After we took the kids to school, Dorothy left to run errands. I stayed back at home, and I didn't know what to do with myself with all the big kids gone! I tried to help out by drawing up water from the cistern. That is quite the job! It is a huge job to fill enough buckets of water to bathe 27 people, wash clothes and cloth diapers, wash dishes, and flush the toilets. By the time I finished, it was only 9:30 and it was already 85 degrees outside. So much had happened already that it felt like the day should be over, ha! I spent some time with the kids downstairs until it was time for me to walk Richardson to his school. At noon, I walked with Miss Audette to get the four kids at their school. Miss Audette speaks French and Creole, but she only knows a few words of English. We were both trying to talk on the way to the school, but it was difficult. We ended up laughing and just giving up. Later, she told me that she will try to help me learn Creole while she is here working (at least I'm pretty sure that's what she said, ha!).
Dorothy got home shortly after we brought the kids back from school. We ate lunch and then decided to pick up a few groceries at Eagle Mart, a grocery store that I had not been to yet. When we pulled into the parking lot, a man was parked next to us, and I could tell that he was starring at me the entire time. I tried not to make eye contact, but it was one of those situations where you can just feel the person starring at you. We went into the store, and I hoped that he would be gone when we came back out. Unfortunately, he was not. Here, it is typical for the baggers at the store to help you put all of your bags into you car. So, a young man came out to help us, but Dorothy's key fab was not working. It doesn't help that her new truck has the most intense anti theft system EVER, and it is not uncommon for us to set it off ourselves at least twice a day. So, of course the truck alarm starts going off with the creepy man starring at me from the car, an armed guard in the parking lot watching us, and the grocery store employee chuckling the entire time, not to mention the fact that we are white so we already stick out like a sore thumb. The man in the car rolled down his window and was making kissing sounds at me. Every time that Dorothy would finally get the alarm to stop, it would go off again. The combination of everything had me a little flustered by the time we finally got into the car, but Dorothy made sure to give the creepy man a few dirty looks for me as we pulled out of the lot.
I am still getting used to seeing armed guards at every store. The armed guards here do not have hand guns in a holster like in the U.S. They have big rifles that they hold at their sides or across their chest. It can sometimes be a little bit intimidating. I try not to let fear overtake me, but sometimes it sneaks in. It is obvious that as a young white female in this country, I am bound to draw attention. It can sometimes be a little difficult to get the stories out of my head about the kidnappings that are becoming more common, the rapes, and the shootings. Just a few months ago, an American man from our church here was shot in the leg while at a bus station downtown. I think that if I could actually speak Creole or French, I would not be as fearful. Keep in mind that when I say fearful, I guess what I really mean is leary. I don't really ever worry or get scared, but I know that this is a dangerous place. I also know that God is with me every step of the way!
In the afternoon, I worked on scraping paint off of the concrete wall that surrounds our property. Hopefully soon, I will be able to repaint it for Dorothy. It's all part of the “Fix up the house to keep the landlord happy” plan. Right now, all we have is a wire brush for scraping. I'm hoping that we can find a real paint scraper at the hardware store tomorrow. There is a lot of work to be done around here. Dorothy would also like me to try and mix up some paint that she has to make a light green color for the living room and repaint it. We need a man around the house, ha!
In the evening, kids came over and told me that Rosa was crying. We determined that she ran into a table and hit her leg. It was hard to see if there was a bruise or mark on her leg because of her dark skin. So, we gave her an ice pack and a little TLC. She stopped crying and nodded yes when we asked if she was ok. So after a few minutes, I went into my room. Five minutes later, she came into my room crying again. I picked her up and took her into Dorothy's room to rock on the lazy boy. Rosa is the most precious little 5 year old. She has HIV and was sexually abused as a young child. It breaks my heart to even think of anyone hurting this precious baby. In fact, I'm starting to tear up just thinking about it. Because of the abuse, she has been extremely shy most of her life, and is very uncomfortable around strangers. She seems to have taken to me though. I can tell that she needs so much love to break past everything that has happened to her. While we were rocking, I got the vibe that something else was wrong other than her leg. She did not want to get down or leave me and when Dorothy and I asked her questions, she would not talk or even nod her head. I noticed that she was sweating a lot and seemed to have a fever. When we walked to my room, she was definitely walking funny (but not like a hurt leg). While was holding her on my bed, she started to cry again and said she needed to peepee. Dorothy and I talked about it, and think that she may have some type of urinary or vaginal infection. We gave her some Tylenol and antibiotics, and then we laid hands on her and prayed. She had to go to the bathroom several other times within the next hour and seemed very timid and scared each time. I put a movie on my computer and sat with her on my bed. Eventually she laid down with her head on my chest and I think fell asleep. As I was getting up, she sat up and began crying again. I picked her up and noticed that she had wet the bed. She told me she needed to go to the bathroom again. I changed her out of her clothes and put some clean blankets down on my bed. She didn't want to leave me so I told her that she could sleep in my bed, and I would sleep in the other bed next to hers. I tucked her in, and she finally fell asleep. The entire time I was taking care of her, my heart was just breaking for this timid, scared little girl.
I'm writing all of this hoping that the internet connection will be working tomorrow (Tuesday) so that I can post it. The internet has not been working for most of the day today. Dorothy said that if it is a problem with the satellite (which has happened before), we could be out of an internet connection for a couple of months. I know it is not a necessity, but it is basically the only way I have to keep in touch with everyone at home. So, please pray that our internet connection does not give out on us. Please pray for Rosa for a complete healing of her HIV (yes, I'm aware that there is no cure but God can heal), for a complete healing of any emotional pain in her life, and for a healing of whatever illness or infection that is currently causing her pain.
TUEDAY MORNING UPDATE: I decided to let Rosa sleep in the morning. I figured she could use it if she was sick. But, one of the nannies opened my bedroom door and told her to come get ready for school. Some of the nannies are not always the most gentle, ha! She stood up and looked at me as if she was unsure or scared. I held her hand and walked her to the stairwell. She started crying when she got downstairs. Dorothy had not come out of her room yet, so I was not sure what I should do, and my Creole is not good enough to explain to the nanny. When Dorothy came out, she asked on of the very gentle kind nannies, Lucianne, to see what she could get out of Rosa. After she talked to Rosa she said that Rosa told her she hit her leg. But, Lucianne said she did not believe that was the problem either. Rosa's leg is not swollen at all and it does not look hurt. Dorothy and I were discussing it, and I suggested that maybe she had a panic attack or a memory came back to her. If she was really scared, that would make sense why she was going to the bathroom so much. Perhaps it was all just brought on by her hurting her leg. It is SO hard to tell! I think we are going to take her to the clinic today. Dorothy is hoping that she can have her re-evaluated by the psychologist. Prayers prayers prayers please.
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| Rosa and I a few hours before she got sick |
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| Another one of Rosa and I |
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| Johnny |
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| Claudine |
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| Mich |
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| Rosa |
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| Walking to school |
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