This morning Haley and I decided to venture out on our and walk down the streets of Jacmel. Last night Haley and I were looking up few things to see when we had some free time. We have a little travel book in our room and we were just flipping through the pages looking at sights. This book was for both the Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Last year I had the opportunity to travel to the Dominican and teach in a school and do some sight seeing around the island. I was showing pictures to Haley of all the different places we went to and what we all saw on our trip. One of the first things I said to Haley was I can't believe how clean the Dominican was. We were flipping through the pictures and seeing how clean the streets were. I also remembered that in the Dominican we never see people carrying buckets of water. I am still amazed that these people do this on a daily basis. So while we were walking the streets I was noticing just how poor this country is. Most of the people were staring at us as we were walking around. It might be because we are both very tall blondes who are wearing glasses. For those of you that don't know Haley she is 6 ft! It made me think about when we see people of a different race and how we just stare at them as they walk by. It is just our human instinct to stare when we see something that is out of the ordinary. We are all humans so why do we stare and make people feel so uncomfortable. Since we were getting stared at so much we decided to start saying hello to them in French. That helped so much. They were all so friendly and they would smile at us when we walked by.
This afternoon Haley and I decided to go lay down by the beach for a while. With nothing but the ocean in front of us I had plenty of time to process what had happened so far on this trip. There were two little Haitian girls playing on the beach with a sponsor parent. It reminded me of the kids from the orphanage and I was wondering how they were doing today. Yesterday the kids were sad because all of the nursing students were leaving today so they were saying goodbye to the kids. As I was watching them say goodbye and made me think about how sometime soon I will have to being the same thing to these kids. These kids live a tough live. They have volunteers coming throughout the year. They get attached to these people for a couple of weeks and then they have to say goodbye to them. The kids are not used to having a constant support in their lives. They don't have parents or families to support them to be by there side whenever them. It reminded me of how lucky I am. I have had a family their for me supporting me through my lowest lows and my highest highs. One hundred percent of the time I know that I can talk to them and they will always be there to listen to me. They will be there to help me when the times get tough. These kids have the weekly or monthly support they get from volunteers. They get to know people and become attached and soon they have to say goodbye to this people.
These kids don't have someone to fall back on when times get tough. Whenever I am having a bad day or just need someone to talk to I know that I can always call my mom. We may both be having a bad day but somehow whenever we talk we can cheer each other up. Orphans don't get that. They don't have a mom there kiss their knees when they get hurt. They don't have a mom their to help them get through a tough break up. They don't have a mom their to support them as they are going through the college experience. Its hard for me to even imagine what that would be like. I would not be the same person that I am if it wasn't for the support I receive from my family and friends. I know that this is also a problem we have back home. Its just hard because these kids have absolutely nothing. It reminds me of my little thumb sucking friend. When I am watching her play with other kids she can be mean towards them. I think she does this because she is trying to get attention from other people. She doesn't get much attention and she is little and needs that attention. As I have been playing with her each and every day she has defiantly been warming up to me. The first day I could not get her to smile at all. She would not smile she looked so sad and lost. The second day was a complete turn around she came up to me and sat on my lap. I started tickling her and she giggled. It was seriously the cutest giggle I have ever heard in my life. It made me so happy to see her finally smiling and playing around. This little girl just needs to be loved she just needs to have a constant figure in her life.
This brings me to my final thought for the day. All of the kids at the orphanage have a sponsor we found out. These kids are also all up for adoption if someone were to be interested in adopting one of them. I was talking to Haley and her mom about how these sponsors could be a constant in their life. Lisa had said something about how they are a constant for these kids but not really. I mean they are giving the kids money each month which is great don't get me wrong. Some of the sponsors are sending the kids pictures and colorings along with letters and the kids know that they will always have that support. Not all of the sponsors are doing that nor do the kids get an opportunity to meet their sponsors. How well do these kids really know their sponsors. So in essence these people are almost like a dream like to these kids. They know about them and they help them. I know many of the people who sponsor don't have the time write the kids letters and I understand that because we are often to busy with our own life. But.......Are we not being called to help others? Are we not being called to love one another? So why are we living a mundane life where we are doing the same thing day in and day out? Why are we not reaching out to the people who are struggling? Every person is going through a struggle each day. I know each person has their own personal problems to deal with. How can we make life better for each other? I really don't want to offend anyone but I mean what is the true meaning in life? Someday we are all going to die and leave all these material things on earth. Are you going to be satisfied with your life if you just have material things or are you going to make relationships and help people out? I get so much more out of my day when I spend time talking to people helping people then when I spend my day watching Netflix and laying around. It makes me wonder how I can make a difference in someones life. How can I change a life? How can I be person that someone can rely on when times get tough and they have no where to turn?
I know this blog is deep and makes you really think about your life. I think it is important that we don't lose focus on the true meaning of life when our lives start to get busy. I would like to share a few verses that came to my mind while writing this blog:
Ephesians 5:2 " Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."1 John 2:17 " The world and its desires pass away but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 " Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances."
With Love,
Abby
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