Day 3:(Wed) Home for the Sick & Dying Babies & Special needs orphanage

Today was a mentally emotional day for the team.  The day began with a morning rise for mass at a neighboring Haitian Church.  The congregation was walking around back and forth along their own paths centered in their own praise of Jesus, while a minister talked words of praise, supported by the band behind him.  Taking part in the mass I (Delaney) could understand why they walked around as they did.  I felt very close and in touch with God.  Wandering outside the church, I ended up sitting on a rock by a fence at the edge of a ledge facing the city.  The stream below full of trash did not surprise me due to Haiti's lack of a garbage system.  Every now and then water would flow out of a PVC pipe going into a house crumbling, likely a result of the earthquake.
After mass, our team broke into two and went to either the Home for the Sick & Dying Babies or a Special needs orphanage . . .

Home for the Sick & Dying Babies: When we first arrived to the Home for Sick and Dying Babies we were told to put on aprons for sanitary purposes. As soon as we got inside we jumped right into being with the babies. There were a few different rooms at the home, one was for sicker babies, and the others were for not as severe babies. All of the rooms were filled with a lot of cribs and there were a lot of babies, way more babies than there were nuns. The nuns needed to start cleaning the room so we started to grab as many babies as we could. The guys helped clean the room, while the girls held and played with the babies. Many of the babies had IVs in. It was very hot out, but that did not seem to phase the babies very much. So many of the babies were content with being held, except for the occasional few that cried and threw fits, plus the one that threw up on Sam. It was unreal to hold all of the sick babies and not know what God had in store for them. Once the boys and nuns had finished cleaning the babies' rooms, we put the babies back in their cribs and started to feed and burp them. Since there were more babies than volunteers and nuns it was a lot to handle to try and feed all of the babies and take care of them. More than food and something to drink, the babies just wanted some love and attention, since there are so many of them they don't often get a lot of attention. You could tell the babies just wanted to feel loved because as soon as you picked them up they stopped crying and as soon as you put them back down they started crying again. It was such a blessing to experience the Home for Sick and Dying babies and even though they may not always remember this experience, it will stay with me (Marisa) and I'm sure the others for a lifetime.

Special needs orphanage:
As the tap-tap pulled up, we could hear cheers from the children inside. A majority of the children ( a range of all ages) have cerebral palsy.  There were about 20 children in a small room with a table and some benches.  About half of them were sitting or laying on the ground, unable to hold up their own weight.  Julie brought bubbles and face painting that the children loved! It was so special to see the smiles on their face when they got to play with something as simple as bubbles.  They also loved to sing, or be sung to.  It was remarkable to me when I saw a little boy helping to feed a boy the same age as him.  He could have kept the food for himself but instead he helped out his friends.  It made me question, would I act the same way if I were in that position? It was a very mentally straining visit.  I wanted to help the children, and wish I knew what would be best to medically help them, but all I could do was hold them, and let them play with my fitbit...yes my fitbit.  Two  little boys were obsessed with how it magically lit up when they tapped it.  It is something so small to me that I never imagined in would make their day, and they would spend and hour hitting my wrist to watch the lights change.
-Delaney-

In the middles of the day, our group got back together and headed off to the Apparent project store.  It is such a fascinating program that allows people of the community to gain a skill and get a job.  They also have a daycare which is unheard of in Haiti.  This allows the parents to work without having to give up their children to an orphanage.They make beautiful things out of the most ordinary objects.  For example they make jewelry out of cereal boxes, broken glasses, and Haitian dirt.  Everyday I am more amazed by the projects that are being done to help the people of Haiti.

We ended our night with a very deep devotional.  Our team came out of it so much closer which will help us push each other through the rest of the trip.

-Delaney,

P.S. Stove wants us to say he is the best #monti
P.S.S. We all know Julie really is the best #Bteam