Student Day 3 // Water Truck Day!

Robby // Personal 

Lydia // Smile 

Skylar // Contact 

Tyra // Offering 

Annika // Chocolate 

Michael // Caretaker 

Sara // Fascination 

Megan // Close 

Soph // Community 

Gabrielle // Copy 

Chris // Eddy 

Sophia // Dirt 

Mitch // Order 

Steph // Eager 

Lea // Lens 

Austin // Hands 

Grace // Honored 

         The taptap crawled to a halt outside of the Haitian Initiative, an organization that feeds, clothes, and teaches Hatian children while incorporating their favorite sport, soccer. Inside the building, 200 rambunctious kids were finishing their brunch of rice, beans and chicken gravy. Upon entry, the atmosphere was awkward, but one outgoing youth stepped forward and conversed with the group. Within minutes, the two groups of people were acting as if they had known each other for years. The friendliness of the children was amazingly inspiring. They brought us a lot of joy by thumb or arm wrestling with us and by playing a hand-slapping game. They were all very interested in our lives, names, ages, and families. 

          After a while, the room full of people migrated to the soccer fields adjacent to the building, where another eighty kids and young adults were finishing up their games. The group met the founder (who doubled as the referee) of the Haiti Initiative. He explained the rules and thanked us for coming. Once jerseys were distributed and teams determined, the game began. While the Hatians carried the team with their amazing skills, the game finished 1-0.

          Once the games concluded, the team reassembled at the taptap. After a short taptap trip, the team arrived at the first water stop. Innumerable children flooded the car, all of them wanting to be held. Once in your arms, the kids asked a boatload of questions in Creole. Adults and older teenagers, buckets in hand, filed towards the water truck, anticipating the gyser of fresh water.

          Immediately once the water began flowing, people flooded to the front, but order was restored by Maxim the translator. The water truck, which pumped 2500 gallons per stop (7500 gallons total), filled hundereds of buckets. Those who were not working with the hose were playing with the kids and carrying buckets for people.

          At the first water stop, one particular boy, no older than five, was quite attatched to me. His name was Kenzi and he enjoyed it when I held him upside down. While I was started to kiss my neck while other kids used my free arm as a jungle gym. I didn't know what to do, so I just let him continue, but once kissing turned to sucking, I realized this kid was giving me a hickey (sorry mom)! A few hours later, someone noticed a bruised ring on my neck, a temporary remnant of Kenzi from Citi Solei. Initially, this gesture seemed quite strange, but it certainly made the trip that much more memorable, which got me thinking about how the kids genuinly cared to know us. 

     - Robby Underdal