Haiti – Part III (Gedisma)
By La Guevara.
April 12, 2010
Once in a while, you meet someone that just blows your mind away. That happened to me in February. I met a 24 year old young man called Gedisma Elie. He’s tall and skinny with a smile that reaches your soul. The instant I met him I knew there was something different about him.
Whenever I come to Port-au-Prince I stay at the pastor’s house. He has a three-story building on one of the main avenues in the city. The first floor is the school, the second floor is the church, and the third floor is the missionary house. Gedisma is one of the teachers at the school. He is also an amazing singer who worships at the church services every week. He is full of life, full of passion, and full of love. He is completely transparent and you can tell he wouldn’t even hurt a fly.
He can’t afford to eat three meals a day, or even two. He’s lucky if he has one. He doesn’t complain about his circumstances, but you can tell he has occasional stomach pains because he’s hungry; because he’s been hungry for days. If you feed him or give him money for food, he’ll give it away. He will give it to those who need it more than he does.
Gedisma adores his country, its people, and God above all. I communicate with him in French, which it’s pretty cool because I get to practice grammar and vocabulary, and he gets to practice patience! I’ve had many conversations with him throughout these past two months, and I’ve been left in awe every time. Without knowing it, he’s taught me many lessons in love, humility, and service.
I am blessed and grateful to have found a true friend in Gedisma. As he once told me, he may be black and I may be white (with a tan), but if we bleed, we’re the same color and that’s what counts – what’s inside each person. Some people focus on the outside: one’s skin color, for example, but we should focus on the inside: one’s heart.
Je t’aime mon ami!
Bondye beni w
Related posts:
Recent Comments