Most people hadn't heard of Haiti before the
earthquake in January 2010. If they'd heard of Haiti, they had no clue where it
was.
For many of us, Haiti is a place we visited in the process of adopting
children. A place where we found that electricity isn't guaranteed, air
conditioning is saved for a few hours late in the day, sodas are warm and
laundry is often done by hand and hung out to dry. Traffic rules are subjective.
We also found that Haiti is a country rich in tradition and culture.
For some, like the Livesay family, Haiti is a
way of life.Today you'll meet Isaac Livesay, age 14.
 |
| Isaac is on the right in the green shirt. |
Q: What name would you like the readers to
know you by?
A: I would like to go by Ike. My real name is
Isaac but my friends and family call me Ike for short. So over the years
I’ve gotten used to it.
Q: How old are you?
A: I am 14 years old. I was born
September 7th of 2001.
Q: Tell me about your family. Parents? Siblings?
Pets?
A: My parents are Troy, Tara. Troy, my dad
manages the ministry, which ranges from projects to finances and
fundraising. Tara, my mom is a midwife and helps deliver babies at the
Heartline maternity center.
I have six siblings, two of which now live in
the states. The siblings I live with
are Hope, Noah, Phoebe, and Lydia.
I do different things with each sibling.
Whenever I want to play a video game, I play with Phoebe {age 9} and Lydia {age
8} but since I don’t like video games that much I usually build Legos with
them. With Hope and Noah I usually watch movies.
I have 3 dogs, two mastiffs, Hazelnut and
Peanut, and one Shihtzu, Chestnut. Hazelnut and Peanut are both girls, and
Chestnut is a boy. Chestnut is always full of energy, unlike Hazelnut and
Peanut who are calmer, but fun to hang with.
Q: What is the most unusual thing about living
in Haiti?
A: The most unusual thing about living in Haiti
in my opinion is seeing how a huge majority of the people here hate dogs. Many
of the people hate big dogs, and will run away from them as if a bear is
chasing them.
Another unusual thing about living here is that we see lots of friends come and go. After so much time together, it’s hard seeing friend leave. Most teenagers our age have friends they have known for years and have gone to school with. Living in Haiti we have had the opportunity to meet a wide range of different friends. To me this a special thing about living in a different country.
Q: How does living in Haiti make your life
different than the average teen’s life?
A: Unlike a lot of teenagers who have a lot of
friends and places to go, we don’t have all that. I have friends but a lot of
good ones have moved away. So the things that I can do here are limited. Once
in a while I’ll go out to eat with my family and sometimes with friends. We
don’t have bowling alleys, amusement parks, movie theatres, parks, skating
rinks etc. We entertain ourselves at home a lot. At home I love to draw. I am very much into drawing dragons. I
also like to dance and play Minecraft with my siblings.
Q:What do you like most about living in Haiti?
A: Living in
Haiti has its benefits, like the fact that I get to visit the beach with my
family, and on school field trips. The beach that we go to the most is
beautiful. At the beach we get to lay in the sun and read, go on boat rides,
snorkel, eat delicious foods, and jump on water trampolines.
Another awesome
thing we thing we get to do is hiking. Haiti is a very mountainous place. The
hikes are sometimes difficult, but they are worth it. It’s peaceful and cold
and beautiful on the mountains.
Q: What do you do for fun?
A: For fun I like to make Lego Brickfilms,
build all kinds of things with my Legos, sometimes play video games a sibling,
take pictures on my phone, listening to music, and take Hazelnut on walks. I
don’t really enjoy playing videogames by myself unless its free roam in Lego
Marvel, or Jurassic world. Whenever I play Halo, StarWars battlefront, Mario
kart, or Smash Bros I prefer to play with a sibling. When it comes to music I
like fast songs with a good rhythm. On car rides or even flights I always have
a playlist I can jam to. I like to jam to imagine
dragons, Avicii, Fallout boy’s newest album, One republic, Iggy azalea {fancy},
and the sound track from Home.
Q: Do you have a life philosophy, Scripture
verse or value you live by? What is it and why?
A: One of my
favorite verses from the bible is “ You make known to me the path of life; you
will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right
hand” Psalms 16:11. I like this scripture because it makes me feel happy and
full of joy.
 |
| Isaac with his siblings ready for school. Several children are taught by two teachers from the United States in a Haitian/mission version of home school. |
Do you have questions or comment for Isaac about his life in Haiti? Leave them in the comment section and we might be able to get him to answer them. :)
You can read about the Livesay’s ministry HERE.
There is a place to donate on that page also.
