The Kraal team writes about their experience in Haiti and a word they feel sums up their time there so far, community.
Hey Friends! We made it. Safe in Pignon and settled in enough to actually try and summarize all the thoughts, feelings and experiences these last 3 days have been in words. Not always an easy task. As a team we were chatting about what word we could use to describe what all we have experienced so far, words like, “beauty”, “generosity”, “joy”, “grit”. The word we landed on, which really encompasses all the others was “community”. Which is full of it’s own beauty and grit, as humans walk along each other in hard and difficult paths.
Community as defined by our team leaders:
“Building community through engaging and relationships” – Rebecca aka Mom
“People hanging together” – Steve aka Dad.
Community can be experience in many different ways. From walking through the road of Sylvan waving and greeting the neighbors with what little Creole we have acquired so far. ( other then“twa pwa”) To playing with the kids of the 1000 first days program under the pavilion making up new games, and encouraging their moms to have a little fun too. To trying to beat the neighborhood kids at soccer and failing miserably.
Community was also in the simple, yet significant sharing of coconuts straight from the tree while on a break from putting in raised garden beds at Brother Arnold’s family property. Who not only was always smiling, but who also graciously reminded us that it wasn’t his tree, it was God who made it in the first place.
-Nikki and the team
