5 Gallon Buckets

Yesterday, I met the Healing Haiti team at the airport.  I am so excited to be a part of the short-term team this week.  My mom is on this team and I am so blessed to share new experiences with her.  Healing Haiti teams spend each day serving the people of Haiti in a variety of ways.

Today we went to 3 districts (kind of like small cities) in Cite Soleil to deliver clean water.  Cite Soleil is considered the slums of Haiti.  The people who live there are the poorest of the poor.  Their homes are made of tin pieces hammered together.  Garbage is pilled along the side of the road.  You will see children running bare-footed and some of them are naked.  Many children are not able to attend school since their families can’t afford to send them.  Many children have the responsibility of getting water for washing clothes, cooking, drinking, and bathing.  The Haitians carry their 5 gallon buckets to the water truck and wait in a long line to get clean water.  Some come running with their buckets.  

Their buckets are empty…in hopes of getting them filled before the water runs out.  It made me think about my “bucket”.  What do I fill my bucket with?  Do I allow God to fill it and meet all my needs?  Do I allow Him to fill it with love and compassion so that I may use the gifts He has given me to bless others?  What is in your bucket?  Do you allow your bucket to spill over to be blessings to others? 

At our third water stop, I noticed a girl who had a large cut on her arm.  I was able to clean it, apply some antibiotic cream and bandage it.  She was a little scared and cried.  I’m sure it was painful to get her wound cleaned out.  But, it had started to get infected and needed to be cleaned.  When I finished cleaning her wound, I used a wipe to clean her arms, legs, and feet.  She calmed down some as I washed her.  Her grandma approached me and told me about her other granddaughter who had an infection on her ear.  She brought her to me and wanted me to help.  I did not know what was on her ear, but it looked infected.  So, I cleaned it and applied antibiotic cream.  Cleaning a wound and applying antibiotic cream sounds so easy…but in Haiti, caring for small wounds is challenging because the water is not clean and the children sit on the ground (which is dirt) when they play.  I was thankful that I was able to help these children today. 

I started singing “Tootie Ta”, it’s a fun children’s song that is kind of silly too.  It was a big hit with all of the children.  They eagerly joined in and we were all laughing as we moved our bodies to the song.  The little girl who had the cut on her arm joined in the song.  She was full of smiles and grabbed my arm and didn’t let go.   

If you are interested in learning more about Healing Haiti and short-term mission trips go to www.healinghaiti.org.