Hearing stories from our trip participants is the best! Read some highlights from Jenny’s recent trip to Camp Mary, Haiti.
I have been to Haiti two times before, but I have never gone with 410 Bridge. This experience was so different from my previous experiences. In the past, I have worked exclusively at an orphanage and never had the opportunity to be out in the community. I loved that part of this trip! I loved having the chance to interact with adults as well as kids, and I loved hearing peoples’ stories. It was so incredible to see some of how the average person lives in Camp Mary on a daily basis. I enjoyed cooking with the women, making chamn chamn, and watching some boys weave palm branches into fences.
There were a few kids who kept bits of my heart with them when I left. There are kids who I will ache to see again and love on again and laugh with again. The love that they have for each other and also for us, even when we were strangers, has impacted my life in huge ways. I am so blessed!
The 410 Bridge model is something that I can completely get behind because of this trip to Haiti. It was an incredible experience to see the pride that Camp Marie had in their water system because they were able to bring their vision of having clean water to fruition with the help of 410.
Now, they have a whole community working towards an irrigation system for their crops, and you can see that the people believe it is possible because they have already accomplished the drinking water system. They have hope! It is a hope and pride that I don’t think they would have if a group just came in and did all of the work for them. It amazes me that over time, 410 Bridge has been able to pull out of communities because they can stand on their own two feet. It amazes me even more that those communities then go out and try to help other communities accomplish things too. 410 empowers people so they can go out and empower people. What a great cycle to be a part of!
Thanks, Jenny! If you have a story, send it to us at stories@410bridge.org.