Dear Friends,
We recently returned from our annual Christmas trip to Haiti. After five years of serving children in Haiti at Christmas, this program only gets better and better! For those of you that donated gifts and funds for the program, we honestly can't thank you enough! Putting together a program that brings gifts for hundreds of people is no small task. We couldn't do it without your support and are grateful that we are able to do this along side you annually!
What a great joy to be able to travel with an awesome team to celebrate the birth of Christ in our favorite place in the world. Thank you Brent, Hannah, Savannah, Megan, Alan, Alex, Linda, Mikki, Jane, Doug, Jude, Jacob, Addie and Ruthie for taking the time during a busy season to bless the kids and our friends in Haiti. Truly this trip is a whirlwind and we sincerely appreciate your jumping in.
DAY ONE
We arrived in Haiti on a Friday morning and went straight to work. We dropped our belongings and went to Zanfan Lakay to get to work! Many of the kids were still at school so we were able to spend some quality and peaceful time with the little kids and those that aren't in school yet and begin preparations for the weekend. Our first stop was a Haitian market to buy food for packing. One of our favorite things to do is to distribute food packs to those who are hungry. It is one way simple way to share love with those in need. After that, we began packing hundreds of bags of rice and sorting spaghetti, oil, fish, and tomato sauce. By the end we had put together a couple hundred bags and were ready to call it a day. Sort of. We headed back to Shama House and spent the next several hours sorting gifts and supplies from the 1,000 pounds of goods that we carried in for the festivities!
DAY TWO
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| Decorating for the Party! |
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| Gifts |
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| Enjoying new MP3 together |
We woke up early and headed straight for Maison des Enfants de Dieu. We arrived and began decorating the upper classroom area. Lights, balloons and streamers were hung and the kids were invited to join. We opened the party with music and a message by Doug letting the kids know that we were ready to PARTY in honor of Jesus' birthday! The kids made paper chains and Merry Christmas banners to finish off the decorations and then Brent shared the Christmas message with the kids and reminded them that Jesus is THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. They decorated mini flashlights to bring this point home and then we sent them to the yard to play parachute games and get their wiggles out. After playtime, we wrapped up the party by building candy towers as a reminder to let their lights shine. Not a ton of building happened, but the kids enjoyed the candy treats. While we waited for the food to finish cooking, we distributed gifts to all of the babies and toddlers. We were also able to distribute tote bags fill of food to all of the 82 workers of Maison! What a special opportunity to be able to bless the selfless caregivers at the orphanage who work day in and day out to care for the precious children. Finally lunch was served and all enjoyed a delicious feast of beans and rice, fried chicken, fried plantains, french fries and other delicious Haitian specialties. What a treat for us and the kids to enjoy! We were able to serve the nannies their lunch too. Now it was time to distribute gifts to the elders. One by one the children were called to receive their gift packed especially for them! Lots of anticipation and excitement followed by laughter and joy as they opened up their goodies! they broke into small groups to examine, share and play with all of their treats. But the party wasn't over yet...we still had to had have birthday cake! We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, distributed cake and then said our goodbyes. We still had to get over to Zanfan to start their party!
The team loaded into the van and went to Zanfan Lakay to begin their Christmas party. Because it was late in the day and the kids needed time to study, Zanfan Lakay's Christmas party was going to be a two day event. When we arrived we immediately began to decorate with the help of the kids. Balloons, lights, banners, streamers and paper chains were added to the salon and dining area to kick off the party. A few of us headed to MegaMart (Haitian Costco) to get the evening treat... peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cookies and juice. This a favorite treat of the Zanfan kids and we try to serve it up every time we are there. After making the sandwiches, we set up a projector for movie night. It was supposed to be the Grinch but after some technical difficulties we had to settle on a Harry Potter screening. All had a great time enjoying sandwiches and a fun movie before calling it a night! Back to Shama House for the team to prepare gifts and supplies for Sunday!
DAY THREE
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| NEW HATS FOR ALL!!! |
Today several of us woke up with the roosters (literally) to go to 6:30 AM church at Church on the Rock. It was a great service and an awesome time of worship to start our day. After church we picked up the late risers and headed to Zanfan Lakay to start their party! Again Doug opened us up with music and Brent introduced the Light of the World message to the kids. The kids then decorated flashlights and made Christmas cards. We circled back and split the group into teams to make the candy towers as a reminder to shine our lights for Jesus
(Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify Father in heaven.) Thanks to some donations of awesome New Era hats, we were able to add a friendly competition to the Zanfan Lakay building time. The teams with the highest tower and most decorative (as judged by Jimmy!) would all receive new hats. Things got heated when the prizes were on the line and all of the teams worked together to build awesome towers! Winners were chosen, hats distributed and it was a great time! We took a break from the party at that time to get out and visit many of our friends on the street.
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| Time to eat the candy tower! |
We loaded up the van, tap tap and Jimmy's truck with bags of food and toys and headed to the cemetery. We have been visiting a group of ladies who live at the cemetery for a couple of years now. They live in a tent city called Tenis right next to the cemetery and do all of their bathing, washing, etc in the tombs at the cemetery. It is a very difficult visit every time. We have come to know the ladies and it is heartbreaking each time to see the desperation and extreme need. But we were able to distribute bags of food and toys for the kids and send two of the women to the hospital who were quite sick. It is not much, but at least it is something. They know we care about them and that we always come back. Though we cannot fix their situation, we are hopeful that at least they know that they are not forgotten. We went on to the Cathedral area to continue distributing food and toys. Again it is a very difficult visit, but bringing a small gift of food and a special toy for the children is meaningful. We know that it is not much and our wish is that we could do more for these hurting people, but we do what we can and pray that a glimpse of Jesus is revealed and an understanding that their plight matters is left with them.
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| Jude and Tiga (new friend at Zakat) |
Our next stop was Zakat, this is the area where the kids at Zanfan Lakay lived before coming to Zanfan Lakay, when they were street kids. It is always especially meaningful to visit Zakat. This is where I fist met Jimmy and many of the kids at Zanfan that I now count as my own family. When I visit here, I am always reminded of how hard their lives were and how much pain and suffering they have endured through the years. I can only imagine what they have seen and experienced. And even though they are safely in Zanfan now, which is far from perfect, the repercussions of life on the street will affect them for so many years to come. I thank God that he brought us to Zakat in 2009 and exposed us to these innocent lives who are carrying the weight of the world on their little shoulders. Trying only to survive each and every day, doing whatever it takes to get through that day. This is the reason that we always come back to Zakat, because so many kids are still on the street and fighting for survival every day. We were able to see a lot of the kids and older boys that we have seen for several years now and serve around 500 meals, play some music and distribute toys, t-shirts and other Christmas gifts. It was a very calm visit to Zakat and I left feeling blessed that God has allowed me to become a part of this world that only a few years ago I didn't even know. So happy that my own kids are starting to understand the ministry of Grangou.
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| Fenickson receiving his gift! |
We returned to Zanfan for the big finale. The kids ate their special Christmas meal while we were out on the streets because we were simply running out of time. We finally (after MUCH anticipation) were ready to distribute the gifts to our kids at Zanfan, but not before a dance party and performance of songs that they wrote themselves. They are so talented and precious and I was so proud to see them sing their own songs for us. They had obviously been rehearsing. JUST BEAUTIFUL!!! We then got them all together and they waited patiently while we called each child up to receive their special gift, again specially selected just for them! What a joy to watch each of them open up their gift and explore their goodies. Beautiful little faces were lighting up all over the place as they found toys, MP3 players and other items that were theirs to keep, share and enjoy. Our Zanfan staff all received a small monetary bonus and gifts of food bags. It was special to treat them because they do work tirelessly caring for our kids with little reward. We can never thank them enough!!! We closed the night with cake and play and said our goodbyes as many of the kids would be at school when we had to catch our flight out the following day.
DAY FOUR
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| Jimmy and Kathia - Love you!!! |
Part of our team had an early flight so we said goodbye and they headed out. The rest of us spent the morning at Zanfan, playing with the kids who are schooled at Zanfan and enjoying some last minute time with Jimmy, Kathia, Bob, Nadia and Carmelo. After all items were distributed and expenses were covered, we were able to also leave behind 80 bags of toys for Pierre to distribute at a Christmas day outreach to the neighborhood in his church and also leave behind some funds for Zanfan to have a special Christmas meal on Christmas day AND provide all the children with new crocs which they needed desperately. And then we said goodbye and headed reluctantly to the airport. It was a beautiful trip!
FINAL THOUGHTS
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| GRANDMA & Her Boys! |
Once again, I cannot thank all of our supporters and contributors to this trip! As you can see, your generosity touched hundreds of Haitians. What an amazing gift! We couldn't do any of what we do without you. I am blown away that my family has the unique privilege to do this work and am so genuinely amazed that so many of you have come by our side. Obviously Christmas is not about the gifts, it is about Jesus, but the giving of gifts is a way to show his love. His love is why we do all of this. We believe it is what He would do. And how blessed are we that God has allowed us to be a part of it and find a whole new family, so amazingly blessed. From the bottom of our hearts...
THANK YOU!
We wish you a joyous new year!
Carrie Gibson & Your Friends at GRANGOU
