A good day but a hard day

Today was good but by far the hardest day so far. We went first to the orphanage in Port au Prince and stopped by unexpectedly but just to see what kind of stove they wanted and get an idea of some more of their needs. We found at least 10 of the young kids were not in school and they told us right away that these kids are not in school because they don't have shoes. But then we saw that there were shoes inside the room where they sleep so we're not sure exactly what that was about. We had a duffel bag full of clothes and shoes and so we went and grabbed them and fitting these 10 or so kids with shoes and some fresh new shirts and shorts. It was amazing how many of these clothes just happened to fit. Amy and her friends back home had made these pillowcase dresses and those are awesome. I need to take those on every trip. They are lightweight and also easy to fit because they are adjustable. While it was great to be able to fit these kids in some shoes and clothes, it was also heartbreaking to see the conditions. I cannot wait until they get new beds on Thursday. It is hard to really even describe all that we see without someone having been there for themselves. Pretty much all of us left there feeling overwhelmed with all that we saw, how huge the needs are there and yet - not sure how much we can even do when we are not there everyday to monitor how things are handled. You can see a big difference between the orphanages we've visited. And of course, one of the big differences is finances - who has more support. But there's also integrity and without having a person on the ground to make sure money is being used where it's supposed to and kids are getting the items we donate - sadly, you just can't always trust that things are as they say they are. I wish that we could. But we can't. We told the orphanage director that we wanted to get a quote from the guy who comes and cleans out their bathroom area. It's basically an outhouse and someone has to come clean it out every so often for obvious reasons. They told Amanda it cost about $400. I asked the lady today to get it in writing from the guy tomorrow when we are not there and then to have him come back on Thursday when we are there and we'll pay him. We don't want him to give us a quote on Thursday cause probably when he sees all these white people, he will jack up the price. And so is the way of many places we visit. So we will see on Thursday when we go what kind of quote there is and what documentation they have to give us to show what the quote is. We did go and buy a nice GE stove for them today - they needed a gas one and I talked to Beverly at the guest house about where to go and what kind to get so that was a huge help. It costed about $550 US dollars to buy a stove and all the accessories such as a propane tank and hose hookup, etc. which I didn't think was too bad. It will be delivered to them tomorrow. So when we go on Thursday - they should have it there. We took a photo of it to make sure the right one gets delivered. Also on Thursday, Sweet Sleep is having the beds delivered. It's hard to even describe fully what their beds are like  - it is a huge need and what a huge blessing it'll be for them to sleep on not only nice new beds but sheets! None of their beds now even have sheets and most of their mattresses are falling apart. The kids there are so beautiful, so precious and so worthy of the love of a mother and father. I would like to see every single one of them adopted into a loving family. It's so heart breaking to see the conditions they are living in. 

After we left there, we went and got the stove and then we had our driver take us to Well Being orphanage. Our friend Daniel did not show up this morning so our original plan of going there this morning went out the window and we decided to go to the other place and go get the stove instead. But then I realized that this same driver was with Amanda and the team the other day when they went to Well Being and I had Sylvestre asked if he remembered the way and sure enough he did. So we headed there and I'm so glad we did. This amazing momma who has taken in all these kids is precious. You can tell that the kids there are well loved. They are currently living in a big Unicef tent but you know what - they have that tent spotless in there. It's put up on a cement slab and there are actually bunk beds in there and the floor was swept clean and all the beds were made (with sheets) and they each had their little backpack hung up next to their bed. They had a divider down the middle to separate boys from girls. I was extremely impressed at the cleanliness of the setting and of all the kids. They are clearly well cared for. But at the same time, there is still much need. But we all got a real sense of integrity from her and the people who live in the house and have opened up their property for these kids to live on it. I asked many questions about how much it would cost to buy land nearby and what their needs are. My prayer and hope is that we can get a church in the US to partner with them and buy some land and build an orphanage. I really feel that they would care for it well and are very honest and deserving of the help. We gave the kids each their own toiletry kit and Susan had some sticker earrings and she put them on the kids - even the boys wanted them. The kids were cheerful and fun! And laughing a lot. They sang us a bunch of songs - their voices are so beautiful! I definitely think Visiting Orphans will continue to partner with them! We also gave them some sheets and clothes too. I know they will go to good use. 

After we left there, we went to the market. It was filthy and tight quarters between booths and a little bit chaotic for 6 people to try to maneuver through. But we did find a vendor that a gentlemen Sylvestre asked to help us with our stuff showed us too who would give good prices and we bought food for the orphanage in PAP and the Well Being orphanage. We got 2 bags of rice, 3 bags of cornmeal, 2 big packages of pasta, 4 big cans of tomato paste, 2 huge things of vegetable oil, 4 rolls of this salami type meat they use in the rice sometimes, a bunch of onions and scallions and 2 huge things of butter. We will deliver half of that to Well Being tomorrow on our way to Thomazeau to spend another day there. And the rest we will take to PAP on Thursday. 

Today was a busy day and emotionally hard. But it was good and we have an amazing team of women. And we are trying our best to love on the children of Haiti and make the best use of the resources we have with us. Please continue to pray for us - for wisdom and guidance and that we will be a blessing to the people here.