Here are some things that I keep thinking about since we've been back in the US:

Why aren't there front loaders and dump trucks working daily to clean up the rubble?  Where are the aid agencies making sure the people are getting food and water?  On neither of the days we were on the road between Port-au-Prince and Grand Goave did I see any construction or cleanup equipment working.  What I saw were volunteer mission teams.

Memories and things I talk about a lot since I've been back:

1.  The little children who shared their food. Sam looks to be about 10 or 11, and Jessica looks to be between 5 and 7.  According to the volunteer who was there when we arrived, they do not have a consistent way to get food, and Sam cares for Jessica.  On Saturday morning, someone had given them some food from our camp.  When we walked by, they both held out their food bars, because they wanted to share them with one of us.   I think of so many people in America who have SO much, but are always demanding MORE, and these hungry children who still had such a desire to share and give back from what they had received. 

2.  The boy who finished the ceiling 
         On Saturday, we went to work on the "volunteer house" where future volunteer missionary teams will be housed.  We had one paint roller and no extender handle.  A worker doing the masonry on the outside gave us a stick to use for a handle.  Shortly into the painting, the plastic roller handle broke apart.  A worker gave us wire and some pliers, and we wired it together. The plastic continued to disintegrate, and we wired the wooden handle to the metal rod.  A bit of painting later and the wood gave way.  The painting was complete in the room except for about 25 sq. feet of ceiling.  We decided to give it up for the day and were cleaning up, when a teenage boy who came along with our group took the stick, pounded the wire off it, put the plastic roller handle back on it, and proceeded to finish the ceiling.  (Picture Maxie finishing the ceiling) His ingenuity and determination stick with me and are an inspiration.

3.  Getting the school supplies to the teacher who later returned my camera.  
     On Monday, June 7, several of us were working on leveling a floor  when we got a request from the school teacher to bring the school supplies we brought to the classroom.  After this, our group left the mission station and went to paint at the "volunteer house."  When I returned several hours later, the teacher met me with my camera that I had set down in the bathroom.  This care impressed me tremendously for honesty and observation.

4.  The "rubble house" rising from the destruction
    This house is a prototype that could provide earthquake and hurricane -proof shelter for a Haitian family.  Although there are a number of details that need to be handled before large scale production of these can start,  there is a lot of hope here.  The floor square footage of this shelter is between 225 and 400 sq ft

5.  The rich man with the mansion, and my own privileged life
      Across a field, maybe a city block away from the rubble house, a rich Haitian man is building a 3-story mansion, complete with imported wooden beams and floor tile from Spain.  He is exploiting the poverty by hiring workers at less than a fair wage, and feels very justified that he is improving the community by building this house.  It is easy to go on a long tirade about the injustice that this man is doing to, and among his own people.  But Jesus said, "Judge not.... for in whatever manner you judge, you will also be judged."  I keep looking at my own house and considering how many "rubble houses" would fit in the living space we "need." Could I live more simply and humbly, and live more justly and compassionately?

6.  The Haitian-American professor I was privileged to meet on the flight home
      We talked for the entire flight about the plight of the Haitian people, and the cultural complexities that we need to understand for the recovery effort to succeed, and even more for Haiti to make progress out of poverty.

People I will never forget:  All the beautiful children - Sam, Jessica, Nedjina, Max, Gener, and all the others - even though I don't know all their names; the volunteer missionaries Matt, Tori, John, and Jon Jr; the schoolteacher; the rich man; and Cecile, with whom I shared an awesome dialog and found many unexpected things in common.

An awesome unexpected surprise:  My son who is a Sr in High School took a lot of interest in the rubble house, and suggested some really creative ways to handle making the roof "hurricane proof."  He is thinking of creative fund-raising ideas, and has really grown a heart for the people of Haiti. 

Peace
Cheryl