April 7, 2011 in Jeremie, Haiti - The Farm, The Kids, The Music

It was a beautiful day - after breakfast and devotions, we headed out to Yvrose's farm. It was a sun-filled, vivid ride, passing a large river, bouncing along the roads and seeing small dwellings with faded paint. We drove past women carrying large baskets on their heads, children carrying water in plastic containers, people washing their clothes on the banks of a river. Everything looked lush and green except the dusty, pothole filled roads. Yvrose sang songs on the way and we looked out the window trying to remember what we were seeing. When we arrived at the farm, we saw 8 acres of beautiful property: coconut, banana, mango, bread fruit trees, sugar cane, coffee trees, and a cement pond that is used to raise tilapia. We also saw a possible future for a new orphanage to be built on that land. Perhaps one day . . .



We walked around the grounds and then Yvrose took us a short distance to see the fields where they are to grow corn. The corn is on a container, on a ship in Port au Prince - it has been there since December. One of the ongoing prayers we have had, and continue to have, is that the last signature needed to free up this container will happen. The man who doesn't want to sign is hoping to get a bribe - it is one of the hard things about Haiti - ongoing corruption, corruption that hurts its own people.
After we left the farm, we headed to the orphanage to hang out with the kids. It was a sweet day, but the kids knew we would be leaving soon - they were clinging to us and wanting to be held. We were only able to stay a couple of hours because the kids had a special program that they would be putting on for us that evening and we had to give them some time to prepare.


We went back to the compound and ate a delicious cabbage soup and headed back to Yvrose's for the closing program. When we arrived, Florkencia took me by the hand and led me to a special chair that she picked. All of the kids did that - we felt so honored to be seated by our special friends. It was getting dark outside and all of the kids lined up in rows and began to sing to us. Listen to the audio below of their singing. After they sang, and we cried, several of the older kids came out and played instruments. Yvrose had taught them how to play. It was precious.





After the program, we loaded up into our vehicles and the kids ran to the gate and cried as we pulled away. We did too.

*although you can't see the children, just listen to them sing*