Bonjou, Mezanmi!
It's about time I updated you all with how I'm doing in Haiti. I forgot to mention in my last newsletter that that I’m staying here until June 28. It’s already been more than 1.5 months since I came here, so I’m already halfway through.
The life here at the House of Love (orphanage) is definitely helping me grow in many ways. Every weekday we start with an early morning prayer at 4:30AM (so I go to sleep rather early). Then we have a Bible study at 8:30AM and a service after dinner around 5:30PM. No internet at home (and no electricity) means less wasting time and more Bible reading at night (under a candle light, of course). So I get to spend a lot of time with God and grow spiritually (I’m also getting very good at striking matches in the dark).
I also spend a lot of time with the orphans. Four of the older kids go to school during the morning (their school hours are very short), so I often look after the six younger kids (3 to 5 year-olds) during that time. It’s a very good learning experience for me. As much as I love children, disciplining them isn’t always easy, but I’m learning how to deal with kids in various situations. I thought we adults help the children grow, but I learned that in fact the children help the adults grow in different ways.
The missionaries bought some land a while back and are building an orphanage there (the current place is rented). Right now the project is on hold, and Rev. Baek, who is in charge, went back to Korea to raise funds for the project. She’s been gone for a week now, and I’ve been leading the daily evening service. We visit the construction site at least once a week to check up on the condition and to give out some food to the children in the neighborhood (there are many kids just hanging around because they don’t have money to go to school).
I’ve been putting a lot of effort into learning Creole. I think I understand and speak Creole better than I do French now (and I took French for 3 years, albeit many years ago). It’s a bummer I may not be using it after the 3 months is up. I hope I have the opportunity to come back to Haiti. My Korean skill is also improving because I have to talk to the missionaries in Korean. The orphans understand a bit of Korean, so I talk to them in Korean sometimes. Leading the evening service in Korean has been quite a challenge.
So overall, it’s been a great learning experience. Here are some other stuff that I’ve done during the past month: I went to Cange again to take a couple patients to the hospital (Zanmi Lasante, which I mentioned last time). Last week I went to a festival called Chan Mass, which is like a big farmers market held once a year. A friend was playing for the marching band at a football game (or soccer as most of you know it), so we got to go and watch it. I got a hair cut at a barber shop by a barber who’s never cut a blan’s hair (i.e. white people. Asians are white in Haiti). It was short and ugly, so I used a clipper to cut it even shorter but neater (I used 1/2” comb on the top and 1/8” on the side, so you can imagine how short).
As for med school is concerned, I’ll let you know when a final decision is made.
Thanks again for everyone who responded to my last e-mail and especially to those who called me (or at least tried to). It really makes a world of difference. I would be happy to hear about what you’ve been doing if you haven’t told me already. It would be nice to hear about what’s going on in the rest of the world as well, since I don’t have much exposure to media these days (no power means no TV).
I’m organizing my photos, so you can expect to see some soon (probably within a week).
Please keep me in your prayers! Specifically for my health.
Bondye Beni-W (you can guess what that means),
SunMin
Cell phone: +509-441-3451
Skype: doxadeo
AIM: instantdoxa
MSN: doxadeo@hotmail.com
Yahoo!: doxadeo@yahoo.com
