Friday August 7, 2015
Camp Hope 2015 is finished today. I'm already back in Port-au-Prince after a long day of travel back from the Northwest (Passe Catabois). Camp was a success! This year Leah did one week in Cite Soleil by herself, then was joined by Megan, Caitlin, and I as we went up north to do 2 more weeks. (See her blog as well at www.camphopehaiti.blogspot.com). Much was the same as previous years, but each year the kids still flock to camp. It's during the summer so school is out and there is not much to do for the kids - so a time to be together, sing, do crafts, tell stories, and eat 2 meals are very positive things. We were saying this year - it shocks us that these kids still want to do camp every year!
This year we had 73 six to nine year olds the first week in Passe Catabois, then about 75 ten to thirteen year olds the second week. We somehow packed them into this tiny school room measuring probably 20 by 30 feet. It's amazing how your perspective of space differs in this place. Everything can be stretched to more than you ever thought possible. This year the theme was "Loving Each Other" so we threw in some legit Haitian skits to illustrate the points as well as The Good Samaritan. Skits are always the best - the kids really get into them and at certain points the room explodes with laughs and screams of glee (especially when Miss Leah plays the donkey). This time is also about supporting the young people and families in the community through employment. This year we had about 8 people working to facilitate the camp and even more helping with afternoon skill workshops. What we are able to pay them helps them eat and pay for the upcoming year of school. Everything was more expensive this year due to drought, scarcity of crops, and inflation, so any last minute donations would be greatly appreciated at www.makingroots.org!
As I sat on the bus for 7 hours yesterday looking out the window at this country, the cumulation of the scenery is sometimes overwhelming. Just thinking about how people have etched out a life in what at times, looks like a "barren wilderness". Extreme heat, drought, dust, and severely limited resources for homes and marketplaces. It's a completely different world and a constant struggle, especially in the Northwest. As we go there to facilitate camp, we live a part of that struggle for only a short snippet of time. Sometimes I feel like selfishly I need to go back there and participate in that struggle to reset my humanity meter or something. But then I hate it because living there is hard. America is so comfortable. We rarely get to the point of desperation of needing something essential for our survival such as water, food, or education. We get in the groove of easily taking care of ourselves and do not get to the point of needing some outside help from others or something even greater (which for me is Jesus, who I have experienced over and over is always somehow still there, no matter how shitty the situation).
As I go home, it's the struggle that bothers me and the inequality of that struggle. We took pictures of the kids to print out for them at camp and as I looked through them, I noticed one little girl with arms the size of real live toothpicks. She is so shy and is not noticed much in camp, but just her eyes looking back at me in that photo irks me. She is obviously malnourished, but still functioning and etching out a life here in the dust and drought with her family or whomever is taking care of her.
Camp Hope 2015 is finished today. I'm already back in Port-au-Prince after a long day of travel back from the Northwest (Passe Catabois). Camp was a success! This year Leah did one week in Cite Soleil by herself, then was joined by Megan, Caitlin, and I as we went up north to do 2 more weeks. (See her blog as well at www.camphopehaiti.blogspot.com). Much was the same as previous years, but each year the kids still flock to camp. It's during the summer so school is out and there is not much to do for the kids - so a time to be together, sing, do crafts, tell stories, and eat 2 meals are very positive things. We were saying this year - it shocks us that these kids still want to do camp every year!
This year we had 73 six to nine year olds the first week in Passe Catabois, then about 75 ten to thirteen year olds the second week. We somehow packed them into this tiny school room measuring probably 20 by 30 feet. It's amazing how your perspective of space differs in this place. Everything can be stretched to more than you ever thought possible. This year the theme was "Loving Each Other" so we threw in some legit Haitian skits to illustrate the points as well as The Good Samaritan. Skits are always the best - the kids really get into them and at certain points the room explodes with laughs and screams of glee (especially when Miss Leah plays the donkey). This time is also about supporting the young people and families in the community through employment. This year we had about 8 people working to facilitate the camp and even more helping with afternoon skill workshops. What we are able to pay them helps them eat and pay for the upcoming year of school. Everything was more expensive this year due to drought, scarcity of crops, and inflation, so any last minute donations would be greatly appreciated at www.makingroots.org!
As I sat on the bus for 7 hours yesterday looking out the window at this country, the cumulation of the scenery is sometimes overwhelming. Just thinking about how people have etched out a life in what at times, looks like a "barren wilderness". Extreme heat, drought, dust, and severely limited resources for homes and marketplaces. It's a completely different world and a constant struggle, especially in the Northwest. As we go there to facilitate camp, we live a part of that struggle for only a short snippet of time. Sometimes I feel like selfishly I need to go back there and participate in that struggle to reset my humanity meter or something. But then I hate it because living there is hard. America is so comfortable. We rarely get to the point of desperation of needing something essential for our survival such as water, food, or education. We get in the groove of easily taking care of ourselves and do not get to the point of needing some outside help from others or something even greater (which for me is Jesus, who I have experienced over and over is always somehow still there, no matter how shitty the situation).
As I go home, it's the struggle that bothers me and the inequality of that struggle. We took pictures of the kids to print out for them at camp and as I looked through them, I noticed one little girl with arms the size of real live toothpicks. She is so shy and is not noticed much in camp, but just her eyes looking back at me in that photo irks me. She is obviously malnourished, but still functioning and etching out a life here in the dust and drought with her family or whomever is taking care of her.
The inequality of the struggle in the world is something I just will never understand. Some people have so much pain and trouble to just survive in life and others don't. I'm in the "don't" category, which saturates me with guilt at times. It's like some people travel through life in this crystal clear slippery water that's so easy to get through, while others have to trudge through this black muck of a swamp. It's easy to understand that when some opportunity comes to help them through the sludge, the offerers of that opportunity can get overwhelmed because so many people are eager to get out of the muck. It's tiring and it's not like resources are limitless. There is never enough to help it all. Never enough space in camp for every kids who wants to come, never enough money to send all the kids to school, never enough food, never enough rain for the land to sustain crops and livestock, and never enough water to live well. Oh Lord. This humanity is mine. I belong to them and they to me. My heart hurts.
I will never know what the answer is and when people try to explain the pain and suffering away, it always sounds so shallow and disheartening. They don't get it. But I don't get it either. All I know is that Jesus somehow gets it cuz he was here and experienced this mess, this misery, and this struggle. And he too wants justice and restoration of people, land, and this ugly system. He still wants to take that little girl from camp and hug her and give her a plate of food, everyday. He still wants me to continue even though I'm guilty of participation in this systemic greed. And he still hands us glimpses of joy to give us strength to get through (humor and laughs with others, a quiet morning and a sunrise, a black cup of coffee cuz we had enough water to make it that day, hearing children scream with glee, receiving unexpected gifts or love from others, seeing beauty in people's eyes or in this land, and solidarity with those experiencing the same struggle - Leah, Megan, Caitlin).
I will never know what the answer is and when people try to explain the pain and suffering away, it always sounds so shallow and disheartening. They don't get it. But I don't get it either. All I know is that Jesus somehow gets it cuz he was here and experienced this mess, this misery, and this struggle. And he too wants justice and restoration of people, land, and this ugly system. He still wants to take that little girl from camp and hug her and give her a plate of food, everyday. He still wants me to continue even though I'm guilty of participation in this systemic greed. And he still hands us glimpses of joy to give us strength to get through (humor and laughs with others, a quiet morning and a sunrise, a black cup of coffee cuz we had enough water to make it that day, hearing children scream with glee, receiving unexpected gifts or love from others, seeing beauty in people's eyes or in this land, and solidarity with those experiencing the same struggle - Leah, Megan, Caitlin).
All I know is that "there were scars before my scars" and that answer just has to be good enough for now as we wait for some future hope of complete restoration.
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1 comment:
What an incredible struggle. We take everything so for granted, not thinking twice as we reach into the refrigerator for anything we want. We turn on the faucet, the water runs, shower, sleep in our nice beds, and drive our cars to work. It's difficult to understand why we were chosen to have lives like this and others have to suffer. We need to be thankful everyday for this gift that God has given to us.
Thanks for giving of yourself and your time to help make someone's life a little better, sharing God's Love.
Love you,
Mom
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