Blessed

Kristin here, with a little story from our day:

At the second water truck stop, I found myself surrounded by a few older girls, aged 10 or so. One of them was a beautiful girl named Samantha, and she loved to make sure I was looking nice by pulling my straggly ponytail out from the back of my shirt and smoothing it with her fingers (saying "belle cheve," beautiful hair) and rubbing dirt off my face and clothes anytime I smudged it up playing with the kids. She stuck by my side and held my hand as we walked through the shanties, teaching me words and phrases as we went, helping me with my pronunciation of "ke bondye bon'ju" (God bless you).

As we were turning back toward the area of our water truck, I found myself particularly occupied with a few children trying to climb up in my arms and hold my hands and forgot to watch my step for a moment. I felt a squish under my left foot and wetness ankle deep and knew I was in trouble -- I had stepped into the muck that runs between the shanties. Essentially a sewer, with some trash thrown in for good measure. A collective gasp of genuinely sympathetic "oooOOOOoooohhhh!"rose up from the children around me (along with a few giggles from the little boys). They were so sad for me, with my thick layer of muck around my foot.

Samantha and another girl went running ahead and came back, gesturing me toward a shanty with an old woman sitting in front washing her clothes. They took of my shoe and rubbed my feet while the woman poured out the entire basin of water on my feet. They rinsed my shoe and fastened it back on my foot. It all happened so fast that all I could think to say was "Merci, merci, merci" to the woman and the girls and then, as she finished pouring all of the water she had just collected from our truck to last her perhaps for days onto my FOOT and sat back with a grin (it probably made her day to laugh at this silly white girl who stepped in their sewer), I remembered what Samantha had taught me "ke bondye bon'je" and looked her in the eyes and wished her the blessings of God with all of my heart.

I could not say thank you enough to her for pouring out her limited water into the ground for me, for my comfort! For my comfort! They live in those sewers, with them outside the doors of their dirt floor tents and shanties with no lights, no comforts. And they were so concerned for my comfort, to wash MY feet when half of those kids don't even own shoes. I just cannot explain enough how moved I was in that moment. It was a moment I will never forget and forever cherish as a feeling of being so blessed. So blessed and humbled and moved by these incredible people. It brings tears to my eyes to think about and honestly I hope it always will.

ke bondye beni'ou my friends!

Kristin Hicks

Healing Haiti Mission Team Member