Day Five

Day five was another good day for both the Tricote team and M House team. We will keep it short and sweet because our activities were similar to yesterday’s (plus we’re all pretty tired!). This morning half the team stayed at the M House to paint and build the garden and the other half headed back to Mother Theresa’s. The team that stayed back reflected on how cool it was that everything they’ve built has been built without electricity or technology. It’s impressive how much they’ve accomplished in the last two days! (and I can say that since I wasn’t here working on it :)). Mother Theresa’s had its ups and downs today. Now that we’ve been there a few days, we feel more helpful because we know where everything is and know the kids. It was cool to see some of the mothers come over lunch to hold their babies and spend time with them. We’re happy we were able to love on the ones who didn’t have mothers come to see them. The toughest part of our experience today was on our way out of Mother Theresa’s. In addition to the babies crying and screaming as we set them back in their cribs, there was also a mother sobbing on the staircase. We learned that she came to see her baby and found out that he or she had died. The reality of the living conditions and struggles here in Port au Prince really hit us with that experience.

For our afternoon activities with the M House kids, we went with the standard water balloon fight in addition to finger painting, dominoes, and beading. Some of kids have disabilities that make doing these activities extremely hard. Its incredible to see the effort they put into doing them, not to mention the fact that they do them extremely well!

Lastly, tonight for our team time we listened to Madame Dio share her story – her desire to create a safe environment for kids with special needs. She said that in Haiti people with disabilities are often times hidden and left behind. Some of the kids at the M House were literally left on church doorsteps. What Madame Dio and Pastor Dio are doing here is admirable and inspiring. The love we’ve felt while staying here is hard to put into words. It is amazing to see how God is at work!

Daily water balloon fight!