Thursday, March 20, 2014
The Beach
Prior to coming to Haiti I of course "liked" both our orphanage's face*book page as well as the orphanage next door which is a special needs orphanage. They are all under the same organization and I love to see the wonderful things they do with the kids.
The special needs orphanage was particularly fascinating to me, being a special ed teacher. I have been amazed how much they seem to do for each of the kids in such a developing country. Two get around beautifully with power chairs, but no one is in country who will/can fix them so they get one and use it til it breaks and move on to another. Many times different Occupational and Physical therapists come to help with the kids and show staff how to work with each of them. And I love seeing pictures of taking these kids to the beach when a visiting team is in country!
I thought about donations for the orphanage before I left and decided it would be great to bring a whole plethora of new or slightly used swimsuits for the kids to enjoy! I found some at home and some at local shops and also put the word out to friends/family. All in all I ended up bringing 27 suits! The woman who runs this home was so pleased when I told her what I had and said that the next Wednesday they were actually headed to the beach with an incoming team, then inviting Olivia and I to accompany them! After passing out suits she shared how excited the kids were to see them which was such a blessing to hear!
Well yesterday was the day... beach day! We had a few hiccups starting out (the rented school bus broke down almost right away) but God was there and it happened in a familiar part of town and the replacement bus was even nicer! The drive was long, but the weather was perfect, the scenery gorgeous, and it was so fun to see the kids (most of the kids) excited to be in the water! :)
The special needs orphanage was particularly fascinating to me, being a special ed teacher. I have been amazed how much they seem to do for each of the kids in such a developing country. Two get around beautifully with power chairs, but no one is in country who will/can fix them so they get one and use it til it breaks and move on to another. Many times different Occupational and Physical therapists come to help with the kids and show staff how to work with each of them. And I love seeing pictures of taking these kids to the beach when a visiting team is in country!
I thought about donations for the orphanage before I left and decided it would be great to bring a whole plethora of new or slightly used swimsuits for the kids to enjoy! I found some at home and some at local shops and also put the word out to friends/family. All in all I ended up bringing 27 suits! The woman who runs this home was so pleased when I told her what I had and said that the next Wednesday they were actually headed to the beach with an incoming team, then inviting Olivia and I to accompany them! After passing out suits she shared how excited the kids were to see them which was such a blessing to hear!
Well yesterday was the day... beach day! We had a few hiccups starting out (the rented school bus broke down almost right away) but God was there and it happened in a familiar part of town and the replacement bus was even nicer! The drive was long, but the weather was perfect, the scenery gorgeous, and it was so fun to see the kids (most of the kids) excited to be in the water! :)
We were so blessed that they allowed Macy to go with us!
Olivia LOVES all of the dogs we see all over Haiti!
This one may have been smuggled in her suitcase if I wasn't watching closely!
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Olivia - 14
Braeden - 11
Liam - 9
Macy - 5
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