Lauren’s Reflections

On Friday we got to leave the property as an entire group and take our
first trip to an IDP camp. IDP stands for Internally Displaced People.
We loaded up the truck with 200 bags to give away and then piled onto
the school bus for the ride into Port-Au-Prince.

At the request of the medical clinic doctor from Gain Holland, two
students stayed behind to work in the clinic. Their story will follow
this post.

After hearing so many stories about the emotional and spiritual impact
of visiting an IDP camp I had mentally prepared myself, and almost
detached from the experience before it began. But God had other plans.
As we were entering the camp one of the female Haitian Campus Crusade
for Christ students stopped us and made us wait as two women from the
IDP camp approached. She introduced the two women to us as her mother
and aunt. Although communication isn’t always clear, it was evident
that at least one of the two women was living in the camp. They were
so excited to meet us. They were introduced to a handful of Americans
and they gave each one of us a hug and a kiss on the cheek. It was
very humbling.

The Haitian college students we work with are so wonderful. They
travel for up to an hour every morning just to join us, they teach us
Creole, they work alongside us on our property tasks. And they are
always dressed nice, at least compared to most of us who are wearing
thrift store cargo shorts and baggy t-shirts. We consider them part of
our group. But standing in that IDP camp it finally settled in how
much they had been affected by the earthquake. It seems like many of
the students still live with their families in the city or have
apartments, it’s easy to forget that most of them lost friends and
family members, or have relatives who survived but lost their homes.

One of the male Haitian students told me that before the earthquake he
taught music lessons and had even tried to start his own school. But
he lost the building and all of his equipment in the earthquake. He’s
unsure if he can start it all again so now he’s thinking of starting
over in an entirely different field.

When we see natural disasters strike it’s easy to ask God why. Why did
they lose everything, Why did this happen? But after living here in
Haiti for only three days I find myself more often asking, “God, why
do I have so much? Why is my house still standing?”

-Lauren