Haiti Day 6: Sight-Seeing

By Lindsey Shroff


This morning, another missionary couple named Carl and Ann joined us for a gift/souvenir shopping trip in a shop near downtown Port-au-Prince. We got there a little before it opened at ten, so we took a side trip to the Olaffson, one of the oldest hotels in the area. From the balcony, we could see a large part of the city, as well as beautiful ocean and mountains. Once shopping, we all got some practice converting gourdes (Haitian currency) to American dollars.


We went to the Baptist Mission for lunch, which also featured an amazing view of mountains spotted with agricultural plots. There were many vendors set up outside and we tried our luck with bartering (something which I am apparently absolutely terrible at, but Stephen made out like a bandit).


From the Mission, we went to His Home for Children, an orphanage for infants, toddlers, and older girls. It was really an eye-opening project. There were a lot of special needs children and it was moving to hear the stories of illness and abandonment. The lady in charge of the orphanage really had a heart for the children and takes care of them through surgeries, etc. We divided into two groups. The group working with the older girls made flower necklaces and told about how God cares for the lilies and for them. The group with the toddlers attempted to make bear puppets, but we found that they preferred climbing on us, scribbling on the floor, and stealing crayons from each other. It was definitely an example of kids being kids, no matter where in the world they’re from.


It was tough to leave the kids, but we proceeded on to a dinner of hamburgers and Haitian potato salad (with beets) at Carl and Ann’s house...