What started out as a “calm” day (as calm as a house full of kids/babies can be) ended up being BUSY! We had three guests from the MSI guesthouse visiting for the day. They played with kids and hung out around the house all morning. Around 1 PM, Dorothy got a call from the social worker at the HIV clinic. The little nine month old girl that was in the hospital was finally healthy enough to leave. Time to go get her!
So, Dorothy and I loaded up and headed to the clinic. We brought little Rose Michele and her mother home with us. Dorothy sat down with her mother and filled out paperwork. Rose Michele is nine months old and is TINY! She weighs only 9.5 pounds and has not gotten any of her baby teeth. She has HIV and is already on lots of meds. Her skin is very dry and she has a rash in various parts of her body. She just seems so fragile! Dorothy and I put a 6 month old onesie on her and she was swimming in it. I held her for a couple hours tonight. I'm in love! As I was holding her, all the kids came in to see what I was doing. Mich, Chacha, Rosa, Claudine, Johnny, and Mackendy all crowded around me to check out the new baby. She had been crying on and off for a while, but she got the BIGGEST toothless smile when she saw all the kids. It was a perfect priceless moment.
Later, Chacha heard her crying again and he came back to check on us. He ever so gently caressed her little head and gave her a kiss. Then he said quietly, “It's ok baby. Don't cry. You are my little baby and I love you.” He is six years old. How precious is that?! I need a camera crew following me around daily to get all these things on tape!
While I was busy comforting and rocking her, we got some more unexpected guests. Karen, a Canadian missionary friend of ours, came by with another child and her parents. The little girl is a year and a half and has very short arms and legs. I'm not a doctor, but from the looks of it, she looks like she has some type of genetic disorder or dwarfism. She seems to also be malnourished. We agreed to take her on a short term basis and see what we can do to help her health. She is also adorable! I'm not sure of her name yet, because the mother was very soft spoken. Both of her parents were along and I could tell that they really love her dearly. It was SO nice to see parents that care so much for their child!
So, with the two new girls that we got tonight, we currently have 30 children living in our house! The poor little girl (whose name I'm not sure of yet) is sleeping in a laundry basket tonight because we are running short on cribs! Lord, bless this crazy house!
Tomorrow, my mom will be landing in Port-au-Prince at approximately 12:40 PM! I cannot wait to see her and show her around my favorite place on earth and introduce her to the most amazing kids on the planet! SO EXCITED! In a conversation with Chacha tonight, I reminded him that my mom is coming tomorrow and that she would be here when he got home from school. He informed me that he was excited to see her and he didn't want to go to school. Then, he asked, “Is your papa coming, too?” I told him no, he can't come along. He asked me, “Why? Doesn't he know the way to our house? I really wish he was coming. He is beautiful and I want to tell him that I love him!” Again, why do I not have my entire life with these kids on film? Chacha got to talk to my parents on Skype a couple of times, and he has wanted my dad to come visit ever since. The kids here crave a fatherly figure so badly since they are being raised by all women. They LOVE when men come to visit and play with them.
Dorothy has been tracking the storm. This morning, the National Hurricane Center reported that is had been downgraded to a tropical depression. As of tonight (Wednesday night), it is back to “tropical storm” status and is expected to be closer to PAP that anticipated. It has sustained winds of about 45 mph. According the NHC, it should hit here around 2AM Friday and last about 12 hours. Prayers for that would be appreciated!
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