5 Women from Orphanage in Fort Liberte

I got back from Kenscoff yesterday and once again long waiting time at Delmas 41. I have been getting use to waiting around, so it wasn't a big deal. I was definitely starving and tired by the day's end though. When I got back to the orphanage, I fixed myself up a giant plate of spaghetti with ketchup! Yummers!

Today was another huge day! The day that I get back from Kenscoff every month is always super busy! There were so many documents that needed me to translate from French to English and we had many dossiers that needed to be prepared to go to IBESR (Haitian Child Welfare Office). I was getting all this done throughout the day and then boom, we have visitors.I like visitors, but today was just one of those impossibly busy days that it wasn't a good feeling that I had to leave the office to give a tour for them.

So turns out there were five women that came from the States. They were part of another organization that had their own orphanage up in Fort Liberte (which is in the northern part of Haiti). They were here visiting our orphanage to see some of our operating ideas and inspirations for their orphanage's new construction project. So I showed them around and answered all the questions they had about everything. I MEAN ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! Haha, I haven't spoke that much English in awhile and I was getting tongue tied. haha it was a weird feeling. Sometimes I have to double check that I am indeed speaking English and not something else, since I forget. By far the weirdest feeling ever!

They were all very nice people and I was happy that I could help them out with their future orphanage construction project. They were all very impressed with our creche here and said they got a good tour! Yay, my job here is done! I said goodbye to them after the tour and quickly got back to work in the office.

Things have been super hectic and frustrating because our internet has not been working properly for the past two months. Many days, there's just not internet and even when there is a connection, you cannot go into your email box! And on a good day! You can go into your email box, but you cannot attach any attachments to send an email! Oh man! It has definitely been frustrating with the monthly reports that I have to do for each child to send to the adoption agency and also cannot download anything for the children in return! What a nightmare! Hopefully things will get better this month! We shall see.

It was a very productive day! I got a lot of office work done for the adoption part! I headed over to Manmie's after work to talk more with the 5 women! They will only be staying here for one night. I was also waiting for an adoptive mother to arrive with her daughter. They will be here to visit their adoptive child for a couple of days. I wanted to be there when they arrived so they can be settled into their rooms and get a hot meal. They arrived really late but was in good spirits!

Tomorrow is going to be another big day!

The Haitian Mafia

I woke up today thinking that I will be spending the day at the Kenscoff orphanage doing Thanksgiving arts and crafts with the children, oh boy! Was I wrong??? I was sitting down eating breakfast at the Duncan's house and Lucien comes walking over saying, "Hey you are coming with me and Joelle to a gathering!" OH wow, okay! So we left at 11am this morning to go pick up Joelle, who just lives down the street from Lucien. They are good buddies and even better scotch buddies. When we got to Joelle's house, it was amazing. It completely looks like a cabin in the woods that would be described in a novel. Dark red mahogany lined the sides of the wooden oasis and there were French style patio furniture all around. There was even a small garden where a picnic would definitely be a splendid idea on a Sunday afternoon. It was so beautiful and even more amazing was that he had built it all with his bare hands. The garden was so magnificently decorated and there was even a small welcoming gate at the entrance. Smoke was coming out of the tall chimney at the bottom of the hill. This was definitely a very relaxing place to retire. I can see what all the appeal to Kenscoff is all about now!

We got to Gerald's home (the place where the "gathering" was happening) around 12:30pm. It was located in Petion-Ville, which is the richer part of Haiti. Turns out the "gathering" was a huge gathering party of Gerald's friends and family members. Normally on the 1 and 2nd of November, Haitian celebrate All Saints' Day and Day of the Dead. For Gerald's family, they like to have a huge party on the last Sunday of November to celebrate it together. So that was what today was all about! People came from all over, bringing their best wine and home cooked dishes to the gathering. Oh man, I felt really awkward coming empty handed. Lucien just said I brought sunshine with my smile and personality, so I guess that counts a little bit, haha.

When we got there, I guess it was the pre-party! Not many people were there but only us and about 6 to 7 of Lucien's buddies. Not even joking, when I walked in, I thought I was going to meet the Haitian Mafia or something haha. It was totally like a scene out of the Godfather! Picture this. 5 men sitting around a table that is loaded with whiskey and scotch. All of them wearing aviators and smoking cigars! I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop myself from just laughing out loud. It was totally awesome! All of them men over their 50s and just gathering around to chat about life and politics. I loved being there! I loved observing everyone of their gestures and voice. It was so alluring how they carried themselves. It was as if they didn't have a care in the world. They would get so heated on each of the topics. Turns out all of them were hunters and so naturally the topic was big on hunting. I learned so much about getting hunting licenses in Haiti and the US and how it is illegal to buy arms from the US and then ship it to Haiti, although people still do it. Gerald is hilarious. In the middle of the conversation he comes out with a huge shotgun stating that it just arrived from AA and that it was bigger than expected. I almost fell over laughing, because here is this 60 something Haitian guy carrying this massive shotgun in one hand and then shaking his hand to demand for his whiskey on the table. It was just hilarious scene! All of them were showing me their gun permits and there are many. Permits for hunting and then personal permits for firearms in the house. What a complicated process!

Needless to say! It was an afternoon filled with good food, good stories, and awesome people! Couldn't ask for a better Sunday than that! I got to meet all of Lucien's hunting buddies and one of them I had already met through a Food for the Poor function. They were all very nice and welcoming to me. I was very grateful for that.

My day with the Haitian Mafia was a success and now I have so many fond memories to keep! I will never forget all the characters that I met today: The Haitian Cosby, The Haitian Godfather, The Italian Cook, The Over-Stressed Cop, The Romanian Novelist who smokes like a chimney, the alcoholic photographer, the loving grandmother who loves to pass out biscuits, the Catholic Father who drank bottled water the whole entire afternoon, the attractive women who everyone talks about, but no one approaches. Then there's everyone's favorite cousin who goes around asking if anyone wants to start a business with him. It was a typical family gathering and I loved every single minute of it. Especially when they found out that I was a vegetarian and half of them freaked out and the other half asked, "Why starve when we got food?" Haha, it was quite an experience!

Massive Cleaning and Inventory at Kenscoff

Today was a busy busy busy day for me! Oh my goodness I got a lot done today!

The adoptive parents left really early this morning with Candy*. They will be first flying to Miami, spending a night there, and then head over to New York. They will stay in New York for a couple of days and then fly to London, where the family will be spending for a year due to the father's work. The father works for Nike and will be working in London for the Olympics 2012, how cool is that???? They will try to get a British Visa for Candy*. It is going to be hard, but I hope it all works out in the end! I will keep on praying for them!

I spent all day today doing massive cleaning and inventory for the Kenscoff orphanage. I started at 8am and didn't get done till 5pm. No breaks or anything! I went into every single room and looked at each of the clothing. I checked every single piece of clothing at Kenscoff. I mean EVERY SINGLE PIECE! I looked at every piece of clothing and determined if it was going into the trash or we were going to keep it. I refolded all the ones that we can keep and then put the bad ones in the garbage bag to be burned later. It was quite a process. There were many clothing that were torn and with plenty of holes. Many had accidents with the bleach mix when washing and just looked bad. We had plenty of new clothes that were in storage from the donation pile, so I thought, since it was getting close to Christmas and the New Years, we should start anew! I first started with the storage room and picked out some new clothes for each of the age groups: babies, toddlers, and older children. I then proceeded to go into each of the rooms and checking all the clothing there. I replaced many of the clothes and gave new clothes to the aunties. Everyone was super excited to see me sort through the clothing and giving new clothes. It has been wayyyyyy over due! I don't know when was the last time someone did this, but this must be done!!!

So the results were: 1 large trash bag in the babies' room, 2 large trash bags in the toddler's room, and 1 large trash bag in the older children's room. I made sure to put all the trash bags in the furnace so that it will be burned immediately. I did not want the aunties to go through the bags and picking out what they thought could be used again. Apparently that was what was happening beforehand. After all that work of sorting, looking, and refolding, the clothes racks in each room looked AWESOME! (If I do say so myself, haha). Everything is all neat and organized, even the storage room was all organized. I did inventory of all the boxes of clothes and donations, as well.

Babies' Room (Onesies organized by scale of warmth and blankets)

Babies' Room (Shorts/Pants/Jackets/Hats/Gloves/Socks)

Older Children's Room

Toddler's Room 

After it was all said and done! I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I was glad to know that the children will have warmer clothes to wear and also nicer looking clothes. More importantly, that the donations were not just sitting there in storage and going to waste. It was good news all around. I also did some training for the aunties on what to give to the children to wear and who was particularly sensitive to the cold among the children in each room. I hope they will pick this up and the children can say warmer and have less colds throughout the months. I also went over with the aunties that if there were torn clothing or many missing buttons on the onesies, they need to be thrown away. Another important thing was using the waterproof diaper wraps. This will help the aunties not have to be constantly changing the babies' clothing every hour and less clothes will need to be washed. I felt like the aunties really listened this time and we made huge progress. It is very hard for Haitian people to accept other people's opinions and methods of doing things. It needs to be introduced in a gentle manner and over time. They are very proud people and will hold grudges for a very long time. So I always approach them as a learner to get to know what are their ideas and why they are doing it that particular way. And then I introduce to them new ideas and we work through it over the days that I am there.

It was a very productive few days with the aunties! We have established really good relationships over the months that I have been here and I am very grateful for their on-going cooperation!

Parting Party at Kenscoff

Today was the big party day for one of the little toddler girls, *Candy, because she will be officially leaving with her adoptive parents tomorrow!!!! How exciting! The adoptive parents have been here for about a week now, spending time and bonding with Candy*. This is part of the requirements of the foundation that before the adoptive parents can take their adoptive child home, they have to spend a week in Haiti with their child. This is to help ease the transitional periods between in-country and out of the country experience. This also gives time for the child to say goodbye to the staff and other children at the orphanage. The child will be able to stay in the guest house with the families and the families will get to know their sleep, eating, and changing schedules. They get to really know how their child is and have enough time to adjust and ask questions from all the staff members. The week long process doesn't sound like much, but everyday, we see huge progress and tremendous changes between the relationship of the adoptive parents and their child. The first day is always awkward, filled with over excitement and expectations. Many times the child will be a stranger and be really quiet. At times, not even preferring the adoptive parents. Second day it gets better and by the middle of the week it is like they are inseparable. They start to get in the routine of the family and by the end of the week it is as if they have been together for years. It is this magical process that happens within this week long period of bonding and I feel so fortunate that I get to be there to witness this magical love connection unfold.

In the morning, Roberto took the family and I out shopping for souvenirs. The family really wanted to find some souvenirs to take back with them for their family and friends. So there's always this little artist shop that Roberto takes the adoptive parents and it is filled with many different art works from different artists around Haiti. The shop actually doesn't product any art work, but it is just a collector that works with other artists to put their work on display. It was a really neat experience to see so many different types of art inspirations. It was also a great experience for *Candy. It was her first shopping experience and she was all wide eyed throughout the two hours we were there. She never wanted to be put down, so we all traded off holding her throughout the shopping experience. Gotta say, a two and a half year old is not easy to carry throughout an Art store that is filled with all types of glassware. Haha. It turned out to be great overall and the parents found everything that they wanted! The store was so nice that they wrapped everything up for us so it was safe to travel with in their luggage. What great service!!!

The afternoon was when the party for Candy* took place. The parents brought with them balloons and treats for the children. The staff and I decorated the orphanage and gathered all the children together. The babies were all sitting in bucket seats and strollers, while the rest of the children sat on the benches around the small table. We started to sing and dance. Oh man, do the aunties love to dance!!!! They will have a dance-off every single chance they get. It was crazy!!!! haha. Everyone had such a good time. We all ate treats and the children sang songs and danced together. The parents shared many thoughts that they wanted to say to the aunties and I translated for them. There were many tears and hugs and kisses all around. It was an awesome party! I am so happy for the family and for Candy*. It has been a long haul and I can't believe she is finally going home tomorrow!!!

Tonight we will have the final dinner at the Duncans and bid our goodbyes tomorrow morning!

Haitian Thanksgiving 2011

It was a busy day at the Kenscoff orphanage today, not because it was Thanksgiving, but because we had two adoptive families there. I was busy observing all the children and answering all the questions the adoptive parents had the best that I could. One family was leaving today after just a short three day visit of their adoptive children. They are adopting two boys, one 11 month old and the other three years old. They are not biological siblings, but will be adoptive siblings once their adoption processes come to a close next year! What an exciting thing! The two boys are as cute as can be and I am so happy that they are going to a loving and caring family. The adoptive family actually brought their two biological daughters with them on their trip, as well. This was the true spirit of thanksgiving. I felt so happy for them that they could all spend thanksgiving as a family this year in Haiti. Many people would give anything to have these precious moments. I looked at all 6 of them together and just couldn't stop smiling!

The family said their goodbyes to the two boys at the end of the day and it was especially hard on the youngest daughter in the family. She had become so attached to her younger adoptive sibling (the 11 month old) that she was sobbing so hard. I went and comforted her and told her that she is a great big sister and that we will take care of her little brothers here in Haiti while they were waiting for the adoption process to finalize. The mother had a hard time too, but I think it helped a lot having another adoptive family there for them to talk to. Since the other adoptive family is at the end of their adoption process, it was a good reference to understand the roller coaster of emotions they were feeling at this particular moment. It was hard on the two boys too, especially the three year old. He was fussing and crying when they left in the car. I tried to explain to him, but nothing would work. In the end, a good cuddle helped him ease the transition.

I am thankful for these families for the happiness and joy they bring to, not just their own children, but to all the children at the orphanage. I am also thankful for all the financial and material support their give to the foundation. I am especially thankful to the foundation for giving me this opportunity to be here with the children in Haiti and to work with the staff. I am so grateful for everyone in my life, for being so supportive of what I am doing. I am truly a blessed girl!

Happy Thanksgiving From Haiti Everyone! 

First I-600 Embassy Appointment

What a super fulfilling day today was!!!!!

I got up at 4am to get ready for the day. Dieudonne and I left at 4:30am for Delmas 41. I have a lot of respect for Dieudonne, the main Lamardelle driver, because he does this EVERY SINGLE DAY! He leaves at around 4:30am every morning to go to Delmas and down town Port-au-Prince to pick up all the staff members for the day. And then he will be running errands all day, all around the main cities of Haiti and then do the same trip back and forth again to take the staff members back to their homes. He never gets back to the orphanage before 7 or 7:30pm, sometimes even as late as 9pm if traffic was bad. He is a very dedicated husband, father, father, and individual.

So I got to Delmas 41 at around 5:45am. I saw the orphanage doctor come strolling into the office at around 6:10am and was wondering who was going to pick him up? I thought that he was going to go to Kenscoff, since normally Wednesdays are the days he heads up to Kenscoff, but I was informed that he had switched the schedule, so now he was going to Lamardelle on Wednesdays. But Dieudonne had already left with the staff??? Uh oh! So I called the driver and he didn't pick up the phone, so I called Stephanie. Turns out the doctor was suppose to be at Delmas 41 at 6 o'clock, on the dot, not a minute later. He was 10 to 15 minutes late and apparently they didn't wait for him. They weren't going to turn back for him either, so another driver was coming to pick him up at around 9:30am or 10am. Oh my goodness, that's like in 4 hours of time from now!!!!! Yeah, that was very awkward. If it was me, I would just turn the car around and get him instead of sending another driver all the way to get the doctor. Like I've said, we've been having problems with the logistic department. It made it really awkward to sit next to the doctor for the next hour and a half. I just kept on apologizing to him for the miscommunication and logistical problems. He did not seem to be very happy about it. He never really opened up to me, from the very first day that I met him. No idea. Oh well.

So Roberto came and picked me up with the adoptive parents at around 7:45am. We had an I-600 appointment at the U.S. Embassy at 8am. An I-600 is an appointment in the Adoption process that will later determine what kind of Visa the adopted child will receive in their passport. We were booking it through traffic since we were going to be late! We got to the embassy at 8:20am and talked our way through the crowd. Good thing the embassy people already knew who we were, since we come here very often. We went through two security check-points and the guard took Brunette's phone away from her, since that is not allowed in there. He just put it in his pocket and told us to move along....um....does this not seem right to anyone???? We were in a hurry, so we just went on. We got to the waiting area and no one was at the window. I mean, the waiting area was completly filled with people, but the window staff were all empty. We later found out that the staff was having a staff meeting. It was the meeting right before Thanksgiving, since U.S. embassy will get the two days off for Thanksgiving, I guess they had a lot to talk about. All two and a half hours worth of meeting minutes. I guess scheduling a meeting during office hours is not a big deal here in Haiti for the U.S. Embassy. Oh my goodness. So by 10am, everyone was restless. I have already been use to this Haitian culture, but for the adoptive parents it was torture. I just kept on explaining to them that the Haitian culture was all about curve balls and there are always multiple plans that fall through in the end, that we just have to wait and be patient. It was very hard for them to understand this fact. It did not help that they did not have breakfast this morning, since they left at around 6am from Kenscoff, so they were starving. I was use to not having meals whenever I make a trip from Lamardelle to Kenscoff, so I was fine, but them not so much. I was worried since the embassy was a no drink, no food, no outside communication place. I just kept telling them to hold on. So at around 1pm we finally got everything ready and out of there. When we were checking out Brunette went to get her phone and turns out the person forgot to give her a number for her phone ( Well duh! He just put it in his pocket! Remember/????? Something wrong with this picture!!!), so they couldn't give it back to her. She had to prove it was her phone but exiting, getting another phone, walking back to embassy and calling her own phone with the other phone to prove it was hers. WOW! What an ordeal! Everyone was very happy to be leaving the U.S. Embassy. I hope the next I-600 will not be this intense, since I will be coming here by myself with the adoptive families!

The director ended up picking up another adoptive parents at the airport while we were at the embassy! We all got into one car and headed up to Kenscoff together. I made sure to tell the director that everyone was starving since no one had eaten anything all day! We got to a sandwich place at around 3:30pm and everyone was super happy to have some food in their tummies! It has been a while since I've had a sub and a coke! What a treat!

This week at Kenscoff is going to be full of adventures with the two sets of adoptive parents! I am super excited to get to know them and to tell them all about their wonderful children!

Catching Curve Balls

Ever since I've been back to Lamardelle, it has been busy busy busy! Always tons of things that need to be done! Not being at the orphanage for a weekend really sets you back for like days!!! I quickly got back into the groove of things, but it does not help that the internet still doesn't work. I just realized that with no internet, that means the children are not going to be able to get their letters and photos this month. HOW AWFUL IS THAT!!!??/!! Not much I can do. The internet is either not working or working at such a slow pace that it won't let you attach a file or download a file. Let's not even start to talk about picture files! It was pretty painful to come to this realization. Oh well, it's life. Got to do the best that we can.

So I was trying to get all the translations done for USCIS dossiers when all of a sudden a phone call comes to let us know that there was an I-600 appointment tomorrow for an adoptive parent! WHAT??? Are you kidding me? We were not informed about this. Turns out the email was sent out to everyone except Brunette and I, which we are the two people that actually needs to know the most, since we are the ones preparing the paperwork for the meeting. Oh boy, so I am scrambling to get all the documents translated from English to French at the last minute and praying, just praying that the electricity would stay the way it was for me to print out the documents in end. Thank goodness we work well under pressure and was able to get everything done. My head was spinning. I got everything done at around 4pm and started to do more translations and art work projects for Kenscoff. At around 4:30pm, there was a knock on my door. The nurse was calling me and saying that there were "foreigners" at the creche. I was like "What foreigners?" I step out of the office and to my surprise, there was a Caucasian couple with their biological daughter and their adopted Haitian daughter. I had no idea who they were! It turns out that they are adoptive parents who had adopted their daughter from CEJ 4 years ago. Their picture was still hanging up on the creche's walls. I greeted them and showed them around the creche. I guess the creche has changed tremendously after four years, especially with the new coat of white paint that is in place now. They brought wooden puzzles for the children at the creche and they all loved it. Once again, the logistics department has been having problems informing everyone of visitors. They were apparently scheduled for a 4:30pm visit, but no one had informed me of it, so I had no idea. Good thing I was even there! The couple was really nice and had many questions to ask me about adoption in Haiti and how everything was going. The adoptive mother is a doctor and she is actually helping out with the clinic for the foundation. How wonderful! More help is always better! I am glad we have established this connection with her.

They will be staying at Manmie's for the whole week, but I will not be there. I will be heading up to Kenscoff at 4:30am tomorrow morning!!!! I ended up heading back to the office to do more work, all the way till 8pm before heading back to my room. Lot's of surprises everyday and it's a good thing I am good at catching curve balls. Living in Haiti is all about catching curve balls and going with the flow. It makes it a lot easier when you can think quick on your feet. I am very grateful that I am able to react quickly to every situation that is thrown at me at the last minute. Oh boy, it's going to be a tough day tomorrow! Can't wait for the adventures that lie ahead for me at the crack of dawn!

Oh yeah!

HAPPY 29TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY 

TO MY DEAR PARENTS! 

Have fun you two!

3rd Casualty Within A Month

Words can't describe the sorrow and pain that I feel within.

Last night I was told a little baby boy of 11 months, Snickers* was really sick in Kenscoff. He is the youngest baby in Kenscoff at the moment, since we transferred all the rest of the little babies to Lamardelle last month. He suffered infantile epilepsy when he was just a couple of months, but has since recovered from the disorder. He is a very healthy baby overall, but does still have the side effect of tremors with his left hand from the earlier seizure attacks. He was really sick with the flu over the weekend and suffered from high fevers. Due to the high level fevers, he started to have convulsions. It triggered an underlying problem again and this time, it wasn't looking good. He was taken to the hospital and the doctor had checked him out. His fever went down and the doctor declared him good enough to return back to the orphanage. Everyone was puzzled, because the doctor just said he has a bad case of the flu. When he got back  to the Kenscoff creche, he started to not feel well again. I got a call at 1am in the morning saying that they needed all the information from his dossier in the office. I quickly got out of bed to get all the information of his medical records. After the call, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't a good feeling at all. I held his file in my hand and looked at his picture. This little guy has gone through so much medically already and it just hurts my heart that he is still suffering. I couldn't fall back asleep for the longest time. I woke up abruptly at around 5:30am. I started to get ready for the day and to help the children get ready for school. I did my usual routine. I went into the office at around 8am and that was when I learned the news that the little guy had passed away at around 3am in the morning.

My heart sunk......it's been the third time this month this feeling has been present....it doesn't get easier with each case.....it's a brand new wound every time.

I am going to miss Snickers* very much. We had so much fun together every time I went up to Kenscoff. He would always laugh and giggling wholeheartedly whenever we sang the EIEIO song. He loved the kissing and tickling game whenever he was down. I craved his smiles and the way he held my fingers when he was being fed. His big eyes starring back at me whenever I was giving him his bottle during the three hour feeding intervals at Kenscoff. The way he kicked his legs upwards whenever he was on the changing table. How he desperately tried to tear my earrings off every time they got close to his grasp.

His laughter. His cries. His smile.

Thank you for lifting my spirits whenever I was tired! Thank you for giving me so much love through just a single glance from you Snickers*! You are dearly loved! Forever and always!

19th Tzu Chi Haiti Earthquake Relief Team

So today was the day that the 19th Tzu Chi Haiti Relief Team was going back to the States' side. Pierrot, Lesley, and I took Curtis SB and Kathy SG to the airport this afternoon. All morning we were getting all the last minute things done before they were heading back to HQ in California. I was busy writing up the Food proposal for my orphanage, Fondation Enfant Jesus. We are lacking food and having budget strains, so I was hoping that Tzu Chi could help out with some continuous food distributions here in Haiti. I finally got all the food prices in USD and Gourdes for the food items that we have normally at the orphanage. I got it all written up and now it is on its way to Tzu Chi USA HQ. Hopefully, by next month, Tzu Chi will be able to provide on-going food distributions to my orphanages. That would be an awesome outcome!!!! I can't wait! Keep our fingers crossed and keep praying!

All of us said goodbye to Curtis SB and Kathy SG at the AA terminal. It was weird to see them leaving and not myself! Usually, it has been just the Haitian volunteers saying goodbye to us, but this time, I guess I was in the position of a local Haitian volunteer, as well. What a different feeling? Right after the airport drop-off, we headed straight for CEJ orphanage. We stopped by Manmie's house to look at how the Moringa plants were growing. Tzu Chi had given around 400 plants of Moringa seedlings to CEJ couple weeks ago and now they are all growing rapidly. The leafs were looking very nicely and it was blossoming for sure. I was very happy to see this result. It seemed that pretty soon the children could be eating the plants and getting all the nutrients that it provides. Combating malnutrition is definitely the main goal here!

I said goodbye to Pierrot and Lesley and got back to the children at the orphanage. I was very happy to see them! As of matter of fact, all of them were taking naps!!!!! WHAT! THIS NEVER HAPPENS! Turns out the two kids that don't take naps well and makes the most noises have been transferred up to Kenscoff because their adoptive parents were coming to visit. That was the only reason why we had total silence at the Lamardelle creche when I was back! What a breather for the nannies! We all whispered and went on with our things with giant smiles! Silence was definitely golden for those couple of precious hours!

Brazilian Flag Day & Happy Campus Home Visits

Today was, once again, a very productive day with Tzu Chi Foundation! In the morning, we went over to BRABATT II (Brazilian Peacekeepers' Base) in Port-au-Prince. It is Brazilian's Flag Day today, so they had a small ceremony on base. All the soldiers lined up in perfect formation. It was beautiful. I stood there in awe in the neatness of the whole. Major Roland met up with us and explained that once every year, they will switch their flag. The will lower the old flag, fold it, and then raise the new flag for the new year to come. After the ceremony was all done, they will burn the old flag and start the celebrations. 

Look how orderly they are! This is why I love the military! So uniformed and organized! 

In the afternoon, we went and did a whole bunch of Happy Campus Home Visits. All 13 of them to be exact!!! Happy Campus is the Back-to-School Program Tzu Chi has in Haiti for four of the local schools in four different zones. We have around 500 children that Tzu Chi is supporting through school supplies, hot meals and yearly school tuition scholarships. It was really good to meet all the kids that we are supporting and meet the behind-the-scene parents, as well. All the families live in really bad conditions. The zones that we targeted were the zones in Port-au-Prince that were the poorest. Especially the charcoal zones, where the children are always covered in black charcoal marks, from head to toe. 

All the kids were super excited to see us! They all shouted "Tzu Chi! Tzu Chi! Tzu Chi!" The father vowed to be a Tzu Chi volunteer from now on! What a great example of the circle of giving! The seed of love has been spread from Tzu Chi to the child, to the parent, and now to Haiti as a whole! 

This mother was so grateful for Tzu Chi's help that she kept on bowing down to us. This little guy is 4 years old and in 2nd year Kindergarten class in EUDEC. He is a total sweetheart! 

She was showing me all her books and grades she got! I was so proud of her! 

This is a 12 year old girl in 4th grade at EUDEC school. She is very intelligent and works very diligently in school. She gets all 10/10 on all her homework assignments. She loves Tzu Chi and really cherishes her chances at getting an education! She is real bundle of joy! 

This 6 year old boy was showing me how he can write all his numbers from 1 to 20. He recited them in French for me. He was super shy and didn't speak to anyone. I was super surprised when he grabbed me over to the door and started to interact with me. What a precious little boy! 

His birth mother disappeared after the 2010 earthquake, so he was officially "adopted" by one of his mother's friends. He has been under her care and out of the kindness of her heart opened her home to him. She treats him like her own son and now he is blossoming so bright! Love and compassion is all over!


I hope this Happy Campus Program will keep on evolving and get better as we support more children back to school in Haiti! 

Home visits and Haitian Volunteers Training

This morning we had a dedicated volunteer's meeting and training session for the 20 local volunteers who have Tzu Chi uniforms. We talked about how much work we have done over the 20 months since the January 12th, 2010 earthquake. We watched videos on individual volunteer's stories and different projects that are going on in Haiti. We told them that everything that they do is never lost. It is always documented and showed to the world. Literally, through Tzu Chi Media, the world is watching over Tzu Chi Haitian Volunteers and cheering them on every step of the way. We went over Master's philosophy and what it means to be a Tzu Chi volunteer. We also distributed more Bamboo Banks to the volunteers and told them to have good thoughts everyday. It is not about the money amount, but the actually good thought and the heart that goes into praying for no more disasters in the world, world harmony, and purifying our hearts to do better for others. We also went over how to properly bow to pay respect to Master Cheng Yen (Founder of Tzu Chi) and the Buddha. It was very nice to see all the volunteers again today and once again, I was the one translating everything to French/Creole. 

Curtis SB and I showed each of the volunteers how to properly sign their hands at the end of the third bow to Master and Buddha. I went around each one of them to correct the positioning of their fingers. 

We always need to round our fingers, so we do not poke others sharply and have a window of space to see out to the world. 

In the afternoon, we went out to the Stadium and Saint Alexandre areas in Port-au-Prince to do some home visits. I was especially excited to be able to go visit little Jennifer, Angel, and Mme. Rene this afternoon. I have not seen them for two months now and miss them dearly. For those of you who do not know the story of little Jennifer, she was 10 years old when I first met her back in February 2010, at our Tzu Chi Free Clinic in the National Soccer Stadium. She was carried in by two Haitian volunteers, unconscious and epileptic. She had a heat stroke and in turn caused her to have a seizure. About 15 minutes in, we see Mme. Rene, then a super pregnant woman run into the Free Clinic tent. She was inconsolable, just sobbing and yelling in French. I was the only person that could speak French at the time, so I ran over to console her. She told me that she already lost a daughter, she cannot lose another one. It turns out that little Jennifer was under the rubble of the earthquake for three days with a little sister. Little Jennifer later told me that she was holding onto her little sister's hand when the earthquake hit. She felt her little sister's hand grab on really tight the first day and as the days went on, the grip got looser and looser, until the third day they were dug out, but her little sister had already passed away. It was an heartbreaking story. In order for me to distract the mother from her sadness, I started to ask about the baby in her stomach. I casually asked how many months have she been pregnant. She responded with 10 months!!! I thought that I heard wrong and kept asking, using fingers now. It was indeed 10 months! At the time, I called over for three doctors to look at her baby. You can see the facial features imprinted on her stomach and no matter how hard the doctors pushed the baby had no response. No movement what-so-ever! We all know that if the baby was alive, there would be a lot of movement in the belly. The mother told me that the baby had not moved since the day of the earthquake, because she fell at the hospital. Long story short, she later got an ultrasound stating that her baby was healthy and 28 weeks along. I didn't know what to believe! I left Haiti at the end of March and in June I got an email from the Haitian volunteers stating that Mme. Rene gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I deemed him the miracle baby! 

The little girl is Jennifer. She is now 12 years old and a very smart little girl! The GIANT baby that you see in the picture is the miracle baby! He is 1 year and 5 months old now! Look how much he's grown!!!! 

Mme. Rene originally wanted to name the baby after me and I told her that it wasn't a good idea. So she  settled on Angel Lori Rene in the end. He is definitely an Angel through and through. 

We ended our day at one of the volunteer's, Jean Dennis', house. We visited his family and I got to see Patrick SB's God-daughter, Harmony! She is getting so big now and super cute! She is pretty like her mother for sure. It was nice to do home visits at all the volunteer's houses. It was good to know what conditions they were living in at the moment. 

Little Harmony. She says a giant hello to Godfather Patrick! 

What a super productive day! I am so grateful for all the opportunities and awesome people that I am surrounded by! 

Adventures with Tzu Chi Con't

This whole week has been extremely hectic. Every week is super busy, but this week was even more since Internet decided to go out all together. It started already being super rocky last week, but this week was just like "Hey! I'm tired. I'm going to the beach! See ya!" Usually it wouldn't be that big of a deal, since Internet is always rocky in Haiti, but this week I had to send out all the monthly reports to agencies, families, and team members! All 53 of them!!! Oh boy! When the internet would decide to work, it would only let me write email messages and couldn't attach any files! It would load for like two hours and then when the loading bar finally gets to the very last step it was come out with bold red letters "Attachment Failed!" That wasn't very nice! So thankfully that I have been working with Tzu Chi on the weekends, so I can use their internet to send things out! Reports are late, but there was not much I can do. I tried to compress many of the photo files to smaller sizes, but only a couple worked to attach itself. Anyways, now that I have internet here in OECC, I am definitely sending out as many as I can.

So tomorrow (11/18) is Haiti's Independence Day, so there is no work. This is the first time that I actually feel like I have a vacation day in Haiti, since I will be leaving the orphanage and going to meet up with Tzu Chi again. The Tzu Chi team is leaving this Sunday, so it was nice that they can come and pick me up at the orphanage to work with them again. I was super excited to be able to have good food, hot showers, and meeting with all my Haitian Tzu Chi Family. I feel very grateful for every one of them. So Kathy SG came with Pierrot and Lesley to come get me at the orphanage at around 5:30pm. I said goodbye to the children for the weekend and went on my weekend adventures with Tzu Chi once again. It was nice to talk to Lesley and Pierrot in the car on the way back to OECC. The traffic was horrible but it didn't matter. We were all used to the traffic in Haiti, it's a normal thing. Car coming from all different directions and people walking in between all the different spaces that formed with all the cars. It was just...normal occurrence now.

We got back to OECC at around 7:45pm and ate dinner! Yummy dinner once again! We talked about what we were going to do this weekend and it is once again fully packed. Tomorrow we will have a volunteer meeting and training for all the volunteers who have uniforms. I am so excited! I can't wait to see my Haitian Tzu Chi Family bright and early tomorrow!

Have a good night! I got a hot shower waiting for me! YAY!

Brazilian Troop and Haitian Doctors

Yesterday we went back and visited the Brazilian Peacekeeper (BRABATT II) Base. I was super excited to get to go back and see Major Roland again! He is someone with a giant heart and is in charge of the G9 department (Civil Affairs/Military Coordination) for the Brazilian Troops here in Haiti. The last time that I met him, it was only his second day here in Haiti, so pretty much clueless. We filled him in on all the projects Tzu Chi is doing in Haiti and also told him that we have worked with many troops before on orphanage feedings and support projects. Now it has been over two months and he has already found other different projects for us to collaborate on. It was great to see him and working out details on newer projects. There is a brand new school and two other orphanages in the Bel Air areas, which is a pretty high crime area in Haiti. They are in great need of support! 

Military Police Chief at BRABATT II! He was hilarious! He showed us around to the newer parts of the camp. He is staying here for an 8 months assignment. He said that it was super hard. He misses his family very much! 

Many strategic meetings took place at BRABATT II G9 department! Oh how I've missed this office! I still remember back in the distribution days, we would be here every other day planning and going out doing Reconnaissance with the troops. Good times! 

Major Roland gave us BRABATT II souvenirs before we bid our goodbyes. It was so nice of him! He was in normal casual wear yesterday, because it was a Sunday. He looked so different without his uniform on! 

We also met with two Haitian doctors yesterday morning. They are actually Haitian exchange students that studied in Taiwan for two years. They were scholarship recipients with the Haitian and Taiwanese Government. They both studied Medical Administration work, but they had already licenses to practice medicine in Haiti before they went. It was more like a PhD program in Haiti. The girl doctor studied in Taipei, while the other doctor studies in Kaoshong! His mandarin is a lot better than the girl doctor since in Kaoshong there weren't that many people who could speak English with him. It was quite weird to see that the doctors conversing in Mandarin and understanding when we speak Mandarin. I hope my Creole can be as good as their mandarin in a year. That would be awesome. 

We showed them videos on our recycling program and they were super excited about it. We gave them both a bag made out recycled goods, such as plastic bottles. They were in awe about the quality of the product. 

Simple Action, Big Difference! 

Tzu Chi Family Weekend Con't

My Tzu Chi Family weekend continues. Yesterday, we conducted a volunteer training for the Haitian volunteers in the St. Alexandre area. The biggest group that was included were the long time volunteers from OVRP in the National Soccer Stadium. They have been with us since the very beginning when Tzu Chi was doing large scale distributions and free clinics in the stadium back in March 2010. I was so happy to see them back doing more training. 

Austin SB and I hosting the volunteer session. I translated everything from Mandarin to French for the attendees.  We talked about Guatemala, Thailand, and El Salvador victims. 

We distributed many Bamboo Banks to the volunteers, wishing them best of luck in starting to foster good thoughts everyday and to help the less fortunate in Haiti. 

Picture with my Haitian Tzu Chi Family! Oh how I've missed you guys so!!!!

Weekend With Tzu Chi Family

So I was so excited this weekend, because Tzu Chi is back! They Tzu Chi International Relief Team will be back in Haiti, this time, for about two weeks. I met them in town (downtown Port-au-Prince) when we were finished with the funeral services for little Precious*. It was so nice of the foundation's driver to drop me off in town. This saved Tzu Chi a lot of traveling down toward Lamardelle. So this time Austin SB, Curtis SB, and Kathy SG, who can speak French, came down to Haiti. I was so excited to see them. I haven't spoken Mandarin in a long while and it was so nice to see familiar faces in Haiti. Most of all, I was super excited that I get to take a hot shower and get to eat nice CHINESE FOOD at OECC! Super excited. So when I got in the car, Kathy SG immediatly handed me some peanut butter crackers. Oh my goodness, that was like heaven in my mouth. I was so hungry from running around all day.

After picking me up, we immediately went on route to Judy's orphanage. Judy is someone who has a huge heart. She is a single woman who believes that her duty to be on this earth is to serve others. She believes that God has given her the grace to use all her talents and will to help orphaned children. She does not have any children of her own, but she does take care of 43 orphaned children 24/7 plus 100 more that goes to a free school that she offers during the day on her compound. She feeds the children two meals a day plus offer them a free education. That is great love right there! Her and I are really close, because we met back in 2010, right after the earthquake. Tzu Chi did many small scaled distributions for Judy's orphanage and they also have a very special relationship with the Jordanian troops and Jordanian Tzu Chi Family, as well. All the children still remembers Tzu Chi and they remember all the Mandarin and French sign language songs that we sang to them. They will repeat what they've learned all throughout the year. Judy was very happy to see us back to care for her and the children. We recently gave a batch of mattresses for the children at the orphanage, because the children were all sleeping on the floors and the humidity of the floors was causing many of the children lung and other health problems. We went back to see how they were all doing. All the children were happy to see us and we distributed some candy to them. They really understand and embody the philosophy of love, respect, and gratitude. We taught the children to not throw the candy wrappers on the floor, but in the garbage can instead. We also taught them to give the candy to the adults first before having it for themselves, as a sign of respect for our elders. We played with them and bid our farewell for the next visit.

When we got back to OECC I literally wolfed down all the food that was in front of me! Oh my goodness. I haven't had such delicious food in months! Recently we have been lacking food at the orphanage and they always want to make special food for me, but I always tell them no, that I will just eat what the kids eat. I don't want them to spend extra money on me, while the children are lacking food and nutrient. I cannot let them do that. So I will just eat what the children eat. And yes honestly, it's not much, but it is still food. The older children complain a lot about the food, but when you are hungry, food is still food, you eat it. The normal breakdown has been spaghetti with ketchup in the mornings, rice with bean sauce/corn meal with vegetables for lunch, and flour/corn porridge or bread and tea/hot chocolate for dinner. This is already wayyyy better than all the other orphanages in Haiti, so I am very grateful. I am actually working with Tzu Chi to donate food on a regular basis for the orphanage, because we are definitely running into food shortage and budget problems. I hope that it will work out in the end! Let's keep praying together!

I was so happy to have tofu again! It's been four months my friend....I was literally so happy to taste it that I was smiling so big when I was eating. I couldn't help it! I was SOOOOO HAPPY! So grateful to have all this delicious food in front of me. Literally, every single cell in my body was smiling! I guess this is what pure happiness felt like. All the SG and SB were like, "Wow, she is eating like she has been starving for months!" They said that even if they tried to enjoy their food like that, they couldn't. And apparently I was making a lot of high pitched noises. I kept saying how happy I was. I was, SUPER HAPPY!

I am so grateful for Tzu Chi coming back and to OECC for providing the delicious food and hot showers. I am such a lucky girl!!!!!!

An Angel Resting Peacefully 11.11.11

Today everyone all dressed up for the funeral service of little Precious*. The foundation decided to give her a small funeral ceremony and a proper burial in the Croix-de-Bouquet cementary. In Haiti, the dress attire for funeral is a little bit different than the States. Normally, we would all be dressed in black, ALL BLACK, but in Haiti it is mostly black, white, dark purple, and blue. The colors represent peace and harmony, which is a wish for the deceased. I dressed up in black and white for little Precious*. I thought about how much she would have loved to touch my skirt today....she loved to play with my skirts whenever I would play with her during the day. So I wore a pretty skirt today, just for little Precious*.

                                     

People had a lot of work to do, so not everyone could make it to the funeral service. Overall, we had three staff members (including me) and Manmie's sister, Nicole, accompanying us to do a proper prayer for little Precious*. It took us about an hour to get to the Morgue and little Precious' * coffin was so magnificently decorated! It was beautiful! More than anything that I would have expected. In Haiti, the general population has a lot of respect for the dead, especially people who believe in Voudouism. This is due to the fact that many traditions of Voudouism talks with the spirits of the dead and many times send the spirits to do different deeds for them. Normally, most funeral services are held in a church, but because little Precious* was an abandoned child, who's never been baptized, we could not do a religious ceremony for her. Nevertheless, there was still a pastor there at the morgue who conducted a small ceremony for little Precious* and us. There was a moment where it was open casket, where little Precious* was dressed in a beautiful white dress, like the ones you see at weddings. Her hair was all braided nicely and a pretty bow was attached. They put some make-up on her, which was quite shocking for me to see her with make-up on, but it was a nice gesture done by the people. Seeing her again, brought back all the memories we had together. Her eyes were shut in the coffin and she looked like she was taking a really deep sleep...

                                               

During the ceremony, the pastor asked if anyone would like to say a few words about little Precious*. I went up, because I was the only one there that had worked with her and was closes with her. I said that "little Precious* was a child full of joy and love. She loved everyone equally and always had a smile on her face when you approached her. She was so happy to have company at the orphanage. She had made a lot of progress in her walking over these short three months that I have known her and was one of the most determined little girls I have ever encountered. She was a brave child, with wisdom beyond her four years. I wish her all the best in her next life. Come back soon to us little Precious*. I love you dearly little one!"

Three Haitian men carried her coffin out to the hearse, while another played a sad song with a metal wire and a hand saw! Everything seemed so peaceful and in harmony here. I watched as they slowly pushed the coffin into the back of the hearse and closed the door. They were taking her to the burial site. I bid her farewell and blew a kiss in the air. I whispered, "You looked so beautiful today little Precious*, inside and out!"

Rest in Peace my little one! We will miss you dearly! 

So I'll See Ya Soon Then

Julia left today! How sad! We have bonded quite well over the week that she was volunteering here. We played with the children, fed them, and clothed them. We had a fun time folding and organization baby clothes in the up stairs storage unit. It was a blast trying to figure out just how many singles of Crocs we had in our storage room. No matter how hard we tried, we could not find them anywhere. Somewhere there is another pile of single Crocs just laying around, waiting to be matched with their pair. I guess we'll never know won't we Julia???? Thanks so much to Julia for organizing all the art work made by the children, now it is a lot easier for me to find them by name and give to the parents when they come. Much appreciation! Most of all, a great big shout out to Julia for helping me with hand-printing with the all the children at Lamardelle. She saved me a lot of time and trouble. Oh man, it was so much easier with four hands, than two, that was for sure!!! We made a great team, AWESOME!

I wish you the best of luck in your PeaceCorp assignment. I will be praying for you to be assigned to a placement that you'd enjoy. Although I think you would have a blast anywhere you go anyways! You are a social butterfly the just lights up the room! Keep doing what you are doing and being awesome! It was so nice to get to know you girl! Thank you for all that you do!

I hope Julia can come back to visit FEJ next Spring! Gotta make that happen girl, ASAP! A week was way too short! No more swimming pools and overeating. It's time for both of us to get back to some serious work!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU! (In the voice of the awkward Yoda from Family Guy) <3

Mmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...

IBESR & UNICEF Collaboration

Today was a really busy day! (Although, which day hasn't been right?)

UNICEF and IBESR (Haitian Child Welfare) made a surprise visit to the orphanage today. They were suppose to be here at around noon, but ended up not getting here until 2:30pm. Because UNICEF and IBESR came down, Mr. Duncan had to be there to meet with them. Normally he was suppose to come down tomorrow, but instead made an emergency stop today. Early this morning, there was a pair of adoptive parents that were at the U.S. Embassy to finalize their adoptive child's Visa for traveling to the U.S. This is the last step in the adoption process before the parents can finally take their child on a plane and fly back home with them!!! How very exciting!!!! So because of this surprise visit, I was able to say goodbye to one of the toddlers who is heading home to the U.S. this week. I was soooo happy that I got a chance to say goodbye to him.

So UNICEF and IBESR are working together to do more child protection cases, such as stopping child trafficking and family reunifications here in Haiti. They came to FEJ to talk about the possibilities of temporarily placing all the children in question at our creche while they did investigations on finding their biological families. The meeting that took place was very long. Lots of voices, opinions, and standards. We took UNICEF around the creche, since it was their first time visiting. One of the workers pulled me aside and said that many of these children need more one-on-one attention because they are not getting enough. I told her that we were trying our best and we were working on it, since we are understaffed and that she was welcomed to play with the children herself. It gets to me sometimes when visitors come and they start to point out that the children need more attention. Of course I know the children need more attention, but there are just not enough people around to do one-on-one activities all the time. I'm only one person! I can't do everything! I will just have to keep trying harder! After the meeting, it was decided that probably around 20 children will be coming to stay at FEJ in the near future. All I know is that we'll be needing more staff to take care of the children, that is for sure!

I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to the adoptive parents who were going to leave this Saturday. So the requirements for FEJ is that the adoptive parents have to spend a week in Haiti to bond with the child before they can take him home. It is crucial this bonding period and it serves as a transition time for the child from the creche to his home. I told them all that I could about their child and played with the child for the last time here in Haiti. I made sure to tell the adoptive parents that to get a full medical check-up as soon as they get back to the States, since the resources are limited here in Haiti. It is better safe than sorry. Also to check if he has any allergies, such as Lactose and Gluten intolerant. They are awesome people and I am very happy that the child is going to be in such a wonderful family!

BEST OF LUCK LITTLE BUDDY! 

HAVE A SAFE FLIGHT!

HIV + TB = Deadly Pair

Today was another sad day...

I got a phone call this morning letting me know that the 7 month old little baby boy whom has been hospitalized for the past month passed away at 3am this morning. He came to the orphanage when he was just a month and a half old. He was abandoned at a local market. IBESR (Haitian Child Welfare) took him in and transferred over to us. He tested positive for both HIV and TB when he came. He was extremely tiny for his age (only weighed 7 lbs), most likely a premature baby, and always coughing up a storm. He has been on so many different medications and IV solutions for the past three and a half months that I have been here. He was always hospitalized and for weeks at a time. The poor little baby boy suffered a lot physically.

I can still remember holding him when I was on my way up to Kenscoff for the very first time. He was coughing and holding his fists into his mouth. His big eyes looking up at me whenever I patted him on his back or tummy. How he would hold onto my finger and squeeze whenever the car ride bumped too hard. I held him close to my chest to keep him warm in the cold Kenscoff weather. The sight of him whenever he stopped coughing and fell asleep was like a flower blooming in the fields of spring. Seeing him yawn every time I fed him. The rare occasions of a toothless smile just brought complete happiness to my whole being. Having him in my arms was the reason for life itself.

Rest in peace my little one. Come back soon and give more love to everyone! Thank you for all the love and joy you have brought to my life! You will always be in my heart, forever and always!

New Short-Term Volunteer

Today the short-term volunteer Julia arrived at Manmies. We did not have enough rooms available at the orphanage, so she was situated over at Manmies, which is just like a 3 minutes walk away. She could not stay over there by herself, so I will be accompanying her throughout the week that she will be with us.

I had been busy all morning with coordinating what needs to be changed at the orphanage and making sure that the children were all okay for the moment. We still have many sick children, especially babies, at the orphanage. I am quite worried, so I am spending a lot of time getting to know each one of their situations. We have administered many IV lines for several babies over the last couple of days. It just seems that one baby will be sick and then another will follow. When another baby is getting better, another one will start getting sick. It's not normal and it is not good. I have made sure to have the water system tested and checked for its drinking quality. We are still drinking bottled of water, just to be sure. (Although it does kills me to have to drink bottled water. It is sooooo not environmental friendly!)

Steve and Robin from USAID/US Embassy brought Julia over at around 2:30pm. We all sat down together and chatted about the foundation. Julia was super excited to be able to volunteer at the orphanage. She is 22 years old and works at an Orlando hospital as a Medical Education Coordinator. She just recently graduated from college and is waiting for a PeaceCorp assignment. That is awesome! We had a lot to talk about! I was very happy that she was going to be here for the week, it gives me some time to rest, as well. I am very grateful to her.

We spent the afternoon touring the school, Manmie's house, the clinic. We spent some time by the pool with Will, the other long-term volunteer. It has been a long while since I've used the swimming pool at Manmies. I am always at the orphanage, so there's no chance, plus no time on my part. It was actually quite weird to be swimming in the pool. I was very grateful to have a breather. I definitely needed it! It is looking like it's going to be a busy week but very fulfilling!