Bits and Pieces

I know I'm posting this on the 12th, but it's really about my day on the 11th.  I was just too tired last night to post.  The day itself wasn't super busy, but my cold was rearing its ugly head again.

Starting at the butterfly in clockwise order:
Mimose, Kethia, Shirley, Lovely, Christell

Starting at the butterfly in clockwise order:  Keloke,
Jameson, Wolton, Edson

I did some organizing and sorting for part of the morning.  Volunteers leave supplies here when they leave (which is good), but those supplies often stay in the suitcases or are piled up different places, and it's hard to find what you need.  So, I went through about three suitcases worth of donations, organized them, and put them away in the appropriate spot.  Honestly, I loved it!  It's a task that had a beginning, a middle, and an end.  That doesn't always happen here in Haiti.

The 3-5 year olds!  Start at the butterfly and go clockwise:
Christine, Jonathon, Jackie, Michael, Jephte

The school kids have the whole week off for Carnivale.  Just imagine 20 kids under the age of 10 running around trying to entertain themselves.  That will be life at the orphanage until Monday!  I did pull small groups of the kids upstairs to color for about 45 minutes at a time.  I must confess, however, that the group of 3-5 year olds only got 25 minutes.  That's all I could handle!

I also went across the alley to watch a soccer match for a bit.  It was official, with a referee, announcer, and uniforms.  If they play again today, I'm going to take the four older boys to watch.  I think they'll enjoy it, and they will behave.  

I sent out a lot of e-mails last night to a number of horse stables around Batavia.  I'm hoping to drum up some sponsorship for kids to receive horse therapy.  If any of you are interested in supporting that therapy, you can make a check out to New Hope Lutheran Church, put Haiti Mission on the memo line, and mail it to  New Hope Lutheran Church, 115 Oak St., North Aurora, IL, 60542.  If you know of anyone who might be interested in helping out, please pass the word on to them!

Today will be more of the same:  therapy, coloring, soccer, playground.  Life is good!

Okay.  I wasn't able to post this morning because the electricity  was turned off before I could finish.  Turning off the electricity in Port-au-Prince is different from the States.  In the U.S. if a person doesn't pay the electric bill, the power is shut off to that house only.  In PAP, however, if the city doesn't receive enough money to run the electricity, it just turns off power to whole areas.  None of this house to house stuff.  The city just turns it off without warning.  There is no schedule or rhyme or reason as to when the power will be on.  People just learn to go with the flow.  It's just about time for me to go open up the playground.  The kids know that "at 3:00 o'clock" it is time to play.

Not that it isn't always crazy around here, but it's about to get a bit more hectic.  Two more groups arrived today, and a large group leaves tomorrow.  Then on Friday another group arrives.  I think on Friday Maxo, Jude, and Alain head up to the Cap-Haitian area for their eye surgeries.  Please pray that that all goes well and that their caregivers feel confident about doing the follow-up care back in PAP.