Friday found us finishing up our painting project at the school. We had the 2nd through 4th grade classrooms to do, but needed more paint. They ended up having a wonderful accent of darker green since we could not match the original color. We had hoped to paint the office, but ran out of paint again so it will have to wait until another trip.
Many of the our gals walked over to the house to help the guys move brick for the wall. 1200 blocks were laid this week. Although there is still a couple rows to top of the wall, the guys went has far as their equipment allowed them. It looks wonderful and it means the world to the family to have protection and privacy.
In the afternoon, several of the team made their way over to the St. Joseph and Sisters of Charity orphanages for the last time. I had a very difficult time feeding several children as they had very high temps and there were lots of coughs. Even though they were skin and bones their little bodies just did not allow them to eat with their sickness. I did end my afternoon with a wonderful chat with a visiting Haitian mother who thanked me profusely for coming and assisting with the care of the children.
Today we made two trips to the Les Bours school to set up our distribution center. With all the suitcases and 23 team members we just could not all fit. The people were already waiting in the courtyard for us to begin. Thank you all who contributed to this distribution. We were able to give out a tote filled with flour, oil, spaghetti, rice, and corn meal to many not to mention the clothing, shoes, belts, and toiletry items. Anything we had left over will be distributed in Cite Soleil where the poorest of the poor live. We have a contact there named Ghee who has a school for primary age children. He was the fellow who gave us a tour of the slums last weekend. It is way too dangerous for us to handle this project.
While we waited for the rest of our team to return to the guest house from the school we encountered a heartbreaking sight. A woman nursing a very small baby, held an older child between her legs that was hydrocephalic. I do not believe I have ever seen a child with such a large head and I have seen this condition before in Haiti. She had traveled a great distance in hopes that Gertrude, our guest house hostess, would take her daughter to her orphanage. Gertrude was not home. I watched her from inside our gated compound wrap a shirt around the baby to improvise a diaper. Another team member and myself gathered diapers, food, and water to take to her. We found out later that she never made contact with Gertrude. I am not sure if we will see her tomorrow. We can only hope that she does not abandon the child in the streets.
We headed back up the mountain to the Baptist Mission this afternoon. The cooler temps were delightful. Many of the team enjoyed pizza, submarine sandwiches, chicken nuggets, fries, and ice cream. We "OD'd" on this tasty junk food. The good Dutch folk of Holland did their best bartering with the street vendors and loaded the bus with many treasures. As we headed back down the mountains you could actually feel the temps rise, but we are enjoying wonderful breezes as I sit on the guest house porch writing this blog.
This is our last evening here in Port- au- Prince. Hard to believe that almost 16 days has passed since I left Michigan. Most of us will be heading to the airport by 10:00 amish for our 12:15 pm flight to Miami. At this point, we have a 5 hour layover there before we head to Detroit. Should arrive in Detroit at 11:15 pm and then a 3 hour drive home. Pray that we have no delays and get home in a timely manner. If you remember from my earlier post, the first team had a nightmare trip home after being stranded at the Haiti airport for 10 hours.
Thank you for all your support, prayers, and well wishes during this mission trip. They were felt everyday. Once I get home, I hope to have better luck uploading pictures for you.
Blessings to you all, Kim
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