There’s nothing like hearing the wail of a rooster to start one’s day off on the right foot. It felt almost second nature, after hearing this natural alarm clock, that we would all be opening our eyes expecting to see the beauty of the Haitian sunrise and that we would feel well rested heading into our Sunday festivities; however, upon groggily coming to our senses, it did not take long to realize that it was 2AM and the neighbourhood roosters decided to host a singing contest in the middle of night. This was the beginning of our Sunday of the 2018 Rayjon Haiti Awareness Trip in Port Au Prince.
This reality of Haitian city life
did not hold back our good spirits as we headed into our first full day in the
Port Au Prince region. The theme of our day was the virtue of caring. This was
one of the days of our trips where many had particular expectations for. Many
on the trip as well did not know that it would become arguably the most
impactful day of our experience.
We began the day with a mass at
the Missions of Charities Headquarters in Port Au Prince. The Missionaries of
Charity is one of the most well-known religious orders in the world for poverty
alleviation. The surroundings at mass were simple- a picnic shelter, altered
into a chapel, equipped with blankets acting as walls against the harsh Haitian
morning sun. There were benches acting as pews on top of concrete slabs and
ceiling fans that worked overtime to make sure its patrons felt as comfortable
and at home as they could. As we were in close quarters with hundreds of young
and old Haitians, sisters and brothers to the Catholic Church and visitors like
us who were in awe of this beautiful and vital location for Haitians, the mass
was a humbling reminder to us of the beauty of community gatherings, no matter
the location and the people we were with.
We were only meant to stay at the
Mission for mass; however, fate had a different plan for us. We found our way back
into the nursery behind and, for many of us, had a life changing experience.
The mission of the sisters, at this location, was focused on childhood
malnutrition. We were given bowls from the sisters, soon after entering the
nursery, and found ourselves, for about forty minutes, taking part in the
unexpected task of feeding malnourished infants, some of whom were not expected
to survive outside of the mission. Never has severe poverty been so tragically
apparent to us and yet never had many of us been so drawn in to help where we
could. By the end of our time we all experienced moments that were both
communal and personal. The love and care of those who helped the infants in
need, no matter what illness or level of health they were in, was a style of
love and caring that is hard to explain, and even harder to discuss amongst
other people. It was pure.
As we made our way from the
mission towards the mountain areas outside of Port Au Prince, we found
ourselves in a completely different environment and situation. The 35 degree
heat radiating from the city dissipated as we ascended into the clouds and into
the 10-15 degree afternoon weather found in the mountain town Kenscoff. We all
felt an odd sense of being back in Canada as we saw spruce-like trees, along
with more greenery than we had seen most of the trip. The climate felt
welcoming and we knew we were about to enter into another special experience.
We found ourselves at St. Helen’s
Home at the end of the windy roads up in Kenscoff. In Haiti it is said that 1
in 10 children are orphans. St. Helen’s Home houses around 500 of these
children who are raised and educated on site. This orphanage was not just a
single building but an entire property, the size of a small town! Leaving our
cameras and phones in the car, our entire time in Kenscoff was unscripted and
left up to the children to create. Some of us got involved in playing sports
while others braided hair and painted nails. Drums were brought out to put on a
show for all to enjoy and colouring books were being enriched with new colours
each second. At the same time, some of us met particular individuals who felt
open enough to personally share a bit of their stories and the lives they live.
We were all surprised by the beauty of the location and the festivities taking
place; however, we all knew these children were dealt raw deal in life’s
natural lottery and that life is wasn’t always sunny. It was tough to leave
that afternoon but those children’s smiles and laughter will always remind us
all of time so well spent with younger kids who dream of a brighter tomorrow.
We were all exhausted by the time
we made it back to St. Joseph’s Home for Boys that evening and were as well
hoping that all the neighbourghood roosters were just as tired; however, the
impact of the day had not escaped us. Throughout the day we saw the virtue of
caring in many different forms, some in the most tragic of circumstances and
others in the lightheartedness of friendship and fun. But each act of caring
made a difference in a life, whether it was in one that we felt we knew for a lifetime,
for a week or for even just a few moments. This day transformed all of our
trips heading into our last full day in Haiti.
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