Reflection: Tim Comer

It is an honor and privilege to come back to Haiti this summer.  The hopeless state of this country and the basic human needs that exist are beyond comprehension and hit me just as hard as it did last year.  I cannot seem to get my head around it all. After riding from the airport through the heart of Cap Hatien and viewing all the despair we arrived at the orphanage and were greeted by the kids in the orphanage and many of the street kids.   It was very emotional seeing and reconnecting with the many kids we built relationships with the previous year.  It was a beautiful moment.

This second trip it has become very apparent to me how important it is to keep your word with the Haitian people.  When you say you are going to do something; you do it.  Our relationships immediately deepened with the young men and women of this orphanage when they saw many of us from our trip last year had returned.  As the week went on I was confronted by several young people who asked why I hadn’t written them.  This is an area where I must do better when I return home.

This year I’ve had the opportunity to see and experience a lot more of the pain and devastation that exists in Haiti. I visited a couple of the street kids’ homes this year.  They are basically a concrete structure with a tin roof about the size of the average bathroom in America, only not as nice.  There are usually 5-6 people (sometimes more) living in these homes.

I also had the chance to visit an orphanage (Peace and Joy) that is not as well off as the EBAC orphanage where we are serving.  The conditions were indescribable and when we arrived they only had enough food to feed the orphans for one more day.  We took up a collection and went out and bought 3 bags of rice and a bag of beans so they could get by for a few more days.  It would cost around $1000 to feed the entire orphanage and staff for one month.  Perhaps this is a project/mission to take on.  Anybody in?