Oouff, It was a 'day' here.

 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.