I wrote most of this post on an aeroplane during my MANY hours of travelling, and have now got round to tidying it up and adding the photos!
My last few days in-country were AMAZING! :-D Monday was the first day after the team left, so I had a lovely lie-in and then a relaxed day mostly spent tying up any loose-ends with team stuff and getting up-to-date with the internet! Following this, I went out for dinner with Claire and Megan - always love spending time with these ladies; they're great, and I'll miss them both! Then on Tuesday, Claire was going into Esperanza where she works all year when MD teams aren't there and asked if I wanted to come along too. Of course I did! So first highlight of this trip - I finally got to go up the road to Esperanza on a Moto!!! :-D SO MUCH FUN! For those of you who met him, Alex took me (I was gifted with the driver Claire knew was safe!) and everytime I let out a little scream or grabbed hold of him or something, he laughed his head off at me! He thought I was so funny just for wearing a helmet!!! It was just so bumpy, and with so many random rocks everywhere! And then we played around in the village chatting with people and playing with kids! Some friends I'd made on previous visits were there and so I really enjoyed seeing them one last time. Like this one little girl; Suzannah. I first met Suzannah on my first trip last year where I spent the morning playing with her while we were visiting a church held in the woods nearby. We just sat and drew pictures and played quiet games, and she got very annoyed at me when I had to leave. Then I met her again that afternoon when we went into the school in Esperanza and she was just so clingy! So then when we went back to the school in Esperanza with this final team, I was looking around, hoping to pick her face out of the many kids who were there and I finally saw someone who I thought looked like her, so I went over and asked her name and she said 'Suzannah' so I was like, 'I remember you...' and found out a photo of us from last year and she jumped up into my arms as if she remembered me too (probably didn't but so loving anyway!). And she has grown up SO MUCH since last year! She is so smiley and beautiful and conversational! When I saw her on Tuesday she came running up and I picked her up - she was on her way to school and so after a little while I put her down and told her to go in to school. She went in, put her bag in her classroom and came running straight back out! As school hadn't actually started yet, I chatted with her for a little bit longer before sending her in giggling to herself at her own cheekiness!
Just the way a child loves. I have felt so blessed throughout my trip by the way I have been loved by people here - people at church, people I've been working with, kids that come back to say hello time after time after time... People respond as if my very being there with them, the simple fact that I care about them or give time to spend with them, is such a wonderful, beautiful gift. When in fact, it is them giving me a gift. The gift of their love. A gift God has bestowed on us and we are to then bestow on those around us. What a wonderful thing God has created for us - a world of people full of so much potential for love!
Then on Wednesday I woke up and Claire messaged me saying she need to go into Ascension to do something for Megan (who was flying back home that day for short visit), again asking if I wanted to come along. Again, OF COURSE I DID! And again, I had an AWESOME Moto ride on the way in! We went a "new" way through a little almost walking path through the cane fields. It was SO beautiful! Just riding through, staring at mountains and trees and looking at the birds flying through the sky, I felt like I was flying too! It wasn't even too bumpy, to say it was a dirt track! Claire's Moto did end up getting a puncture half way there though, so mine went back to pick her up and we finished the journey the 3 of us together. Which made it interesting when we discovered this "new" way went through the dried-up river which made for a VERY steep down and then up again which Claire did think for a moment she might fall off at, being on the very back of the moto already! But she didn't and the driver had it all under control and delivered us both safe and sound into Ascension village! As soon as I got off the Moto, there was Mica (I've now learnt how to spell her name!) and as soon as she recognised us, she beamed and came running over up into my arms! She then proceeded to play around with my helmet for a while; wearing it for ages (even in the midday heat!) and doing Moto noises and arms everywhere she went! She was so funny!!! So I played with her and 2 other little girls (Luciana and Silvia) for a while; then went over to sing a song with Samuel one last time and say goodbye; and then we had to go because we realised the lady Claire needed to see was actually in Montellano (the main town, down the long canefield path!). So I went over to say goodbye to Mica and tell her I was going to miss her and she gave me lovely cuddles and said goodbye. And then I found Miranda (who promised me she'd shout, "Adios Rebekah" if she saw a plane go over the following day!) and Genesis, so was able to say goodbye to more of my little friends too! And we went into Montellano.
When we got to Montellano, there was Tania - whom Claire was meeting - and her 1 month old little baby boy! I went over to say hello and Tania took my helmet, telling me I could hold him; a wonderful swap, in my opinion! He was sleeping, and he just came and nestled into my chest and I cuddled him the whole time while Tania and Claire sorted out their stuff! Jhon (Mica's brother - I didn't know how he spelled his name last time either, it would seem!) and Wilson and another guy were there too; they were all trying to sort out what paint was needed and who needed it for painting the rest of the houses (apparently a difficult thing to sort out!!!). As I couldn't go into the paint shop with Tania's baby (because of the strong glue smell inside!); Jhon and I sat outside on a little curb bit in the shade of the shop. We chatted about school and Motos (most of the older teens/younger twenties guys here LOVE their Motos!) and family. It was great! Not only did I not have to help sort (or just try to understand!) the arguments going on about paint, I got to sit in the shade chatting and cuddling a little tiny, adorable baby! It was just perfect! Hahaha! :-D
I love both Esperanza and Acension. They're two beautiful communities with so much potential - potential that is being unlocked through the commitment and diligence and LOVE shown by Megan and Claire, working in conjunction with the local leadership and local people with a heart for their own communities. Because of the work in documentation these ladies have done, getting all these people of Haitian decent registered, and the work they continue to do in getting children sponsored and running different programmes; kids are now going to school beyond Grade 8 and people are starting to see there ARE opportunities for them. I know I am incredibly blessed to have everything I do here in England. Working among such poor communities in a country where the government itself is so poor it can barely do anything to help even if it wanted to, has certainly made me recognise how truly priviledged I am. But at the same time, what these 2 villages have is community. People help each other out, knowing that soon they might be the one who needs help. If someone earns a bit of money, even though they could very well do it themselves, they'll pay someone to wash their clothes for them or tidy their house for them - to share the blessing of that money round, even though what they were paid was very little and they have many needs too. If someone can't feed themselves, a neighbour might give them a meal, and in exchange that person might then shell beans for them to sell or something. It is a community of very much LIVING TOGETHER. And that is truly beautiful. I will certainly miss these wonderful people. This country has been on my heart for many years now, but after these last 3 months, I feel like that heart has been set on fire.
2 Comments
Claire Hodgson
24/10/2015 19:16:31
You really did touch hearts and lives here Rebekah - the kids adored you everywhere you went! Thanks for writing this blog - I love your observations of Esperanza and Ascencion.
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Rebekah Blyth (Moderator)
24/10/2015 19:16:50
Thanks Claire! And I've enjoyed writing it - it's made me actually sit and think through some of my many experiences as I was going through! :-) Looking forward to it!
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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