Tuesday

Bonswa!
Yesterday we forgot to put a blog post up, so I am going to tell you about part of our day yesterday!

Our team split into two groups, one group went to the Home for Sick & Dying Babies and the other group went to Gertrude's orphanage. I was part of the group that went to Gertrude's, which is an orphanage for children with disabilities. When we got there one of the ladies who works there, named Lauren, showed us the therapy room and told us her story of how she came to live and work in Haiti. It was really awesome to hear about how God placed her here even though she never expected it. While we were in the therapy room there were about six little boys who most likely had Cerebral palsy. We were asked to sit with them and massage their arms and legs. I was with one little guy and he loved to be tickled and to have his ears rubbed! After we spent time in the therapy room, we went outside to play with other kiddos who were having recess. As soon as we got outside the kids came up to all of us and wanted to be held and loved on! It was so precious to hold these kids and give them love. For me going to Gertrude's was an amazing experience! I love and have a passion for people with disabilities and seeing that these kids are being given a chance to live and to be loved was so exciting to me! It breaks my heart to know that so often these kids are the forgotten of Haiti's society. These kids have so much to give and it is my prayer and hope that someday everyone can see the amount of joy people with disabilities bring to the world! I hope you are all having a great day and thank you for praying for our team as we are serving in Haiti!
-Steph

The other part of our team went to Mother Theresa's home for Sick and Dying Babies. When we got there we were split again into two groups. One group went into the room of the sickest babies where infants and babies up to three years old were resting in their cribs. We changed diapers, fed the babies, held them and tried to make them smile. The other room had toddlers, many of which had fevers. We played with toys and tried to keep them from crying. We saw many smiles and beautiful eyes looking up at us. The particular day that we visited Mother Theresa's was a day that parents of the sick children could come visit their children in the home. The hardest part of our time there was when the all of the parents had to leave. This meant that ALL of the babies were crying at the same time. It was overwhelming. The next hardest part was putting the babies back in their cribs when we had to leave. They cried a lot then too. The nurses there took good care of the little ones; I was impressed by how incredibly patient and gentle they were with the babies and toddlers. We cannot take pictures at the Home for Sick and Dying Babies out of respect for them. So ask your son/daughter/friend/relative/roommate/coworker or whoever you are supporting on this trip to tell you about their experience when we get back; hearing about it will likely be much more enjoyable than a glancing at a picture anyway.
-Joleen

The next part of our day was spent at another orphanage called La Phere! First we took a tour of the home and many children were wanting to be near each of us! We went into their school room and sung a fun song and did a great dance with the children! Then a craft with the kids and played with bubbles! The kids LOVED the bubbles and wanted to catch them, blow the bubbles, and pop them! There was a energetic group of boys that were showing off their kicking moves some of us tried to join in with them. We ended our time there singing and giving lots of hugs good-bye.


When we got back most of went to be refreshed in a pool near by, and let me tell you it was wonderful! We were served a wonderful dinner and had a relaxing rest of our night! Thank you so much for reading and praying for all of us!

Orevwa!

-Joleen & Steph