You know, I had made up my mind that I was going to try really hard to memorize the 11 children's names before arriving at the orphanage. I just thought it would be really cool for them to know that they are important enough to do that for. It has to do with dignity instead of being labeled simply a orphan that people are coming to meet. So, I had an information packet that had been given to me. It had each of their photos on it. I cut out all the photos and attached them to 3 x 5 cards with their names below. Then, I made sure to make a note of the ones who were siblings or even siblings to some of the Haitian ladies working at the orphanage.
I studied and studied them on the plane. I pretty much had them I thought except for 3 of the boys who are around the same age and looked so similar. I was determined to be able to arrive there, not have anyone introduce them by name to me and be able to tell them their names when I walked in the door.
The fiasco at the airport threw me off a little until Luz arrived to meet us there to help get all the medical luggage delivered even though we were renting a SUV as well. When I rounded the corner of her car, there was Roberde. Just like his photo. I went to hug him. I knew he loves to build things like when he took banana leaves and built a helicopter out of it and then added a mini battery and actually had the propeller rotating around so I knew he was smart. But what I didn't know was how tender and sweet he was. Almost 17 years old and one of the kids there whose mother had died and had been sold off as a child slave. He later told a few of us his story and just watching his expressions and telling it in such a tender voice made me understand why he is so quiet. I made up a questionaire for each of them so I can use it for future sponsorship information. One of the questions was if you could ask God for anything you wanted what would it be. His answer,,,that God could help the orphanage to grow bigger and stronger and that his country will be transformed into a better place for all people...
Ofcourse we didn't first arrive at the orphanage, but actually many places before that. I was fascinated by the tent cities, the incredible medical clinic and all they had done to get ready for the grand opening but I really was excited to get over to the orphanage and finally meet the kids.
When we pulled in, they were only a few children outside in the walled area. You have to remember that almost any house of any size beyond the tiny shacks have walls around them with gates to stop looting,kidnappings, etc. I knew this in advance or else it would have made me very uncomfortable. Then, the other children started coming out after a few moments. I told them to keep their names a secret and instead make me say their names.They seemed to like this. So, here goes...
There are 4 girls and 7 boys. I knew the girls would be fairly simple. The littlest is July. She is 4. Easy for my bad memory since she and I shared the same name! They are all small for their age and that is mainly because of the rampant malnutrition from their younger years. She is a cutie! Has this HUGE smile with those little teeth she clenches forward when she smiles so you see her teeth. She loves to laugh and loved Anna.She is very curious and wants to read and learn when adults are willing to work with her.
Then there is Stevenson. He just turned 8. What a fireball. I love him too. He is clearly very smart. They said they have had to keep him at the orphanage for awhile because the teachers couldn't handle him and so Mommie Kettley who works there with the kids has been homeschooling him. I just think he's bored because he's so smart. At home and school. He needs lots of stimulation and it's hard when there are so many to look after. I will later share photos with you of the most incredible kites that Stevenson made both he and I out of banana leaf veins, string and a garbage bag. Sooo cool and they do fly because we did it together. He has the greatest laugh in the world and is quite the actor!
Then there is Widlyn. She is 7 and is one determined and head strong little girl but also very sweet. She needs alot of positive reinforcement and things to keep her busy. She LOVES to talk and it has affected her work in school and her grades lately as well. She is more distant toward affection until she gets to know you but that is to be expected considering her past. I also think she lives sometimes in the shadow of the two older girls because she falls in the middle of the girls group and the two older ones excel in things that I don't think she feels she can ever do as well in. She really just wants to be loved and is craving that in any way she can think of in her own little mind. Alot of the kids are behind in school because of the ways they were living in their previous orphanage before our teams became involved.
Francois is just a great kid. He's 8 years old and not hard to deal with, pretty easy going and loves hanging in a threesome with Rogere and Jeff Allan who are all around the same age. I would say that Francois knows how to hold his own pretty well when the wrestling matches and competitive arguments come out between the three boys. He has a beautiful big wide smile and likes to write.
Rogere is just a piece of work! He is 10. The kids did some drama skits for us on two different nights and Rogere was hilarious! He could imitate others there so well. He's funny because there are times he can be very deep in thought about things and then other times he is just wide open and all boy! He also knows quite well how to push some of the others buttons but a really sweet kid. He is also the brother of Mafouna who is 12. They look just alike and both have this sense of wanting order in their lives with everything they do. It comes from not having it in their lives before. Rogere can also throw a winded moaning temper tantrum for long periods and has a lisp. I taught him a little lesson the other day when the whining wouldn't stop. I got out my cell phone with the video recorder and secretly video taped him so he could hear himself. When I played it back to him he was shocked but also I think a bit interested in how I managed to do that. He had never heard himself before and I explained to him that when he does that, it does nothing to help him since the Mommies and all of us would not be paying any attention. I gave him other ideas instead of ways to work off his frustrations quietly when he gets upset. Who knows if it may help but he did pay attention atleast for the moment.
Jeff-Alande is a sweet 8 year old. Very quiet. He is very careful with everything he does and takes his time. He wants things just so but not in a picky way. What we didn't know about him when we got there was how badly he was feeling. By day two he was laying on the ground under my bench and then began crying. I immediately told the mommies his temperature needed to be checked and he had a fever. He was crying from severe stomach cramping so I alerted Paul to look at him even though Paul and Andy were not staying there but at the clinic. I suspected appendicitis and do did Paul.It turned out not to be that but, sure enough, after giving him liquid tylenol and some lemonade for sugars he needed, he proceeded to throw up later that evening right when Paul and I were attending to him all over his bed. I felt so sorry for him. Paul became Jeff's guy to love because Dr.Paul had saved his day and made him better or so he thought lol!!
Mackson is 14 years old and one of my favorites even though I really try to not have favorites. He is very quiet also until you act interested enough in him and engage him in conversations and then he really warms up. He loves art and loved alot of the reference books I brought them. I also gave the two oldest boys quietly a small short wave radio which he loves. He is clearly bright and just needs encouragement and a pat on the shoulder occasionally to be told he is doing a good job. Mackson also has a sister Christiana who does the laundry and helps clean at the orphanage. The mommies are all very grateful to have work and are never treated as less than anyone else there. They are told how much they are appreciated and do work hard. His sister Christiana is a whole separate interesting story. As I write this, someone who visited with the team and I cannot mention who right now wants to adopt one of her children who is 4. He came over one day and is a sweetie. She cannot keep him and was ok with giving him up.The father of the boy though wants to be able to see his son however often so I don't know how that will go. Another team member is interested in adopting her baby she is carrying now. Again THAT father will have to give permission but she is open to it. A white US couple not associated with us at all approached her from somewhere else about adopting her little 1 year old girl but THAT father would not allow it. Christianna goes through relationships for survival and also knows she cannot keep her children and be able to hold a job as well, so we shall see...
Mafouna is a very tender hearted but walled in girl. She was sexually molested repeatedly before our teams came on the scene and the poor thing struggles to ever trust anyone or be able to open up.I could never blame her for feeling this way.She is so pretty and she was very thoughtful and caring to me always. Anna and I never once asked or wanted anyone to do this, but she and Marie-Victoire (the oldest girl) set up our mosquito netting by tieing them up with their hair ribbons and perfecting the bed sheets we had put on our air mattresses so they looked more neat for their standards. I was very impressed! Although Mafouna is only 12 she looks older which I think works against her as far as what others expect from her and her maturity level.
She is a very sweet girl and again, just like her brother Rogere, craves order and cleaniness because of her past.
As I mentioned, Marie-Victoireis is the oldest of the girls. At first, she comes across as a little tough but kind. Of all the kids I had no idea the special bond she and I would later share. When we left yesterday, she would not stop crying and it was extremely hard to see her this way knowing I was leaving. We just kept hugging and I wiped her tears and told her to be strong and how proud I was of her. She asked special permission from Luz to be able to write me letters through our teams when they go back and forth and then she let me know what she wanted to do. I was so deeply touched and still am... Marie-Victoire brings order to the kids. She is very mature and knows what she wants in her life. She was also a child slave and shared stories of her past. She would wake up early, crochet for awhile before breakfast or getting ready for school. Sometimes, she loved to make jewelry also before school. She is a letter writer and I found out late yesterday she had also written a long letter to Andy and given it to someone to give to him. Nothing bad or wrong just about how much she likes us being with her and asking when were we going to come back and see her. She says she wants to not get married until she turns 40 because she wants a man who will treat her right and who she has known for a very long time who she can trust. She wants to become a nurse. On the last day there, Pastor Ramon and his wife Luz were kind enough to take us all somewhere to eat outside of where we had been working.Each child had to be assigned one adult to be with always. We had to hold hands and never let go. There are kidnappings that rarely occur but have happened with orphans from American orphanages. I picked Marie-Victoire. We had such a special day that day and she told me how funny I am. I don't know about all that but we had a blast together!
Last is Rodlin who is 11. It was really special actually because his birthday fell on the week we were there so we all got to celebrate with him. Rodlin's favorite thing to do there is help wash the car. He really enjoys it and wants it just right. The car looked all shiny and clean when he was done! Rodlin is another one of the boys who I think is very bright and gets bored and then finds ways to bug the others because he has too much time on his hands. Rodlin probably runs in second place for the best whiner but it's only because he and Rogere have helped each other perfect the style of whining lol! Seriously though he is a really cool kid and I enjoyed being with him and watching him when I was teaching them about the solar system or the organs of the body and his eyes just showed me how inquisitive he really is.
These children have been through so much and are survivors. It is really hard on them when so many teams come through and then leave them. They have wonderful mommies that help them and Pastor Ramon and Luz and Carmen back here who has spent so much time with them. They also have a very solid and loving dad figure in Dave who is the house father who came from here and agreed to live there permanently to protect them and also Johhny from SC at Hope Point Church who has known the children longer than any of our teams. He has been involved since the first orphanage needed bailing out of finanacial problems with the previous woman in charge. What he wasn't aware of was how bad conditions were at that first orphanage because he trusted the woman. This is very common in Haiti. Orphanages are set up everywhere, money is being sent to help keep them running and in the mean time the conditions are completely unnacceptable and the children are not being properly cared for at all. The money in the mean time is being sifted out into the director's pockets, etc.Johhny comes across as this big bad business guy who looks all cool but deep down he is such a total teddy bear for those children with a huge heart and loves them very deeply. He comes down to Haiti alot and wants only the best for them just like Pastor Ramon and Luz and all the others.
You know, we all love the kids in our own special ways but what the kids really want more than anything in this world, is a family of their own where they don't keep losing people they fall in love with and they can get the special one on one time they need to bloom. Right now, the orphanage is not in a position to handle adoptions but maybe someday they will. Everything in Haiti takes 10 times longer to get approved and payoffs are high.
I would warn you of something. If you choose to ever look up Rescue Children Orphanage, go to Facebook to find it, not on the web. The site on the web is NOT our's but from the previous woman who gave these children up but yet refuses to delete this site. It is complicated and illegal but is being dealt with through the attorneys. People come from all over to find opportunities to take advantage of Haiti and it's people. It is wrong but is rampant throughout their country. Payoffs, bribes, threats, voodoo killings for wrongs, all kinds of things. But what you need to focus on is not the wrongs but on the incredibly resiliant people of Haiti who continue somehow to keep their faith, go get all dressed up for church in their only nice outfits early in the mornings on Sundays, sometimes 3 or 4 people riding on the back of one moped or motorcyle to get there just to go thank God for what they have. While some here make every excuse known to man of why we can't get up in time to go or are too busy, our friends in Haiti make it their number one priority....
If we have one bit of sense in our heads, we should all reflect on what this really means. It' so much more than just about going to church. It's about understanding that no matter how bad things get we can't give up. Next time things seem really bad, think about the little tiny girl Anna saw with a burned face from the boiling water during the quake when it hit her or the women with no arms or the children begging just to eat. I gave one a coke I had. Too bad. I didn't care what anyone told me to not give it to him. I have never seen a boy drink a 12oz coke in 10 seconds. If that was the only sugar he could get to sustain him since he had no food, so be it. And you know what, he said "God bless you Madame" when he finished...
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