Friday, September 21, 2007

So today started off with the tiniest hint of a headache and just the faintest bit of nausea, which according to Melissa I was a little dehydrated. So, I drank lots and lots of water today. After the breakfast block of time I sat down at my computer and had a digital meeting with the board for the Hike for a Cure Foundation. This was our first meeting and I am the president and it looks like we are going to be accomplishing great things, in the very near future. Since enough time had passed for all the morning preparation stuff I set out to find Melissa to get her to change my bandage for me. Had I known that she was going to hurt me I would have avoided her, just kidding, it only hurt because of what she was putting on. At about 1030 Erin and I went over to the baby orphanage to watch them play in this new toy that they got. When we got over there, we found out that it was only partially assembled and incorrectly assembled, so we proceeded to attempt to fix it for them, while they were in it. To better help you in vision this, it was an igloo shaped toy that they children got into and played inside of. After we finally understood how this assembly worked, we got it all squared away and found out that it was missing one piece, which we have reason to believe is in the room that the whole thing came from. We spent some time playing with them in their new toy and chatting with the staff, about where best to put it. After the baby orphanage, I got a task from Erin that had needed done for some time. They built this little train for the Heaven’s Waiting room children out of barrels; however when it rains the water just sat in the bottom of the cart and attracts bug and smells really bad. So what Erin wanted me to do was drill holes in the bottom of the carts so the water would drain, it was a lot of fun because I got to use a power drill. That led just about up to lunch, so we all enjoyed a nice Haitian lunch. After lunch I spent about 80 minutes talking with Vogley, about American stuff and what English words mean and the differences between our cultures. At about 115 Roland, Melissa, Mike, and tap tapped to the La Pointe hospital to visit a young girl who as it turns out had typhoid and has been in the hospital for several days. She was very excited to see us visiting her and Roland and I went out to the market and bought her some chicken and a Tampico (which is a fruit drink) as a little celebration of being better and getting to go home. After our visit Melissa took us behind the hospital to an establishment called the House of Hope, which is where they take children for 9 to 12 months for TB treatment. The ladies that run that facility were very nice and gave us the rundown of the place and a little tour, and the children that we ran into were full of smiles and joy even in the condition they were in. Before we caught a tap tap back we visited the 7 Brothers ice cream shop and got a cup of soft serve ice cream, which by the way is REALLY good. Since it was 245, the schools were letting out and it was nearly impossible to find a ride that could handle all four of us. Finally Melissa had the bright idea to walk about 40 feet down the block so that we could catch a ride before they filled up instead of trying to do it while they were already full. When we got back to the mission, we found a very disappointed Erin, who did not go with us because she thought that Heather, Janeil, and the kids were going to be back and she wanted to see them, and they had not yet returned. So it was about 315 and we were planning on leaving for Sonel’s at 4, so we rehydrated and got some supplies and got ready to go. To our joy, the Owens family finally showed up at about 345/350ish, and we all helped them unload while saying our hellos. At 405ish, Melissa, Vogley, and I took off to Sonel’s to get him all newly bandaged. He was of course; really excited when we got there, but for some reason he looked a little less happy today. His wounds looked good but not as good as they did yesterday. I got to help Melissa with the dressings today, which was cool to get to see what that process entails. We got back to the mission about 20 minutes before dinner so I took a shower and chatted with Erin and Heather while she was feeding the Josiah (her youngest). Dinner was really good tonight, mashed potatoes, peas, and beef stew. I loved it, but I was the only one, because I guess they had it a lot over the summer and were tired of it. After dinner we talked with Heather about what has been going on with them while they were in the states and us while we were here, and all that is getting ready to take place. At about 730 it started to rain, which made everyone happy because it hasn’t rained in a few days and now it is 9 and it is still raining and the rain has been so severe that half the dining hall floor is covered in water, it is CRAZY. Well I am done with my journal now and my eyes are really heavy so I am going to go to bed now. Peace.