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The last full day in Haiti for the Hope team was indeed a full day! We loaded up trucks with buckets, shovels and teammates. Tonight, two more houses have concrete floors. Local men are hired to mix the materials, and it’s our job to create a bucket brigade, passing the cement through the house, with another Haitian smoothing it out. It’s hard work, but so satisfying to see the job from start to finish.

We also planted fruit trees at the same houses, some of which will bear fruit in the next 6 months. Hot work today, under the midday sun.

The garbage can beautification project was finished today. The word for garbage can in Creole is “poubel”, which literally translates to “for beauty”. The 55 gallon drums are indeed beautiful now!

The guys also finished the new playground equipment and did a little repair work on the existing playground. The kids will get to try it all out for the first time tomorrow, and we’ll get to see them play before we head to the airport.

In the animated movie, Inside Out, human emotions were given human form to better understand them. Spending a week in Haiti, I always feel like I go through every emotion. Sad to see the poverty, happy to hand out food to the hungry, and angry to see the unfairness of the situation. My heart also feels like it’s turned inside out. I’m so homesick for my husband and my kids, but the thought of leaving tomorrow shreds me. Every time I leave Haiti, another piece of me stays here. Tonight the team shared some of their highs and lows from the week, the impact we had on Haiti, and how we were impacted. We appreciated getting to know our teammates better. Some expressed gratitude for experiencing the joy and beauty of the Haitian people. All were thankful for God’s blessings that we witnessed, and those we received. It’s very difficult to put it into words what we’ve seen and felt. But we’ll need to talk about it when we get home. If you’re interested, please ask. Grab a chair. It might take awhile.