Personal Narrative: My Mission Trip To Haiti

I’ve never been fond of spiders, but tarantulas were a common sight for me this past summer. These were seen on a mission trip to an orphanage in Haiti I went on with my church. In the weeks preceding the trip, I had no idea what to expect. Traveling to such a devastated nation was far beyond my comfort zone, especially since I had never been with orphaned children. When the trip began, I had the mindset of trying to complete as many physical tasks as I could. The lessons I returned with were completely different.

From the moment we landed in Port-au-Prince, I was bewildered. It was shocking to see the Haitian city and its surroundings. Many buildings were run-down and missing entire walls. Once we traveled out of the inner city, the poverty was evident and the traffic was unbearable. Several times people hit our rickety, old bus trying to pass us. Next came the bumpy three hour journey up the mountains to the orphanage, the

This caught me off guard. It was difficult to unload my bags and brush them off at the same time because they stuck to me like glue. To them, it was possible to be both a complete stranger and their new best friend. I couldn’t imagine this happening so quickly in the United States. In our country, even saying hello to a stranger walking down the sidewalk is uncommon. Later on in the day, we had our first meal. The cooks and staff treated the meal they prepared for us as a feast, even though it was very simplistic consisting of only canned meat and ramen noodles. Over dinner, I began to recognize the Haitian love for conversation. They were so intrigued with everything that I had to say, comprehending my words and creating an engaging response, despite their broken English. They would find happiness from the littlest of things said, never going a sentence without a soft chuckle. This quickly put me at ease and made me feel