Day 7.. Easter :)

Happy Easter!  This blog is brought to you by the letter “D”…as in Dwyer and Dols.

We woke your sons and daughters up 45 minutes earlier than our typical day in Haiti to allow them to search for their Easter Baskets and your letters to them.  Ryan Anton’s may or may not have been hidden in the back of the toilet.  We think they all appreciated having contact from home on Easter morning despite the early wake-up call. 

Today we celebrated Easter service at Grace Village in Tetanyen.  We stuck around for the praise and worship portion of the service, which included much singing in Creole and English.  There is something special about celebrating the resurrection of our Lord with beautiful children stealing our glasses, putting them on and crawling all over us while we sing at the top of our lungs.  It was an experience that we will not see our students repeat anytime soon.  These same kids, that we cannot get to sing at mass on Sundays or at school, were singing at the top of their lungs while holding beautiful babies.  It was one of the most special Easter celebrations that we have been a part of. 

After leaving church, we went up to Grace Village to help the staff hide Easter Eggs for the first ever Easter Egg Hunt for the children of Grace Village.  One of the things that separates Grace Village orphanage from any other that we have seen is that Grace Village houses their children in family-style homes versus dormitories.  There are four homes that each house two adults and up to seven children.  Grace Village does this in hoping that many of these children will one day be reunited with their families and understand a family structure.  Approximately 85% of the children in orphanages in Haiti are not true orphans, rather they have parents that cannot afford to take care of them.  Not only does Grace Village provide services for children, they believe in providing an infrastructure that will give parents jobs, which in turn will allow them to be reunited with their children. Grace Village is an amazing place that supports the children and families of Tetanyen, a name which translates to “less than nothing”.  The work that is being done in Grace Village hopefully will be successful, and one day will be reproduced across the country of Haiti.

After many awesome pictures with the beautiful view from Grace Village, we traveled back to the guesthouse at Healing Haiti.  We had snacks and rested for the afternoon.  As we are getting close the end of the trip, we are also getting close to the end of the snacks.  Much discussion surrounded whose snacks are left (i.e. who brought the worst snacks).  Those parties may be publicly humiliated in the morning. 

In the afternoon, thanks to Margaret and Natalie, we celebrated an Easter party with the children at Gertrude’s Orphanage for disabled and abled children.  On our way, Patrick and Jonas (our Healing Haiti hosts) took us to Deli-Mart for an ice cream and Italian ice treat.  We thought it was pretty cool that they had an opportunity to see what a grocery store in Haiti looks like, and our students realized that it’s not really that different from what we see in the United States.  Mr. Dwyer had the Pina Colada ice cream – it was good.  Mr. Dols had the Watermelon Italian ice – it was not as good as the blue raspberry. 

The children at Gertrude’s enjoyed making bunny whiskers and noses, coloring Easter pictures, creating side-walk chalk art, and generally being loved on by our students.  Though the planning was excellent, we learned an important lesson; giving kids attention and hugs trumped all other activities.  Cara carried the same little girl all day; she had severe burns all over her body.  This is the same girl that she played with at Gertrude’s on our first full day in Haiti.  It was also neat to see Kendall playing with the same boy that her sister Hayley fell in love with a year earlier.  We were particularly enamored by Gertrude’s two new children that were brought to her because the organization knew that she would take care of kids with special needs; they were both babies with Down Syndrome, and one also had Cerebral Palsy.  Our students once again thrived in learning that no matter the child, they all need and deserve love and affection, of which our group had plenty.  We knew it was time to go when we did the Easter Egg Hunt and tables went flying.  Apparently, putting candy in plastic eggs creates more chaos in Haiti than it does in your backyard J.  We left feeling like this was a perfect way to end our Easter Sunday as well as our experience in Haiti.

This evening we spent quite a bit of time in reflection, sharing our highs and lows of the week and talking about transitioning back into our “normal” lives in the United States.  Every student will be impacted differently and to different degrees by our experiences in Haiti.  Our hope and prayer is that you as parents will help your son or daughter transition back to normalcy.  That can prove to be difficult, however, we suggest that you read through the blog with them, look at pictures, and ask questions. 

From the bottom of our hearts – we would like to thank each and every one of you for reading our blog, supporting our mission and entrusting your children in our care.  After a week of being with them, we can say with confidence you have amazing children.  In closing, we would like to share a little snippet of what we saw and experienced with each of your sons and daughters this week. 

Danny was like the utility infielder (Mr. Dwyer doesn’t know baseball so this makes no sense to him – but he still agrees).  Anytime we needed anything, whether it was carrying water off of the Tap Tap or going to find a missing camera lens cap, he was our guy.  He kept the group laughing and upbeat all week long.

Because Mr. Dols has gone on three service trips with Ryan, he has had the awesome opportunity to watch him grow and mature.  The quiet and reserved sophomore has become a thoughtful young man.  The thing that impressed us most with Ryan was that he was able to ask the big questions about what needed to change to make Haiti a better place. 

Nick was our dark horse.  Neither Mr. Dwyer nor Mr. Dols knew him very will prior to our trip.  Although he put up with a lot of crap from Anton and Danny, he embraced the total experience.  During reflection, he was one of our deepest thinkers.

Natalie hardly smiled throughout the entire trip (note the sarcasm).  She was the biggest target for harassment from Dols and Dwyer during the week (they feel a little bit badly about this – but not too much).  She clearly experienced everything so intimately and took time to process all we went through as a group.  She asked some of the best questions to everyone that told their story throughout the week.

Although this might annoy Margaret (and more directly her sister Laura), she proved to be the biggest caretaker of her sister.  As she experienced each opportunity deeply and with vigor, she also took the time to make sure her sister was being taken care of.  Margaret also was one of the best questioners of those we came in contact with.

Laura’s wisdom and sincerity far outreaches her years.  Although she is the youngest of the group she embraced every experience.  We especially saw her thrive when dealing with the young children at the water truck or at the orphanages we visited.

Kendall, AKA Special K, provided leadership throughout the planning of the trip and on the trip itself.  She thrived when being placed in uncomfortable situations.  It was neat to see her grow throughout the trip and really feel a connection to the people of Haiti by the end of the week.

Cara was one of our few extroverts.  We were especially proud of her amazing ability to recall camp songs on the Tap Tap. Not only could she remember them, she was also willing to sing them at the top of her lungs (with Mr. Dols).  We were impressed with her willingness to be the first to try/volunteer/lead any activity.  She was truly a superstar!  Although we are unsure of her obsession with licking people’s elbows…

Ava did not let her quiet persona get in the way of loving up babies.  The experience she had with children at the water truck can never be duplicated.  Children were drawn to her and she responded. 

Maria was our social butterfly; she was wiling to reach out to unify the group.  She was also a risk-taker.  After taking only a few short lessons of Salsa Dancing, she was willing to lead Margaret in Salsa at the live band at the beach.  Her smile was infectious, and her willingness to try anything was inspiring. 

Mairead was the biggest sponge of the group; she wanted to soak up every situation to the nth degree.  If we had a free moment at the guesthouse, she was leading the group to go next-door and play soccer with the neighborhood kids.  After spending a week with her, we believe that she should have been born in the 70’s. 

Claire was our quiet leader.  Tables were set, dishes were washed, and kids were loved…all without prompt and without needing recognition.  Claire did things because we needed them to be done.  She was a great leader, especially to the younger students in our group. 

Ashlyn came on this trip knowing no one.  She was always willing to talk to anyone at anytime, and she made friends quickly.  In our final reflection tonight, it was obvious that this trip had significant impact in her approach to life.  Her positive attitude in all situations kept the group smiling. 

We could not have asked for a better Healing Haiti leader than Erin.  Although it was her first time, you would have thought that she had done 100 Healing Haiti trips.  Everything ran smoothly, activates were planned, and she fully participated in our reflections.  It was great for our students to have such a wonderful role model and a person who loves Haiti. 

Thanks again to all who have supported our students and our mission here in Haiti.  You are all a part of an experience that has been meaningful and hopefully long-lasting for our students!

Dwyer & Dols – OUT!!