Saturday, September 11, 2010
Today was our last day in Haiti. We spent the morning at the hotel. We had breakfast there- I had Papaya Juice again, so delicious; and we went for a dip in the pool. We said good-bye to our missionary friends from Long Island, NY that we met a few days ago. Then we headed to CHO to enjoy the last day with the children.
Martino (one of the pre-teen boys) came up to me to ask if I had a pair of shorts he could have. I brought him upstairs and gave him a pair of shorts and a shirt that my little friend from home, Nicholas Woods, donated. Martino was very excited- and word spread fast; as soon as Martino got back to his room I had many other little boys running up to me to ask for clothes. I brought each one to the room to pick something out and I gave them a notebook and toothbrush as well.
John and I set up the remainder of the clothes, shoes, toys and supplies that we brought with us outside on the balcony so that we could hand it out to the children. One by one we helped each child pick out an article of clothing that fit. A girl named Sabrina was wearing pants with a huge hole in the front, many wore dresses with no zippers, and the clothes they wore were completely dirty. They were happy to receive new clothes.
We also gave sneakers to the children- they were very excited about these too! One boy, Emile, had old warn-out shoes that he could barely even walk in because the whole bottom of the sneaker was coming off. Luckily we found a pair that fit him perfectly!
Afterwards, we hung out with the children upstairs. We Skyped with my parents and Stephanie so they could see everyone. We also had a Michael Jackson singing/dancing party…they were really getting into it! Haha I face painted again for a while because Gaye Paye wanted to be Spiderman again and I painted many of the girls’ nails.
In the evening John and I took the truck out with Joner to go to the market in downtown Carre-Fore. On the trip John and I were talking about how it is so great that we are able to share photos, video footage, and our experience with everyone at home. However, no one could completely understand what a third world country is like until experiencing it first hand. Some things are just impossible to explain- like what it is like to drive or sit on a back of a truck going 70 miles an hour on rocky, dirt roads with pot-holes that feel like your are driving into a valleys or bumps that feel like mountains…. Or Haitian time- where 5 minutes really means at least an hour and a half…. Or picking up a new language/finding new ways to communicate … or the feeling you get when a child living on the street comes up to you and tells you she is hungry… or when the children you become close to at the orphanage want nothing more than for you to be their family because they have no one in their lives to love them. I wish everyone had the opportunity to experience being here… it is a real eye-opener and a life-changing experience every time.
Tonight John and I had many of the children upstairs to hang out in the room. A few girls took my notebook and wrote letters for me in Creole, then sealed them in an envelope. One time I walked in the room to see each girl taking turns being me- haha! They held up my dress to themselves, put on my sunglasses and crown, and were posing for pictures. It was so funny! When most went to bed, we had Malanata and Darlene stay to have a sleepover with me in my room. We made it a special night for them- I painted their nails, we sang songs, took them to sit on the roof, and bonded for a long time. I gave them most of the clothes I brought with me and some other gifts I had brought for them. Finally we fell asleep,
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