Yesterday, as we delivered water, the children had to hurry to fill their buckets, carry them on their heads and bring them to their homes, then come back to the water truck to fill it again and again. Today as the children went to the beach, many for the first time, you could see their faces light up as entered the warm waters of the ocean.
Yesterday at Cite Soleil, we did a walk through the slums. We were surrounded by perhaps a hundred children, walking on sharp shells, solid waste, hot stones, broken glass and sharp metal. As we walked by the ocean, there was their public toilets, emptying waste into the water. A fat pig lay in the muck, with only his snout peeking through. Today as we drove up to the beautiful blue ocean at the far end of the island, we could see many people enjoying the water. The 32 kids we took, looked around and soaked in the beauty of their ocean.
Many children in Cite Soleil, are given cakes of mud to eat to mast the hunger they are feeling, because there is no food for them. Today we made 70 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids to eat, the joy we saw as they ate and someone said as they rode in the bus to the beach they sang "today we eat." How many times are we thrilled with a peanut butter sandwich.
Yesterday as we left, our hearts were saddened, when our truck was emptied of water, with many still standing by the truck with their buckets and were turned away. Today, we passed out plastic bags of water for our street kids and they drank them up.
As we entered the bus to go back home today, the children all sang, "God is so good."
Even through the contrasts of the two days, we too want to say, "God is good." We continue to pray for all the children we have touched this week. God loves everyone of them and knows their name. Our hearts have been moved and broken and we will always have the images of the children of Haiti in our hearts. - Barb Larson
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