Day 2: Refugees

Today is May 25, 2010. We began our day today bright and early at 4:30am to be at morning devotion by 5. It was a great way to start the morning. The service lasted for about an hour. Then, we ate breakfast and organized all of the supplies and donations that we brought. We had so many items; ranging from medicine, dental supplies, other health care items, shoes, chothes, toys, and a lot of candy!
Then we headed out to a refugee camp where we planned to spend our day. On the way there the school bus got stuck in the middle of the road (Yesterday our bus got pulled over, so I wasn't too surprised something else happened). Inside the bus was very hot, so we decided that all of us would sit on the back of a pick up truck to drive the rest of the way. We all sat on the ledge of the bed of the truck. I can't really explain how people drive in Haiti, but let's just say that drivers go very fast, stop abrubtly, drive within centemeters of each other and really follow no road rules what-so-ever. It was an exciting ride.. ha. Finally we got to the camp. Well, I don't really know if it's technically a camp, but Doctor Franco owns the land and after the earthquake people began to settle on it with tents and creating tarp homes and he gave permission for them to stay.
This definitely was an emotional experince. Even being here, seeing these life conditions with my own two eyes, I cannot believe and comprehend what these people go through. Each day these families are struggling to stay alive. They were very excited to see us come and immediately they came to greet us. We looked at their "homes" and also the school they had- which was a tarp held up with long sticks. The children and a few adults all gathered in this one room and we sang with them and put on a puppet show for a while. Then we handed out some toothbrushes, clothes, shoes, and other supplies to them. It was unbelievable to see how the kids rushed to us to get a toothbrush. It was difficult to even keep them under control after a while because they all wanted a share of the supplies. Then our team worked for a while to put together bags of rice and beans to hand out to the refugees. There were many huge bags of rice and beans but we all worked together to get it done. Then we went to hand the food out to the people. This was very sad to see the despiration just for food. As soon people saw we were giving food away there was a very long line waiting at our truck. Elders, women, and children went first in line. We tried to keep order as we gave everything away, but as soon as people noticed that we were running low there was a mad rush to grab anything and everything that was left. People were climbing on the truck and going absolutely crazy just to get some rice. The crowd of people was uncontrollable. This was very sad to see. I wanted so badly just to go to the store and get more food for these people so that they could eat dinner tonight. You don't realize how lucky you are just to have the basic necessities in life...
After we left the refugees we headed back to the orphanage. I was exhausted by this point; it had been a long day already. When we got back we hung out with the kids for a while and listened to them sing again at 5:00. It's amazing to see how happy and spirited these children are with what little they have in life. After the 5pm singing session the kids all ran up the stairs to where we were staying (They aren't suppose to go up where we stay, but somehow the door got unlocked) and they took all of the sandals we had brought that were donated. They were scolded for coming upstairs, but for the most part we let them keep the shoes; they all wanted a pair.
I love the constant crowd of kids that swarm around me as soon as I walk down the stairs. They all know my name and they love to play with my cameras haha. They just love to have a little bit of attention. We played all night until around 8pm...
I am really having an amazing time so far. The group I am here with is so great and everybody we encounter is so nice. I am enjoying every moment of being here.