Combien? That's too much. - Haiti : Day 6

Moving forward on to day six which was Thursday and our week was beginning to find its end.

Journal Entry : Day 6

I slept the best last night than I had all week. I do believe the temperature was bit lower last night which most definitely helped the nice slumber. Breakfast was fine but the best part was they served that spectacular cherry juice again. I have still yet to discover a solution for what to substitute it for now that I am home. Devotion was good this morning and lead by Miss Alison. Pastor Milot's message was a little strange to me though, but that wasn't an unusual occurrence. Anyway, we got geared up and headed out to have another day of VBS.

So today as I mentioned in the previous post, we made the colored beads key chain. We handed each bead out one at a time and Alison explained each color's purpose in understanding how to know God and to grow closer towards Him. After the kids finished their craft for the day Pastor Bill was going to go ahead and present the story today. He used an Evangecube to present the gospel of Jesus and his purpose. Until I came on this trip I never saw an Evangecube. They are somewhat clever and for the purposes of an object lesson they captivate the audience's attention quite well. They stayed fairly focused through the presentation and hopefully those kids grasped a fairly good understanding of what they just heard.

We then split them up as usual to go play soccer while the other group stayed in the shade to enjoy a snack and drink. Luckily today Monique and Jennie said they would take my place in recreation, so I stayed to hand out snacks. I enjoyed the time spending with kids on a more chill circumstance. After the snacks were handed out I just sat in the back with a few kids watching them and Clifford interact. Kids are no different wherever you go for sure. They all want a little attention. Every now I'd have one tap my shoulder or pull at my arm hair, just something to get me to turn their way. It's not a foreign feeling as the joy that comes over me to see a kid smile at merely the simplest gesture you return to them. Whether it is merely a high five or a smile, I can't help but recollect thoughts of camp and those similar moments as a counselor.

So the other group was finishing up at Pastor Milot's church before heading this way. But it wasn't too long before they made their way over, it put a big smile across my face as their "tap tap" rolled up. I'm not really sure why but maybe it was the joy of having the team together. I walked over to see if they needed a hand unloading any supplies as they were ready to get started on some benches for this church. I think it was shocking to them at how wide opened the area we had to work in. They were used to working in a gated church that cut them out of the culture that we got to experience every day. I think it was great for their morale though to simply be among so many Haitian kids and adults. To my surprise they had already built a bench while they were at the other church. This bench looked very sturdy and it was leaps and bounds better than what this church already harbored.

Solid benches made for Alexis' church
"The 900lb test" - Jason, Stanley, and Mike obliged.

Pastor Alexis stopped by and saw the team constructing some new benches and he seemed truly grateful. I was so glad he was getting an upgrade as this was a real need for them. It didn't take them two hours to slap three more together before it was quitting time. There was some spare time before both teams headed back to the house. Everyone was able to really interact with the culture which half the team was so deprived of before. I taught some of the kids how to thumb wrestle and finger joust, they got a kick out of it. One guy from our team asked about sugar cane and a Haitian went and cut us some so we could try it. It was pretty interesting I have got to say. It grows in fields that look like corn and the actual sugar cane looks like a stalk of bamboo. You have to tear or cut away the casing and the inside is what you chew. It does taste mildly sweet and you simply bite a piece off and chew for the juice and spit the rest out. It isn't a snack I would eat everyday but an experience nonetheless.

Sugar Cane Plant

Cut Sugar Cane

So we made our way back to the house but anticipating our last full day tomorrow. We arrived and sat around and chat for a little while when a couple of merchants came in to sell us some souvenirs. It took them quite a while to set out all their merchandise and about the time they finished the dinner bell rang. So before we browsed the "shop" we ate. Dinner was good and Doug had a sweet surprise for us and found us some little cups of ice cream and it was excellent. Although it wasn't quite enough to satisfy my desire for ice cream, I would satisfy that later on the trip. Most everyone browsed the items and several things were quite interesting but not too much worth having. I did spot a couple of 8"X10" painting that I thought were pretty and asked "combien?" - how much. He said $20 for both so I offered him $10 for both he came down to $15 and I said that was too much. I didn't bring much money on the trip and didn't really plan on buying any souvenirs and they were definitely something I didn't need. So I stood back and watched as the others shopped until it started to slow down. About 20 minutes later he said he would do $12 dollars and I just shook my head sticking to my guns at my original offer. Jason was still doing a little bit of shopping and I was chatting with him a little pointing to the paintings showing my interest was still there. He figured that as they closed up shop I'd get it for the price I wanted, I thought that was a good strategy. So not long after they began packing up and he $10 and I said okay. I was pleased at my haggling skills because I wasn't sure if it would work.

The two pictures I purchased

After they left we went on to have our debrief time. You could definitely tell the morale of the team was extremely high after today as the construction team really enjoyed being out of the four walls of the other church and out and about with the real culture. It is one thing to do service for someone, it is a completely different experience to to do service for someone as they work hand in hand with you. That is the partnership that our team felt with the Haitians today. Proceeding  the meeting we prepared for VBS and the craft to go with Daniel and the lion's den. Afterwards Alison, Monique, Jennie, and myself went upstairs to play several rounds of cards before bed. So that is it for the day. A demain. Which reminds me how glad I am to have taken French as I can somewhat communicate with people on a basic level. Thanks to Alison refreshing my mind on a few words (she was a better French student than I), I now have an excuse as to why I chose it over Spanish in high school and college.