First day back

I don't know why I am so surprised that today was nonstop busyness.  Basically everyday here is like that, but apparently I kinda forgot. 

I forgot to write last night about the UN tanks that we saw on my way home from the airport.  Two UN tanks somehow managed to crash into each other in the middle of one of the busiest roads in our area.  Yet again, the UN clog up the roads with unnecessary traffic.  I won't lie, we got a pretty good laugh out of them.  Don't ask me how they crashed into each other!

Although I was exhausted last night, I did not sleep as well as I would have liked.  Surprise, surprise a mouse decided to camp out on my nightstand all night long.  Yes, you heard me.  On my night stand....directly beside my bed.  The only lamp in my room is also on my nightstand.  For fear of putting my hand on the little creature, I didn't want to reach over to turn it on.  Instead, I fumbled around my room in the dark (without my glasses because they were also on the night stand) looking for a flashlight.  When I finally located it, the mouse had already run into hiding.  So, I crawled back to bed and fell asleep.  Sure enough, he came back and continued chewing on something quite loudly.  Eventually, I was finally able to figure out what he was gnawing on.  Someone (there is no telling who) left a pack of gumballs on the far side of the night stand where I did not see them.  Apparently mice not only like chocolate, but also gum too!

On top of the mouse-capades, I also had Jake, my puppy (click here to read Jake's story) in the room with me all night.  He is about three times larger than when I left in December (and even cuter).  He wanted to sleep in my bed with me.  He's just too cute to say no, so up he went.  He decided to sleep directly in the middle of my twin bed leaving me no space.  Later during the night I woke up and found that somehow he had managed to crawl right on top of me and fall asleep!  I'll admit after that I made him sleep in his own bed, ha!

In the morning I tried to start unpacking, but Dorothy and I ended up leaving for pretty much the whole day.  Some friend's of Dorothy's were staying at Dottie's guesthouse.  So, we took them to visit one of Dorothy's former children.  Along the way we got lost a couple times, stuck in the typical PAP traffic, had to pick up kids at school, and gave about a dozen Haitians a ride home.  When we finally made it back to the house it was nearly 3 PM.

Then, we had to leave almost immediately to take Mich to the dentist.  If you remember, Mich has been having problems with his teeth for quite a while.

This is Mich a few months ago.  He was miserable with an infection in the back of his mouth because of some bad teeth.  You can see how swollen his face was.

 It took Dorothy a while to find a reliable dentist (let alone any dentist at all).  Today was his second appointment.  At his last appointment, the dentist had to pull three teeth.  He had a difficult time getting them out because they were so brittle.  As I've mentioned before, Mich was VERY malnourished for almost his entire life.

This was Mich at age 10 (yes, ten years old). 

 Because he was so malnourished for so long, his bones and teeth are very delicate.  The dentist said that most of his teeth did not form properly.  That is why he is having so many problems now.  Today, the dentist pulled two more teeth and filled a cavity.  Poor Mich has five less teeth, and those are adult teeth that were pulled.  So, Dorothy has decided since he is so young and really needs those molars, she is going to find the money to pay for him to get implants.

We are very fortunate to have found the dentist to do work on Mich's teeth.  The dentist is Haitian, but he got his education in the United States and Canada.  He speaks English and has a very clean and professional looking office.  It basically resembles an American dentist's office.  I was blown away that it even exists in PAP.  In addition, he voluntarily offered to give Dorothy a generous discount on his services for Mich.  THANK YOU, GOD!

On the drive home from the dentist, Mich asked Dorothy if he could stay with his mom for four days.  It broke my heart to hear him say that.  Mich has a heartbreaking story.  Although he and his mother love each other very much, she is so incredibly poor that she just simply cannot care for him.  Because Mich is 14, Dorothy let him make the choice to either live with his mother or live here with us.  He chose to live here with us because, "When I live with my mama I feel skinny."  That was the best way that he knew how to describe the feeling of starvation.  We encourage Mich to keep the bond with his mother, and Dorothy offers to take him to see his mama as often as he wants.  So we are planning on taking him back to his village to spend time with her soon. 

Although I live under the same roof with these children and spend most of my time with them, I will never, ever be able to even comprehend the pain that they have experienced already in their lives.  They are so strong and so brave.

Lord, thank you for your unending love.  Thank you for loving the least of these.  I thank you that regardless of what we may have to suffer through in this life, you promise us life in paradise with you.