Lines

Well. Trying to sum up the day in one passage is quite impossible. It was water truck day, so there's a big water truck that fills up, and we take the water to the poorest slum in the western hemisphere, Cite Soleil.I was nervous, because I didn't quite know what to expect at first. Right when we stepped off the tap tap (which is basically like a tram for transportation, just all caged in in the back), children swarmed us yelling "Hey you!" and climbing all over us like we were a jungle gym. I think the craziest part was just seeing such joy in the kids' faces. I mean, they live in this terrible city, with sewage flowing on the sides of the road, they barely have clothing, and where their houses can barely be even considered shacks, and yet these kids had the biggest, most beautiful smiles on their faces. You would just have to see it to believe it. This description does absolutely nothing compared to the experience you get from coming here. The people are always staring at us, like we're some kind of aliens. They were all so fascinated with my eyelashes and my blonde hair, and the young children and even teenagers would grab at both of them. This was not even half of it. Distributing the water was kind of the intense part. The Haitians were in the absolute longest line. Imagine going to Six Flags during spring break, and just the lines of people waiting in line to ride the rides. These people all lined up with their buckets, waiting for water, while we waited at the truck and held the water hose. So many people tried to cut in line, and you had to be extremely assertive and tell them no, and to "Respect la lina" (Respect the line). At some points, people would cut in line multiple times and you would just grab their bucket and throw it to the side to show them to wait in line. Our 2 helpers, Maxime and Valery, the two strongest Haitian guys on our team, had sticks and they would be yelling at the people cutting in line, moving their buckets back, and sometimes they used their stick the push the people back and be aggressive towards them. It was so fast paced and insane, and just to think that these people are so desperate just for water, which we have in overabundance. It really makes you become more thankful for small things like water, showers, and a bed to sleep on at night. On our second water truck stop, I probably got 5 new boyfriends, all wanting to add me on facebook, and kept saying my name and telling me they loved me. After our second stop, we went to a little soccer field (which didn't have any grass; it was just rock and dirt), and a few of us from the team played soccer with a bunch of Haitian boys from Haitian Initiative who were probably only 10 years old. These teams actually go to Minnesota World Cup and play really really good. I must say, they definitely schooled us! The coaches were laughing at us and I think some of the players on our teams were getting mad at us because of how bad we were. Bridget, one of our awesome leaders and I, just kind of stood around and watched half the time, while Mike and Charlie were kickin' butt (and probably about to die from a heart attack as well). After the practice was over, we walked for a small ways through the city to a large building, kind of like a pavilion. All of the soccer kids were going to eat. They all grabbed a silver, metal bowl and a man scooped some rice into their bowls and they went and sat down at the concrete picnic tables to eat. As it turns out, the food that was given to the boys was packed by a couple of our team members and many volunteers. They pack a mixture of rice and soy protein into a bag, by Feed My Starving Children, and it's donated to places all over the world, one of those places being Haiti. After that, we all came home exhausted and starving, and scarfed down a delicious shepherd's pie, rolls, pepper salad and coca-cola from the glass bottles for dinner. After we had all eaten and showered, we went upstairs for our evening prayer thing. We all talked about when we saw God that day, and our walks of faith, and I got to know these people in a way I never would have imagined. After hearing all of their stories, and them hearing mine, my respect and love for these people shot through the roof. We also named things we're thankful for,and some things I said are my family, having food on our table every night, and just being fortunate enough to be born in the United States. Half of us were in tears and one of our team members, said that "This feels like a therapy session!" and we all busted into laughter. I could definitely go on and on about just this one day, but to finish it off, I'd just like to say I think we have the absolute best team here. We're all so strong and unique in our own ways, and they've shown me things and had me do things that I would never have imagined and I will most definitely be coming back to see the awesome people of Haiti. :) Michelle Keller