Lacul

    We have been in hanging around Ti Goave, the city I live in, since we got back from Marchasse Wednesday night. Thursday we visited the area I went to my very first time in Haiti almost twelve years ago. If there is a place in the world that holds my heart, Lacul and the surrounding areas is it. Walking the paths and seeing the houses and beach that hold so many memories for was a delight.

    I want to tell you some stories from that area. There is a now thirteen year old girl named Macanya, whom I have known for four or five years. Macanya makes me smile by existing. One of the most common ways I seek to build friendships with the kids when I am here is by making completely ridiculous faces at them. Macanya ridiculous faces back at me, often until my stomach hurts from laughing.  Like Darline in Marchasse, Macanya is sweet and bossy, an apparent leader among the girls her age. We saw her on Thursday and she remembered me. She has a new little brother now, less than three years old. He was not as thrilled to see my white face.

   I met Ingrid on my first trip to Haiti, when she was a new baby. She had some of the prettiest eyes I had ever seen. Over the years I have seen her grow from a serious and solemn baby, to a serious little toddler, to a serious little girl, to a reserved tween. Ingrid still has some of the prettiest eyes I have ever seen. She has always been healthy and in school, neither of which can be taken for granted here.

   Last week Ingrid’s younger sister died after running a fever for a couple days. Her name was Meveline and she was five years old. This is the kind of thing that happens here way more than it should, and it is a large part of why I am here. Children should not have to die of fevers. Mothers should not be left wondering what to do for their sick babies, or knowing what to do and helpless to do it. Everything in me cries out against this happening, when it could be prevented.

    This weekend Ingrid, Macanya and a couple other girls from their village are at the Happy House (the name for the house I live in). Today they played with and styled my hair, and we all agreed I need to shave my legs. We played dodge ball and Connect Four and laughed and laughed.  I have missed these girls. They made me so very glad to be here.

 Will you join with me in praying for Ingrid and her family, after the death of Meveline? And will you join me in praying for the precious girls at the house this weekend? Pray that they would finish school and that amidst the harshness of life here that they would have reason to hope. Thank you.