Gray Day

Today was the first cloudy day that we've had since I arrived on January 23.  It felt good, except for the humidity.  A storm was brewing all day, and it's just starting to rain a bit.  I'm up on the roof enjoying the cool breeze and a few cold raindrops.

Even though the skies were gray, it was a good day.  I slept through church.  Again.  Of course, if church didn't start at 7:15 I might have better luck getting up and getting there.  Skipping church did give me time to do therapy with all the special-needs kids for a couple of hours, so it worked out well.  The small group here from Quebec is amazing.  They are here solely to work with the special-needs kids, and they jumped right in with working with the kids.  It was great to see so many of them get so much 1-1 attention.

Late in the morning a bunch of us went to the Missionaries of Charity to check out one of their oxygen compressors.  It couldn't be fixed there, so we brought it back to Gertrude's.  We are struggling to maintain adequate oxygen for Mickey, and Mary and Marie suggested we look into an oxygen compressor.  We really need to find one that could be donated and sent from the states because they are just so expensive. But, if we could do that, in the long run it would be cheaper to have that than paying to refill oxygen tanks.  The downside is that we would need to run the electricity all the time.  Please pray that we can take care of Mickey as best as possible here at home.

On the way to the Missionaries of Charity, I rode in the back of the truck.  Another first.  Reminded me of when I was a kid riding in the backs of the trucks on the farm.  I know in America it's not considered safe, and it's probably not in Haiti either, but it's pretty standard practice here.  And it's fun!

Today pretty much was a day of play.  Water balloon fight in the afternoon--led by the Canadians.  Once the  balloons ran out we turned to buckets of water.  Now that's the way to have a water fight!  Then we colored.  Then we took out the sidewalk chalk and drew all over the front driveway area.  We have a couple of "crime-scene" body outlines there, which the kids are very proud of.  And I think most of the kids are on their 3rd viewing of Shrek at the moment.

If you have the chance, check out the Missionaries of Charity on the Internet.  They are a part of Mother Theresa's order, and the work they do is amazing.  Their compound on Delmas 31 is incredible.  It had to be rebuilt after the earthquake, so it is all brand new.  The one on Delmas 31 is a children's hospital.  Two rooms are dedicated to children who are malnourished, who have TB, or who have AIDS.  I wanted to stay today, but the visiting hours are only from 10-12 in the morning and 3-5 in the afternoon.  Each of these babies needs nourishment, medical treatment, and the human touch.  Because of the work these Sisters do, the children under their care will most likely survive.  Not all the children in Haiti are so lucky.  They also have separate rooms for the children who are abandoned at their gate by parents who can't afford to take care of them.    The Sisters also run a hospital for the sick and dying in San Fil.  That one is for adults with TB and AIDS.  Again, amazing work being done there.

That's about it for tonight.