Haiti - Day 3 (Lisa Tiefenthaler)

Blogging is not my strong point, but I’m going to try to give everyone an update about today. Being in Haiti is nothing like I had imagined. For one, I was not expecting the stares we got traveling in the bus. I had least thought about how the group would be a minority in Haiti.

VBS was awesome though! There was probably something like 130 kids coming in all different age groups. It was a bit overwhelming with them all together but in one of the three groups I thought it was manageable. As a part of the craft team I was in charge of giving out and taking up crayons. I also tried to get better with my Creole.

Lunch was really good. Everyone on the team worked together in a big assembly line to hand out plates of food and juice. All the kids had plenty to eat and the VBS ended smoothly.

The most memorable part of this morning was this small boy who was bloated, coughing, and obviously not good. The white parts of his eyes were yellow, which I know means the liver wasn’t working right. I felt my heart break for him. Who knows how part that little boy had to go to get to the church. It’s amazing how a poor this country is. Everyday I see something that rips me up and makes me want to cry. What Danny and Leanne do shows all of us how truly passionate and altruistic a person can be. They certainly inspire me to go beyond my limit in my pursuit to giving the world back the beauty and wonder than mankind has stolen from it.

This day has certainly opened my mind and my heart to all the possibilities for me and for the group as we continue to try and help in any way we can. I found that there are many ways to connect with out language. I played basketball with the boys in the Home today. I think they were a little uncertain of me at first as I was a girl but as soon as I showed them I wasn’t going to give up and that I could be every bit as competitive as them, I really got a work out. We showed them that white people have game too… well, in basketball at least. Soccer was brutal. I feel a lot closer to all the kids here and I am excited to continue to learn about them.

This whole experience, while being nothing like I thought it would be, is changing me in many ways and I want to be sure to utilize all my skills to help those living. So now, since Eddie’s computer I driving me crazy (I have bad luck with computers and it’s a Mac) I will leave you. Thank you everyone who has prayed and thought of us, and wish us luck with the next week and everything that will be thrown at us.

- Lisa
(Check out Lisa's personal Haiti blog here)

Here are some pictures of today!