Love at first sight

Today was my first full day in Haiti-- we started the day off with pancakes before packing nine people into a mid-size/small SUV and going into town to run a few simple errands.  With Haitian streets and Haitian ways of dealing with things, this was the majority of the day.  We returned to the guest house where things are operated from, and then went to the children’s home and an orphanage to check things out.

I have never been anywhere like Haiti, much less an orphanage.  The children’s home is completely operated with by Chadasha, housing 17 children, mostly aged baby to five years.  I had no idea what to expect, but I didn’t expect my heart to fall to pieces as quick as it did, which was instantly.  The moment I walked through the threshold, I was stopped by a very small boy wrapping his arms around my knees and looking up at me with a huge grin.  This kid had never seen me before in his life, but he immediately ran up to me and wanted me to hold him and love on him.  Of course, I grabbed him up and tried to not fall from all of the other kids that swarmed into the room when we all walked up.  I sat down, which was probably not the smartest thing, because then I was just swallowed up by kids reaching for attention.  I then pulled out my camera, which was an instant sensation.  EVERY kid wanted “une foto” and then wanted to see himself on the digital screen.

We had to leave after only a bit in order to run by the other orphanage—Guerline’s orphanage is not operated by Chadasha, but the foundation does support it.  It is fairly new; the basic story is that there were about 70 kids in a tent orphanage of sorts in another city here, but there was no way to support the children and not really anyone in charge.  After a big storm swept through, the tent was destroyed and the children were basically living in mud, so they were brought to live in the guest house with Chadasha workers until they could finalize getting a house to put them in.  There are a few problems with how things are run, which is frustrating for everyone, but it is a home for the children where they are taken care of.  These kids were just as friendly and excited to see us as the others but were aged more like 5+, along with having many more health issues. 

At the children’s home, there was a girl with an abscess on her head, but overall there were not many problems.  At Guerline’s, there were multiple kids with ringworm, at least one with scabies, and so, so many whose hair was light brown instead of black, a sign of malnutrition.   It is so sad to see all of these beautiful children so desperate to be loved, but I am glad that I am here to make a difference in their lives.  Now that I am getting a front row seat to the way things work in Haiti and with Chadasha in general, I can see how difficult it is to keep an operation like this going, but I am also seeing how important it is that there ARE people who devote their lives to this work.

The interenet here doesn't like to upload pictures, but here's one of some kids at Guerline's.  They are so happy and playful, but they are in such a sad situation.  Notice the red-ish hair in the background and ringworm of one boy's forehead.