Mission Trip Participant's letter

This letter, dated February 28, 2004 was written to family and friends that supported Lisa Saunders during her trip to Haiti in January 2004 at a time of extreme political upheaval.

Dear Family and Friends,

As I write this I feel filled, to the top of my head, with gratitude. I am grateful for your support before, during and after my trip to Haiti. I am grateful for schools being in session in my neighborhood. I am grateful for the safety I feel in my home and city. Most of all, I feel grateful for my relationship to God.

I pray to God, daily, for all of the people in Haiti. I feel such a load of anger, sadness and disgust in my heart for the violence in Haiti right now. People are being advised to stay in their huts/homes, shops are boarded up, people are starving, police are fleeing, cars are burning. People are, I'm sure, quite frightened. The amount of energy I have that could be spent in anger, sadness and disgust I try to turn into prayer. Many people are asking, "How can I help?" To this, my friends in Haiti say "Pray for us."

My favorite memory from this past journey to Haiti is of a conversation I had with a teacher. He and I were sitting on the steps of the church, on a Tuesday, listening to the radio. I, of course, didn't know what was being announced, so the teacher translated. After a few minutes of Creole, he turned to me and said, "It is a beautiful day in Haiti." He watched me as I looked at the clouds over the mountains and zipped my sweatshirt up. Who, I wondered, decided this was such a beautiful day? This is when the teacher turned to me and said, "He means that it is quiet- no manifestations (planned demonstrations) will happen today." This experience may have forever changed what I will call a beautiful day.

I realize I've been home for a month now, but it is hard to know what to say about the "work" we did. I feel like my energy was spent learning from the Haitians. I learned many things from them as I helped clean the clinic, danced with the children, played Lego's with the teachers, walked in the village with my friends, and interviewed the village administrator.

I think we were all a bit bummed when they told us, upon our arrival, that the school wouldn't be open while we were in Jeannette. What? Almost all of our plans needed the students to be in school while we were there. This is how we found the Lego's, and had conversations with people who would normally be too busy to have long conversations. This enabled us to help the doctor get the clinic in order before the inspector came to see it later that week. I ask that if you feel so inclined, you will join me in praying that soon Haiti will be able to experience another beautiful day.

Thank you for your loving support,
Lisa Saunders

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