As we walked in I heard "Steve! Steve!" and the boys were scooting over to make room for me on their already packed pew. I had already decided that I would be sitting with the kids, because I had looked at Butch's previous trip on Facebook, and noticed that the kids were in the front, and the work team was in the back. I wanted to be with the kids, mostly because I act like one in church.
We were prepared for a 3 hour long service, typical of Haiti. I can honestly tell you that the time flew by, and I had no idea how long the entire service was. I think Mike felt some pressure to be brief, considering the heat, and the fact that he did not actually have a fully prepared sermon to give anyway.
Yvon was passionate. He has a booming voice, but my favorite part was the children. The girls sang some songs with about 8 in the group. What beautiful voices. I tried to capture it on video, but one of the boys had managed to put my camera in manual focus mode, it may be blurry, but look for it when I can upload it in the land of fast internet.
When it was the boys turn, only 2 sang. That seems to be a similar ratio as our kids in the US, more girls than boys.
As I wrote earlier, the Sunday services were a great healing moment for me, what an uplifting event. After those were over, we returned to the Ryan Epps orphanage, it is a short walk up the road. Dana was walking with Mackeson, this kid is sharp. He said to Dana "Jerry is your Papa?" (ie husband) Dana said that that was correct. Dana asked him if he remembered the ages of her kids and he said "11, 8, and 6." (Bloggers notice - if I remembered the ages incorrectly, blame the blogger, Mackeson got it right)
Then we got to hang out and play with the kids. It was easily the hottest afternoon sun that we have experienced on our trip. We ate lunch and then entertained the kids while Butch went shopping for ice-cream. I did some magic tricks, and although I am a complete novice magician, I was able to do them and entertain the kids. Their favorite one is the one with the Jacks.
Then we got to hand out the ice-cream, and the toy cars for boys, and the hair ties and bows for the girls. The girls were dolled up for church services, their hair was beautifully done, I hope I got enough pictures of them in their Sunday best.
Then we got to go to "Orphanage 46." Butch purchased extra ice-cream and allowed us to go back, with the intention of me taking enough photographs to help tell their story, this place needs lots of help. I got a tour of the facility, first by one of the caretakers, and then by a young boy. I was curious how much land the orphanage owned, and the caretaker showed us the property boundary. The answer is not much. With Matt's help, we estimated that the 46 kids plus caretakers, stay on a property that is 90 feet by 45 feet. That is 4050 square feet. Stop and think about how many square feet you have for your home.
So I was busy, walking around, getting as much information as I could. Everyone else was giving out ice-cream and hugging kids. Hayden was getting to know one of the local Haitian's, and Mike made sure that I took a picture of Hayden with his new friend. Then we had to leave, so we loaded ourselves into the truck and headed back to the Villa Mamika.
On the ride back to our oasis, I was sitting with my back to the driver's cab, drawing the property layout and gathering my thoughts. Hayden was sitting to my right, on a church pew, listening to his iPod. He nudged me with his foot and pointed at his head. Hatless. So I asked, "You gave that guy your hat, didn't you?" and he nodded. Then he pointed to his feet, sockless too. I cried.
When we got back to our temporary home, we had some time to just hang out and talk. Some people wrote in their journals, some called home. Then we had dinner and our evening devotion.
Laura told the story about Hayden to the group, I cried again.
Sunday was a great day to be a dad.