Joy among the Difficulties

Today was another day of work in Cite Soleil, and this time we split into three groups in the morning to work on an additional home just down the street. I was sent to that job site, which was luckily in the shade mostly. We were to spread rubble in a foundation and then form bucket lines for the cement floor. Molly and I struggled to pick up wheelbarrow loads of stones and concrete rubble, but somehow we got them in there and dumped. The house was being built directly adjacent to an older woman's home, and through my french I managed to figure out that her son was the one to inhabit the new home with his two children: one a son already in school, and another, a daughter, whom she went to retrieve so we could meet her. Before she did this however, she watched us women work a few minutes and decided we weren't doing it right; so she climbed up on the foundation and took the shovel from me and showed us which rocks needed to be there and which ones were too big. I offered her my gloves, but they were too small; fortunately Molly's fit and together we worked with her until the foreman returned and the cement line began. Her son was unbelievably gracious, telling us "I pray for your safety everyday" because we were there to help build his home. He and his mother made sure we were comfortable during breaks as well, dusting off cement bags to sit on and pulling a chair out of the mother's home, which couldn't have been much bigger than 15 x 15.

Day 2: Progress

I think this kid's got the gangster look going better than I did!

Today was easier, I think, to handle, because the shock had worn off a bit, and the kids recognized us. We returned in the afternoon, and while there wasn't quite enough work to keep 17 people occupied the entire afternoon, there certainly were enough kids. Several greeted me by name, and soon I had my little crew following me. I had brought my camera knowing what the consequences were going to be: every time I took it out to take a picture, there is infinite tugging and pushing and begging to see the picture, and at times it just wasn't worth it. The kids discovered my French anew today, and became confident enough with me to pull me over to meet several of their mothers, whom previously I had been wary of because I wasn't sure what they would think of their kids hanging on me and me letting them. The mothers just smiled and some chattted wtih me in French: one mother took pity on me at some point and pulled up a cinder block for me to sit on to rest for a few minutes, a respite from the kids. One boy had out a book of grammar and I looked over and started reading, and I was dragged to a concrete foundation with a tarp over it and made to sit in a corner and read short poems for it, to an audience ranging from about 2 to 12. They were rowdy, but amazingly when I got annoyed at them fighting and said listen, they did. I think they were amazed I could pronounce the words and that they could understand me. Another highlight was when they turned my baseball cap around backwards, deciding this was more appropriate, and pulled me to my feet and dragged me out from under the tarp yelling "gangster Annah, gangster Annah." Now anyone who knows me is probably laughing to themselves right now, but it's true, there are some children here in Haiti who believe in my ability to be gangster.

Our reflections tonight were of the joyful moments, and I think those are so necessary to remember in a place like this, and especially in Cite-Soleil. The ministers that have spoken with us at dinner in the Blanchard compound are certainly aware of the challenges they face, but they believe in the ability of the church to make a difference, and I can see it happening. The presence of a water filtration system in the Cite-Soleil church compounds certainly makes our lives easier, and I can't imagine the difference it makes for the church members who no longer have to purchase as much water. There is also a clinic and a school there as well as here in Blanchard. Lives are improving, even if the vastness of the problems is overwhelming.