Day 6… Bittersweet Goodbyes

Our last day of work was surprisingly emotional.  We arrived at a new location, a school, where some children of Naverette were taught.  It was one room, barely protected from the elements.  We were given some of the children’s background, many of Haitian decent, without papers, some with histories of drug use or dealing.  Their brave professor told us of how the were turned away by the church and how she took large groups of them back to her tiny home until they were provided with the little property they now call their classroom.  We do our work here and interact with the children before heading back to the comedor to say our last goodbyes.  As Wendy, the professor of the comedor spoke to us in her soft voice, we all began to cry.  She thanked us for our service, told us we wouldn’t be forgotten, and began to get emotional as well.  I thought of the day she cleaned my hair.  Due to some unfortunate luck, I had ended up with a paint dish on top of my head and paint through my hair.  Wendy had taken me aside and thoroughly washed my hair in a basin of water.  I thought of the amount of kindness she had in her heart.  I  thought of all those children who would be lost to the rest of the world if it hadn’t been for these strong women in Naverette who watch over, feed, and teach them every day.  There was not a dry eye in the comedor that day.  There was not a word to express how much this experience had changed us all.  There was no explaining our gratitude.  It was this community that was to thank, for their hospitality and perseverance.  These women are the kinds of people I would want to entrust my children to each day.  They were a fine example of the kind of empathy and understanding and love children need to be taught.  I hoped that one day, my children would have teachers who showed them what these women showed the children in that comedor as well as us while we served with them.  When Wendy exited our bus and walked off that day, I could only hope that it wouldn’t really be the last time I would see her.