would much rather take this weather but I am wondering what a summer would feel like here since this is a cold winter.

After spending the morning at the beach we went to the orphanage to spend the afternoon with the kids. I love walking up there and just having kids pile on my lap. Even though we can't communicate with each other by talking we find other ways to communicate. Today I played tag with Mary Loud and Indiana. I have never heard two girls giggle so much in my life. I love going there and just making the kids giggle. Usually when we walk in the kids look sad and bored and it kills me on the inside. So I do everything I can to get these kids smiling and giggling. I never knew how much enjoyment I could get out of getting so many kids giggling and smiling. I remember on my first day at the orphanage we could barely get any of the kids to smile. I maybe got one or two kids to smile. Now I can get almost all of them to smile and if they don't smile then I tickle them until they can't laugh anymore. I was taking some photos with the girls and soon they asked me to take a video of them. I have multiple videos of the girls singing songs and it seriously melts my heart. I know sometime in the near future I will be very happy to have those videos.

We also held a random dance party today. A couple of days ago the girls were asking if I had any music on my phone. One of the songs I play was the "Nae Nae." I showed the girls the dance to it on that same day. Today Indiana came running up to me saying, "Nae, Nae." So I pulled the song up on my phone and soon many girls were dancing along and giggling to the song. We also played the song "Party for Two." I don't think these girls ever get the opportunity to dance because they were having so much fun dancing around with us. It was fun seeing all the different dance moves the girls came up with.

We also informed the girls that we were going to be staying at the orphanage for our last night there. Haley and I decided the best way to spend our last night here was to spend it with the kids. This will be a true test. I am not sure how much sleep I will get but it will be worth it in the end. We literally told like two girls that we were going to be spending the night and soon like ten girls came running up and asking if we were staying. They all screamed and smiled when we told them that we were staying. I already had girls fighting over whose bed I was going to be sleeping in. For all I know I could have five girls sleeping in a bed with me and I would be totally okay with it! :) With that being said I will not have internet tomorrow night and the next day we are leaving for Port Au Prince so I am unsure if I will have internet at our hotel in Port Au Prince. So my blogs may not come up for a little awhile. Our flight leaves early on Friday morning so I will try and have it all up to date by sometime on Friday!

Leaving these kids is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done. I keep telling myself to not think about it. The time is quickly fading away and our goodbye will be here before I know it. I think one of the hardest parts is knowing I can do so much more for these kids but I am just out of time. I am just trying to enjoy every last smile and giggle. It is literally going to break my heart when I leave the gates of this orphanage on Thursday.


With Love,
Abby

Tickles, French, and more

The days I have left in Haiti are slowly dwindling down. Honestly, each day gets a little harder. Its like a cloud is hanging over me as I think about the fact of leaving this country and all these kids. Each morning Haley and I always have a long talk about things we have seen so far. Some days the conversations we have can be really sad. We talk about all the different kids and how each one has something special about them. We are finally getting to really know the kids and their personalities. Each day when we walk into the orphanage kids come running up to us yelling Haley and Abby. Thinking about leaving this is a hard pill to swallow. These kids have truly been a blessing in my life. Each day I notice something new about the orphanage or the culture. The more I see of this country the more I realize how poor this country is. Some days it can be really hard seeing the homes these people live in. Often times my mom tells me and that was just a God thing. This morning I believe I had one of those moments. Haley and I were walking to go and get a tap-tap and both of us were sad about leaving and I believe our tap-tap ride was made to distract us from all those thoughts and to remind us to just live in the moment.

When the tap-tap pulled up to pick us up we both went oh no this one is very full. We are not a huge fan of jumping on full tap-taps. I let Haley hop on first so I could sit on her lap. The ceiling was very low so I was bent over on her lap. It was very uncomfortable. Soon someone got off and I was able to sit on a bench. We stopped to pick up another group and it was a bunch of school boys. We are getting used of the school boys pointing at us and making fun us. We have no idea what they are saying half the time. This one boy had no place to sit so Haley just pulled him down on her lap. This poor boy was so embarrassed because all of his friends were harassing him about. It was very entertaining because everyone was laughing but we have no idea what they were saying. We soon got to the place where we had to get off and I yelled in French so they would stop. Soon they all looked at each other and said oh no they know French. Little did they know we only know very little French so we have no idea what they said.

Once we arrived at the orphanage we observed in the morning and played with the kids in the afternoon. Haley and I headed to our normal sitting spot and waited for the kids to come near us. As always we started the afternoon off by playing tic-tac-toe and other random games the kids came up with. Most of these kids know how to juggle rocks and get a kick out of me attempting to juggle rocks. Indiana was hiding from me this morning so I decided to go near her bed to find her. When I got near her bed I started hearing this giggling. The little stinker was hiding under her bed from me. I finally caught her and laid her down on the bed and started tickling her. Soon four other girls hopped onto the bed and I just went down the line tickling them and chasing them around the room. Indiana was running away from me and slipped on a backpack and fell hard. So I quickly picked her up and sat down. After about ten minutes of rubbing her back she was out. I am really going to miss her sleeping on my lap in the afternoons. I might even miss the huge drool spots she tends to leave on my clothes.

Haley and I were sitting in our normal spot and this guy about our age came up to us. He started talking to us and had asked us if we knew any French/Creole. We told him that we only know the basics but wished we had knew more. He then pulled out a piece of chalk and started writing on the wall of one of the buildings. He taught us all different types of phrases in both French and Creole. He had a friend with him and they both got a kick out of us trying to pronounce the words. They talk so fast and it is so hard to catch onto what they are trying to say to us. Over time Haley and I slowly started to pick up on it. He told us that he would come back tomorrow to try and teach us a little more. Of course we would meet someone who is willing to teach us right before we head back home!

When leaving the orphanage we soon found out that we were out of money. With no other option we decided that we would have to walk back to our hotel. It was around a three mile walk back to the room. It was nice to walk down the streets and say hello to the Haitians. Its very entertaining to see their face when we start talking in French since they expect us to only speak in English. We also really got to see the houses they live in when walking down the streets. We had like three close calls where Haley and I thought that we were going to be hit by a car. We have learned to just trust that the Haitians know what they are doing.

We also found out that the people that were chasing us yesterday were putting on a show in attempt to raise money for the upcoming carnival. The carnival starts the week after we leave so we won't be able to see it.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we are getting ready to say goodbye and neither of us are near ready for this!

With Love,
Abby

Technology in Haiti

Since it was the weekend we spent the last two days relaxing at the beach. After being around the kids all this time it can be a little overwhelming. So Haley and I decided we needed to get away from them to clear our minds a little bit. We loved sitting on the beach but all we could talk about was the fact that we have to leave in less then a week and we are not ready for that yet. At the beach today we think that an orphanage took some kids to the beach. It was so fun to watch the little ones play in the water. They were so happy and having so much fun with it. The group also gave them all pops. The pop out here is served in glass bottles it was very entertaining. They had pure enjoyment from the pop and a day at the beach.

We also met an interesting lady at the beach today. She had told us that she traveled to Haiti because she thought that Haiti would be a cheap country to travel through. She then told us that on her flight over she was annoyed with some of the people because they were here on a mission trip. She's like these people live a low quality life but they could just change it themselves if they wanted to. She said that Haiti could change themselves if they wanted to. I don't think she has really dived into this culture. These people need someone to show them the way out of poverty. They need to be shown life skills to help break this cycle of poverty. She finally ended the conversation saying maybe next time I travel I will just go to all inclusive. It will be a lot easier and cleaner. Haley and I both left and were surprised by this lady. I think we were both frustrated with what she was saying so we just walked away from the conversation.

One of the things that I have noticed since being out here is the use of technology. In the states you see everyone on their phone. One of my favorite things about traveling is putting my phone away and not letting it be a distraction in my life. The first days of not using it can be tough but soon I forget about it all together. I rarely see people on their phones out here and I have maybe seen a dozen iPhones since I got here. Its kind of nice to be disconnected from the world and just talking to people. Haley and I get so excited when someone speaks in English and we can actually hold a conversation with them. We also like the fact that we can talk about whatever we want on the tap-tap because no one will know what we are talking about.

Speaking of tap-taps we had an interesting ride back to our hotel today. Our tap-tap all of the sudden stopped in the middle of the road today. All the people that were on the tap-tap with us pulled us forward so that we were sitting in the middle of it. Soon all these guys walked past us and they had painted themselves black with charcoal. They were also singing/chanting. We think the ladies pulled us forward because they didn't want them to touch us with the charcoal. We started slowly driving when a guy with a mask started chasing our tap-tap and slapped Haley and I on the leg. It was one of the creepiest things I have ever happened to me. I have not been scared on this trip but that scared me a little. We had this happen at three different times on our way back to the hotel. Tomorrow we plan on asking locals what it means when they do that!


Technology is also used by kids all the time in the states. Wherever you go you also see a little kid using technology. I think that technology can be used to an extent. If you have a long car ride or some situation like that. Kids also need the opportunity to go outside and explore. The best way for kids to learn is by exploring on their own. Many of the kids I see here are playing soccer. These kids are also in really good shape I have never seen so many six packs in my life at a beach. I mean some of these kids are really built. I think that part of the reason they are so built is many of them are carrying water buckets to and from their house everyday. These kids also do not have technology so they go outside and play and get a ton of exercise.

Sometimes I wish that we could take technology away. Technology is making us unsocial, many people lack social skills because the only way they communicate with people is through their phones. When communicating with phones you may also read the message in the wrong way and get offended by it. I think that in the states we should go back to building relationships through face to face conversations. When sitting down for meals put the phone away and actually talk to someone. Haley and I have had so many interesting conversations because we don't have our phones at the dinner table.

With Love,
Abby

Reality Check

After being in Haiti for two weeks the reality of it all is starting to hit me. I remember at the beginning of the trip I had multiple people ask me how are you doing? Is Haiti overwhelming you? I had thought no I am fine. After two weeks my opinion on this question has completely changed. I have noticed that the first week I was very oblivious to certain things. I didn't realize the harsh reality of living in Haiti. As I am staying at the hotel I am not even experiencing the reality of Haiti. I was walking down the streets today and seeing the homes they live in. I was noticing the lifestyle that they live.

I was sitting at the orphanage today and noticing the daily struggle these kids go through. First of all they don't have a parent. They have no one to comfort them when they are having a bad day or no way to praise them on the good days. One of the little girls today had the flu. I looked over and saw her crying because her head hurt and she didn't feel well. A little while later I saw her outside throwing up. My heart absolutely broke and melted at the same time. All of the little girls were around her trying to comfort her but she didn't have a parent there to help her.  Haley and I headed over to where she was and tucked her into a bed. All the other orphan girls were around her wrapping her in a blanket and cleaning up her vomit. We gave her some medicine in hopes that it may make her feel better. It was hard because what happens when we leave? I wish someone was there to comfort her through the night. Being sick is no fun. Being sick at an orphanage cannot make it any better.

Today we also saw them take baths for the first time. They do not have running water at the orphanage so they take baths with a sponge and a bucket. A couple of days ago I was complaining about the fact that I had to take a cold shower and all I wanted was a nice warm shower. These kids have never had a shower. It breaks my heart thinking about that. As I looked over at them showering I noticed that the two girls were laughing and giggling and that part melted my heart. I mean these kids come from nothing but they make the most of every situation. They honestly make me feel guilty about all the things that I have. I feel like I have no right to complain about the life I live. I want to show them the life I have!

So far this trip has been a truly eye opening experience. It has shown me to take nothing for granted. It has shown me to make the most of every situation. It has shown me that the life that I live is amazing. I have been blessed beyond belief. I have a family that is always there for me. I have parents that have never gave up on me and have been by my side even when I wanted to give up on life. Somedays I walk away from the orphanage wanting to cry. I just want to take all these kids home and give them a great life. Reality check. I really can't take them all home but for the time being I can show them love. I can be there when they are having a bad day. I can play games with them. Its so hard seeing the kids just sit there bored with nothing to do. I just want to take them home and give them all the toys they need. I never realized how blessed I was when I was growing up.

As I look back on all that I have experienced I have realized how blessed I have been. As I look towards the future I am scared. I don't know how I am ever going to say goodbye to these sweet little faces in a week. I don't know how I am going to be able to return back to normal life without thinking about them. It has made me realize that I need to appreciate the opportunity I have been given and learn from these kids. I will add pictures later the internet is real slow tonight!

With Love,
Abby