Today was a very very chaotic day! I was very excited to wake up today, because I knew all of the things that I needed to get done before 5 pm, because at 5pm was when Tzu Chi was coming to pick me up. I was extremely motivated to get things done. Everything was going the way it was suppose to be and my things on my To-do list was getting checked off one after another. At around 4:00pm I was getting ready to wrap things up and I get a phone call saying that UNICEF/IBESR is going to be there in about 20 minutes with the 20 children that were suppose to already been dropped off before Christmas last year!!!!! Oh what??? Of course this would happen on the one day that I really need to leave at 5pm. Of course, life, and all the curve balls of Haiti. So I start to go check out everything in room 4 to see if everything is all set up. Today is just me at the orphanage, since Ms. Saint-Fort is out on vacation. I was the one that was in charge of the orphanage. She was suppose to be back already, since I was scheduled to leave at 5pm. Of course, once again, plan B and plan C have been put in place.
So needless to say, Tzu Chi arrived at around 5pm and I had to at least wait till the children come and sign all the necessary papers and made sure they were fine before I could leave. I waited and waited. IBESR finally arrived at around 5:40pm and we got all the necessary paperwork signed off. I made sure we had all the necessary clothing, shoes, and hygiene products for the children. There were not enough mattresses, so I had the nannies double up the smaller children. The 20 children included 11 girls and 9 boys. They range from 2 to 12 years old. What a big difference 20 extra children makes at the creche.
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| There were a ton of paper work that needed to be signed. I made sure all the children's names and ages were matched correctly. We do not know any of their birth dates, only approximate ages. Many children didn't even know how old they were either. |
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| I was showing Kathy SG around the orphanage and explaining the difficult situations UNICEF/IBESR often puts us in. Everything is always last minute and with minimal support. |
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| The children arrived in the big UNICEF/IBESR bus. All the children had cokes and sprites in their hands. For many of them, it was their very first time tasting soda! One child told me that the "black drink is very spicy!" |
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20 adorable children! They actually came from another orphanage that was shut down by UNICEF due to abuse allegations and malnutrition cases. When we were bathing the children you can see old and new scars from belt beatings. Some of the kids told me that the people beat them when they would misbehave and also never had enough to eat. Seeing their scars on their little bodies really broke my heart. Many of them also had fungal infections and scabies. Everything was documented and we will share all of these findings with the doctors.
A great big thank you goes out to the Tzu Chi volunteers for waiting around for me to finish all the paperwork. I made sure all the children were bathed, fed, and situated before I left for the weekend. There is a lot of work waiting for me when I get back to the creche on Monday morning. I can't wait to get to know each and every one of the new children!
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