Stop 17. This started out as a "slow" stop. Playing with kids while the water truck was filled. We were excited to reconnect with many of the kids we met earlier in the week. Some of the team impressed the children with superhuman feats of strength by hanging on beams. They are very humble, these members of our healing haiti team (insert eye roll). The filled truck was ready and once we started the hose, the environment got a little more chaotic. Even with rain the previous nights, the need for water was great. While some filled & hauled buckets, others got their hair done by very focused beauticians. The water truck was filled again and we were off to the second stop. Those running the hose were faced with a tough challenge. We had to stop the hose 3 times due to crowd rowdiness. It was a blessing to see piles of kids dumping buckets of water on their heads. We got to witness the benefits of rain first hand, giving the gift of play and relief, something we take so much for granted.
Walking into "For Your Glory" orphanage we were met at the door by a few kids that came rushing to be held. Some were squishier than others. All had smiles. The facility was very nice and everyone employed/volunteering there was welcoming. As we walked through the hallway it opened up to a large playground with a few tables where we chose to take out the nail polish, crayons, & paper. The nail polish was a big hit. A very big hit. It found its way onto not only nails, but fingers, toes, tables, and faces. A few of our more masculine members of healing haiti ended their visit with some glamorous manicures. The older boys were busy playing frisbee, basketball, and soccer and un-impressed by our skills. It was great to see some of the kids getting so much 1-1 time. Once again, we loaded the tap tap with the hope that the kids received as much joy from the visit as we did.
When we walked into the home for Sick and Dying Babies we were immediately asked to start feeding the babies. We were told to grab a spoon and bowl and feed them one by one. It was pretty quiet when we got into the room and surprisingly stayed that way throughout the feedings. Once all the babies were fed, we walked around picking the babies up to give them love. During that time was when it started becoming very hard. After you would put a baby down, they would start to cry but you wanted to make time for all the babies to give them all love so you had to do anyway. We took some outside and rocked, bounced and loved on them. We just tried to give as much attention to them while we could. It was such a amazing experience but so heartbreaking at the same time.
