the next morning we woke up and got ready to set out early for the beach. most of the morning beforehand was spent planning and preparing ourselves to do one of the most important things we'll ever do: spread our dad's ashes along the shore. we had very few specifics in mind. we just had vague visions and left the rest up to the moment.
we made our way up and over the mountain, taking plenty of opportunity to take in all that we saw along the way including a grand view down to cap-haitien, and a goat in a tree. yep, a goat sitting in a tree. odd. soon after passing the goat we rounded the corner near the top of the mountain and caught the first sight of the breathtaking coastline. as we were taking it in, wilbert unexpectedly stopped and got out. as we slowly ventured out of the truck, taking pictures, in awe of the beauty we were now surrounded in, wilbert came back exclaiming that this would be the place. it was perfect. the cliff traveled all the way down to the water with a gorgeous view surrounding it. we began the descent down the cliff. it was sharp and jagged, resulting in awkward/tricky positions, and scraped feet, knees and hands. we each made it down to the bottom eventually.
{goat in a tree}
{going down the cliff to the coastline}
{ricky sharing his shoe with ariele to help her get down the cliff}
we sat the box containing the ashes along the shore as we stood a few feet above, huddled together. as reality began to set in with all of us, but particularly my sisters and i, we began to weep. the others said such genuine and inspired words that helped us to feel that we were in the exact company that we wanted to be among in that moment. they spoke of past, present and future. as we stood together weeping and remembering, in awe of where we were, the waves began to crash with an almost violent intensity that felt as if my father was letting us know that it was time--time to set him free. while the waves’ intensity increased, the small box containing the ashes remained still. it was time, but he still wanted us to be the ones to physically let go. we climbed down, and together, my sisters and i, released him into those waters allowing him to finally be put to rest, knowing that part of him will always remain in each of us. it was in that moment that i so strongly felt his impact on my life; both through his life and through his death.
before we began the climb back up the cliff, without even thinking, still in a bit of shock, i struggled to bend down to touch the waters that he now rests in. the journey back up was symbolic; we were eager to help each other, as if we knew we were climbing to a different reality, but felt so much more prepared to face it. a new chapter.
{spreading dad's ashes}
the rest of the day was spent at the beach down the way. it was a nice beach, a very different setting than we had seen so far, and the only other place we saw white people (aside from the airport). we spent lunch chatting and learning a little bit more about each other while sipping particularly refreshing coca-cola, in tall glass bottles with french labels. mid lunch we heard a haitian choir practicing in the near distance. we paused to take it in. beautiful. throughout the week we would hear that quite often. mostly as we woke, early in the mornings.
{eating lunch on the beach}
{haitian choir singing}
on our way back down the mountain we stopped at the market to do a bit of shopping. and apparently a lot more haggling than any of us were expecting. some of us grew to be rather good at it, despite previous mixed emotions and moral indifference's? not naming names. but, we each came away with a few treasures of our own. mostly, wooden pots and figures, colorful paintings, necklaces, various handmade musical instruments, and painted metal designs.
{wilbert breaking out the accordion}
that night, as we did every night, we finished the day with a delicious meal while sitting around telling more stories, and laughing, with a bit of singing on the side. all week we were continuously uncovering strange connections that we each had with one another, common people, stories etc. this night in particular, it was discovered that a song that ricky and ran's parents had taught to them when they were boys, could have been in fact taught to their dad by wilbert himself. this is a song that each of the men, ricky, ran and wilbert still remember every word to.
sunday morning we all woke up, ate breakfast and headed out to visit one of the many church's living hope missions has helped in some form in the past few years. one of the wise things wilbert and meg have decided is the importance of never getting too involved in any one organization/church/neighborhood. rather, they choose to help start many, and leave the rest up to those they've helped to continue the work. there's a greater sense of accomplishment and responsibility and thus a better success rate. my sisters and i were over prepared in the wardrobe departmen. we could have easily been mistaken for truly conservative stereotypical missionaries, while our male counterparts looked quit dapper in their dress shirts and ties. but we weren't bitter. no.
sitting in the back of the haitian church we tried to absorb what we could. i think each of us had imagined what that moment would be like. and for most of us, the reality exceeded our expectations. the entire service was in creole, which created a sort of out of body, surreal feeling as we sat listening to words we couldn't understand and simply observing. mid service, wilbert stood up to introduce us. and introduce us he did. he has a way with words that very few people are capable of mastering with such genuineness. my father was also one of these people, perhaps this was one of the many things that connected the two of them. he shared with the congregation in creole as meg translated for us. he explained why we were there in a better way than we ever could have done. he refered to our father as one of his best friends. he painted a picture of the importance of all of us being there in a way that hadn't crossed my mind until that moment. he explained that our parents loved haiti, and showed us that love, and now here we are the same way they were many years ago. further, he explained the impact it could have if we shared our love for haiti with our own children and they too someday were to visit haiti. and what if our children told their children and so on, exemplifying the impact that you can have on your children. thus the impact your children can have on the world. it was pretty powerful.
following that humbling introduction, the boys got up and sang that exact haitian song taught to them by their parents. as they sang in creole, they invited the rest of congregation to sing with them. i couldn't help but tear up at the sight and at the sound. i won't ever forget it. after the service we were greeted and thanked with many hand shakes and many more hugs. just simply for being there.
{outside of church}
throughout the week ricky and ran became pretty good at taking advantage of every moment they had to interact with haitian children, which wasn't always easy due to the language barrier. but we realized all around the world children simply love to play. standing around after church was no different. i loved to watch as the young haitian boys played and commonly were so comfortably affectionate with each other. the three boys below asked me to take their picture. their stoic faces look as if they're posing for their hip band photo contrastly, their little hands are so gently held together.
{playing around}
{band photo?}
later that afternoon we ate lunch at a favorite restaurant of meg and wilberts. coming to haiti i didn't expect to get such diverse perspectives of the country. i feel as if we were able to truly see it from so many different lenses. this restaurant was slightly upper scale. as we sat at our outdoor table we were being watched and waited for by several local haitians, eager to make eye contact long enough to mouth "i am hungry". we talked of this for awhile. the importance of approaching certain situations from all sides, and of meg and wilberts experiences living in haiti where they are faced with such encounters daily. and the ways that they feel, truly bring about the most significant change. doing the best thing in some situations isn't always as easy as it seems. while in others it's more simple than we try to make it.
sunday night was mostly spent on the roof at the living hope missions compound. the roof quickly became a favorite place where one or more of us were often found. from the roof you could see across the city onto many other rooftops, you could more clearly hear the surrounding choirs singing all around, as well as have the best view of the clearest stars i'd seen in ages. not to mention, at night the breeze did a nice job of cooling us off from the humid, tropical air. sunday night, we all sat on the roof reading, dancing, and singing.
{roof time reading}
{roof time dancing}
