Day 3

Woke up early this morning to the smell of burning trash, got ready and went to breakfast to meet with the team for morning debriefing. The males and females decided to split up today and begin separately addressing individual needs of the children. I spent some time talking to the director last night and she informed me that a majority of the kids who they recieved after the earthquake were trapped for hours and many still recovering physically. There is much work needed here for mental health services and recently learned that Haiti has around 12 psychiatrist nationwide. In a country with millions of people, you can see that mental health services are at the bottom of the list. Currently, there are children at the orphanage that would greatly benefit from seeing a psychiatrist and at this point we do not forsee that happening. I check in daily with our contact in the United States and as a clinical social worker, mental health and psychiatric services are on the top of my needs list. As we continued with our assessment today, we found ourselves sitting in an english as a second language (ESL) class and participating with the children who attended. The team of males talked with Mon Tons (women hired to watch after the kids, similar to nannies) and nurses and the staff doctor at the on site hospital to gain information on the specific physical disabilites the children had and essentially found out nothing. We had lunch on our own and did some group work with seven children that revolved around their thoughts and feelings prior to the earthquake and the aftermath. Thank you Franklin-Simpson Middle School for providing the art for the children today, they were very appreciative and wanted to know if we could do it again tommorow. I am finished with dinner and getting ready to head back over to where the children are staying to play soccer, ultimate frisbee, and basketball. I spent an hour with the director last night and gained some insight on the current government issues as well as the 3-5 year hold on adoptions in Haiti!!!!!!! There are thousands of kids needing good homes and because of bureacracy and red tape the children will have to go another day without a permanent home. I am at this orphanage for a few reasons but the most important is to love on these kids and show them the love of Christ. I have heard praise and worship music all day and will be attending a devotional tommorow evening at 7:00. One last thing our team was asked tonight if we wanted to go to one of the tent cities and and see how the Haitians worship Jesus. She stated that she went two nights ago and there were over 10,000 people there. I have tons of pictures and video and limited to what i post, look forward to sharing them when i return. Thanks again for the positive feedback, prayers and support. Psalm 62:1-2 and may the people of Haiti have a clear focus on Jesus and what he has done for the country.