mountains and goodbyes.

The past couple of days have been very busy! Yesterday we went up in to the mountains to deliver food rations, something I had never done before. It is so different than sea level up there. There are villages in the mountains that have never even seen a white person before. The kids we met were SO well behaved, because they don't have people come visit very much. We spent the afternoon playing games with them, eating candy and singing songs. Today we spent the afternoon at the beach and just got done watching movies through the projector with the hope house kids.

This week has flown by, it feels like we just arrived yesterday. I can confidently say that goodbyes are the hardest part of coming to Haiti. We just said goodbye to the MOH kids, kills me every time. They shove letters and colored pages into your hands as you leave, and the hugs don't stop until you reach the gate. After that, you have to walk up the hill thinking about how long it will be until you see them again. I'm just not ready to leave yet. I find joy in the fact that I will see them again soon, and once again i'm counting down the days until I come back.

Highlights of the day.....

1. Right now, listening to the big storm on the tin roof.

2. Watching wall-e with the kids, a universal movie.

3. Having four kids fall asleep on me and carrying them to bed.

4. A haitian smoked crab for us on the beach today, it was delicious.

I will post some pictures and videos sometime when I get home. Miss you all, love you all.

peace, love, and hard goodbyes.

alex

today in titayen.

After yesterday, today was a very encouraging day! We worked again this morning, and after lunch we visited Titayen, a village down the road. This is where a small orphanage, New Jerusalem, is located and I've been there every trip since 07. The first time I visited 2 years ago, the kids were living in a ditch with a tent over it and it was the first time i've ever experienced the overwhelming helpless feeling here. I am SO glad to say that it has been improving tremendously every single trip, and today the kids were happy and pretty healthy! It was by no means up to great conditions, but the kids have a roof, and food, and are going to school. The part I am most excited about is that their rent is up in two weeks and they are all moving permanently here to the mission! They will get to experience love and care that they've never even imagined before, and I cannot wait to come this summer and see how much they've improved here. We had a great day playing games and eating candy. 

Highlights of the day....

1. Playing a blindfold game where I crawl around on the ground looking for bags of cheetos. If you find a bag you get to eat them! Needless to say I lost and made a fool of myself in front of all the kids, haha, I have a video of it to post later.

2. A new team is here from the U.S. and i'm excited to get to know them!

3. Tonight we had hobo dinners. They were delicious.

4. Seeing improvement and knowing change is happening here. So much change.

Tomorrow we are hiking into the mountains and delivering food rations. I've never been before so i'm excited but a little nervous about what I will see.

peace, love, and St. Patrick's Day in haiti.

alex

a day of luck.

Today was a pretty exciting day for us. We worked today, and we ended up unloading a whole container at the warehouse. (In this container was 630,000 servings of food!) Needless to say my back is a little sore from carrying all those boxes, but I felt pretty accomplished. When we got back, guess what was here? Our luggage! Finally. We also got more water, so overall it was an incredibly lucky day, and I had the best shower of my life.

After that, we visited the village in Caberet. This was the hardest part of the day for me. We went to the new Good Samaritan Orphanage. I have been to the old one several times, but in the recent hurricanes the old building got completely demolished. While they were in transition, they stayed here at the Mission of Hope where I'm staying for two months, and they were here when I visited last time. They looked happy, healthy and great when they were here. It has been four months since they moved back to the new building, and seeing them today was heartbreaking. The conditions were awful, some were even sleeping outside. They were dirty, they were quiet, and they were sick. It is hard see them change from good to bad, unbelievably hard, and to have no control over it. We spent the rest of evening playing spoons and dominoes on the porch. I'm hoping that another familiar orphanage will lift my spirits tomorrow, and i'm praying that the changes there will be positive instead of negative. I'm having trouble dealing with the fact that they are outside and I am inside right now, but I know that God is big and that alone gives me hope for these kids.

"I tell you the truth. Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done for me."

Matthew 25:40

peace, love, and showers.

alex

these were all taken at the Good Samaritan today.

spoons and sundays.

To start off today was a great Sunday! We actually don't start working until tomorrow. Today we woke up and when to church at the mission, it was great as usual, and i'm sore from holding a little baby girl all through the service. She drooled all down my arm, but it was still great. After that, we visited another orphanage that the mission sponsors, Ed's orphanage, and loved on some more kids. We visited some of Rachel's awesome friends while we were in the village and then we came back and played with the hope house kids for the rest of the evening. (Rachel is staff and our long friend at MOH). We just finished the night with a long and VERY intense game of spoons. Needless to say, I am exhausted! Our luggage has still not arrived! I'm in the same clothes I was in when I flew here 2 days ago. We're guessing it will come tomorrow, haha, but I am definitely not getting my hopes up. We also just ran out of water, so that means no showers. It's kind of nice not having worrying about anything other than showing love to people, even hygiene!

Highlights of the day....

1. Singing worship at church. It's crazy to hear the songs in a different language, it's a reminder of how big God really is, and how small I am. The people there literally sing their hearts out, and it is so so so encouraging.

2. Seeing old friends!

3. Trying Rachel's friend's delicious juice. It was made from grapefruit and milk. It doesn't sound appealing but it was SO good.

4. Winning the first round of spoons! and watching crazy rachel dominate the last game.

5. Sitting on this incredible porch listening to the rain.

I wish I  could add bigger pictures and more of them, but it uses the bandwidth here at the mission so i'll be doing that when I get home! Love you all.

peace, love, and summer storms.

alex

we're here!

We made it safe and sound today, which is great news! Our luggage did not, but we're hoping for it tomorrow. Everyone is drained from our overnight trip, so most of the day was just used for rest. Zach and I went with another team to see the new Mission of Hope land while everyone was sleeping. They have some new land, right by the ocean, and are planning to build a new orphanage, a new school, a new clinic, and a new church, and of course we were swarmed by kids there just like everywhere else in haiti! The rest of the day was just spent hanging out with the kids here at the orphanage.

Best part of the day:

1. Watching all the new people on the chaotic bus ride to the mission.

2. All the MOH kids running up and remembering my name, even the little ones this time!

Tomorrow we're going to work, visit the New Jerusalem Orphanage, and going to the titayen market. Hope you all are having a great spring break!!

peace, love, and lost luggage.

alex

haitian security system- glass bottles

crazy day one.

I wish that I could say we are safe and sound in Haiti tonight, but I am sleeping at the airport! We took two flights today and we're stuck in florida until 7:00 tomorrow morning. Also, southwest lost our luggage in AMERICA. This does not normally happen until we get to haiti, but it happened early this trip. They informed us we would have it Sunday so hopefully our luck will turn! You would think I would have learned by now (this has happened twice before) to pack clothes in my carry on. We should arrive tomorrow afternoon and Mom and Dad, I will update as soon as we get there. :)

peace, love, and terminals.

alex

This is Taylor, Cindy's daughter and I. Yes, we are sleeping on this chair.

byenvini! welcome!

Hello friends and family! I created this blog to keep you updated on what I'm up to in Haiti. I leave in less than three days and I am counting down, not only for this week but most importantly for this summer. I went on my first trip to Titayen, Haiti after my junior year of high school, and since then I have not been able to stay away! I am literally counting down the minutes until I step off of the plane, it's a wonderful place. I'll tell you more about it later, but in short, I stay at The Mission of Hope, which is an incredible orphanage full of beautiful kids. Thank you for stopping to read, I appreciate every single one of your prayers and I am so blessed to be surrounded by an atmosphere of support. You are great!

peace, love, and plane rides,

alex.

october 2007

october 2007

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march 2008

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