A Little Illness, A Little Reflecting

Sunday March 4, 2012

On the plane now that is carrying me back home. Usually I am crying at this point as I see Haiti getting smaller by the second out my window, but somehow today I’m not. Most likely because plans to be back in the summer are pretty concrete and also due to the fact that I felt so crappy the day before we left. I was so sick on Friday and honestly, the jarring moto rides, diesel and smoke filled streets, and blaring truck horns 24 hours a day are no longer fun when you feel so awful. Friday I woke up with a fever that I had had all night as I tossed and turned. I tried to get up and do breakfast, but went back to bed to wait for Robinson to come get us. I woke up at 11:30 to find Leah and Robinson finishing their meeting that had finalized all the plans for camp this summer. So then, off to Cite Soleil we went, for our last day. I was feeling so out of it but thought it was just because I’d slept the morning away in a dark room and was now out in the blaring heat and sun, moto-ing it through the loud streets of Port-au-Prince. As soon as we got there, one of our guys, a nursing student who runs the now-vacant clinic, pulls me in and says we have some patients for you to see! I was trying real hard to focus; I saw a few babies but started to feel so dizzy, nauseous and then proceeded to break out into a full body cold sweat. At that point I was beginning to think something was majorly wrong and it would probably not be a good idea to try and prescribe medication to people! I cracked and told Leah, I gotta go. Robinson was gracious enough to drive extra to bring me home early. So, slept the whole afternoon away, in between visits to the toilet. Yesssssss. At that point I was so glad I didn’t have anything real serious and was thanking Jesus for Cipro. I still don’t know what I got but maybe something up North. Maybe the little goat that was covered in street mud I carried for half the day trying to find a taker for it, or that coke bottle that definitely smelled um, foul, or maybe I chewing gum in the shower is not the best idea, hehe…

At any rate I was so sad to miss my last day in Cite Soleil with my new found friends. Especially D, the 21 year old girl who walked with us to visit the homes of women throughout the week. She has a presence that is so quiet, so calm, so confident; it has to be God-given. I see the leader in her that I wonder if she even know she possesses. As I reflect on all the people I met there, I see the potential. They are different here. They know what they want; they know what they want for their lives and for their future. That Friday, the seven young people Making Roots is trying to send to trade school had an assignment, to write a small essay to Leah about whey they wanted to go to school and how they saw it could benefit their community. They were incredible to read. One guy wrote, I thank you for the vision God you because you are thinking with the people of Cite Soleil. That is golden right there. If only we can somehow come along side to empower and restore dignity, God-given dignity that every human deserves, that would be a goal well-achieved. I love it.

Thanks all for reading, thinking, praying, supporting…