#SUNDAYFUNNNNNNNNNDAYYY!!! May 7, 2017 - Church Day

Today was the best day ever. We attended church, where we didn’t understand anything but at the same time we understood everything. We stood in front of the congregation and introduced ourselves IN CREOLE… props to the Fabulous Fabnise (aka our sista). And might I add, we CRUSSSSHED ITTTT! Everyone at the church was so welcoming and practically the entire congregation came up to shake our hands and thank us for being there today. The joy and love was abundant.

Then we came back to the house and helped the women prepare our dinner by:

·         Skinning chicken (with knives)

·         Chopping veggies (without cutting board)

·         Marinating chicken (vinegar and sea salt)

·         Scrub chicken (with a lime)

·         Washed chicken (with water)

·         Mashed garlic (with masher)

·         Mashed green onions (in with ^)

·         Peeled shrimp (with hands)

·         Made juice (with sugar and lime)

We went back to the church and had the opportunity to sit down with the women in the congregation. We were able to ask them questions about their lives and culture, and in return answer their questions about our lives. We found out that there are more similarities than differences within the cultures which was more surprising than we expected. Then they treated us, in the end, by singing… there are really no words to express how incredible they sounded.

As the days pass, the love and joy that these people have has become more apparent. And in return, we see ourselves reflecting and wanting to reciprocate that same love and joy.

 XOXO, Gossip Gurlz (aka Torla) <3

P.S. tune in tmrw 4 more juicy deeeeeetz… ;^)

Saturday, May 6, 2017 - Kids Club

Today was the day that we all had been waiting for! We were going to be able to meet the children that we had all heard about. We were told that they were going to be very excited to see us, climb all over us and play with our hair. We were not disappointed! The second we got there and sat with them they were all over us trying to communicate, but none of us understood of course. They even pulled on our hair because they had never seen anything like it.

                Our Forward Edge field staffer, Fabnise, started the kid’s camp by leading the kids in a song and singing songs about compassion. After the singing and the lessons, we had free time with them. Many of us blew bubbles with them, or jump rope, or hand/playground games. It was so much fun interacting and learning about and with them.

                After free time we served lunch and then went to the beach! This was my first time seeing the Caribbean, and I hear that this was the first time many of the children had even been to the beach. It was beautiful even though we saw mounds of trash and abandoned boats along the shore. When we got there the children stepped in to the water and started to look for clams. They put them in bottles to take home and eat. While there, we got some coconuts and shared with everyone.

                Before we knew new it, it was time to leave and for the children to go home. Because there were so many of us, we stayed at the beach when the children were driven back to the church. We went back to the pastors house for the evening and reflected on the amazing day.

Alice

Friday, May 5, 2017 - Work Day

Today we woke to a delicious breakfast that consisted of oatmeal with condensed milk, rolls and jam, and hot chocolate. Once we were fueled we headed to Vernet Baptist Church to pick up our Forward Edge leaders and translators. We all walked to a home that is run by the Baptist Church in Les Cayes. The house provides free shelter and medical attention to elderly individuals who have lost their spouse. At the home we all completed various tasks. Some of us provided manicures and pedicures for the women and nurses. We cleaned rooms, made beds, and helped cook. Others cracked peanuts, talked with the residents and workers, washed dishes, and helped move rocks with school children as part of a construction project. Some of us were also able to read the Bible to residents and donate our extra water bottles.

After our morning we went back to the house and had a delicious Haitian spaghetti lunch! Following lunch we headed back to the church to pick up our leaders and translators again. We took a tour of Lumiere University in Simpson. Fun fact: Pastor Chavannes Jeune founded the university. At the university we visited multiple classes ranging from first to third year students studying economics and civil engineering. After our tour we headed to a market in Les Cayes. Some of us purchased mangoes, Haitian candies, hot sauce (that we use every day at the house) and a reusable bag. We came back to the house and shared to amazing mangoes and candy.

Dinner was next on our agenda. We ate rice and beans with beef and a cheese and onion tart. For dessert we had a delicious almond paste scone. Our host, Carmel, told us of how the dessert originated in Haiti. She went on to disclose her story about founding Nelly’s House. It is an organization that provides children with lunch which she founded in honor of her mother.

We had a great debriefing as a team. We were able to be open and honest about our experiences. The debriefing in conjunction with those who shared their stories really united the group and brought much more openness and understanding. To end the night Britt taught us how to do Zumba and Pop Pilates. We were sweating and crying (from laughter). We continued to dance and a college student, Nickerson (who also lives at the house) played us some of his favorite songs and showed us his dance moves to wrap up the night. We had a great day and we are ready to wake up and serve again tomorrow!!

Xoxo Meghan

Thursday, May 4, 2017 - Work Day

First day, woke up to a delicious breakfast; the mangoes were especially tasty. Then we went to Vernet Baptist Church were we got to meet some great people and get a tour of the town Vernet. After a light lunch we split into two groups and helped community members clean their homes. It was a fantastic day, we even learned some creole.

Edith

Wednesday, May 3, 2017 - Travel Day

WE MADE IT!!!! We arrived in Port Au Prince, Haiti after 24 hours of traveling by plane. Forward Egde, the organization that we are partnering with this week, came and picked us up for our first Haitian lunch.  Then we had an 8 hour car ride to Les Cayes in the 90 degree humidity heat. Once finally arriving to our guest house, we were greeted by the friendly Haitian community with warm homemade dinner. (plantains are amazing!). As excited as we are for tomorrow’s adventures, we

are ready for sleep tonight! Bonwit J

Brittney

They Have Arrived!

The adventure has officially begun!  The Haiti team touched ground in Port-Au-Prince yesterday and then made the drive to Les Cayes where they will be spending the week.  They are having a bit of trouble with the internet, but will be posting on the blog as often as they are able about their time! -- Amy Dickerson, Assistant Director of Service Leadership

Tuesday - Beach Day

Bonswa, friends and family!

Lexi here. Today is our last full day in Haiti, so we piled into the cars and drove out to spend the day at Kaliko beach. The drive was long (about two hours) and we endured some crazy Haitian traffic along the way, but when we finally got to see the beach it made the whole drive worth it. The water was clear and a beautiful teal color, and it was a huge relief to jump off the dock after a long, hot car ride. We got to swim for a while, and also had the opportunity to barter with the vendors for some souveniers. We were treated to a delicious buffet lunch, and got to enjoy a relaxing day with each other after a week of hard work.

There were some struggles today, however. It's a little humorous that I'm the one writing the post, seeing as I ended up having the worst luck out of anyone today. I got badly sunburnt sitting in the back of the truck, stepped on a sea urchin, and got cut by a soda bottle that fell and exploded on the ground at dinner (yes, in that order). Most of us are fairly sunburnt, and it took us about five hours to get back to the house after leaving the beach, thanks to even more crazy Haitian traffic. It will no doubt be a late night packing and getting ready to leave tomorrow morning.

We ended the day by having pizza for dinner with pastor and his family and the security guard. We debriefed after that, and talked about the ways we can incorporate the lessons we learned during our time here in Haiti into life back in the states. We each picked a specific lesson we learned or gift we discovered to focus on bringing home, and wrote notes to our future selves which will be sent to us later. Overall, today was a great way to end an even better week.

While there were some struggles today and all throughout the trip, I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we wouldn't have had it any other way. Leaving tomorrow will, without a doubt, be difficult. But we are very grateful for the impact we got to make on the people of Haiti, and more grateful for the impact that they made on us. We can't wait to share our stories with you all!

Bonwit!