Bob in the Trenches

Out of the entire team, Bob may have had the hardest job while at Foyer--fixing their washing machines. To add to the adventure, they were models he'd never seen made by a little known French manufacture. Let's not mention the extra challenges of language and cultural barriers and the fact the orphanage is powered via solar power.

Here's Bob's rendition of the story:

My day at the orphanage was split between playing with kids and trying to fix at least one of the three non working clothes washers.  All washing was done by hand - clothes, linens, and cloth diapers for 120 kids.

I got into the back of two and found very worn belts and lots of rust.  I ended up getting one to work poorly as a washer and weak spinner.  The other worked well after I pounded on the motor and forced the agitator to turn. After some very load screeches it started to work with a vengeance.  We quickly added water( none were hooked up to water) and clothes and it worked great until it just stopped and then started draining water onto the floor.  What a mess.  I mopped and toweled - Put both washers back together and got ready to leave.

But when I came back, the laundry women had moved the one washer into the tub room and was running a load.  I cut some hose and attached it to the drain outlet- and she was all smiles - although the photo does not show it.

It still needs a new belt but for now it works. Praise the Lord!

Reflections from Cameron and Anna

Half of our team are youth. They've really done well serving and bonding together. I sat down last night with Cameron and Anna to talk about their words from our first day at Foyer.

Cameron's word was #new. This is her first international trip, and her first visit to an orphanage. There have certainly been a lot of #new experiences. She'd also never seen so many unsupervised kids at one time.

Anna's word was #joyful. The happy smiles of the kids is contagious. Anna found #joy in helping the kids do crafts, such as making friendship bracelets. She also bonded with a couple of the older boys. She has #joyful doodling in her journal courtesy of the older kids to take back as a reminder of her time here.

Home Sweet Home

The place we are stating is the America World Adoption Agency Guest House for teams like us and parents coming to adopt. In fact tonight we will be joined by a couple seeking adoption. We are way up on a hill and the views are great. We can see the ocean way off.

We eat breakfast and dinner here.

We have a big room for devotions, meetings and relaxing.

 There are three bedrooms with bunk beds and each has mosquito netting. Because we are told it is cooler now (?) there have been almost no bites on any team members. There are two bathrooms one person bathrooms which is working ok for the 14 of us. Until tonight we are the only ones at the house.

**Composed by Bob**

Bob's View

Today was a day to visit local ministries and do some shopping. Tomorrow will be a day of rest.

This is an email that Bob sent to his prayer team...

This yard in back of the Foyer orphanage is where clean(?) clothes are laid out to dry. The cotton lines were disintegrating. I was driven in a tap tap to over 12 places looking for nylon rope.We finally found a street vendor with the rope. We hung 13 lines and got a big smile as she took clothes off the concrete and hung them up.

The kids played soccer for quite a long time and it was very hot. 

This is the orphanage. The third floor is used as a private place for adopting parents to bond with their new child.

I show these taptaps because they, and the horrible roads, are the toughest part of the trip so far. The orphanage is over an hour from the Guest House. The seats(?) are a narrow wooden bench. It is rough on butt, back and kidneys. God continues to bless us with health, fellowship, and wonderful times with kids. I will elaborate more another night. I am whipped. Thanks for your prayers.

Blessed by Haiti

Just to keep you on your toes, here's another blog where you can here from one of our team members, Jen.

Blessed by Haiti

One Word

Hi! I'm Melissa. I'm the team photographer. My job is to take pictures with the purpose of being a storyteller for those who have lost their voice. You can get to know me more here.

Our first full day in Haiti was spent at Foyer Orphanage. It was a long, hot, sunny day full of giggles, hugs, "bonjoos" ("hi" in Creole), sports, diapers, and crafts. When we sat down to debrief after a dinner of comfort food (good, 'ole American pizza), these are the some of the single words that our team used to describe their day:

#sad

#happy

#good

#joyful

#tiring

#blessed

#questioning

I'm hoping to get each team member to tell you about our day and why they chose their word. Stay tuned...

In the meantime, meet some of my Foyer Friends.

First Day Photos

Click here to see photos from Thursday.