Bonswa Madmoiselle

 Today we skipped morning devotions to go with the medical team to a nearby orphanage. After breakfast we helped them pack up their van, jumped in the backseat, and drove down the bumpy road. It was only 7:30 AM and the sun was beating heavily on our backs, so we readily welcomed the refreshing AC in the van. After a few minutes of driving we came to a small village that was nestled by the mountainside. A quick turn onto a small alley way had us all bouncing on our seats from the rubble filled road beneath us. We wound our way through the small community, barely scraping our way past crumbling homes. As we got further into the village the houses were lined with tall, prickly cacti, framing the road. We reached a metal gate and stopped, unloaded the truck, and entered their small compound. This orphanage was not as desperate as the one we visited before, they had a concrete house which they rebuilt after the earthquake, as well as some tents in the back for cooking. I was also very excited to see they had four small dogs, because I miss my puppy at home dearly. One of them allowed me to pet his face and it was almost the same as holdling the orphans hand. He was so starved for love and attention, and everytime I touched his face he closed his eyes and nuzzled into my hand.

The night before, five college graduates from Oregon had arrived at the orphanage and are staying there for a week. They helped Rebekah and I make salvation bracelets for the children while the medical team was looking after the children. The children were so excited and kept holding out their hands saying "Hey you!" and pointing at the bags. Some of them were pretty sneaky and would take off a bracelet we had put on and come asking for another one. But when we would catch them they'd giggle, so it became more like a game. One of the girls absolutely loved playing with my hair. She untied my braids and played with it, then eventually put my hair into a braid herself. Another little boy taught me how to play a hand game with him, and a small group of little girls started a tickling war. As soon as we walked in the door and the rest of the time we were there, the children we always asking, "Photo? Photo?" and would love to see themselves in the camera. But their favorite part was actually taking pictures with the camera themselves. I'm still thanking God, because its a miracle one of them didn't break it. Rebekah was in her element holding the infants and my mom played with the children, teaching them a song and telling them the story of the Gospel.

After the medical team had seen all of the patients, we left the orphanage and headed back to our compound. That afternoon my mom, Rebekah, and I helped update the inventory of pills in the medicine stock. It was extremely time consuming, and Rebekah and I tired just after an hour. We left to go do a workout and my mom stayed there another FIVE AND A HALF HOURS doing it on her own. She is such an inspiration to me, how she gives of herself and sacrifices so selflessly and works so hard. At first in the orphanages I am shy but she has been so outgoing with the children and so loving. As Rebekah said, "Your mom is SO in her element right now. Its so cool to see."

Tonight's dinner was especially good with BBQ chicken and french fries. My dad stole a mango for us from the kitchen because they have been rather stingy with the mangoes. Which none of us understand because there are like a million here. The compound we stay at is owned by global outreach and is rented out to four other organizations, one who contains mostly kids around our age. Tonight we organized a game of ultimate frisbee and it was so nice to be able to have that bonding time with the others. The heat did not relent today and we were dripping by the time the game was over. There is a pool on site for the workers so we all went swimming after. It was wonderful until a TARANTULA jumped into the water. Needless to say, that was the end of our swimming.

With love from Haiti...

(This is a picture of the boys "room" in the Salem Orphanage we had visited our first day here)