Sinias Friends

Today I had the opportunity to go to “feeding program”. It is run by the Manassero family. Their organization is called “Child Hope International.” They have two orphanages, a medical clinic, a school, a guesthouse, and feeding program.  They are an amazing family, and I see God in every part of their work here in Haiti. I feel truly blessed that God has brought them into my life, and I have been fortunate enough to spend time with several members of their family, and get to know them a little bit.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is “feeding program”. It is held on the grounds of the boys' orphanage. There are over 100 children that come to be fed spiritually and physically. All of the children are from our neighborhood, and most of them live in Sinias, a tent city. When they arrive at 3PM, they are usually told a Bible story, sing praise songs, and pray together. Then, each child is given a big plate of rice and beans and a cup of cold water. If any of them are sick, they are often treated by Ashley, the nurse, too.

Going to feeding program is one of my favorite things to do in my free time. The kids that go there are “rough around the edges”, but you can't help but fall in love with them. Since I moved into my apartment, I have gotten the opportunity to become friends with many of the kids that live nearby. So, it is great to see them getting fed and taught at feeding program.

After feeding program, two of my little boy friends asked me if they could walk me home. Of course I agreed (even though my home is about 30 seconds away from feeding program). When we got to my house, I gave them each a pair of flip flops that I had here with them in mind. After giving them the shoes, we were talking outside my gate for a while.  I asked if they would show me where they live. They seemed surprised but excited that I wanted to go with them. I should add as a side note that by this point in time two more boys had already joined our group. Before leaving, I went inside and left my bag behind. I went with only my cell phone and house keys. I wanted to be sure that when I was swarmed with begging people I could honestly say, “I don't have any money with me.” After I was ready, the five of us started walking towards Sinias, the tent city and home to the boys.

Although I knew that I would be writing about my experience, I purposely did not take a camera along with me. I don't want to be looked at as a tourist or someone that just wants to gawk at their poverty. That is not to say that I don't often really want to take pictures of all the many things that my eyes see in a day. But, to be able to gain the trust and friendship of the people that I meet, I need to respect them. Long story short, sorry but I don't have pictures. I'll do my best to describe in words what it is like.

I have been in this particular tent city multiple times, but this was my first time going without other Americans along. “What exactly is a tent city?” you may be wondering. Well, all over Port-au-Prince there are tarp tents set up as refugee homes for people that were displaced after the earthquake. In certain large areas you find “tent cities”. They are quite literally cities made up of blue and gray tarp tents or green army tents. I would guess that Sinias houses at least 1,000 people or more. There is one particular tent city in PAP run by the actor, Sean Penn, that has over 50,000 people. These tents are no longer just temporary homes for earthquake refugees. They have unfortunately become a permanent living situation for thousands of people.

In fact, I've come to learn that many people living in tents actually have standing homes.  However, they are either 1.) Too afraid to go back into their home for fear of another earthquake or 2.) They realized that by living in a tent, they can rent their home out to an American or wealthy Haitian and earn extra money.  It is a sad and almost sickening reality.

As soon as we got to Sinias, the stench of waste and urine filled my nose.  I tried to act as though I didn't notice it.  After-all, this is home to the boys.  We entered in between rows and rows of tents by walking on a tiny path barely wide enough for a goat.  With all the rain from hurricane Irene, the dirt path had turned to thick, sticky mud.  By this point in time, I had roughly 8 boys now with me, only three of which I actually "knew".  As we walked past tent...after tent...after tent, my shoes became increasingly heavy as they caked with mud.  Usually the extra traction on my sandals helps, but in this situation it only made the mud stick better.  I felt like I had lead weights on each foot.

I tried to ignore the stares from everyone as we walked deeper and deeper into the maze of tents.  I leaned over and whispered to Duprene (in Creole), "I don't like it when everyone stares at me like this."  He smiled and said, "It is because they think you are pretty."  I responded, "No, it is because I have white skin."  He just laughed and tried to convince me otherwise.  

Eventually, I caught the attention of several teenaged boys.  They couldn't believe that I was walking through all the mud.  As I had anticipated, they began pestering me and begging for money.  They joined our group which had turned to a small herd and followed us farther into the maze.  

Many tents had small vendors set up inside to sell things like avocados, charcoal, rice, beans, mangos, candy, bonbons, soda, water, etc.  They call them tent cities because you can honestly get everything that you need right there among the tents.  At one point while walking, we came across a game of soccer in the middle of a road.  They had even built a stage-like structure where you could stand to watch the game.  Although I've seen it all before, it just blows me away that thousands and thousands of people have been living in these conditions for so long.

Finally, we arrived at Peterson's "home".  A small triangular army tent.  It was barely large enough for one person to live comfortably and yet he told me that he lives there with two of his cousins.  His mother and father had both died.  Peterson is one of the sweetest boys I have ever met.  He is always kind to the other children, and he reminds them that it is not nice to beg for food and money all the time.  He held my hand the entire way through the tents, and at least a dozen times he made me stop so that he could try and wipe the mud off of my shoes using a leaf or a piece of trash.  I kept telling him that it was ok and I would just scrub them once I got home, but he just wouldn't give up.  At one point he actually took off his own little sandals and told me I should wear them instead because they are better in the mud than mine.  I saw Jesus today in his eyes.

After seeing his home, the other boys wanted to take me to their homes.  Next we walked to Duprene's tent.  His was also an army tent, but it was a little bit larger.  It is home to five children and a mother.  His mother was so friendly and welcoming.  His aunt lives in a tent next door, and she was washing laundry when we arrived.  I explained that I am one of the teacher's at Duprene's school, and that he is one of my friends.  His aunt offered me a chair so that I could sit down and stay a while.  Honestly, they were SO welcoming and so happy to meet me that I just wanted to hug both of them.  They explained that they would like to live somewhere else, but both of their homes crashed to the ground during the earthquake.  They have no where else to go.  I got to meet Duprene's brother (who I already knew but I hadn't realized they were brothers).  His little brother Jameson is four years old and one of five children.  He was running around without pants or underwear and making faces at me.  I met him at feeding program while my family was here.  He is a little spitfire!  When I asked his mother why he didn't go to feeding program today, she showed me her leg.  She had a large bandage on her shin and I could see that it was beginning to bleed through.  She said that she had fallen (probably in the mud or by tripping over a tent stake) last night and so she was unable to carry him all the way to feeding program today.

Jameson with my cousin Kara while she was visiting

From there, we walked to another rather large tent that was home to Lovely, another student at TLC school.  When I peeked inside the tent, there was a young boy inside the tent sitting on the floor making jewelery out of paper beads.  Lovely's mama came out and greeted me with the traditional Haitian greeting, a kiss on the cheek.  I introduced myself and thanked her for sharing her tent with me.

After chatting for a little while, Yvel asked me to walk with him to see his house.  After trudging through mud, over piles of fly infested trash, over puddles of water, and in between tents, we were back on the road.  Surprisingly, Yvel's family actually lives in a concrete structure just outside of Sinias.  It is one room and there looked to be about 7 or 8 people inside when I stopped to meet his mother.  She was also very friendly and like the other ladies, she offered me a kiss on the cheek and a chair to sit down.  I politely declined and my herd of boys and I continued on towards my house.  By the time we reached my gate, I realized that I had somehow acquired over a dozen boys that were getting rowdier by the minute.  They literally fought to get to my gate.  Thankfully, my buddy Peterson held them back so that I could actually go inside and bid them farewell for the night.

All in all it was a fun/interesting adventure.  I am really glad that I did that before school starts up on the 5th of September.  I think that it was really important for me to see where many of the children are coming from.  I think that will give me more patience, understanding, and compassion towards each child.  These children have to fight past so many more barriers than children in the states.  It gives me even more appreciation for the education and nutrition that they will receive at TLC.