5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 ... Bag

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One Month of Food for the Children

5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 ... Bag.  This is the chant of a pill counter. This is how my day ended.  Well, to be honest it ended with a shower and bed, but counting pills was right before that. Counting pills is an important part of the medicial clinics we hold down in Haiti. We essentially purchase medicines in bulk and then pre-package them in one month supplies to be handed out at the discretion of the doctors with which we work. It isn't the most physically challenging work, but it is nessisary and usually is accompanied by bad jokes, mistakes, forgotten counts, and laughs.

Previous to pill counting I had my second Creole lesson from a translator. Not sure about their take on the subject, but I feel I am learning, if slowly. I seem to be able to usually get my point across, even if it is not in the most structurally or grammatically correct way. Only when I switch words like vann (sell) and achte (buy) do I really confuse people. I am still not able to pick up everything being said at "full speed" Creole, but hope to get there at some point. 

The Sewing Class

Before leaving the orphanage today for the guest house and my Creole lesson we met with the sewing class to get that group started.  Classes will start tomorrow and it sounds like the teacher is both knowledgable and strict as he has already scheduled a test as well as informed the students that they will be charged a small penalty if they are late. God speed to this class and may it turn into a skill and a means to provide income for their families. 

You want it moved where?! That was my initial thought when the food for the children was delivered to the orphanage while we were waiting for the people of the sewing class to gather and the meeting to start.  We had just unloaded five or six 30 pound bags of rice and one 50 pound bag of fine corn meal along with other provisions such as beans, noodles, staples, etc.  Now we had to move it up to the third floor for storage. Any guesses what one stupid person decided to start with? 50 pounds never seemed so heavy and I am going with the story that I am not fully climatized as well. By the time I got up to the top I was quite winded and one of the older kids actually helped me get it into the room. But back down I went and after the 50 pound bag the 30 pound bags seemed quite reasonable. It felt good to get really sweaty, well at least in retrospect.  We are not really doing construction this first week like we normally do, so getting out and doing something really physical was a good change.

3rd Floor View

The day began at 7 AM with breakfast. They do feed us well while we are hear.  And I also do enjoy walking down to the orphanage after breakfast as we greet people as we go. I often wonder what they are really thinking as we pass and say hello. I hope they see us as friends trying to help.

Tonight it is raining again and I pray for the people of the neighborhood. I pray they are dry and have enough food and clean water. I pray that when we see them in the morning they will see us as friends. I pray that the men we see sitting out in front of their dwellings most of the day are able to find work if that is what they are looking for. I pray that all the children we see as they head off to school have a wonderful day. Amen.