Bruised Reed

I finally got around to writing about my "Bruised Reed-Haiti" experience. Here is the abridged version:

Living in Haiti for the past 7 months has prepared me to see things that I have never seen before! Sewage running freely through the streets, extreme poverty, diseases, infenctions, and injuries that you couldn't even imagine in the United States. None of it, however, prepared my heart for spending a Saturday at a few of the local brothels with some ladies from Bruised Reed.

As many people in the States know (thanks to CNN), there are a lot of major issues going on in Haiti right now, including rioting due to the rise in food prices. Staple foods like rice have nearly doubly in cost over the past year, making it nearly impossible to survive for so many Haitians. These women, most of them with children, don't see any other option for making money to feed themselves and their children. Seeing these women up close and in person was absolutely heart-breaking. To put an actual face and and a name to something we all know exists made it extremely real to me. I hope that I get the chance to begin to build relationships with some of these women, and just love on them.

Club #1 was a bit intimidating. It is located right in the middle of downtown and right in the middle of the market! I have passed by the building several times, and have never really noticed it! When we went in, the girls were a little shy and quiet (there were only 3 girls available--or willing--to talk). After Jani and Diana shared a little bit with them, they started asking questions. At first, one of them was just asking crazy questions to see what kind of reaction she would get and when she didn't get anything but love, she softened up a bit.

Club 2 was much more "entertaining!" These women were boisterous and lively! And there were SO MANY of them!!! There were at least 15 women around while we were there. Right from the start, they were interested in listening to what everyone had to say. It was SO obvious that these women desired to be loved like they have, most likely, never been loved before. They all longed to be touched in a loving way (rather than a degrading way) and each of them continued to give us hugs (which is very uncommon in Haiti...people kiss on the cheek, but rarely hug!). These women were so comfortable with our group that they all enjoyed smiling and posing for pictures when we were finished talking (another sign of trust because not all Haitians enjoy having their picture taken because of voodoo rituals saying that you are taking their soul)!!! I was happy to hear that 8 of these women attended church with Diana on Sunday after our visit!!!!

Club #3 was completely different from the other two! It was a large "field" area with several small buildings. Each building had 3 or 4 rooms for each woman. All the buildings were surrounding a large cock fight arena. The women here were a little shy, but again, just like in Club 1, they all seemed to soften up the more Diana and Jani kept talking. These women are a bit more reserved and it could be a challenge to get them to open up, but I know God has amazing things planned for these women!