Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Downtown Port part 1

(Taken from my post 'not fair' on the relief.theworldrace.org website)
One of our schedualed days off turned out to be the most heartbreaking for me up to that point. My team and I had wanted to go see the Palace in Port-au-Prince and other areas near the epi-center. I was not prepared for what I saw along the way. We past a catherdral that had been damaged greatly during the earthquake. We got out of our vehicle to take pictures and as we were standing around taking in the scene, people from the street began to come over to us and ask for money. I noticed one woman in a green shirt holding a young baby on her hip and a young boy at her side. Esther, our friend and iterpreter began conversing with her. We discovered that she is 19 years old and is the mother of this 3 month old baby girl and 2 year old boy. She has no place to live and nothing to eat. Her daughter was wearing a onesie and her son did not have one piece of clothing on his body. It was such a hot day, as are most days in Haiti. The baby started crying and I could see she was very hot. This little family is at the mercy of others when it comes to eating. When it rains, they're on their own, running for shelter or putting a plastic bag over their heads. After listening to this story and taking in the mother and her children, I climed in the back of our vehicle and let the tears flow behind my sunglasses. My heart was breaking for this mother. Inside I was screaming, THIS IS NOT FAIR! Others began gathering around sharing their stories of the earthquake and how it displaced and crippled them. A boy that looked to be around 6 or 7 years old had a ball of copper wire in his hand and was biting pieces off and chewing them. We asked why he was doing that and his reply-he was hungry. My teammates and I began digging through our packs for trail mix, apple sauce packs and other snacks we brought with us for the day and gave them away. It wasn't satisfying to me though. It was a little somthing for a moment, but what about tomorrow? I felt so helpless. I wanted to rescue them, but couldn't. These moments are not things that will soon fade from my memory. I can't just come home and feel like I did my good deed by going to Haiti. I am now compelled to help from my home in the U.S.

Isaiah 40:11,
He [Jesus] will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

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