So here's the start: With this third trip to Haiti, I was blessed to travel with two other adoptive families. One mom (J) came to see the two girls her family is adopting, and, God willing, they are only a few short months away from having them both home. Another mom (T) whose family is adopting a little girl (and only a short ways behind J in their adoption process) came with her hubby and young daughter. I have been friends on Facebook with both of these ladies for a couple of years but this was our first IN PERSON meeting. Let me tell you--WHAT an amazing blessing to be with these gals and sisters-in-Christ! It was great to have T's husband and daughter along, as well. Honestly, I have tears in my eyes writing this, because our time together was absolutely PRECIOUS. Our evenings were filled with uplifting conversation, singing praise song and Christmas carols (and some silly dancing from the kids), playing games, a movie night with popcorn, and just good 'ole fellowship. Adopting from the same creche brought us together online, but sharing the ups and downs of our journey, opening our hearts and praying for each other has turned into sweet friendship that will last a lifetime.
The whole visit was so relaxing! I feel like the grownups and kids just melded together so well and we were all able to be ourselves. Those few days together were a sweet gift from God right before Christmastime. I have memories I will carry with me and cherish always.
Day 1 (Tuesday) - Our small tarvel group met in the Miami airport and boarded our plane together. After a brief flight, we arrived at the Port-Au-Prince international airport early afternoon, gathered our luggage and met our C4C driver.
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| I had a pretty good view out the window on this flight into Haiti. Haiti is on the western part of the beautiful island of Hispaniola. |
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| Love the blue water of the Caribbean! |
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| A view of Tabarre, a commune of Port-Au-Prince |
We jammed into the van and headed southeast towards the Chaine La Selle mountain range.
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| Chaine La Selle mountains - Photo by George Hanna |
We continued onward and upward and about 30 minutes later we dropped off our luggage and food purchases at the guesthouse in Fermathe (elevation 3000 ft). Then back onto the van to see our kids!
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| C4C Guesthouse (photo from the C4C blog) |
We arrived at the new creche...
...and searched every room only to discover that they were across the road at the old creche having their daily afternoon English class.
Each afternoon, the school aged children meet with their English teach to work on their reading, writing and conversational skills. The teacher also supervises the kids as they do their school homework.
I ran into the old creche calling, "W----! Where Are Yoooooo?"
As soon as we spotted each other in the foyer, W was ALL smiles and I swooped him up into my arms and planted kisses all over his grinning face! <3
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| Giving some loves to my sweet boy - he giggled and let me hug him and plant lots of kisses on his soft cheeks --- ahhhhh! |
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| Christmas devotions and story time in my friend J's room. The kids were very happy to be together, and W enjoyed being the only boy surrounded by pretty girls, lol! |
After our kids were safely off to school in the C4C van, we grownups showered (when the water was warm..) and got ready for the day. Julienne, a sweet woman who works for C4C in a variety of capacities, cooked a large, delicious breakfast with lots of fresh local fruits. She did this every morning except for our last day in Haiti. Between Veronica's dinners (Haitian style and American style meals) and Julienne's breakfasts, our tummies were kept pleasantly full all week!
After we were picked up and delivered to the creche, we started a painting project at the old building. As of now, the plan is to turn the old creche into the new guest house. The current guest house is a rental and the lease expires at the end of February 2016! During the week, we gave one of the rooms a new coat of paint from top to bottom. Mission teams traveling to Kenscoff in the coming weeks will paint other rooms as well as add some Western style bathrooms. I am told that Haitian locals will be adding a Western style kitchen sometime soon as well. Will you pray with us that the work can be completed in time? It is extremely important for the many teams that come to minister each year have a place to sleep and eat during their stay. Thank you! (p.s. I'll post any significant updates as they occur.)
After painting for a couple of hours and stopping to eat our lunches, we received the okay to "pick up" our kids from school, which translates to waiting outside the school gate (literally next door to the old creche) for our kids to be dismissed for the day. They are generally done with school around 1:30 pm ish. Just remember, time in Haiti is always "ish" ;-)
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| W was surprised and happy to see me. He grabbed my hand and literally dragged me around the school, showing me everything. |
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| This is W's teacher. She was caught off guard by my sudden appearance to her classroom, but she recovered well. W says she is nice and a good teacher. That was one of those times I really wished I knew more than a handful of words in Creole. It would have been wonderful to have been able to ask her personally how he is doing in school and to thank her for her work. |
Sadly, the children have very few toys/games and little to occupy them in their free time. This is extremely common in orphanages. Shoes, clothing, books, toys, etc. are communal property and because of this, items are frequently lost, stolen or broken. You don't typically see kids sitting down in groups to play card games, assemble puzzles or build with blocks, unless a visiting mission team brings activities to do with the kids. They do have a couple soccer balls to kick around outside, however, the new creche has no playground equipment or soccer field. A future goal is to build a grass play area on the hill above the creche.
After the kids finished their meal, the preschoolers and older kids headed across the way to their late afternoon English class. The grownups played a bit more with the toddlers until class was over, then headed back to guest house for dinner and an evening at "home". Our kiddos were feeling particularly silly this night. They swayed and bounced around the van seats, giggling like crazy. It was nice to seem them so happy and relaxed.
Day 3 (Thursday) - Pretty much the same as Day 2.
Day 4 (Friday) - Basically the same schedule as previous days, however we finished our painting project--yay! After our kids returned from school, we hung out and played, the kids ate, then we decided to walk up the mountain to Duette Orphanage since there is no English class on Fridays. Duette houses kids who typically aren't available for adoption. Many of them have living family members who don't want to place their kids for adoption yet are unable to care for them. So they get placed in an "orphanage", as apposed to a "creche" which cares for kids who are being adopted.
The Duette property was starkly different from the C4C creche. It looked old and very run down. Everything had a generally faded and broken and sad look. It was a difficult reality to swallow. Kids live here, eat here, play here. This is their life--for some, it is all they ever know.
T delivered some clothing donations sent from Kathi, the stateside director of C4C, to three of the teenage boys. They were so very appreciative to have the new clothes. Then the children performed a song for us, with the old boys using the walls, desks and filing cabinet as percussion. It was very sweet. Their faces melted our hearts. Lord Jesus, cover these precious children with your loving protection and give them Your peace! Provide for their every need!
After our visit at Duette, J and T's girls wanted to go visit the wife of the orphanage director at their private home. Led by our kiddos, we walked a 1/2 mile (?) to a more rural area to visit to her. The walk was fast and felt treacherous - I was sure I would break my neck walking up and down those steep, narrow and rocky pathways! I was somewhat relieved when W let go of my hand to rush ahead to keep up with the teen girls.
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| The older kids climbed onto the roof and wanted me to take multiple photos. Their modeling cracked me up. They looked very "Western" as they struck various poses. |
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| Note: The director and his wife have a large home and there were workers there constructing an addition to the home, a slow process, as all the materials have to be carried in by hand and the work is mostly performed by hand. |
After our visit, we headed back to the creche. We had had a full day and everyone was tired. I felt especially pensive reflecting on our little field trip. I felt sooo very thankful that our son and the other C4C kids were being lovingly cared for in such a wonderful place, yet my heart hurt for the kids at Duette who seemed to have little hope. What does their future hold? Only our Heavenly Father knows...
Later that night, we baked cookies and brownies, told stories, laughed, sang together around the kitchen table...and our kids...our kids...they acted like regular, happy kids...like kids with families...being incredibly silly, dancing, laughing, being relaxed, being themselves. This is the way it's supposed to be---kids.in.families....loved.safe.happy.secure.
My heart was so full it was breaking.
I was so happy, I could hardly stand it.
I was so sad, I could hardly stand it.
Lord, we need You...
Day 5 (Saturday) - We chose to not go visit the creche but spend the day primarily at the guesthouse, focusing on bonding and creating special memories with our own kids. Yay!! After breakfast, T took the kids outside for a photo treasure hunt and a little exploring. I joined them a bit later on. It was nice to be outside on such a beautiful day in the mountains of Haiti.
For lunch, we decided to walk to the Baptist Haiti Mission. They serve hamburgers, fries and the like in their cafe. It was W's first visit and was a big hit with him. He was so excited about ice cream for dessert and specifically asked if he could have "Coca-COLA!" with his meal. He ate every last morsel and was a very satisfied little boy.
After eating, we three families spent some time gazing at the spectacular views of the mountain--the cafe was perched on a great lookout--and shooting fabulous family photos!
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| Video of the mountains I took from inside the Mission. |
They also have a nice gift shop filled with local items and crafts. W picked out a wall hanging for his room and took pics with my phone of every item he would like us to purchase someday...;-)
After shopping inside, we browsed the vendors along the street outside the Mission. Talk about high pressure sales! The shop keepers depend on tourists to make a living and my heart goes out to them, but after 30 minutes or so, I was stressed out by having to say "no thank you" to a dozen men in a dozen ways. I do feel for these people. This is their living. They are so dependent on tourism. It's tough, and if I had the money, I would have purchased art from several vendors. Maybe some day...
That afternoon, we basically chilled at the guest house. We parents were all pretty worn out, so we kinda spread out around the house to rest or read while the kiddos curled up nearby with tablets or cell phones to watch videos or play games.
One particularly meaningful event happened later that afternoon. W had a breakdown and cried like his little heart was breaking. I thought my heart would break as I witnessed his sorrow! I'm not entirely sure what triggered his crying, but I truly believe God used this time for us to deepen our emotional connection and to further reinforce in his heart that I am his mom, for real, forever.
{In a future post, I will talk more about the ways we are working to connect with W before he comes home. I hope that by sharing our experiences, those of you in the adoption process will be encouraged as you work to create bonds with your new children. This is so important for the long term emotional health, security and stability of your child.}
Then it was time for another yummy dinner!
I must stop here to interject--the meals were AWESOME. Julienne provided a full, yummy breakfast each morning and every evening Veronica spoiled us rotten with Haitian and American cuisine (side note--she has taken cooking classes and would love to have her own restaurant one day). W is a great eater. He is so thin and is active all day. So I was glad to see him take seconds and sometimes even thirds at our dinners. I had one week to put some meat on our lil guy's bones, so I encouraged plenty of snacks, too.
We wrapped up the evening relaxing and chatting while playing games around the kitchen table. It was a tiring day, but a very good day. What a privilege to have my boy close for a whole entire day!
Day 6 (Sunday) - Church time! We all got dressed in our Sunday best -- oh, the kids looked sooo cute! -- and got a ride in the van to the creche. When we arrived an hour late -- no worries, we were there for the last 3 hours (yes!) of the worship service -- the congregation was singing enthusiastically. I LOVE the way Haitians sing praises to the Lord! We Americans could learn a thing or two about focusing totally on God and worshiping Him with abandon!
Later in the service, T's hubby greeted congregation on our behalf and "Pappi Noe" (we call him Noah) spontaneously invited me to the microphone to sing a solo. Feeling quite surprised and unprepared, I persuaded the other grown ups to join me. Except for forgetting some of the words to the song "10,000 Reasons", we did pretty well. I did look back at the kids at one point during the song and saw W determinedly digging through my backpack. Hmmm... I found out later that he used my phone to video record part of our song! That lil stinker, lol
Noah translated the sermon for us through our wireless headphones and then the service closed with the taking of communion. We broke the break and were served full shot glasses of wine. Woah. This girl is used to Welch's grape juice! ;-) After church, we shared hugs and "God bless you!"'s with members of the congregation and walked back to the creche for lunch and playtime.
We had something VERY special planned for our last evening with our children. We had spoken with a member of the C4C medical clinic staff and learned about a unique restaurant and lodge called The Rustik in Furcy, Haiti (elevation 5500+ ft). It is built from entirely recycled and re-purposed materials. The drive was somewhat lengthy and quite bumpy, but the high mountain locale makes the setting absolutely breathtaking. The kids were somewhat in awe of their surroundings, but soon settled into a good meal followed by playtime on the lovely grounds. What a fun and memorable evening!
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| I WISH I had a camera that could do justice to the AMAZING scenery. These mountains are INCREDIBLE! |
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| The kids played a little soccer - basket ball before the trip home |
All too soon we were back in Kenscoff and pulled up to the creche. We quietly climbed from the van and began hugging our kids. Tears began to fall. Someone had the idea for us to pray together. We formed a circle in the glow of the van's headlights and held hands. Each of us parents prayed blessings over our kids and thanked God for our time together. It was incredibly sweet and meaningful.
I tried to keep my crying to a bare minimum so as not to upset W even more, but I failed miserably. Through tears, we said our final "See you later's" and the four children walked through the gate and were gone. We loaded back into the van and made our way back to the guest house. The ride "home" was subdued. We eventually started up some normal conversation to get our minds off our sadness.
This trip had been incredible and we were all grateful. None of us knew when we would see our kids next, but we knew -- we know, without a shadow of a doubt -- God is in charge. He will complete the work He started!
Day 7 (Monday) - We were all up by 5am and got picked up shortly after 6am for our trip in the van to the Port-Au-Prince airport. We had some time at the airport to visit and even had seats close to one another on the plane! We arrive at Miami International after a short flight. After a fairly easy journey through customs, then baggage claims, then re-checking our bags and going through security one last time,,,it's time for the grownups to say goodbye. WHAT an amazing trip this has been!! I feel SO blessed to have spent the week with these 2 families who are now even dearer than they were these past couple of years chatting online. God blessed us with wonderful fellowship and wonderful memories. I am privileged to pray for these friends and walk the road of adoption with them. Thank you, Lord!
UPCOMING POST: Things I've Learned About Our Son
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