This was not our first trip and it definitely is not the last! From February 12 through 26th, 28 people from Andover, MN (and surrounding areas) sent two teams with World Wide Village! The first week was an intergenerational family trip with 8 young ladies from ages 10 to 16. Several members of both teams were returning to Haiti. Here is a little taste of our time in Williamson.
We spent a good amount of time Interviewing and photographing 227 children in the school in Williamson. Our goal was to document the kids in the Child Sponsorship Program and to get to know the kids who are not yet sponsored. There are so many wonderful and deserving children who could use your support. Please considering sponsoring one of their beautiful faces today!
Another super fun event was a multiple day class to teach some of the women in Williamson the trade of sewing. We were able to help them make skirts and dresses. As part of the class the students received sewing kits with some of the essential tools needed to hand sew items.
We had some artistic talent on the trip as well. Our amazing Pastor Steve and several young ladies on the trip painted a mural of the life Jesus on the side of the school classrooms! It was a great way to spruce up the environment but most of all it gave an almost life size drawing of the life of Jesus for teaching. We even had the help of a budding artist in Williamson!
The City on a Hill project also moved one step forward! We built a community shower that will allow for local residents to clean up in privacy. The Haitian Water Board is continuing to take shape and the water is flowing for families and local animals!
We completed a few more projects and activities which we will just list out here:
- Building a cross altar decoration that was donated to the Catholic Church
- Building a mausoleum for a dear Haitian friend who died last fall
- Tested the use of solar ovens as a renewable energy resource
- Buying a new goat who we named Slice for the WWV goat herd with a generous donation
- Played with LOTS of kids, including a craft activity and water slide on City on a Hill
We were busy and we loved every second of it! However, the real gifts of each of our trips to Haiti is the love we can share with the people of Haiti and the love that is returned to us. The gift of perspective on what is really important in this life versus what our culture of “WANT/NEED” is calling out to us. To see people live simply and trust in God with all their heart. To carve some space out in our hearts to hear God’s call for our lives and feel the peace that it brings to our hectic suburban lives. To spend some real time with our family and the family of believers who walk with us on our journey.
Please consider receiving those gifts from our loving Father, take a trip to Haiti. Just trust Him, lean on Him and learn something from a new point of view.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5