Head over heels for Haiti
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| Keso showing off his acrobatic skills |
We're head over heels for Haiti!
The group (Lauren Beck, Rose Adamson, Andrea
Himmelberger, DeAnna Gallardo, Jim Quayle, and me) arrived yesterday after a
very long travel day, highlighted by one of the roughest flights I have ever
been on. The first leg of our trip was from San Francisco to Las Vegas, and we
bounced our way through some pretty severe turbulence.
We arrived at Maison de Lumiere, received our
orientation briefing, and then made our way immediately to the boys' home to
hang out with the kids. There were many happy reunions! I especially enjoyed
watching Lauren, my daughter, reconnect with kids she loves but hasn't seen for
two years. I also got to spend time with nurses Ashley and Brooke. I formed
close bonds with them during the time I spent at the orphanage following the
earthquake in January 2010.
Today has been a very full day! We went to
church this morning at Port-au-Prince Fellowship. We all got something out of
the sermon. Following church, we went to lunch with a few of the locals at
Epidor restaurant. And it was when we were leaving the restaurant to walk back
to our cars that one of the most random and whacky things I have ever
experienced in Haiti happened. We were between two cars, getting our group all
together. There were people walking back and forth on the street as normal. All
of a sudden a Haitian man walked right in front of us, without a stitch of
clothing on. I saw him, but I waited until he was a ways down the street before
I mentioned it to anyone else. The funny thing was that he was walking quickly
and purposefully, like he was late for an important business meeting. On top of
that, no one on the street said a word. No screaming. No hiding children from the
sight. No police taking him to the station. I wondered, “Does this happen every
day or something?” Crazy!
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| Isguerda, Lauren, and Pharra |
After church Lauren and I got to see Isguerda,
the girl our family sponsors. That was a sweet reunion! I showed her some
photos of Susan and the boys, including a video greeting Spencer and Nathaniel had recorded for her – which she loved! Then Lauren left with Isguerda and
Pharra for some girl time.
The late afternoon was play time at Quisqueia Chapel,
which has large, closed in grounds. It is a safe place to play soccer and
whatever else the kids want to do. That’s where Keso showed off his skills for
walking on his hands. I played soccer with about 15 kids from our orphanage and
the nearby neighborhood. What a blast! The Haitian boys didn’t pass to me very
often – probably because I didn’t inspire confidence in my level of play. It
was girls against boys, and the girls won. Or at least they said they won. I
don’t know who was keeping score. :-)
In the evening we celebrated the 10th
birthday of Yvenel, one of the boys at our orphanage. Any kind of birthday
celebration with the kids is a blast.
We went from there to singing worship songs with
the girls in their house. To worship with the kids is even better than playing
soccer or celebrating birthdays with them. It’s very tender. It also has funny
moments. One of the little girls was sitting against the wall, and during the
final songs, she started going to sleep. Her head kept drifting down and then
popping back up again. Lauren and I loved that. I also helped accompany the
singing by playing percussion on the bookcases with Adeline and Chedline, two
of the teenage girls.
We capped off the night by spending an hour or
so talking with Ashley Hapak, one of the nurses. We gained many insights about
Haiti and brainstormed some new ideas for how we might be able to enhance Child
Hope’s presence in the neighborhood.
It’s hard to pack more into one day than we did
today. It’s almost too much to keep track of! We’re looking forward to
tomorrow.
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