Safe and Sweating

We have been without the internet since Saturday. It has been so hard not being able to let you all know how we are doing. I believe it was a combination of the severe evening storms we have had and some technical difficulties at the guest house. Hopefully, we are back to normal until the end of the trip.
Our first team left for the USA on Saturday. Inorder to arrive in time to go through customs etc. they left for the airport at 1:00 pm for a 3:15 pm flight. We heard later that they did not leave until after 11:00 pm due to thunderstorms and never made it back to Michigan until 4:00 pm the next day. Several were still sick and I cannot imagine their discomfort with the scheduling. I am keeping my fingers crossed when we all leave on Sunday.
The four of us were able to go into Cite Soleil on Saturday. Cite Soleil has been deemed the poorest and most dangerous slum on Earth according to the UN. This only happened because we had a contact, there were only 4 of us, and the gang leaders were in jail. As we drove into the area I felt like all eyes were upon us. At one point our car stalled and was having trouble restarting. I did some heavy duty praying... We parked and were given a tour of the area. The children flocked to us. Many with no clothes or shoes. The homes were little more than scrap metal in some places. Passageways were very narrow. I had to turn sideways many times. At one point, as we got deeper in the slum, our contact was approached by another man and we immediately turned around and headed back. I imagine he was told to get us out of there. He told us whites are not always welcomed in the city. Our contact is trying to maintain a school for elementary school children. There is only one secondary school for 500,000 people!!! When we got back to our guest house the Foundation was able to help him monetarily and also with toiletries and clothing for the children. I wish we could of done more. The poverty was unbelievable.
On Sunday we layed low because of the senate elections. We only went out once to work on the final preparations for a water filtration system we installed in our bus driver's home. The UN was out in full force at the polling stations. Roads were blocked off. We even saw soldiers with mounted machine guns on their trucks.
The North Holland Church group arrived in the late afternoon. We are 23 strong. The guest house is filled to capacity as their is another group of 11 as well. There are only 4 bathrooms here so you can imagine how interesting this has been this week.
Monday through Wednesday found us doing VBS with the kids at the Les Bours school. Marie Mell (1st grade teacher from EC) and I worked with the kindergarten kids. We pulled out all the games and manipulatives that I brought down from the EC kids to play with for a small portion of the time while we shared interpreters. It was so fun watching them discover legos, linking cubes, tinker toys, lacing cards etc etc. Glitter projects were again a huge hit. I have several pics of the kids rubbing the glitter in their hair and on their faces. I was told that during "carnival" people do decorate their faces this way. So VBS was just one big party.
While many of the gals did VBS, the guys really worked hard in the hot sun building a wall around a Haitian woman's home. They have really made progress, but come home dirty and exhausted everyday. Great attitudes though.
I got to bring rice and beans to the Haitian woman the other day as we found out that she had been sharing what we had brought her before with the community and had none to feed her family. She had sold her bed the day before just to have something for her children. She hugged and hugged me, but praised God for the provision.
In the afternoons this week we have been visiting various orphanages. My favorite will always be the Sisters of Charity started by Mother Teresa. I was overwhelmed with emotion the other day when I watched a visiting mother nurse not only her own starving child, but bared both breasts to feed another. This is a nutrition center as well as a children's hospice. Families bring their children here because they cannot feed them or they are very ill. This woman had barely enough to feed her own child, but unselfishly shared with another stranger.
This was also the first time I had seen children in end stages of malnutrition. I was unaware that they start to swell and retain fluid. I knew that their stomachs would bloat and hair turn orange, but not the puffiness in the face and eyes. Saw several this time. So sad.
Tomorrow we are going to paint the inside of the classrooms. I am alittle worried about this for me because it is oil based paint and the ventilation is slim to none. Migraines are very real to me and I do not want to find myself stranded at the school all day with one. So say a little prayer for me.
All for now. Hopefully, the internet will sustain for me.
Kim