Saturday, June 26, 2010

Saturday's Post

Plans for today:

Visit Prayer Rock, then go to a local outdoor market, visit one of the orphanages that Mission Lifeline supports, then come back to the village to complete the work we started yesterday.

Today, things went as planned!

At Prayer Rock, we focused prayers on Don and his mother, to give them support and strength to cary on their mission here. It was a powerful moment that started the day out well.

The market was another experience entirely.

It outdoors, near the center of Arcahaie, a local town, and really quite close to the ocean. But, the aromas at this market weren't quite the nice sea breeze smells that we are used to! This was a true 3rd world market--everything outside, including the meat and fresh (?) seafood. It was very hot, very cramped, and very crowded. It was difficult to realize that these people live their life this way every day, and this is their only way to try to survive. We left feely hot and tired, and welcomed the opportunity to visit the orphanage.

Near the market, the Bercy Orphanage was another powerful experience. As we visited the single-building children's home, we were soon surrounded by the children who lived their (which included a 2-month old child who was given up by her mother, and just dropped off by her father. These children needed love and affection deeply, and grabbed our hands, and jumped into our arms. We played games and took pictures, but mostly just held these beautiful children who need so much love. Leaving was so sad--these children who, just minutes ago were showering us with affection, and receiving it from us, didn't even wave goodbye. They were so sad and heart-broken to see us leave, that they just stared as we drove away. Words can't really describe the mixed emotions this visit brought to us.
Genny sharing some love at the orphanage

This afternoon, we finished the filtration buckets, the 2nd coat (about 4 more to go!) of paint on one of the buildings, and the benches for the school.

Our meal, a home-made Haitian meal prepared by the village cooks, was so tasty! Haitian chicken, spicy cole-slaw, corn and pea salad, fresh tomato/sea cress lettuce salad, rice and beans, beets, goat, fried plantains, and fresh pineapple....what a way to end day 4!!

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