We arrived back at the house for a quick lunch and to get ready to leave for our free afternoon.
It was tough saying goodbye to the Haitian staff, not knowing if they would all be there when we returned from our little outing. I asked to have all the Haitian staff gather together for a picture, (which Asher said was the first time he had seen all of them together, except we were missing Rodney, Dr. Vlad’s brother who had just left the previous week with his wife who were granted VISAs to live in Canada). This was a special moment to capture, and I said my sad goodbyes….(yet are thankful for facebook to still keep in touch with most of them) J
We drove off in the vans, first going to CAM, a Mennonite compound just down the road, to purchase some Haitian handmade items. Then we drove past the compound and turned off onto a narrow dirt road leading up the mountain to a secluded orphanage. It was quite a steep mountain, and very bumpy ride up the rocky path, past the small homes, we pass by a woman carrying a chicken by its feet, and some goats. It was so cute to see two little boys run out of their shelter homes, jumping up and down, with smiles from ear to ear, and little hands waving to us as we drove by so excited to see us. Many chickens, and goats were scattered about, and we passed more small shelters, and even one model home going up the mountain. We finally made it to the top of the mountain where the yellow and blue painted orphanage was. At first when we arrived we did not see any children, until we proceeded to talk to the director and slowly the children began to come out of their rooms and places around the small orphanage. I looked into one of the living quarters where there were two or three bunked beds, but with no matrices, only a small mat over the box springs…no toys, bear walls, and only a few clothes and wash tubs hung in one corner of the room.
The children though were so happy to see us! We did crafts with them of foam crowns with stickers, and crosses to scratch designs in. I remembered one boy that was so talented, quite an artist! He drew a perfect picture of Jesus on the cross, such love and creativity shown through the handsome little boy (gason). I pray that God will use him in a mighty way, and bless his life. He was so sweet and just had a beautiful smile. Oh, how I pray someone will adopt him one day, or give him a chance for schooling, and opportunities to pursue his passions and dreams. I pray for all of the children, that they would have Hope, and find love and salvation in Christ, and grow in understanding of Him. **One little girl was just beaming, so happy to see us and get some love and attention; she was jumping, skipping around. She loved to have her picture taken and when she saw herself, she would squeal, and laugh and point at the picture screen, explaining in Creole, “THAT’S ME, THAT’S ME!!” She also love to use our camera, as many of the children did, getting to capture glimpse of what they look like. It was a precious time to spend with the children and be able to leave them some toys, and a suitcase of clothes and shoes, which they would distribute later to the 22 children.
We said our goodbyes and headed down the rocky road back to the main road, to ‘In’s house. He opened the large red gate door as his house is surrounded by a cement block wall. Rocks covered the yard which led to his cement block home, you could see the love, time, and craftsmanship put into his home. The electricity in Titanyen had been cut off since either the earthquake or political riots in January?, yet the wiring still remains in the home with a light bulb in the ceiling with hopes that the new President will turn back on the electricity, as he had promised. Each piece of furniture (a table and chairs, a TV stand, a cabinet) had been handmade by ‘In’ and his amazing metal work skills. In the home were beautiful arches and details in the block work. We met his sweet wife (a school teacher), who is pregnant with their first child. ‘Inn’'s wife was so sweet hugging me and thanking me for the baby clothes I sent for her baby boy (they had had a dream that it will be a boy). As well as I met ‘Inn’’s sister and brother-in-law who where in the living room studying chemistry on the chalk board mounted on the wall. Even though it was quite hot in the house, they were so hospitable to let all 23 of us inside to see their home, such a special couple and experience. We left their home and returned back to the compound.
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