Oouff. It was a ‘day’
here. The following is just a summary of how this day rolled out. Just a ‘normal’
Saturday.
Man when you think
things are hard for people… then it gets harder. Just don’t know how people
keep going. The rain we had Thursday afternoon and evening was so hard.
Erosion, washing out of
gardens. I heard of one person’s gardens… he has 5 garden areas… 4 of them were
just washed away. Like it pulled the plants right out of the ground. I think
maybe the land was on a slope.
Then I was in Pignon
today, several people stopped me which happens often because they want to know
if they can find help.
One lady, I noticed was
just laying on the sidewalk alongside the street in town. She approached me.
She had a one-year old daughter in her arms. She said she was from Port au
Prince. Her house had been burned by the gangs, her husband died. She had made
her way to Pignon with the one-year old and 2 other kids. She said they were
hungry. She lifted the little girls dress up to show she had a bare bottom, no
diaper, no underwear. Uffda. We were close to the corner where they sell hard
boiled eggs, bananas, peanuts, juice. I figured the baby could eat an egg and
part of a banana. I bought 4 eggs, 2 bananas, 2 little sacks of peanuts and a
bottle of natural grenadia juice. It would help for part of a day. 350 gdes…
same as $2.65. That’s a lot of nutrition for $2.65. Locally grown foods are affordable.
Another lady stopped me.
I knew her. She had a family member that had a mobility cart for many years
from MH. The guy had died a few months back. She said now she had an uncle that
came from Cap Haitien to live with her. She has a big heart to take care of
these people. This uncle is also handicapped. The Creole word is ‘kokobe’
(like… koh-koh-bay). So she wondered if there was a way the uncle could get a
mobility cart. After the other guy died, we went to the house to get the cart
to be given to someone else. Who would have thought she would be asking just
months later for another person.
Then a young guy, I knew
him too. He was hoping for help to pay for school. He will start 9th grade but
doesn’t have money to pay for tuition and books.
Then a guy who had been
in an accident two years ago and lost part of his leg. He had a customized
mobility cart. I took a picture.
Look at the frame that
is supporting the ‘canopy’. It is made from part of a walker. And he has a
bigger ‘sprocket’ so he can go farther with each rotation of the hand pedals.
So he wanted help to get
a prosthetic leg. He says the hospital in Cap Haitien does that.
Those conversations were
all within about 45 minutes time.
Yah, I did ask God quite
a lot today…. ‘Why?’
Oh, before that, this
morning there were three people at the MH gate that I talked to. All people I
know and have provided some help of various kinds.
This couple.
They were married at MH
wedding a few years ago. Each of them has been sick. The husband wants to go to
the Dominican Republic to work because he has no way to provide for his family
here. He said that shirt and the pants he is wearing are the only clothes he
owns. They have three kids and he doesn’t have money to put them in school.
Ever since we have known them Craig has called them the smiley couple. I told
Craig, today they weren’t really smiling.
The question was asked, “Would
he be accepted in DR to work?”
Yah, that is the thing.
I told them just yesterday I had talked to a guy that had done the same thing
and he was deported back before he had been there a week.
The smiley couple who
weren’t smiling today said the wife’s brother went in July and where he is they
say there aren’t immigration people.
They think he wouldn’t
have issues . But… golly gosh… just can’t imagine. I plan to talk with two of
our pastors on Monday. They know this couple from the wedding stuff. I am going
to see what they say. Not really sure it’s a good idea, but the husband feels
it’s his only choice.
I put a food gift
together for the smiley couple and gave it to them as they were leaving. Rice,
beans, oil, a couple packages of spaghetti, some soap. They thanked me and said
that I had done so much for them. Then I said that I knew the man wanted to be
the one to provide for his family. He said, “YES. That is why I need to go to
the Dominican.” Oh, the sacrifice people have to make to survive.
Here was another
site. I was spying from across the road. These guys are
braiding rope and making hammocks. My guess is because of all the
refugees that have made their way to Pignon from the areas Gangs have invaded,
there may be a market for Hammocks. I was talking with a friend and commented
that hammocks are used quite a lot in some countries but that I don’t see them
being used much in Haiti. My friend said, “well I remember a long
time ago, my grandpa used one.”
That is a quick run-down of my day. So now, at the end of the day, I am doing a little reading. I have some notes I had written and I can't even remember the book these thoughts came from.
These are the notes...
Jesus's first sermon was about the way things ought to be. His sermon was short:
"Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matt 4:17). Jesus was not referring to an otherworldly paradise, heaven, or eternity. Rather, he was reviving a concept in Judaism know as tikkun olam, sometimes translated as "repair of the world". One connotation of tikkun olam is simple enough: We know how things are, BUT how SHOULD things be? By extension, what should I do about it? Where should I turn my trowel to cultivate life in the garden? Humanity has been given a unique job -- to partner with God in making the world into what it might be. Humans are created to be God's partners in making this world a better place, not simply to wait for the afterlife. This is what it means to live the kingdom: living in the midst of a world obsessed with "the way things are." yet choosing to live life directed toward "the way things ought to be."
For ME.... at the end of this day, I can only say AMEN and AMEN.
