"Come Together"
Little pieces of songs are always running through my head, and today the old Beatles tune was playing non stop. Our last day in Anse a Pitre was truly a satisfying culmination: book-end type happenings and, in some ways, a fairy-tale "happy ending."
The day started with our new friends from Maryland that we met the first day in Barahona joining us on our trek across the border so that they could get the proper documentation to continue their important work helping to feed the unwanted Haitians in the DR. Once again, a special light among us shone brightly when needed, as Jill's French helped them and us through the bureaucratic morass.
The parts that we needed to build the shade structure had not arrived, and although we (with Reverend Kara's help) were accepting we wouldn't be able to finish our project after all, Halel had other ideas. A whole team of volunteers from India, Israel, Canada, Haiti and the U.S. set out to "make do" and complete the shade structures. My high for the day was the vignette of all of us standing around the shade net as we worked to make it the proper size--a true "Come Together" moment. BUMC's special bright lights? Sarah's sewing talent shining through as she "stitched" the net to the structure, and Jacob's engineering prowess on display for all to see.
The afternoon brought my first personal "Come Together" moment with the children. I sat and colored with a 5-year old (?) little girl who taught me a lesson in Creole. I can now say the names of all the colors and words for flower, child sky, tree, and sweat! A patient and thoroughly engaging teacher.
An announcement: the parts we needed which Jacob had designed were here and Halel wanted to get the 2nd structure up. Jacob, Jill, Devie and I decided to stay and work a bit longer in the sun. A side note: the parts didn't' just "arrive." A Dominican friend drove 2.5 hours to Barahona (the pot-hole route), picked up the metal, drove 2.5 hours back, and then cut and welded the metal to Jacob's specifications. Why? Because he wanted to help. As Devie, Halel, Jill, Jacob and I finished the frame for the one structure, we saw first-hand how well Jacob's idea had worked and I saw how Halel instinctively knew how satisfying it was for us to see the fruits of our labors.
One final book-end moment: Anna, our wonderful restaurant manager with whom Kara arranged all of our evening meals, returned for our last meal. She had been away since our first evening, and she had hurried back to make our last meal special and to make sure things had gone smoothly in her absence. Why? Because she cared.
Caring, sharing, giving, trusting, helping, teaching, building, learning--What more can I say about what we experienced here this week? I guess that it really isn't a satisfying culmination or happy ending after all. We're all a little sad to leave. Of course, there's lots more work to be done at all levels here. But more that that, we've experienced God's kin-dom (a Pastor Ginger word from my church) in a very special, hard-to-forget place. I'm left with another song phrase: "Bright hope for tomorrow!
-Paula Chipman (Kara's mom)
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