For the Sake of Ten

Genesis 18:32

Haiti is beautiful. Palm trees frame the moon rising over the Atlantic. Tropical plants rise from the concrete. The people are beautiful. They smile through the dust and the dirt. The kids sing and laugh and play soccer. Their moms watch over them, keeping them in check. The men work and sweat and talk and laugh. Many people here have asked me, "Do you like Haiti?" I say yes. Then they ask, "Why?"  "Because Haiti is beautiful, and the people are beautiful."
Today was a rough day. We went to the prison to visit the people there. I confess I have never visited the prison in Pickens County, but I plan to remedy that when I return. Here, men are kept in cages about the size of our hotel room, with 15-20 men crammed inside. We also saw a cell for young boys that was the same, the youngest being 14. The warden said some of them murdered people and are in for life. Our interpreter said that men will put the kids up to the murder because people don't expect children to be a threat. The women were out doing the wash. Here's the real kicker; they all have to buy their own food with whatever people bring them. So we gave the boys some money for food, and we bought purses from the men. The misery was overwhelming, because here was something we could truly do nothing about, and people had brought it upon themselves, to some extent. It was humbling.
We had two Bible schools. Here is hope; children who have not been discarded and locked away, whose lives have promise. I have been telling the story of Jonah through an interpreter with a lot of physical animation. I finally got a laugh today for Jonah riding his camel, indicating that these children had more to eat than some of the others we had visited, and therefore more energy. I've had fun playing soccer with the boys. We went to the souvenir market for more depressingness. The people say, "Come, look, buy my stuff, because I'm hungry and I want to eat!" It's a very fine line to avoid getting ripped off, while not negotiating away all of their profit.
Anna took mattresses to the children in the orphanage who had 30 kids on a concrete floor. They were happy, but mostly they wanted food. She also went to the site where the church is almost complete. We will worship with the congregation there before we leave.
Haiti is beautiful; Haiti is hard.