This blog shares the experiences of our MH4H volunteers who have earned hours towards a mission trip to Haiti
Written by Nykey Richter
As our time in Haiti is coming to an end, I have really started contemplating the time I have spent here. After just one week, I am definitely not even close to being ready to leave. The dictionary defines the word “miss” as noticing the absence or loss of something/someone. My definition of “miss” for the country of Haiti goes beyond that. Haiti isn’t just a “something” or “someone,” it is a culture, a country, an atmosphere, etc. I won’t notice the absence of Haiti because it will always be with me. The people will always be in my heart, and the smell will always be around me. I will never lose Haiti, and it will never be absent in my heart.
Nykey being accosted by neighborhood kids Measuring the children at Savanette
Today was our last day and a very good day at that. We helped some workers make a concrete floor in a home. It was great to watch because they stirred their cement by hand with shovels. The cement powder was mixed with water, sand, and rock. They had a really neat system going where they stuck sticks into the ground, and wrapped string around them to know when the concrete was level. Two guys were designated to make the cement smooth.
Mixing the concrete by hand. This will then be bucketed into the house. Many hands make light work Helping with the bucket brigade
They did a very good job, but sadly a rooster walked across the back room and left some tracks. The workers would run out of water to make more cement so Craig would drive some of them to the pump to fill up as many jugs as they could. It was really neat because they would just mix the cement right on the dirt in their front yard. I find it so neat that some families will be blessed with a cement floor. I never knew how much of a big deal it was to get a cement floor until someone told me that the dirt they live on can carry diseases, and that they even sleep on that disease infested floor.
The second half of the day was spent visiting homes that have been worked on already and praying with families. The families that we visited were so very grateful for our coming. One family that we visited is getting a cement floor tomorrow and we get the privilege of helping them in the morning.
Beaury and her son in front of their home
It is great that we get to keep serving God even though we have a departure flight that same day at noon. Carrying cement buckets was not nearly as hard as saying goodbye. I cannot express enough how hard that was. I hope I will be able to see all these people again real soon. Coming back to Haiti is not just a want, it is a need and I hope I can fulfill this need soon. I am so thankful for the opportunity to go to Haiti. I can definitely tell that it was God’s will to send me here.
Time spent with smiling faces