Thursday, April 10, 1998

Terry woke up at 6:00 a.m. on this Good Friday and swam for a bit in the pool. We showered, dressed and worshipped. Breakfast was eggs, toast, juice and hot tea. The group assembled out front of the villa for a quick group picture. We said our good-byes to our leader Don as he was catching a flight home to be with his family during Easter. Again we returned to our work stations. Traffic was light today since most Haitians took the day off for Good Friday. Terry worked in the room with the very sick children, ages 1 to 3 years or so. Her first hour was spent with Mary Teresa, a one year old girl suffering from hydrocyphilis. She held many other children today and passed out Smarties to those who could chew them. The children were quite happy to receive them. Soon there were smiling faces and outstretched arms requesting seconds. John spent a short time working in yet another nursery, but was soon pulled out by the older children who were begging for his attention. He was particularly moved when as he entered their room they began chanting his name. Several of the children motioned for John to flex the muscles of his arm. They felt his upper arm muscle and then their own. They were truly fascinated with his muscles, but John realized the true sadness in this comparison. During this time, a child ran into one of the women carrying hot cereal and it dumped on his head. The child suffered some minor burns, but was more scared than hurt. It took a while for things to settle down. Our group spent an hour with the sisters and children at the Stations of the Cross, a Catholic service observing Good Friday. We then said our good-byes which was very difficult. Though our time with them was short, our lives are forever changed. We returned to our comfortable living quarters for lunch. Terry ate very little since it was so hot and quickly retreated to the cool tempting waters of the pool until sharing time. After some coaxing, Tim, John and Terry walked into the streets of Port-au-Prince for an experience on a tap-tap. We waited for a bit as our qualifications seemed rather high - a colorful tap-tap which was not too crowded. We walked down Delmas and unfortunately ran into Peter Paul again. He joined us on the tap-tap for a fun ride part way up the hill.

We disembarked at the Shell station with Peter Paul again asking for money. Tim told him he was welcome to walk with us, but would not be given any money. Faced with reality, he left. We walked back to the villa, stopping for a few photo opportunities. Terry was thrilled to have completed the tap-tap ride with "no problem". We were the only ones of our group who dared for that adventure. Terry swam some while John relaxed in the air conditioned room. We left at 5:30 p.m. for St. Joseph's Home for Boys. We arrived and were each warmly greeted with a gift of flowers from one of the boys. We then joined them on a brief tour of their home which included a large aquarium, waterfalls, tiled floors lounge areas, wind chimes and a beautiful view of the surrounding area from the breezy balcony. Our group assembled in the chapel for a brief summary of how the home was started and then had prayer and song before dinner. Michael Geilenfeld, the founder of the home shared enthusiastically how he was a Father in the Missionaries of Charity and felt a strong calling to start a home for Haitian street boys. Thus began the phenomenal ministry for the "rejected useless ones of society". They now house 20 young men who are empowered to be fine members of their community, wonderful husbands and fathers of their families of tomorrow and jubilant followers of Jesus Christ. Our group was then led downstairs to dine on an array of food - fish, rice, beets, salad and fried bananas. Following the meal, Michael offered us each a piece of fine chocolate which he had just brought back from England two hours earlier. Our group was then taken back upstairs to sit in one of the several exquisitely decorated sitting rooms. Here we were royally entertained with interpretive dance accompanied by two drummers. This was an enchanting evening of beautiful Haitian dance which told a story. The boys had learned basic dance steps from an instructor and then choreographed their own work to share with others. They indeed did an exceptional job! Tears came to the eyes of several of those in attendance as Benoit and Sony danced to the song "On the Wings of Love" by Elton John and shared with us the story of Wings of Hope (the home we visited on Thursday). We left St. Joseph's simply awestruck by the magnificent work that God was doing through Michael and others. A heavy rain had just finished as we got into our vehicles for the return ride to the villa. Terry went straight to the room as water had built up and plugged her ear. Tim joined us in our room and instructed us in a card game called Peanut. We laughed and joked and then played a few rounds of 31 before turning in for the night.