I guess from this point on I have to try to describe the indescribable. There is something so strange that happens to your heart in Haiti. I can feel/experience all of Haiti through my heart. I'll explain...
We woke up at various times within the 6:30-8am window and experienced impeccable food once again. It was a pretty laid back start to the day. We all jumped up as soon as Butch said "time to go" and we loaded up into the standing room only truck. We ventured out into the streets of Port-au-Prince and quickly stopped at the market to pick up bread, water, cookies, and ice. As one of the selected volunteers to go into the store, I got to experience the heart-racing task of purchasing our first items. I was completely safe, but the market can be a scary experience, a biker group stood between us and the mart and as soon we got to the front door, a guard equipped with a gun opened the door and we were ushered inside. Once inside it was peaceful and we could grab cookies, bread and order the ice and water. A quick transfer of materials and the process was over.
We continued on to Ryan Epps Orphanage, a pretty well-off establishment with comparatively good accommodations. We only stopped for a little bit to get tools and a ladder. We didn't even have time to get off the truck.
We drove on to Orphanage 46 (named by Americans due to the inability to pronounce their name, and the fact that they have 46 children that they take care of). When we got to Orphanage 46, the initial view was heart-wrenching. Right when we arrived we could just barely see over the wall from our truck, but what we saw was wonderful. We saw all the children waiting for us and singing! I'm Helga Bogardus' daughter, so you can imagine what little children singing does to my heart strings! We stepped off the truck and these children RACED into our arms. Each of us were surrounded by 3 or more children who attached themselves to us and didn't let go for the next 8 hours. This feeling of their immediate and all consuming affection for us was astonishing. One of my fellow missionaries described it perfectly by saying "I've never experienced love like that before." Now be advised, love ones: you give us so much love. Don't worry. It was a new kind of love that comes from a complete stranger that acts as if they have know you forever and it's as if they are welcoming your return.
Most of us had a specific child that we can say we experience that love with. I personally bonded with two boys named Richatson and Eruso. They fell asleep in my arms and sang with me and played with me, but mostly they held me, as if releasing me would detach us forever. I looked around and saw this happening in all forms with my fellow missionaries. Dana had a child sleeping in her arms for hours, David would play slaps with the young boys, Wesley was literally under a pile of about ten children at all times, Marilyn was getting a wild doo that was akin to the bride of Frankenstein, Lloyd was even carrying a baby on his shoulders.
To give you a quick overview to express exactly why we were needed there , I'll just transpose what I wrote to my boyfriend in a conversation later that evening:
The kids don't wear shoes and they walked on the ground where we found glass, metal, screws, and rubble. Their feet are hardened to this. The children don't have a working toilet that they may use so they use the shower. Most of them have a cold and no band aids, but many cuts. They all share 1 cup to drink from a water pump they have to hand pump themselves. They will drop food on the ground and eat it. Some children have clothes that don't fit or are ripped badly. They were astonished by cellphones and sunglasses.
First of all, this is the state of things post-a lot of improvement. So we are grateful for what the children do have. Secondly, some of these details seem upsetting, but rest assured that it was not an upsetting time. The children were easy to laughter and so willing to do anything that we wanted to do. They were joyful! So very joyful! They found joy in something as little as receiving a bracelet (what a wonderful idea by Tom's daughter, Caylee and her classmates). They found joy in giving a present. Eruso made a bracelet/ring combo with a few beads they had available. This boy with only enough personal items to fit beneath his mattress thought to make me a bracelet! WOW! If that's not Jesus' love, I don't know what is.
We essentially had taken the task of entertaining the kids while our Haitian friends (workers from Haiti) built a roof, painted walls, built a roof, and fixed a door. We had some part in this, but most of the time we took the role of caretaker to the children. Some of us struggled with the need to do/build more, but our job that day was to give some much needed love to some adorable cutie-patooties!
After 8 hours of love, we had to leave. I remember Eruso walking me to the truck and waving to me until we were out of sight. As we left, I felt the immediate need to go back. Tomorrow we will be bringing them clothes! I'm so excited! Till then Bon chance!