Day 5--Connecting to one another

9:00pm

Port-au-Prince

Today I worked the pharmacy again. It is a pleasure to work alongside the Haitian students. More than anything, I like finding out about them and what it is like to live in Haiti.

I like the people of Haiti. They are very warm and friendly. I feel as though I stick out here. Most of the time I ride down the street of the city in the back of the pickup truck. People stop and stare at the "Blanc." When I wave to them their faces light and up and they wave back, enthusiastically. There seems to be a joy lingering under the heaviness of need here.

I like connecting with the students who serve as our translators. They have hopes and plans like anyone else their age. I ask them what they like to do for fun. They tell me that there is nothing to do, not is there time to do it even if there was anything to do. In the U.S. we hear students say this too despite a myriad of options before them. When the Haitian students tell me that, I believe them.

They know that the task before them, and the rest of Haiti, is huge. It took years for Haiti to get to this spot. It will take years to get out of it. Infrastructure will need to be rebuilt. Communities will have to be developed. Lives will have to be changed. That will happen when we connect to one another, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live out the call to live a life that becomes the Gospel. That message of Good News will be our transformation.