Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Love,love,love..... That's what its all about.....

The streets are clean and the stores are plentiful. The days are beautiful with the delightful sunshine and breezes,
and the nights are cool. Smooth sounds of the ocean waves crashing on shore making for a beautiful and peaceful nights sleep. Wait, that was my trip to Maine.

The streets, if you can call them streets, are gravel with holes and garbage running wild on them. The days are hot with no real protection from the sun. The nights are sultry with bodies covered in sweat, bug spray and nets. The sounds of loud distorted music along with babies crying, dogs barking and rosters crooking fill the night air. This is still today's Haiti. A year and a half after the earthquake the ruins still remind of the the Fintstones cartoon. Things that we see and experience are still from another age and time. However, this is the 21st century.

Children running around half naked playing with anything from rocks or sticks to keep them occupied and happy. As we work on the most historic and basic ways and means of making a house, the children wait for our break so they might gain our attention just for a split second so they can escape their lives as they might know it and be transformed to another, maybe happier and safer place or existence. The children, and may I add, the Haitians in general, search and desire what God calls us to do - that is Love one another. The children long for and reach up for any empty hand to hold. Though I believe that love comes natural to all of us, we still have to make an effort everyday to love one another no matter how uncomfortable it might make us. We have to put aside our old sin natural and follow Gods command to love. A very basic example of this was shown yesterday by a 5 year old Haitian boy. Another volunteer who is here had 50 small blow up balloon balls that she brought from a school in the US. She was at a tent village where she started to give them out. When she was finished giving them out, there was one 1 year old child that did not get one. This child started to cry without ceasing. After minutes of crying, a 5 year child came up to this 1 year old and gave them their ball. This was a true act of love, for these children have absolutely no toys to play with. So this child gave up all they had for the love of another who they probably did not know at all.

This society is one that not only is of one of basic existence, but is one in search of the first and basic desire, which is love. Though we some times show love with our words or financial gifts, our works of love will stick with the Haitians for years to come.

Scott

No comments:

Post a Comment