First full day in Haiti

Alright, I finally figured out how to post the first blog entry! Due to the internet being slow, it’s going to be near impossible to post pictures on here, but we’ll show you them when we get back and in the meantime I’ve been posting plenty of pictures from my iphone. You can see them on twitter at www.twitter.com/dbunk.

We just finished up our first full day of ministry hear in Haiti. In the morning, we woke up really early to make a long journey to one of the schools convoy of hope works with on an ongoing basis. We had to drive about an hour and walk about two hours through some “jungle” to get there! It was definitely an experience for most of the team that has never been to such a remote area of the world. Yet, this kind of village is representative of the majority of people who live in this world. When we finally arrived at the village we were greeted by a large group of VERY CUTE kids. They sang for us and taught us games. We taught them duck duck goose which turned into a multi-hour event. The main reason for going there was to see the school they work at, deliver water purifiers to people who have been drinking out of very dirty rivers, and see the food that convoy sends there through one day to feed the world.

The school was completely devastated by the earthquake, even that far out from the city. All the walls were pretty much destroyed, so the kids weren’t able to attend school for quite a while. In an effort to get them back into school they built a temporary building out of tin roofing pannels and blue tarps. Needless to say it’s not the greatest environment for learning and it’s very hot but the kids amazed me by how attentive and happy to be at school they were. Convoy is working right now on funding to rebuild the school. It’s one of the projects that they hope to complete very soon.

Each person on the team delivered a water purifier to a family in the village. They are simple filters called “sawyer filters” that are incredibly easy to use and amazingly efficient. They put them in 2 gallon paint buckets donated by home depot and lowes. It only costs $50 to make one and they last a family a lifetime. That translates into many saved lives and certainly many diseases avoided. We demonstrated to each person how to use the filters so they all know.

When we were there a donkey showed up with all the food convoy provides through one day to feed the world to the village. The food is delivered once a month and it’s enough to feed every child a meal everyday. Since they only eat once, typically around lunchtime the food is super packed with nutritional content. David (he works for convoy and his parents are missionaries who have experienced intense modern day persecution for their faith) and Kevin from Convoy told me if you just cook it plain it kind of tastes like ramen, but the people have created all kinds of variations. They also give them some tomatoe sauce to mix it up a bit. Some of the women on the team got to measure the kids to see how they were doing health wise. Thanks to the food convoy provides they are all very healthy weight and height. Compared to some of the kids we saw on the streets and in the orphanage, none of the kids in the school looks malnourished.

The villagers have so much joy and the kids are so cute that it was very tough to convince the team to leave. But finally we did and we made the very long trip back. On the drive back to the guest house we witnessed way more earthquake damage then yesterday driving from the airport. One scene in particular brought me to tears as I saw an entire school that hold many 300 kids absolutely destroyed. Rubble everywhere. Then right across the street there are hundreds of tents where people are displaced. So many people lost their family and homes. Almost every Haitian driving or translating for us had a close friend or family member die in the quake. There has been progress made but it will still take many many years to rebuild it. And we haven’t even seen the places where it hit the worst. On Sunday we are going to drive downtown where there was the most destruction. One of the Haitians said something to me that I will not soon forget as we were driving by the rubble. He said, “Money will not solve this problem. The government has enough money and they waste it. We need the love of Jesus and compassion for people.”

After we got back we cleaned up then headed to our first orphanage. It was heartbreaking. They have many children with disabilities. Little babies were rolling on the floor in flies and hamburger meat. So many of the kids call you “dad” or “mom”. If you try to put them down they will reach out their arms and cry. Malnurished kids look like they are straight out of a world vision infommercial. I met many older kids who spoke english and have only been displaced since the quake. The reality is, it’s very unlikely they will ever be adopted yet they told me “find me a adoption mom and dad”. All of us were moved, but especially those on the team who have never seen an orphanage in a third world country. Let’s just say it’s eye opening. And yet in the midst of heartbreak, Jesus was there. He was in the face of the kids. He is with them the whole time. And he will not leave them orphans. He will come to them.

I’m praying that God’s people from around the world (and right here in Haiti) will be mobilized to adopt children like this so we don’t have orphanages. Orphanages are better then living on the streets but they are not permanent solutions. The caretakers there loved the children and did an incredible job watching the children but they are not a replacement for parents. And I’m praying that the Haitian government will reform their adoption laws to make it easier for children like this. We are all called to care for orphans. It’s one of the ministries closest to the heart of God. God adopted us when we were orphaned and he calls us his children. That’s why adoption and orphan care are pictures of the gospel. What will you do to help orphans?

That’s the question I’ll leave you will tonight. Thank you so much for following the blog and thank you so much for your prayers! They are greatly appreciated by the team. I’ll do my best to blog again soon.

-Daniel