How Sweet It Is Melissa-Jean Provost

 

Have you ever had one of those moments where you’ve closed your eyes, felt the cool breeze and warm sunshine rush across your face and you knew you were exactly where you were supposed to be? The time stopped, you didn’t have any worries, and you ignored everything else but that one moment. If this has ever happened to you, then you know exactly how I feel everyday that I am in Haiti.

 

Ever since my first trip to Haiti with Be Like Brit in 2012, it has been challenging to say the least, to find the right words to describe the way Haiti makes me feel, and what my experiences are like when I am there. I often find myself wondering, “why on Earth am I having such a hard time describing the way I feel about something when I love and care about it so much?” I’ve realized though, that’s it’s just one of those parts of life that you can’t explain or put words to, because explanations and words wouldn’t barely scratch the surface of the beauty and sweetness that lies in the experience of spending time in Haiti.

 

 

When I think about our Britsionary Program here at Be Like Brit, my heart smiles. It smiles because it makes me think of family, helping others, and most of all, it makes me feel home. It’s honestly hard for me to remember my life before Haiti and Be Like Brit, but I know for a fact that I was missing something very big. My heart is just so filled with love and happiness, and I know that a large part of that has to do with all of the experiences I have had while being with my Haiti family. Before I was part of the Be Like Brit Team, I was part of the Britsionary Family. I was a Britsionary on five different trips – two trips to take part in the building of the orphanage, and three more, not only to witness the orphanage in operation, but to also work outside the walls of Be Like Brit to provide aid to families in our community. My first trip to Be Like Brit changed my life, in more ways than one. I made beautiful new friends, expanded my family, and not only found what I was passionate about, but I found what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. I experienced countless things during my first week in Haiti, and I knew I found where I was meant to be. When we returned to The States, I knew my heart did not return with me. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I was determined to make Be Like Brit a main piece of the puzzle that would make up my future. Little did I know, the Be Like Brit puzzle piece would be glued into its place in my life almost 2 years to the day after my first trip.

 

Now that I am part of the Be Like Brit team, I am able to travel to Haiti each month with new teams of eager and love-filled volunteers who are ready to leave their positive mark on our little world here in Haiti. I once again find myself struggling to find the words to describe how thankful and lucky I am to be able to get to know such amazing and loving people while experiencing Haiti alongside them, but I know my life would not be the same without them.  

 

 

Last week, I shared the week with Team Double Trouble – a mixed group made up of bankers from Country Bank, and accountants from Wolf & Company. Not only were they a team of bankers and accountants (and WAY better at math than I will ever be, by the way), they were parents, teachers, comedians, carpenters, painters, and friends. We were also very excited to welcome Paul Scully and Jim Phaneuf back to Be Like Brit with Team Double Trouble, because they have been a huge part of the Be Like Brit family since the beginning. I actually shared my second trip to Haiti in October 2012 with Paul & Jim, so it was a wonderful experience to be able to spend another week with them in one of the places we all love. 

 

 

Since we typically only share photos of our Britsionary teams while they are in Haiti, we thought it would be nice for our readers to hear about some of their experiences, first hand! The Country Bank team kept a blog throughout the course of their week, and we have included some bits and pieces of it for you to read. Enjoy! :) 

 

A note from Tracey:

 

I went to Be Like Brit expecting something a bit different than what I received. I expected to see poverty at its worst, orphans and poor people. What I did see was so much more than that. Sure, there was poverty, orphans and poor people BUT there were children smiling, singing, laughing and loving. There was so much kindness, sharing, caring and gratitude!  There was FAMILY. Cherylann and Len have established a warm and loving and home for these children. They stole my heart. My experience at Be Like Brit has forever changed my life. Remember, they say we can fall in love at first sight or in a day…imagine what can happen after a week. 

 

Every night at reflections, we were asked what our favorite moment of the day was and to be honest, I had such a difficult time finding one. They were all so magnificent to me and I soaked up every moment that choosing one seemed nearly impossible. I met so many wonderful people and I am grateful to call them my friends.    

 

 

 

A note from Shana:

 

We were amazed at the devotion of faith within the Haitian community. In Haiti, church is more than just a social event but a way of life. These people look forward to Mass every week, come dressed in their best clothes and many walk for miles/hours to get there… After lunch and some time to reflect, we had the opportunity to walk in the village behind the orphanage. It was amazing to see people living so simply and with out the basic necessities that we often take for granted. We also had the opportunity to see what types of houses we would be building and just how grateful the Haitian people are of our philanthropy. 

 

 

A note from Phil, Eric, Erik & Mary:

 

We were invited to spend time with the students down the hill at the MOHI School. They have approximately 600 students whom greeted us with songs as we arrived to their classrooms. While there we were asked to serve the kindergarten students their morning snack. Each student brings a bowl with them to class, which we would then fill with rice and beans. (Which we scooped out of a 5-gallon pail) We were told that this was most likely the only meal of the day for these children. We then moved down to the lower area where the older students would perform a similar exercise in getting their mid-morning snack. Many of them would request more food so they could bring it home in their containers. It was rewarding to see the Haitian kids share with each other as not all of them had a bowl to receive the meal. 

 

              

 

A note from Bev, Mary, Jim, Paul, Eric, Erik, Tracey & Shana:

 

Today, we visited the local market. The market was a vibrant place full of unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells. Merchants crowd together in various tents to sell their beans, rice, vegetables, drugs, and toiletries. They grow or make some of what's for sale, but much of it they get from a wholesale distributor… As we zig-zagged through the market we made several stops to buy what will amount to about 3 months of food for our Haitian families. Items included rice, beans, spaghetti, chicken broth, shortening, and fish sauce. It's typical that the families won't keep all the food to themselves and will instead distribute and share ALL of it with their family, friends, and neighbors. 

 

Another note from Bev, Mary, Jim, Paul, Eric, Erik, Tracey & Shana: 

 

Team Wolf presented their house first. This house will allow for a woman with a small child (daughter) reunite.  She had to give up her child to live elsewhere as she was homeless. She would find shelter in a different house each night throughout the town. Now her and her daughter can live together in their new home.

 

 

Team Country Bank was next. As outlined in earlier blog posts our home was built for an elderly sick man.  His 15-year-old son, Erickson, was living in very dangerous place in Port au Prince called Site Soleil.   His son will be returning home to live with his father and go to school.  We took comfort in knowing that not only did we build a house, but we restored a family and helped give this young man the opportunity to get an education as well.

 

 

 

 

A note from Melissa, on one of her experiences during the week with the team in Haiti:

Today, I fell in love. I fell in love with a boy who can hardly see me, but holds my hand and stands by me anyway. I fell in love with his innocence and smile, and his willingness to love a stranger. 

 

I met this little peanut on monday, and he was sitting with some other little kiddos near the worksite. As I started talking with the other kiddos he grabbed onto my hand, but looked towards the ground. It seemed as though he was just a bit shy, but I realized that he had difficulty when he looked up in my direction. One of the other children told me he was sick in his eye, so I did my best to try to shield the sun from his eyes so he would be able to talk to me. when he finally did look up at me, I was able to see that he did in fact have an issue with one of his eyes like one of the children had said. When it was time for lunch, I went back home and grabbed a pair of sunglasses for my new friend and made sure to bring them back to him when I went back that afternoon. Fast forward to when I saw him again today, when he was coming towards the worksite with the other kiddos while carrying his sunglasses in his hand. As I approached him to say hello and give him a lollipop, he put on his new sunglasses so he could look up and me and say hello. My heart is full, and I am just so in love with this life I am able to live, in such a beautiful and wonderful place. "Do what you love, love what you do"

 

 

 Not only were we blessed with Team Double Trouble last week, but we were also blessed to have Bernie, Richie and his childhood friend Tyler, join us in Haiti for a few days! Richie and Tyler met when they were very young, and Tyler is basically part of the Gengel Family. Both Richie and Tyler had a few days off, so they headed down to Haiti with Len & Bernie! Tyler visited Be Like Brit for the very first time last week, and we are so happy he was able to join us! 

 

 

Team Double Trouble set out on their journey home, we welcomed a new team of Britsionarys to build a home for another family in our community in just TWO days! This team was made up of men from Massachusetts with backgrounds in construction, and one of our good friends, Mark Leff! We were so happy to welcome Mark back to Be Like Brit, and we were thrilled that he brought some friends with him to build a home. As you can see, the team was successful in their two days of building, and the home was dedicated to the family before the guys headed back to Massachusetts. Way to go, Team Local 6+ (Blitz Build)!

 

 

We hope you have enjoyed reading about our week last week in Haiti! If you want to join our Britsionary Family, we would LOVE to have you! Email Melissa@BeLikeBrit.org for more information.