Day 7 (Jan 7th, 2010)

This morning I woke up a little before 7am and went for a very short run on the beach in my Gomer shirt (www.twogomers.com). Now I can officially say I ran in Jacmel. Mark took a couple pictures of me. "The best three pictures of your life," he said.


Just now some guys from the U.N. dropped by. Five of them in their fatigues. I think they were asking about the size of the crowd at the crusade. They seemed fine with the answer. (I wonder if these guys survived the quake - 1/25/10)

After my run, we ate breakfast (eggs, duh) and then Mark and Christy, Kelly, Ruth and I went to the market. It was fun, but totally not my thing. People everywhere, wall to wall. I did get some sandals, though. I tried to find some jewelry, but didn't see any I liked. We also went to a little art shop next to our hotel and I got some maracas and a cool little sculpture for me and Julie.

The orphanage has been normal today, for the most part. Jehmley was crying again. I shoved a piece of gum in his mouth, which seemed to help. It muffled his crying, at least. (This sounds terrible, but it was actually really funny. He loves gum.)

Steve was sick this morning and lying on the bed at the orphanage. Kaylene was so sad, crying by his side. One of the cutest things I've ever seen.


Her sister, Kaylin, cut off my sleeves for me today. For such a little turd, she can be quite the sweetie.



The other big thing was that I gave my TOMS shoes to Senglay (www.tomsshoes.com). I was SO happy they fit. Initially, I was really concerned about getting pictures of myself in them all over Haiti. But, that's not the point. The reason I brought them was to give them away. That was always the point. So, even taking a picture with him in them felt weird, but I do want to remember it. It was great to see him playing soccer in them and smiling. Totally worth it.

...
Everybody is at the crusade right now, except me and Steve. He's sick and I stayed back to "take care of him." I only got a little crap for it from Chris and Mark.

Honestly, I was sad watching them leave. Part of me is glad I didn't go, but the other part feels bad. I hate missing it. I hate missing the kids. I think Kangine thinks I'm coming. "Peetuh," she said earlier, meaning "later." So, I'll take advantage of the time to read, write and make sure Steve's ok.

Also, I'm a little more than halfway through "Introverts in the Church." I love it. Very encouraging. There are things that aren't quite me, but for the most part, it's spot on. I'm looking forward to reviewing it. (http://haackreviewsbooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/introverts-in-church-by-adam-s-mchugh.html)

Heavy Duty Editing

This is mainly for my wife, but I thought I'd let you know, too, reader (that's a lotta commas), that there's a lot in my journal that I'm not posting. There were experiences and feelings that I had and struggled through that are best kept in the privacy of my little black book. And honestly, while they're interesting to me, I'm sure they wouldn't be to anyone else. Thanks for understanding.

Day 6: Halfway (Jan 6th, 2010)

Let's go backwards today.

On the way home from church at Nego and Ellen's, we saw a beautiful wedding taking place and a truckload of boy scouts. It was great.

Service at Nego's was great. A small building they must rent that's right next to a loud restaurant. It's actually more of a youth group, which is really cool. There were probably 50 people there. Steve introduced us all to the crowd and then Mark and Christy played/sang a couple songs. Very cute. Steve spoke about love. Doing everything we do in love. At the very end, Nego said, "Pastor Ryan, will you close us in prayer?" I was really caught off-guard, but honored to pray.

Honestly, the whole day was pretty hum-drum. Got up to the orphanage pretty early and spent the whole day there until 3:30pm. Jehmley was a peach (sarcastic) almost all day. Just crying and screaming.

That kid has a scream that equals his smile. The whole day I just kind of hung-out with hte kids and helped with the wall when I could. They actually got all the footings and almost all the rebar up. I think the construction guys feel really successful. And they should. I also presented the kids with the school supplies that Anna's preschool class sent with me. That was nice.

At one point I showed some of the kids pictures of my family on my iPod. When Julie popped up, Kangine sighed, "Oh, belle!" That means pretty. It was adorable. And of course, I agreed. Kangine is Pastor Millen's daughter and she is one of my favorites. Beautiful girl, funny and super shy. But shy in a funny way. She thinks it's funny to say my name (and Chris) and then act like she didn't when I respond. Dork.

(I also wrote a letter to Julie, but that's private. Sorry...but, not really.)

Even Kid Rock Has A Heart

Chris Martin (Coldplay) is playing piano while Beyonce sings, "Haiti, I can see your halo..." and I'm overwhelmed with emotion. It's so corny, but they're doing what they can to help. They're playing clips from the first days after the earthquake...and I have to turn it off. I'm actually shaking. I thought I had distanced myself from these feelings, but clearly they're still beneath the surface.

This fundraiser is being broadcast on over 25 networks and millions upon millions of people all over the world are watching and giving. And thinking about Haiti. It's kind of blowing my mind. But it leads to something else I was thinking about early today.

I wonder how aware the Haitians are that the world is watching them? And concerned for them? And helping them? And loving them? They're trying to survive and we're watching Sting and Questlove perform to raise money for them. They're trying to find drinkable water and we're watching Justin Timberlake and some other dude (who's friggin' awesome, by the way) sing Hallelujah. They're trying to find medicine and we're watching Steven Spielberg take donations from a lady, asking her how she feels about the situation. It's mind-boggling. Surreal.

I'm so glad to see people from all walks of life doing whatever they can to help. To see celebrities using their status, their fame for good. It's a little weird, but...whatever it takes.

I just hope the people of Haiti can sense the love that the world has for them at this time. And I hope that love doesn't fade.

Day 5 (Jan 5th, 2010)

Another day at the orphanage. Breakfast gave us a late start this morning...again. Plus, the generator didn't work, which meant no water or electricity. No shower. No lights. No problem.

The weather was actually pretty nice. Started out sunny, then got overcast and rained pretty hard a couple times. Not enough to stop anything we were doing, though. They really made amazing progress on the footings for the wall. Got three sections done, I think. I helped a little, but not much. Mostly I was with the kids.

Jehmley likes me. He quiets down from crying when I come and wails when I put him down. Madame says he's three! He's so tiny.

They all are. Baby Smith is so skinny, I literally thought his legs were going to break when Kaline was pulling on them while he was on the swing. She's a trouble maker. She stole my pen and I had to steal it back. Weslai, Jean Paul, and Joclyn are some of my favorites, too. Older boys, fantastic laughs, a bit of trouble-maker in 'em... I showed Weslai a picture of our family and said all their names and he repeated, "Sam." I can't wait to connect them. (That last statement tears at me now)

We had a great meal cooked by Madame Millien. Chicken, fries, some bread-thing, potato salad-ish, and a Sprite. They made us eat before the kids, which was weird and hard, but whatever. I guess we just do what they say. It was really good.
...
The Sea, Again: Give Up The Ring!

After the day at the orphanage, some of us went back to the sea. Me, Cecil and his mom, Emily, Nick and Sahlman. I can't believe everybody else stayed back at the hotel.

It was beautiful again. Nice and cool, but not too cool. We body surfed in the waves, which were bigger this time. And the sunset was gorgeous.

I also trolled the beach for my ring. I prayed. "God, I believe in miracles." I promised that if He washed it up on shore, I'd sit there and cry for an hour. Sadly, it didn't turn up. But, I got some smooth stones for my family.

After the beach we ate at Sesanete since we thought our power was still out. I had a cheeseburger and fries and it was dee-lish.

After we ate, Sahlman took me to his place. I feel honored to be the first to see it. (Ended up that I was the ONLY one to see it) It was a short block and a half from the restaurant, but the alley was dark. I can't believe he's staying on his own. Amazing.

When we got to the gate, he had a hard time with the lock and it was pitch black and this dog JUMPS up and scares the crap out of us. It was hilarious.

Well, I'll probably watch some "500 Days of Summer" on my iPod again. And think about Julie. And cry. I hope she likes it as much as me. (She hadn't seen it yet)

Day 4 (Jan 4th, 2010)

Our intention was to start the wall today, so after our breakfast (eggs for me again), the guys went out to buy supplies.

This was how it was supposed to work:

8am - guys buy supplies and go to orphanage to start building
10am - girls get picked up and brought to orphanage
4pm - leave, eat, change
5:30pm - crusade

What actually happened:

8am - guys buy supplies, it takes over 2 hours
11am-ish - go back to hotel to get girls, all go to orphanage together, but stop to get shovels
? - get to orphanage, play with kids, move swingset, go home at 4:30pm, swim, nap, eat
No crusade because the stage isn't built, so we go to Texaco and use the internet
Whatever time it is now - journal

Awesome.

It was so hot today. And it was long. I got sunburned and sweat through everything. Everyone did. Jeff especially. He wore a bandana and has a white line across his forehead. It's fantastic.

I'm a little overwhelmed with how much I want to write, so when I get that way from now on, I'm just going to do "quick hits" to jog my memory later.

I'm learning more of the kids' names and faces. Jean Paul, Joclyn, Jehmley, Weslai, Samantha, Kaylene and Kaylin, Allickson, Roly, Ochen...it's great.

Joclyn wanted my watch today and was so mad when Mandy told him no. I ended up giving it to him...and he gave it back later! That was unexpected.

Swimming when we got back to the hotel was fun. Steve won the contest for holding your breath and swimming the most lengths of the pool. Of course. He beat Harvey, Ole and Nick...handily.

Dinner was spaghetti. Yum.

Went to Texaco and used the internet. Julie wrote back before I left! Loved it. Realized I was done using the internet after about five minutes, though. Weird.

Only regret for the day? That I didn't buy a Snickers at the Texaco.

Not bad.

Why Am I Doing This?

I wanted to take a second to answer this question: Why are you posting all this?

There are a couple reasons, really. First of all, I like to write. And let's be honest, writers like to be read. If I didn't want people to read what I'm writing, I'd keep it in my notebook and put it under my pillow. Which, by the way, is uncomfortable.

Whether it's just my wife, friends and family or people I've never met, I'm happy to share my experience with anybody that's interested. So, whoever you are...thank you for being interested.

Once the earthquake hit, a whole new slew of reasons to write presented themselves. It's been really important for me and my friends who went on the trip to relive it through my journal. For many of us, once the news broke of the quake, our trip became a distant memory. It's been therapeutic to go through my journal and remember all the amazing times we had together. Even while we're grieving and concerned, we have to remember those ten days.

Also, any attention I can bring to Faith Orphanage is good. They need all the help they can get and anything I can do to get the word out, I'll do. It feels strange to be interviewed by the papers and to post stuff on the internet, but if it gets people involved...I'm in.

So, thank you for reading and for understanding. And please, please, if you can...donate to a worthy cause. www.thejourneycommunity.com