Have you ever heard of a tap tap? Three summers ago, I discovered a tap tap not just a nickname for banging a pencil on a deck, but a kind of taxi in Haiti. They are called tap taps because the passengers will signal the driver to stop or go by simply tapping on the back of the truck. I learned this fact on a mission trip to Haiti three summers ago. The trip was a very eye opening experience where I learned that I have many things to be thankful for. This past summer, I decided to go on another mission trip to Guatemala. It was also eye opening, but in different ways. I learned that everyone matters in a team, and everyone is an asset to helping the team grow. The mission trips were very different experiences in many other characteristics,
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The house we stayed at in Haiti was also a home to a group of younger Haitians. Through the course of the week, we grew lasting friendships with them. The Haitians would ask for help with English words and grammar, while also helping to teach the team some Creole words. The team would play a game with them that was like a Haitian version of corn hole. The players would try and throw a rock into a cinderblock, and the last person to get their rock in the hole would have to drink a glass of water as fast as they could. The Haitians would tell stories of growing up in Haiti, and what they wanted to do when they grew up. The team would share stories of home, and the Haitians would tell us of how they dreamed of visiting America. In Guatemala, the relationships formed between the locals was not as strong as the bonds the team formed. The team had to learn to work together and communicate in order to build the house safely and efficiently. The team learned how to communicate with each other, through this building friendships. On the last day of the build, the team was not just a group of individuals anymore, but had grown to be one team. Even though the relationships built on the trips were between different groups of people, the bonds formed were just as
The house we stayed at in Haiti was also a home to a group of younger Haitians. Through the course of the week, we grew lasting friendships with them. The Haitians would ask for help with English words and grammar, while also helping to teach the team some Creole words. The team would play a game with them that was like a Haitian version of corn hole. The players would try and throw a rock into a cinderblock, and the last person to get their rock in the hole would have to drink a glass of water as fast as they could. The Haitians would tell stories of growing up in Haiti, and what they wanted to do when they grew up. The team would share stories of home, and the Haitians would tell us of how they dreamed of visiting America. In Guatemala, the relationships formed between the locals was not as strong as the bonds the team formed. The team had to learn to work together and communicate in order to build the house safely and efficiently. The team learned how to communicate with each other, through this building friendships. On the last day of the build, the team was not just a group of individuals anymore, but had grown to be one team. Even though the relationships built on the trips were between different groups of people, the bonds formed were just as