NOTHING HAD MOVED. Little breathed. It was as if she’d never left. Haiti in the heat of July was a shadow of the colorful place it had once been. Street painters didn’t greet her. Tents suffocated open land and streets. Little seemed to have changed in six months, and Kaylan felt defeated. The heat and humidity suffocated her, and she struggled to draw a deep breath.
Black hands encircled Kaylan, Nick, and the Tuckers. She changed her mind. One thing had changed: there were even more desperate people.
“Food.”
“Money.”
“Hungry.”
The Creole voices threatened to break her heart. She hadn’t brought money on purpose, but she reached into her bag and placed candy into groping hands. She slowly made her way up the rubble-filled street to Rhonda’s clinic. Shops remained closed, buildings crumbled and uninhabited, churches devoid of bells or people. Rubble resided where people once lived. It was as Kaylan had suspected: hopeless.
“Kaylan, you came! Welcome back to Haiti, my friend. So good to see you on your feet.” Abraham walked forward and wrapped her in a hug. She did her best to muster a smile.
“You look well, Abe.”
“I feel well. Even better, now that you are here. Come, see what we are doing.”
The sheets that had sheltered victims of the quake were gone. The clinic resembled a lighthouse welcoming the hurt and downtrodden of Port-au-Prince. Women waited in chairs in the small room while children played on the floor. A few elderly people sat in one corner, engaged in animated conversation. The broken did not inhabit the room, but rather those receiving healing.
Kaylan shook her head, confused. She had expected something similar to what she had left. Whereas the outside showed scars of the quake, the people no longer resembled ghosts of the living. They lived.
Rhonda emerged from a back room, carrying one of the children. The child laughed as Rhonda handed him a lollipop and allowed him to run to his mother. Waiting to be noticed, Kaylan felt a pang as she remembered Reuben. Nick stood quietly at her side, her rock.
Rhonda looked up, her professional demeanor vanishing as she smiled. “Kaylan!” They met in a tight embrace that spoke of love and loss and survival.
“Hey, Rhonda. Looks like you’re pretty busy today.”
“All in a day’s work. I have lots of help right now.” She led Nick and Kaylan to the back room, and Kaylan stopped short when Yanick turned to face her from the supply cabinet, a beautiful baby tied to her back.
“Kay-lin, welcome home.” Again, Kaylan was engulfed in a hug, and her confusion doubled. She felt as if she were on the receiving end of a gigantic joke. How could these people smile and welcome her home? Had they been outside lately? Did they not see that their home was still rubble, and no one seemed to care? Haiti had been forgotten in the six months after the earthquake, but work was far from over.
Rhonda cooed at the baby before smiling at Kaylan again. “I’m training Yanick to be my helper. She continues the weekly meetings with the moms in your absence. Now, more than ever, these mothers need help knowing how to care for their families. I’ve taught her to sew and cook. She teaches the other women. It’s the first step in helping them make money for their families. They get off the streets and into their homes making purses, skirts, scarves, and T-shirts. We even set up a website.”
Yanick held out a scarf to Kaylan. The purple, red, orange, and yellow threads intertwined, adding a splash of color to the Haiti of Kaylan’s memory. “Lespwa, Kaylan. For Tasha. For Sarah Beth. For you.”
Kaylan looked to Rhonda.
“They named their business Lespwa, hope, because you and Sarah Beth cared enough to teach them.” Rhonda squeezed Kaylan’s hand. “You changed lives, Kaylan. Sarah Beth changed lives. One at a time.”
“I don’t understand. Does this actually work? People can’t afford anything here. How are these women making money? Rhonda, this isn’t a good idea. They’ll become depressed when this doesn’t work.”
“What happened to the girl who wanted to change Haiti?”
“What happened to the woman who said I couldn’t?”
“I never, ever doubted you could. I simply told you to focus on one person at a time. You did that. You may have left, but you’re still making a difference, and these people thank God for you and Sarah Beth every day.”
“The slums have grown. People live in tents. Sarah Beth is gone. What is there to thank me for?”
“They live, Kaylan. They are gaining the ability to work and take care of their families. They have life.” Rhonda looked from Kaylan to Nick. “Kaylan, what happened to you?”
“The earth shook more than my body. My best friend died, and this country will never be the same. How can you have this hope?”
“Hope.” Yanick grabbed Kaylan and Nick’s hands and dragged them to the door. “Come. See.”
Kaylan looked back at Rhonda.
“Open your eyes, Kaylan. The Haitians are like ants whose mound has been crushed. They rebuild, slowly but surely. Look. See. Believe. And remember.”
After visiting the clinic, they had continued the tour of the neighborhood, Kaylan pointing out old sites. Not much had changed. She headed toward the church, anxious to see if it was rebuilt. Men shouted in Creole, and Kaylan heard a loud crack. She ducked, angry for being so skittish.
“It’s just shifting rock, babe. Everything’s fine.”
Nick held her hand, and again Kaylan was thankful for his presence. “Have I told you thanks today?”
“For what?”
“For coming. For being with me.”
“I can think of a better way to tell me thank you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Kaylan leaned forward and kissed him, thankful for something comfortable and familiar. “Thanks,” she whispered against his lips as another crack split the air.
As the church site came into view, Yanick spotted them and pulled them forward to meet her husband, Rolin, with Abraham stepping in to translate. Kaylan studied the area for the first time. The small structure had completely collapsed in the quake, burying the pastor beneath its walls. Men crawled over the wreckage, shifting rock and clearing the area.
“What’s happening?”
Rolin spoke first. His face glistened with sweat, and his smile spread. He opened his arms and gestured to the work behind him. Kaylan loved the Creole tones.
Abraham translated. “This is the project Rolin began with some of the men. He says that Haitians must have a place to worship the Lord and thank Him for life. Every day a new man joins the team.”
Kaylan recognized many men from Cité Soleil. “Abe,” she whispered, “aren’t some of these men, well, dangerous? They were part of the gangs in the slums the last time I was there.”
“Who better to reach the slums of the earth but those who live in them? They are all new believers, thanks to Rolin. The man does not give up.”
Hearing his name, Rolin spoke again. Again Abraham translated. “He says to thank you. He owes you the life of his child and his wife. Someday his son will know the Jesus you and Sarah Beth spoke of. One day he will know a better Haiti. And one day he will worship here . . . ” A smile lit Abe’s face. “Where I have been elected pastor. Can you believe it, Kaylan?” The child in Abe broke through, and Kaylan truly smiled for the first time.
“That’s great, Abe. I’m proud of you. And of this. I can’t believe it.”
“There is one more surprise.” He whistled, and a teen stopped his work. He shaded his eyes, and Kaylan squinted to make out his features. White teeth cracked his face, and he shouted.
Within seconds Stevenson landed in front of Kaylan and reached for her hand. He opened her palms and placed a finger in the center, smiling at her the whole time.
“I met the palm reader Jesus. I am His palm reader now.”
Kaylan looked at Nick in awe. His eyes sparkled at her joy.
“Stevenson, I can’t believe it. How? When?”
The youth pointed to Abraham, who explained. “After you left, Stevenson went back to Eliezer. He tried to convince him that Rhonda was making a difference and helping. But Eliezer told Stevenson to steal food from Rhonda for the two of them. It was as if Stevenson’s eyes opened for the first time. But he refused. When he came to me, I told him more about Jesus. He never looked back. Several who followed Eliezer are now here, helping Stevenson and myself tell the people the hope that is in Jesus Christ.”
“How, Abe? How do you still have that hope?”
“God never left Haiti, Kaylan. He shook me, and I grew stronger. Many died, but more now live life for Jesus as a result of what they saw and experienced. I do not know how better to explain. There is a vein of hope that runs through Haiti. One day the world will see it.”