Today was the day the whole mission team visited a very poor orphanage (GPS: 18.615754,-72.238716). But before we visited the orphanage we were to stop at the church so that the school children could sing for us and say goodbye. We also left additional supplies with the school for the children to use.
After the children sang we loaded back onto the truck and we headed off to the orphanage. To get there we had to head through the center of PaP, past the actual port, which is a not so safe part of the city (don't worry everyone is fine and nothing "bad" happened).
Anyway, this is when the curse hit. The cause of the curse is under debate as K says it is my fault and I say it is his. The origins of the curse are from last years trip and my theory is that every time I ride in a truck with K it breaks down. Today we got a flat.
We all piled out of the truck and the driver, translators, and M made quick work of replacing the tire win the spare. And off we went.
The orphanage was destitute. There is really no other way to put it. It is housed in a building that really should be condemned base on the damage from the quake. It consists of roughly to buildings and houses about 60 children.
There looks to be separate sleeping quarters for boys and girls. The beds are wood framed without mattresses or pillows and are large enough to sleep about 15 adults in each of the two areas. I suspect the kids double or triple up and some seem to sleep on the floor. There are some blankets sparsely distributed in the rooms and not nearly enough for all. and to add to all this, while there are 3 cement walls and a roof, the 4th wall is open and just covered with a tarp.
Across from the sleeping quarters is the eating area. This consists of a cooking area, large bowls for cooking over an open wood flame; and the tables where the children eat which are a mishmash of metal chairs and makeshift tables. Base on our observations and conversations with the kids it looks like there is not enough room for the children to eat all at once and it may be that not every child gets to eat every day because of lack of food.
The orphanage is run by a pastor with help by others and their work must be unbelievably hard. Truly great people for what they do.
We provided vitamins and medical check ups for the children as well as some toys. Those of us that lack medical talents spent the day playing with the children and showering them with love and affections.
We finally had to leave and the children sang and prayed for us as a way to thank us; not to mentions lots of hugs on the way out.
On the way back to the compound we hit carnival traffic as Haiti celebrates carnival his week. After sitting in the back of the truck for about an hour without moving it was decided that some of us would walk the last bit of the trip with the translators while some who preferred to stay in the truck stayed with other translators and E, a man of Haitian decent now living in the DR who is the goto guy for everything. So we got out of the truck and marched roughly single file through the mean streets or PaP after dark, during carnival.
The walk was fast paces and the translators did a great job of keeping an eye on us as we weaves in and out of PaP traffic and back to the compound where our hosts keep dinner waiting. After arriving the translators got a quick drink of water and head back to the truck, which arrived about 1 hour later. So, in the end, everyone got home safe and sound.
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