April 2, 2011

Crazyness?

Xavier had organized a clinic today at the orphanage for the kids from the village. A few of them showed up yesterday and we had to turn them away. We were worried that it was going to be a mad house and that adults would be upset that we wouldn't treat them, but it really wasn't too bad.
Xavier did a great job of setting up the benches better to create a barrier and had communicated well that we would only see the first 100 kids. Once we got our system going, things ran pretty smoothly and we were able to see all the kids that came. Hatian babies are BEAUTIFUL! We saw 3 or 4 babies that were just a couple months old. It was a little bit overcast for part of today so it wasn't nearly as hot as yesterday. We passed out toothbrushes and toothpaste to everyone that came through today because the institute had donated so many. We also bought a lot of the paintings that Xavier, Maxon, Silvestre, and the kids had done. Xavier is really doing a great thing there. He teaches kids how to to the traditional Carribean art in a small school in his home. After the earthquake there were 20 or so kids that showed up without anywhere to go. So he and his wife took them in and started Poor Children's Orphanage. They keep it going through the proceeds from the artwork and donations from people. Xavier makes sure that all the kids go to school as well. He is a good man.

April 1, 2011

Poor Children's Orphanage

We headed up to Mont Rouis today to do a clinic with Poor Children's Orphanage (we're helping them pick a better name) and deliver all the supplies we had collected for them. We saw a lot of kids and staff, probably around 40. It was pretty chaotic, but we got the job done.
The children there are beautiful! After a successful clinic we headed to Club Indigo for the afternoon and to spend the night. Back in the 70s it was a Club Med and it was a beautiful and relaxing break.
We brought our 4 interpreters (Big Mac, Lesly, Matt, and Stevenson) with us and it was so fun to watch them. They had never done anything like that before and had never gone swimming. We tried to teach them to swim. It was pretty entertaining. I met a famous Hatian poet at dinner and his wife (who is from Argentina). Super nice couple.