When i was in the 11th grade i went to Haiti for 2 weeks. There is a boys home there named St. Joesph that hosts orphan boys in exchange for help with chores around the building or if they like dancing they can join their AMAZING dance troupe. Amazing is an understatement these guys are the best dancers i've ever seen, and they love Asheville. At some point int he last 20 years or so they showed up at Montreat college to perform. A member of my church, Jubilee!, was there and invited them to perform at our church as well. Long story short, our church loves them and their brothers, we have a deep connection with them and consider each other to be siblings in spirit. We have even exchanged satchels of dirt!
If you've never been or heard of Jubilee! it is a church located down town on Wall Street that non-denominational, or considers itself to be All-Faith. I've been to a lot of churches because i needed to find a place that reflected my spiritual beliefs and feelings and man did i find it. I've been going to Jubilee! since the 8th grade, it's really quite wonderful. If you are searching for something or want to experience a different kind of service i suggest you try it out. I'm certainly not pushing anything on anyone but you never know until you go. Celebrations are Sundays at 9:45 and 11:15. Here's a link: http://www.jubileecommunity.org/
Anyway, so i went to Haiti in the 11th grade to spend time with these awesome guys and get to know the country a little better. Hopefully you realize we didn't go there for any type of missionary work. I learned alot! Although a lot of the people at the boys home are christian, or some derivative, a large portion of their population actually believes in Voodoo, and not quite the Voodoo you think of immediately. I wasn't there long enough to get a full grasp but that was made pretty clear! It mostly deals with respecting nature, and seeing a spirit in all living things. I saw some beautiful places and some not so beautiful places.
The poverty level there is astounding. People living in little shacks made of siding, people using street trenches as bathrooms, and that only begins to explain. Each boy at the home has a host family, a portion of thier chore work allows them to buy supplies for these families. Each person who came with me was given a prayer partner and we packed thigns for thier host families ahead of time. So, i went with my prayer partner, his name was Jackie, to take these items to the family. The family consisted of 4 children and 1 adult, but to call him a adult was unfair, he was barely 19, and taking care of his siblings. They lived in a two room shack kind of house. I am not telling you this story to bring you down, but to demonstrate the poverty level that i witnessed.
Although that was a sad part of my trip there were some fun part too, we took the boys to the beach, something they never got to do. Witnessed numerous ceremonies and celebrations and veiwed some beautiful landscapes. Everyone, and i stress everyone, that i met was so full of life and spirit and happiness, which really took me aback. Especially since i was 16 at the time, it confused me how people who had so little could be so positive, now that i am older i understand a little better. It was all the little things like how you could meet a person and they were instantly loving and kind. They would plop down right next to you on a couch and have a start up a conversation without a second thought.
Unfortunately, i never went back to Haiti. The next year was my senior year, which i was terribly wrapped up in, and then Haiti had an uprising that didn't insure safe travels. :-/ Since then I haven't really made the time and i'm upset that i haven't. However, the dance troupe has returned to Asheville a few times since. Last year around this time Haiti had 3 hurricanes in like the 2 months i think, and that really shock them to the core. As they were just beginning to get back on their feet this earthquake struck. Can you believe this!? I can't, i watched the news last Wednesday in complete disbelief. No one from my church has heard form a single person in Haiti. Saint Josephs was located in Port Au Prince, and like many other buildings was not built all that well. In fact it was one of the strangest looking buildings i have ever seen. As if they just kept adding floors as they could and stuck them in wherever they might fit. Seriously, seven floors of a puzzle like looking structure, but it was beautiful! One whole floor was a dance studio for the boys, one level was a gorgeous space for church with an alter and vine plants growing around every pillar. You could also go on the roof, which had a breathtaking view. Honestly, i doubt it is still standing. Because of its odd formation i can't see how it could have outlasted the earthquake. Who knows how many people were there when it happened also. I am friends with one person on Facebook and i wrote to them but i haven't heard anything. It's really sad and i am praying for them. Being a poor college student i could only afford to donate 20 dollars ( almost a tank of gas for me) and i wish i could do something else!
It is crazy when things like this happen in the world. Every time is happens it reminds me of how fragile we all are. What really gets me is how easy it is to just push it out of my mind. I've thought about Haiti (like really thought about what they are going through) maybe 5 times since the news came out, and that's with all this history, i mean honestly i feel like that's kind of pathetic. So many people have died and i barely blink an eye at it.
But, i just wanted to vent about this whole thing. I needed to get these thoughts of my chest.
Take a moment to be thankful for all that you have.
CeCe Out!
No comments:
Post a Comment