This was as close to a beach we came, and it was thanks to a well timed potty break (NOT requested by me). Such a beautiful country and great to get back to visit.
Had to throw this in. Just an average trip home from the market...
Village #1 that we got to visit is a newly formed village with an old GO Project partner. The kids were so well behaved (except the one that attached himself to Jenna) and the land was plentiful and green.
In general, I sat in the shade and snuggled with babies or played with some of the younger kiddos while others ran around with the older kiddos. So far I have only gotten one comment about how white I am upon return from a carribean island....
Girls will be girls, and these girls LOVE getting their nails done. Some of the Mommas got to share the love at this village and were treated to a pedicure by one of the team members!
The visit ended with a beautiful serenade from the kids....
As well as a little game of catch :)
End of day 1 with a quick visit to see the Source De La Grace East kids for soccer.
Also had to throw this in. The picture on the left is August 2010 with baby Kimberly and on the right and March 2012. She is now a walking and talking toddler!
Day 2 of playing with kiddos and we started at Pastor Calix's village. Pipe cleaners were all the rage!
As was doing the brave white girls' hair. I am not too sad that my hair was too short to braid this time, maybe next time girls!
This village also had some itty bitty babies. The stories of malnourished 2 month old with skin falling off and orange hair to flourishing 10 month old were great to hear and see!
A quick rinse in the irrigation canals after some intense soccer games out in the field.
The 2nd half of the day we got to visit Pastor Kesnel's Village. We were greeted with a concert complete with drum accompaniment. One little one was singing along, but didn't want to fit in with the crowd :)
The little Princess of the village
Amazing what things are the same no matter what the culture. Open a bag of candy and you make kids instantly happy! My favorite part was watching the older ones look out for the little ones and share their candy with them.
Also, please note the bare bum on Jenna's arm. Diapers are too expensive and it is a pain to keep washing pants (????) so much easier to just go without right? There was a whole crew of 1-2 year old bare bummed boys at this village, pretty stinkin cute!
Face paint and glitter... wonder how many days that stayed on this guy!
Day 3- Off to church and one last orphanage. 23 weeks pregnant and baby did great in Haiti!
Pastor Moise's church where we worshiped 1.5 years ago in a drastically different building. Outside and inside views from August 2010.
Outside and inside views March 2012. This was one of the projects Tate was working on the design for when he was traveling back and forth from Haiti. So fun to see it go from plans to actual building and they did a great job getting it finished so quickly!
They are also working on a new orphan home and school on the same lot. Very small space in downtown PaP but they are making it work!
We waited for a "quick 5 minute" meeting and got to hang out with some of the kids that go to the church.
In the afternoon we went on a wild goose chase through PaP to go see a Special Needs Orphanage that is run by a Haitian woman with a vision. She has built a few hospitals in Haiti and we got to tour one of them. The hospital was out of date by American standards but AMAZING for Haitian standards. So neat to see.
After a short but frightening ride from the hospital, we arrived at the Special Needs Orphanage and got to hang out with some very special kiddos. These kids were well taken care of & happy which was so great to see. In a country where children usually aren't valued, children that are viewed as a burden because they can't contribute to the family are definitely not valued. There were 26 kiddos at this orphanage who were very blessed that God gave a Haitian woman a vision to care for and protect "the least of these".
This guy was feisty! Trying to bite fingers and laughing so much at his funny game.
That extra 21st chromosome is the same in all countries. This girl was super sweet but super sassy! She acted as our tour guide trying to tell us who everyone was.
Try as you might, but you just can't take the speech therapist out of the girl!
Beautiful view from the top of the school on the typical orphanage side.
One last soccer game at Source de la Grace East.
Many things in Haiti have changed and many have stayed the same. Some for the better and some for the worse. I could go on and on but I am not much of a writer so I won't attempt. God is doing some amazing things in this country and it is great to see little pockets of hope, many of them hidden behind the smiles of his precious children.
Thanks for sharing a piece of your heart with us. So often we don't get to hear or see updates on ministries and lives we've been a part of - what a neat experience for you to see first-hand those encouraging updates! And the church looks great!
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