Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Haiti, Day Two

Yesterday we went back to the new orphanage to do physicals on the children and spend some time loving on them.  Our team worked well together; we are grateful for a group who is willing to do whatever is needed! Downstairs in the orphanage, Joyce, Heather, and Elizabeth handed out toys to the children and played with them. They also shared hair ribbons and bracelets with the girls, and they painted their nails too. The boys enjoyed tossing balls with each other; it wasn't long before they started a game of monkey in the middle. Upstairs, we set up a clinic. Each child sat with Pete and he examined them from head to toe. Kessy translated for us. He was Pete's interpreter during his first trip to Haiti immediately after the earthquake. Kessy taught me to say, "What is your name?" and "How old are you?" in Creole.  This allowed me to talk with each child as I documented everything. I love working alongside my husband to help him do his job.  Joy gave each child a vitamin and took a picture for the records, and she managed the suitcases of medicine we brought. Almost every child we saw has scabies. Nearly all show signs of malnourishment, and many have old scars. When asked about the scars, the older children reply, "It happened when I was young." We know their scars go beyond the physical, and we pray for God's healing on their hearts.

After Pete completed the exam, each child went to Debbie. She administered antibiotics, played keep away, and showed the way to the scabies treatment area. George and Peyton slathered the children from head to toe in permethrin, which will kill the scabies. The children were wonderful patients. It was a privilege for each one of us to spend time with them.

Mid-day, we took a break. During this time the children went downstairs and were led in a time of worship by their caretakers. They are led in song and prayer. In prayer they repeat their leader's words then pray individually for several minutes. Their prayers are spoken softly but the steady hum of 60 children praying at once makes a loud impression. Following worship, the children ate a hot meal. We then resumed our morning's activites until heading back to the guest house. In all, we treated about 30 children. We will see the others later this week.

Today we are dividing our group between the clinic and a warehouse. There is a shipment arriving from Samaritan's Shoes and we will ready the warehouse for the boxes. Thank you for keeping up with our journey!

Pictures upload slowly so we can only get up two for now. From yesterday:

                              Heather, Peyton, George and Joy on the porch at the orphanage


                                                One of the precious girls at the orphanage

1 comments:

Wendy said...

What you are doing is amazing. Thanks for sharing. You may have already heard but Alex held down the fort this weekend and stepped up to "pray at the mound" in Pete's absence. Of course I teared up when Wes told me! Thank you for the witness that your family has become to mine!