Crowning Roosters, p 3 of 3
Depending on traffic, it was about an hour and a half to two hours from the orphanage to Dr. Bernard’s guesthouse. When the Good Lord designed backsides, he did not take into account such a ride in a tap tap! Thankfully, our lovely accommodations on one end of the ride and spending time with the kids on the other made it worthwhile. Claudette and the kitchen staff served us a hearty breakfast and dinner there each day. Our one complaint was the noise at night: while the guesthouse is much quieter for sleeping than it would be staying in downtown Port-au-Prince, we usually woke up between 2 and 4 am each morning to roosters crowing and dogs barking. At least we had screens on the windows to keep the bugs out, a privilege the orphanage is still waiting for.
On Sunday, Dan gave the sermon at Dr. Bernard’s church and Dr. Bernard translated into Creole. If we had not known better, we would have thought that the duo rehearsed for hours, the interaction between them was so smooth. In the afternoon, we took the HFC kids to play at the nearby seminary. Dan and Bob shot hoops for a while with the boys. Kathy distributed presents and letters that people Stateside had sent for their sponsor child. The letters were eagerly read, and pictures were studied and shared with the group. Marianne met her sponsor child, Nehemie. Bryn introduced them, and from that moment on, they were inseparable. Leclerc organized half the girls into some kind of game similar to ‘Simon says,’ which resulted in much laughter. Dana, Dennis, Audrey, and Cheryl spent time getting to know some of the older kids, and Donna had her hair braided. Simply, a good time was had by all.
From Monday through Wednesday, nine of us were at the orphanage painting rooms, hallways, stairwells, and select exterior walls of the boys’ and girls’ houses. Cheryl learned the joy of painting ceilings for the first time, and finished the day on both Monday and Tuesday thoroughly speckled with white paint! In most cases, we were applying a fresh coat over existing paint, though some of the newer walls got their first coat. We went through 20 gallons of paint over the three days, and bought out all the cans of light yellow that the paint supplier could find! On Tuesday and Wednesday, we also got to spend time with the kids after they finished school.
Dennis spent Monday setting up the ten laptops we had brought for the orphanage. On Tuesday and Wednesday, he worked at Dr. Bernard’s office downtown, cleaning up software and identifying necessary upgrades and equipment that will help Dr. Bernard and his staff to operate more efficiently. Audrey was able to give about a dozen of the New Life Link babies and toddlers a check-up while we were there, and she and Kathy reviewed all the medical records for the HFC kids so that she can recommend which vaccines future groups should bring. Leclerc was a phenomenal asset when it came to communicating with both kids and adults. Some of the people we met spoke English and/or French, but we soon realized it would’ve been worth our while to practice more Creole phrases before we left the US!
There are currently 56 delightful, welcoming kids at the orphanage. Unlike many of their neighbors, they have access to an education (K-12), three meals a day, and the opportunity to learn about God and his saving grace. HFC also benefits the immediate neighborhood by educating over 150 children and employing around 40 Haitian men and women from the community as teachers, nannies, cooks, maintenance people, and washer women. With the continued decline of the Haitian economy and no reversal in sight, Dr. Bernard hopes that all of “his” children will be given the opportunity to come to the States to continue their education beyond high school. He also prays that some will return to Haiti to work with HFC or to start schools, orphanages, or medical facilities in the areas that they came from, with support from HFC if necessary.
It was a blessing for us to get to know each other, and to be able to laugh and share a time for reflection through Bible study at the end of each day. God answered your prayers (and ours!) for our safe travel through many of the people that we met in Haiti, who worked diligently to ensure our safety, at times unbeknownst to us. May God bless you and yours, and continue to provide opportunities for us as a church family to serve in His kingdom in Haiti.
< back to Haiti home page |
