Haiti March 2012 is now history. Saturday, March 24: up at 5:20 am; breakfast at 6:00 am; on the road by 6:45 am. Travel to Port-au-Prince airport was uneventful; the flight to Miami was on-time. The hike from arrival gate to immigration seems to be longer each time I make it. The 10-hour layover in Miami afforded plenty of time to eat and preview some of the pictures we took. The flight to Philadelphia was on-time, and all our bags arrived with us. By 2:00 am Sunday we were home. Twenty hours en route make for tired travelers, but the opportunities to significantly impact the lives of Haitians and to encourage those missionaries who have left homes and families are blessings that cannot be adequately measured or described.
How can one quantify the joy and relief of a woman whose roof will not drip water from dozens of holes when the rains come? How can a mother express her thankfulness that the face of her son once again looks normal now that the growing tumor has been removed? How does a father describe his relief that medical treatment can be provided for his young son battling malaria? The construction of a new, larger guest house provides accommodations for the many teams that come bringing hope and healing to the people of La Gonave.
Yes, the needs are still many and solutions still come slowly, but lives are being changed, one person at a time. It seems that each trip re-emphasizes the challenge expressed by Edward Everett Hale: “I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”
Soon planning will begin for a trip in September with a current focus of continuing the rebuilding of churches damaged in the earthquake.
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