Slideshow from our August Trip to Haiti...

In August, we led a group of 15 people to back to Haiti. Many traveled with us the year before, and all were thankful to have another week in a country we have come to love dearly. Here is a slideshow from our trip. Most of the images were captured by Storyline with a few thrown in from other team members.


Haiti 2008: Sights and Sounds from Ben Welstead on Vimeo.

The Dump House

Probably the most unforgettable experience in Honduras was a visit we made to a family's tin shack near the Tegucigalpa trash dump. There was no denying the depth of poverty as we stepped into that small shack that housed two women and three kids; a grandmother, her daughter, and three grandchildren. The insides of the home looked like an extension of the dump itself. It wreaked of urine and rot that made you think twice before even breathing in, worrying that you'll be breathing something that will eventually make you ill. Every breath I took after the first was through my mouth, finding the smell unbearable.

In the middle of the room was a newborn child, probably a few months old that was sleeping on a foam pad and wrapped in a blanket. A cloth mosquito net was stretched above as added protection. On the opposite side of the shack from the door was the kitchen. A three-year-old boy who looked too small to be his age halfway hid behind a broken off piece of particle board that made a makeshift wall. I peeked around the kitchen wall and snapped a couple pictures of the cooking area. A pot was resting on some scraps of wood and rubber that were burning beneath as smoke mostly drifted out a hole in the roof. All around was trash.

As Pastor Jony spoke with the women to get an update on their lives, Renee slipped out the back door, and to be honest I also wished for the clean air outside, but the door was blocked by Jony. These women asked me to take their picture and I did.

This was one of nearly 400 other families that will spend each day from birth to death living from a trash dump.

funny things happen on the other side of the world...

This is one of my favorite images from Honduras. I know its random and I know its hard to even know what you're looking at. But here is what you're looking at; flowers growing on a roof. It was a gorgeous day, as most days in Honduras are, and we were walking through this old village called Valley of the Angles. Its a little bit of a touristy place. There was even a store called "The Missionary Outlet". Funny huh. I did buy this awesome cutting board at this particular store since I guess technically I was a tourist there. Anyway, this view just hit me...

renee.

Teaching the children of the trash heap

One of the most memorable stories of our time in Honduras comes from Pastor Jony who teaches children whose families live in a trash dump outside of Tegucigalpa, the capital city. Jony's daughter who was only five years old at the time began asking her dad, "What about the people at the trash dump? I've been praying for them, are you going to help them?" In Honduras, taking the advice of a child is rarely considered, especially when it comes to spiritual matters. So Jony did what many would probably do in his shoes, he told his daughter, "I will in a little bit." His daughter's prayers did not stop, and neither did her constant reminding that the people living in the trash dump needed help.

Finally, Jony decided it was time to listen to God's voice even though it was through the lips of his young daughter. He began by bringing food to the people of the dump. Many people have promised to help these families, numbering roughly 400, but most if not all have failed to follow through, therefore, before Jony could begin to minister to the people, he had to earn the right to be heard. After about six months of doing this, Jony brought some of the kids from the city and set up a breakdancing competition against some of the children at the dump. The kids at the dump won the competition and afterwards Pastor Jony took just a few minutes to declare the Gospel. The whole ordeal must have been quite a sight.

Soon after that, he and his wife began teaching classes to some of those children at a location about a mile from the dump. For months they taught outdoors under a tin roof that was held up by a couple of sticks. Now, the school has two large buildings, nearly a hundred students and classes that go all year round. School is free to those who attend as long as they come to class cleaned up. Not only do they receive an education, but they also get two meals a day. Jony and his family teach every day except weekends and are entirely committed to helping the families of the dump. Their work and dedication had a profound impact on us and humbled us greatly. -- Ben

Without description...

I look at our pictures a lot from Honduras. I think I've found I go through the same process each time I return from a trip. The day after I return, everything seems fine, like I was simply at my parent's house for the weekend. After a day of taking it easy, I start to think about my next day when I am forced to resurface. In an ironic twist, for all the people that I missed while I was away, I don't really want to talk to anyone. So, despite the many requests from friends and family, I rarely answer my phone and don't ever listen to the messages that pile up in my voicemail inbox.
This continues for a couple of days. Inevitably I'll force myself to answer a call or two and stumble over my words as I try to describe whatever I witnessed or experienced. This does help the process as painstaking as it can be, and for those of you out there that are my experimental listeners, I'm sorry I don't really feel like sharing much and my stories are incomplete and inadequate.

So back to the pictures, I look at them a lot. After a few days they finally fit in the context of my life here in Lincoln. The one I posted above didn't really stick out to me at first. At this moment, it is definitely one of my favorites. What I like about it is the peace of mind that is all over this young girl's face. Also, this picture really needs no description. "It is what it is" and if I would have not have taken it, I still would understand it. Right now, it helps. And if I know myself as well as I think I do, in a few days I'll be fine, and I'll be able to put words to many of my experiences, and I promise I'll want to share them all. Then hopefully, we'll go somewhere else and I'll be able to go through this fortunate struggle all over again.

Ben