Day 6

I woke up this morning in time for breakfast. we had fresh mango again and that was enough for me. The team discussed the plan for today. Tony, our interpreter, Dr. Doria and I began meeting with the adolescents for basic assessments. The purpose of creating the mini psychosocial file was to give the administrative staff, medical staff and future mental health professionals information on arrival that would help them get to know the children better. We met with six kids to ask basic questions about their age, plans for today, future and obtain their current thoughts and feelings about their situation. After obtaining needed information, we asked if there was anyone that wanted to stay and talk and a 17 year old kid teared up when telling us about his earthquake experience and his life leading up to being brought to the orphanage. It was a great response that he brought on himself without any lead and i will meet with him tommorow to work with him on the choices his parents made with his life and how he has had no control of what has happened. The time that we met with the adolescents we were able to begin the process of opening doors to communication with them and discovering the positive aspects of their life. The most important piece of information i want everyone to get out of my conversation with them was when i told them to tell me something about themselves the immediate response i got was "I am a hard worker", "love school" and had they all had career choices and a plan to ensure it happened. Dr. Looby and Dr. Scott prepared information to train the staff on positive and negative behavior as well as appropriate consequences. The childrens home does not allow corporal punishment and administration knowledge on alternative punishment is limited.

I wanted to give everyone an update on Crys the Haitian girl i talked about yesterday who did not want to wear the sock where her leg was amputated and i am happy to report that the intensive work that everyone has done with her today has paid off. I saw her after breakfast and she had the sock on her leg, we all praised her and gave her many hugs of appreciation. This is a difficult stuation as she has not fully understood the reasoning for the sock and Dr. Looby will set down with her tommorow and have her pick out a few different crayons and buy her a few dresses with matching sock for the amputation. I will keep you updated on her story as well as when she gets her prosthesis.

After lunch, the director along with Theodore one of the administrators took the team downtown to see the devastation and the current conditions the Haitian people are living in. This experience was humbling and life changing because of their resiliency to the catastrophe that happened in January. On our ride, we were taken through numerous areas of Port Au Prince and the entire area looked like a bomb had exploded. We went to the presidential palace that was completely destroyed and had the opportunity to see the tent cities that everyone has seen on T.V. When we got out at the palace to take pictures the putrid smell of garbage, urine, feces, rotting food immediatly hit me. We were immediatly approached by many kids asking for money, water, food, etc. and we were instructed not to give them anything because of the potential chaos it could create. We could only stay for about 10 minutes because the crowd of kids kept growing and it was begining to be a safety issue. (for the first time since i have been here i was a little nervous about what we were doing). I took over 100 pictures and numerous videos of the demolished buildings and it is one of the most intense scenes that i have ever seen and although i have pictures and video it will never compare to seeing this in real life. I stated all day that i cannot wait to come home and not only share the stories of survival with my family but with the students at the middle school. It is unbelievable what we take for granted on a daily basis.

I am finishing up tonight by Skypeing my contact in the United States about our success this week as well as passing along information to the team that will arrive on Monday. I promised i would show a kid how to play basketball (not Richardsville style) later and will head down to the orphanage in a few to see if he is still awake. I checked on Mari today to see if there was any progress and have not heard anything from the Medishare tent yet. I continue to pray that God will take care of her and that she can go to Miami for the needed surgery to assist her with breathing easier.

It is Good Friday and the Haitian people are already celebrating the ressurection of Christ. I am again excited about the Air Force coming on Sunday for an Easter Egg Hunt and praise and worship. I am running out of gas and ready for some needed rest and relaxation. I miss my family and cannot wait to see them on Monday evening!! Isaiah 40:29

The last picture says i believe in God and this was painted on just about every vehicle i saw today. The unbelievable part is the Haitian people are still proclaiming Jesus when their entire city looks like the first three pictures. Continue to pray for Mari and the rest of the children in the orphanage!!