the posting you have all been waiting for
Friends and Family:
I want to thank you all very very much for the support and prayers for my trip to Haiti. It was so much more than I expected. This trip was absolutely wonderful and very different from my trip last year. I was able to be more engaged with the people and was not in such shock. I knew what to expect and what it would look like. Also I was challenged more because of school. I have done a lot more learning on the importance of community and developing the people that are there. I was able to talk to the people and try to figure out what I would do for a country in the situation they are in to help them and empower the people. I definitely have a few answers but even more questions. I realize what huge problems this country has and how going down to love the people is so important.
This year we were blessed to have two Haitian eye doctors come on the trip with us. It was wonderful to have them around to tell us about the culture and their takes on the political disaster that is currently going on. The country just had their elections but there was some talk of controversy in the elections and most recently I heard that the person who was elected wants to allow Aristide, the former president that was exiled allowed back into the country. Bridgitte, one of doctors is debating moving out of the country because she can no longer take the law of the streets. This is very upsetting to me because last year she told us that she did not want to leave the country because those were her people. I know that it has gotten bad if she is thinking of leaving. Continue to pray for the country and those that live there. The despair and violence is winning over the country.
While in Haiti we did 70 cataract surgeries and handed out over 600 pairs of glasses. One boy had been kicked in the eye by a cow and the doctors were able to repair his eyeball so he will have some vision out of the eye. There was one lady that was able to receive a fake eye. There was 5 year old girl that had an infection in her knee. They were able to drain the infection and we saw a big improvement in it while we were there. They continued to give her antibiotics after we left. Some of the guys doing construction were able to start mixing and pouring the concrete for the foundation of the new eye clinic. This clinic should be done this summer and will allow us to have more time to do surgeries and less time setting up and tearing down. We were also able to set up a play room for the children at the orphanage.
I think that some of the most amazing things happened within our group. It is amazing how someone can go to a country that is in desperation and have theirs eyes opened. One girl who was a medical student accepted Christ while done in Haiti. She came down thinking she had a relationship with Jesus but realized that she had the knowledge and not the relationship. She grew up in the church but did not realize what it looks like to be a servant of God until seeing the people on the trip. It was amazing to hear her story. We also had a 14 year old boy with us that I had worked with a couple of years ago in the church. It was neat to see him experience this setting for the first time. It will forever change how he sees the world. There were also several people who had never been on a mission trip. These men told stories to our group of their experiences of the day and broke down in tears every night. One man stated that his children had just told him the week before that they had never seen him cry before. I saw him in tears at least once daily while in Haiti.
I think we all realized how blessed we are with everything we have in the States. I also realized how ungrateful we can be with those things that we have. The children were very happy when we were throwing out cardboard boxes because they wanted to play with them. They were content with playing with rocks and how often do we claim we “need” something.
My next trip will be in June to Peru. I am going with a group from my friend’s church. The town, Chincha is between the ocean and the Andes Mountains. We will be working with children doing children’s clubs and working with the school. There will also be construction and evening activities for the families. I am very excited about this trip because it will be very different from my trip to Haiti. Please pray for me and consider supporting me financially in this trip. So far there are about 20 people that are going. The total cost of the trip will be $1300. I really really appreciate your support in my calling to help people. Thank you. If you would like to make the check out directly to the church for tax purposes, the church is First United Methodist Church Waco. Thanks.
So now a quick update on my crazy busy life: I am in the midst of my second year of graduate school at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I am getting a masters in social work and divinity so I still have a year and a half left of school. This semester I am doing an internship with Habitat for Humanity in Waco that I absolutely love. Right now I am currently working with family selection for the new round of people to get homes. It is very exciting to see how excited families to be in application process. By next week they will know who has passed the final cut so I will have more contact with the families. I have enjoyed being able to apply what I have been learning to real life situations. Next year I will do another internship but I have not decided where I want to do that yet. At Habitat I have been able to work on my Spanish because so many of the families speak Spanish only so this is also going to help me in Peru. I love that I am in an environment to practice this.
I am also working at the YMCA still life guarding. I absolutely love the people there. I also have classes on top this so that is why I am so busy. I dream of the day that I can just work 40 hours a week and be done. My lizard, Kirk and I are living by ourselves again back in the apartments I lived in when I first moved down here. There is potential I will have a roommate this summer which would be exciting to have someone else to talk to. Kirk does not ever talk back to me!
I have created a blog that I am hoping to be able to keep with everyone better. It is at deepthoughtsbyhannie.blogspot.com. Feel free to leave comments or email me what is going on. My email is angelica356@yahoo.com. I am pretty good with replying to that. I have enclosed a picture of some of the adventures in Haiti. Thank you so much for you prayer and support for my trip and consider it for my next trip to Peru to serve the children and families of Chichna. Thank you
posted by Hannah @ 9:03 PM
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