Connecting

Today was our first full day of serving.  I really enjoyed my time at the Home for Sick and Dying Babies. I was able to connect with Laudia, a girl Travis and I connected with a few weeks ago. She was as energetic as ever! She is one who does not like to share your time with anyone else, which one of our teammates came to find out. Towards the end of our time, she was really upset because someone had put her back in her crib, so I picked her up. I began singing to her and, before long, she was asleep in my arms. The tricky part is always transitioning the child back to their crib, but I had a successful transition with Laudia and she was fast asleep when we left. It was extremely comforting to leave knowing she was sleeping peacefully.

Another little one I spent a lot of time with was more difficult. This little girl was probably no more than four or five months old and was so, so skinny. She had an extremely enlarged head and couldn't really engage in eye contact because of it. I leaned into her crib and got as close as I could to her and talked with her, rubbed her arms and legs and sang songs to her. By the end of our time, she was grasping my finger and humming along with me with a sing song voice. It was a difficult experience, but I am so glad I burst through those feelings of being uncomfortable and not knowing what to do and just loved on that little one with all I had to give!

This afternoon, we went to Gertrude's Orphanage and had a blast with the children there. We brought them out back to swing and race around in their wheelchairs for about an hour and a half. During that time, Fabrice, one of our translators and driver, was sneaking up on a little girl and surprised her. The laugh that erupted from her over and over again was priceless. She had us all laughing with her. Maxo was in his prime with Michelle competing to see who could yell the loudest and longest, and many others giggled while connecting with our team. I enjoyed spending some quality time with Christine and Maxo during the time we were there. It is so great to see their entire being light up from the inside out when interacting and connecting with one another. It fills me up to overflowing!

On the way back to the guest house Erika and I rode up front with Fabrice. We had a great time talking about our favorite foods, although he lost me when he told me he enjoyed eating goat's brain :) he said it was good for you, and I gave him a hard time. He couldn't understand why we drink goat's milk, but don't eat the meat. We also talked about him going to school for computer sciences and that he is a troubleshooter, and really good at what he does from what I understand. We also had a Creole lesson and were learning a few new phrases. He is a hoot!

All in all a great first day of serving! I am so proud of the way our girls are jumping in and serving without hesitation. It has been awesome serving alongside them and we still have most of the week ahead of us. God is at work, and I can't wait to see how He will continue to transform us.

Good Night from Haiti!

Alicia