Day 6: Water Truck day and La Phare orphanage

Today in Haiti was our second water truck day, and we were ready for it. As soon as the doors swung open we were swarmed by young children wanting our undivided attention. Ready to serve, our team found their way through, managing to pick up a few stragglers on the way. The kids would always have games that they wanted to play, from slap hands to arm wrestling tournaments a dull moment never passed. Often, kids would also want you to help them carry their heavy buckets of water back to their homes. When doing this you'd get a glimpse of what it was like inside their homes, and the way they lived. For example, today while doing so I got a chance to greet a busy mother with a crying baby girl, After setting the bucket down I made a gesture to the mother asking if I could pick up the child. She gave me a smiling nod and I proceeded to pick up the baby. She looked into my eyes and was fascinated by my appearance. She stopped crying and mirrored the smile that I was giving her. This was my favorite moment of the day being able to ease the stress of the mother.

Our next stop was the La Phare Orphanage. We had plenty of activities planned out for the 17 kids living here consisting of making little toy cars, face painting, soccer, paper basket weaving and balloons. The kids were overjoyed with everything that they could do. A small group of boys rushed to me when I brought out the brand new soccer ball. They were very talented and started a mini pickup game with me. After a short game the boys wanted to join the rest of the kids and do arts and crafts. Surprisingly many of the kids were skilled artists and with the help of our team they were able to complete many of the projects. The best part of the orphanage in my perspective was seeing the smiles and excitement on the kids faces after completing one of the art projects and wanting to show it off to everyone.

After getting back from the bumpy tap-tap ride a little gecko came to my attention.  The speedy little guy was difficult to catch but knowing that he couldn't bite made it a little easier. The little things in Haiti amaze me, how in such a distraught looking place some of Gods greatest gifts of a crying baby or even the chase of capturing a gecko exist.  Today showed me the beauty of finding the diamond in the rough.

~Alex & Emily