Water

Part of the responsibility of our group was bringing down supplies in order to make a water filtration system for the doctor’s compound. Basically, it consisted of Lowe’s 5 gallon buckets made into water filters. One of my nursing school friends, Jon, put 10 of them together and we set them up outside the house. It takes approximately an hour to filter one gallon of water, so the process is quite slow. The kids were arriving with their containers long before we had enough water to supply it to them. Before we could give them the water, we had to clean out their containers with bleach because they had been previously filled with contaminated water. So, my job was to start with one container and transfer the bleach water down the row of children until all the containers were clean.

Then they lined up for the water. We have some amazing pictures of these children, ranging in age from 2 to 15 waiting patiently in line for clean water. We were so proud of the filtration system, but felt immediately inadequate to meet the high needs of those right around us. We sent most kids home with some clean water, but we had no where near enough to fill all their containers to the top.

This was also the night that we had a meal for the kids and their families. Part of our team went to the market to get the food that was needed (the funds were donated by one of their moms back home) and then the ladies that work with Dr. Franco spent the majority of the day cooking everything from scratch. There was rice and beans and chicken with sauce. While I did not have any of it, it sure did smell delicious when I was serving it. I have truly never seen so much rice in all my life.

Before dinner Dr. Franco did a church service for everyone. The kids were all lined up on the benches outside, with the adults standing behind and to the sides. There were probably 200 people there at least. Church always lasts longer in other countries than it does here in the States. We sang songs in English and in Creole and people gave testimonies and Dr. Franco preached. He preached in Creole and then translated for us so that we could understand. He is a provocative combination of evangelical and humanitarian. He is a surgeon, and wants so desperately to bring proper medical care to those in need … but his heart is as a pastor. His greatest desire is for the people to come to know Jesus personally. It was both challenging and refreshing.

During the message, Miss Sasha went from sitting right in the middle of the kids in the front row to being held by several members of our team. She won their hearts over on this trip that’s for sure. During the testimony time Sasha went right up front and told everyone that she loved Jesus and that she hoped they would choose to follow Him too. She is a preacher in the making.

The dinner was amazing. The ladies had prepared a pan of rice bigger than I have ever seen, filled with beans and awesome homemadeness. I scooped rice onto plates until my arms were sore while others did chicken and sauce and others handed out plates. The children ate first, followed by the teenagers and adults. We ran out of chicken first, which was hard. So many people did not get chicken. How do you explain that? I’m sorry you won’t be getting chicken. That sucked is an understatement.

We fed people for over an hour, letting more people in the gate when the others were finished.
Sasha was exhausted by 8 o’clock. I took her inside and scrubbed her down and laid her in bed. She was out within minutes. Nothing like a long life filled day to help you sleep well.

The people were there until late, eating everything that the ladies had prepared, and taking with them all the water that had been filtered. We were exhausted, that good kind of exhausted when you have given of yourself in a way that uses all your energy. As with other nights, we sat and talked about the day by the light of the generator power. So much to debrief.