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Carol Verhey has been traveling to Haiti for many years. Serving on the Mobility Worldwide IMPACT Trip, she explains how coming face-to-face with the everyday challenges in Haiti enables her to focus on what is important.

It is Monday evening and the end of another busy day. Reflecting on our food distribution, we visited 9 households yesterday. One young mother of 3 children had recently lost her husband and was living with a friend but didn’t know where she was going next.  We prayed with her and her children and promised her our continued prayers. Then we went to an older gentleman’s home. He hadn’t eaten since Friday and seemed so weak, we didn’t think he would even able to prepare the food. He also told us that his PET cart was broken. We promised him we would come the next day to fix the cart. 

In the evening we all put our heads together and made up a care package of prepared food for him, adding some new shoes, and t-shirt. Today the guys brought him the care package and fixed his cart.  Yesterday we worried that he would be strong enough to drive his cart.  He proved us wrong today, getting on his cart and taking a spin around his yard! We were praising God for answering our prayers.

Today this team witnessed the reveal of the first molded plastic prototype PET cart.  It was given to a recipient who has been using a cart for many years.  He has agreed to test it for a time.  The guys spent the rest of the day repairing carts around the Pignon area.

The men in the team leave for a PET cart delivery

The gals stayed on campus today taking the prayer walk, learning about Many Hands history, the vision moving forward, and understanding the agronomy program and goat land.  We also got to meet with some of our sponsored children and their families which was so fun and rewarding. 

We played with the kids in the School of Light Preschool teaching them “London Bridge is Falling Down”, “Ring Around the Rosie”, and the “Locomotion”.  They loved it and so did we!  There is nothing better than hearing the sound of children laughing, singing, and having so much fun. That is the same in any language.

The team singing and dancing with children in the School of Light Preschool

Every evening we get together to share our highlights and challenges of the day. Here are the ones shared tonight:

 Highlights – 

• Answers to our prayers for the hungry gentleman and his renewed strength today.
• Visits with Sponsored children and families
• Plastic cart reveal. Lots of work from the Ohio Mobility Worldwide affiliate now in field testing phase here in Haiti.

Challenges –

• Unemployment – seeing so many standing around with nothing to do. Only 25% of Haitians are employed.
• So many PET cart recipients that are old and on the fringe of society
• Not being to help everyone – there is always someone needing help and Many Hands staff have to discern who and how to best help 

Being here in Haiti, my focus has always been how I can help. How can we help someone have a bit of an easier life here.  Giving food, clothing, PET carts, etc.  It is so much more than just giving stuff, it’s giving yourself, building relationships, being Jesus with skin on.  Loving with your eyes, hands, and hearts.  That is what this life journey is about, wherever you are.