It's the Little Things

Nothing major happened today.  In many ways it was like many of the other days that I've had in Haiti.  Got up, went to water therapy, worked with Chi Chi, played with the kids, did some work at night.

But, with each of those activities, something little happened that stood out to me.

Nina is a visitor who is with us just for two days before meeting up with her team on Thursday.  She is Chinese, but has been living in the States for the last 15 years.  She first came to Haiti on January 12, 2010--her team's plane landed just two hours before the earthquake.  She has been coming back even with that rocky start.

Well, she came with me to water therapy which meant that three kids could go instead of just two.  Now, for the last five weeks, Alain has cried every time.  He cries when he's in the water, and he cries when he's out of the water.  Today?  Not a peep!  No tears.  Instead we got smiles and laughs and splashing.  He liked it.  I was thinking of not bringing him any more because he didn't like it so much and I thought someone else would benefit more.  He proved me wrong.  It's a good thing I didn't do what I was thinking. Phonsley went again today for the second time.  He, too, relaxed and enjoyed himself.  At one point he splashed with me!  I know these seem like little things, but really, they're huge.

Chi Chi relaxing

Chi Chi and me

Due to traffic water therapy took up much of the morning.  We got back to the orphanage just in time to help with lunch.  Jean-Daniel continues to work on his swallowing--he's getting it!  After that I took Nina with me to visit Chedner's orphanage (that's where cute little Chi Chi lives).  Nina's foundation is interested in sponsoring children to go to school.  They really
want to match families up with a child for a long-term commitment.   I know Gertrude still has needs, but none of the kids at Chedner's go to school.  Nina met the kids, took pictures, wrote down ages.  She really wants to go back to her group and suggest starting small with the 4-5 school-aged kids at Chedner's.  How cool is that! And, she took some pictures of me working with Chi Chi, so now you all can see him again.

Just a couple more little things.

Lovely

As I mentioned, Nina was in Haiti the day of the earthquake.  Her group was evacuated soon after the airport opened again, but she felt compelled to come back quickly.  When she came back in April of 2010, she said that one of the things that she noticed right away was the number of kids flying kites.  She said that she was immediately reminded of her childhood in China.  Most kids were too poor to buy kites, so they had to make them; but, once made, the kites provided hours of fun.  She decided that she wanted to share her kite-flying passion with kids here.  Today, she got to do just that.

Kethia, Nina, and Lovely

Her 12-year-old niece who lives in China came to visit Nina in New Jersey last fall.  She brought with her three kites from China.  Nina brought those kites with her to Haiti.  This afternoon, Nina and I took the older kids to the school yard to fly the kites.  Awesome!  The kids loved it.  Nina loved it.

Kethia flying kites

The last "little thing" took place this evening.  Three brothers--Jameson, Edson, and Michael--will be adopted by a family from MN.  I met the mother last February when she came to visit, and we stay in touch on Facebook.  We decided to Skype tonight so that the boys and the family could talk.  Jameson is the oldest, and he'll be 12 in July.  We were up on the roof for privacy while they talked with the family in MN.  The boys and I were scrunched into two chairs.  During the whole conversation, Jameson sat and held my hand.  I don't know why that touched me so much, but it did.  This boy, soon to be a teenager, still wanted to hold someone's hand while talking with his new parents.  It was so cool to be a part of the conversation with the boys, their parents, and their siblings.  What an honor.

Nothing big today.  Just a whole string of "little things" that make me smile while I sit up on the roof.