Tuesday, October 17, 2017

DAY 2: SWEET HOME ORPHANAGE/SCHOOL & GERTRUDE'S SPECIAL NEEDS ORPHANAGE

This morning we had pancakes, scrambled eggs, and oatmeal - courtesy of our amazing Hatian Ladies Madam Keslet and Benrlande and a couple of team volunteers. They were magnificent. After breakfast we loaded up the tap-tap to head to Sweet Home, an orphanage founded after the earthquake in 2010. During our few hours there we spent time holding infants and coloring, tickling, and painting the nails of the older children. Before we left we got a tour of the compound from one of the staff, Alex. We got to see the classrooms, bedrooms, and cafeteria with the children tagging along the whole time. We also were shown a building that was started two years ago meant to be an expansion, able to house 50 new children. Unfortunately, construction of the building was halted due to financial complications, Alex was adamant in his requests for prayer.
After the tour we headed back to the guesthouse for lunch before our afternoon adventures. On the way to Gertrude's orphanage, our next stop, we stopped at Fleri farms for a quick tour. We got to see different types of fruit trees and taste coconuts straight off the trees. Then, we left for Gertrude's, this orphanage was created with the intention to serve children with physical and mental disabilities. The children there had so much joy, our visit eventually evolved into a dance party with the children learning new dance moves like the disco. Our visit also involved drawing with chalk, swinging, and wheelchair races around the bus. When we got back to the guesthouse for the evening we had dinner then went to cool down at the pool before our evening team meeting where we saw a slideshow of pictures from the day.
~Kendra & Jazzy