Adventures of a Tribe

Helping out

Posted on May 4, 2016 Updated on May 4, 2016

This morning the creatures worked on their school work and chores for a while, and I radioed our friends on their catamaran named ‘Hi 5’ to arrange a time to take supplies over to the Haitian Village. We decided on noon, so until then we dejunked and gathered up clothing and books. By twelve o clock, the dinghy was loaded with bags, backpacks and people, and we set off to find a place who’s location we only had a general idea on. We motored the dinghy over to the Island of Eleuthera and tied up at the government dock where I asked an older gentleman for directions to the village. He pointed to some white garages and told us that behind them was a path into the tress, and to just follow it. Our friend Julie, and her son Connor, had gathered all sorts of supplies as well, so we collected it all and set out on our adventure.

The second path we found seemed like the correct one, so we followed it through trees and bushes for about a quarter of a mile. Garbage was littered throughout and the air was hot and dry.

Once we reached the village, I approached some people hoping they spoke english, and asked if there was someone in charge that I could talk with. They pointed farther up the road, so we continued on – the heat of the day sending trails of sweat down our backs.

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We met a beautiful sweet lady named Michelin, who helped us further, and after resting in a shaded make shift pavilion while watching a woman chase a pack of dogs who were chasing her goats, we finally found our way to the right place. A young man there showed us where to leave the things we brought, and I asked him if we could help in any way with a building project, or anything else at all. He called a British missionary on the phone and handed it to me, and a very humble, grateful man came on, saying that they had just barely completed the last project for now, but were very grateful for the supplies. On our hike out, among the dry ground and rocks I noticed a beautiful flower growing. It made me smile as I saw the symbolism there and how it paralleled the place we had just seen. People are trying to make something beautiful out of rough circumstances.

We hoped we could do more to help, but know that opportunity to give aid and show love and concern is all around us everyday, and as long as we keep watching for it, we’ll find it.

When we dropped Julie and Connor off, Aidan decided to stay with Connor to play, so just us four girls headed back home. As we were leaving, Julie’s husband mentioned that three cold fronts were coming in, and a storm is expected tonight with 30 knot winds. So, once us girls were done diving off the boat and swimming around to cool off, we let more scope out on the anchor chain and secured everything around Tanda Malaika. As we did, the wind started to pick up and the sky turned grey.

This evening Danny texted me, saying he had landed safely in Taiwan. When he reached his hotel room he wrote, ‘Wow, this suite is bigger than 5 Tanda Malaika’s! I don’t need all this space!’ It’s so interesting when you’ve been living on a boat for a while, because you realize you don’t need all the space and ‘stuff’. We joked with Danny before he left, telling him he’s so lucky because he was going to be able to flush toilet paper and take long showers.

Tonight as I write, I am filled with so much gratitude for so much. I am thankful for my sweet Danny, and my beautiful children. I am grateful for our home and that we have been blessed with more than we need so we can share with others. Right now I am especially grateful for a good anchor which holds us securely in this crazy wind. The current is keeping our bow to the south, while the waves are hitting our beam from the east, causing Tanda Malaika to roll softly back and forth. We will be rocked to sleep all night long.