Posted: 15 April 2010

Thursday

Today was photo day at Toddler House. Other than a few stubborn little munchkins who didn’t feel like cooperating it went very smoothly, and the kids enjoyed picking pretty clothes, getting their hair done, and receiving a lollipop after their shoot. The kids looked sharp, and as the weeks go on we can see their cheeks filling out, and their smiles getting brighter.

This morning we also had two French reporters come to visit the Toddler House and one little French girls in particular, Alexandra. They hung out with the kids for a bit and got the overall feel for the house. Alexandra enjoyed the attention, to say the least!

Later this afternoon Joel came by with his camera man and a couple of friends of his toshoot some video footage of the kids. For the first 15 minutes the kids were mesmerized by the large camera, but Joel got them smiling and set them at ease. These kids aren’t yet used to hamming it up in front of a video or still camera like our pre-quake kids were. It looks like it may take them a bit to figure out their full attention potential. We’ll keep it that way as long as we can.          

Posted: 14 April 2010

Happy Feet

About once a month (because it is that often needed) I go through every child at the Toddler House, and check their footwear. Every 4 weeks 50% of the kids need new sandals, A. because they have outgrown their old ones, B. because they have worn out their old ones. The oldest children enjoy flipflips and those are the mostly easily broken and wore out kind, so you can guess who needs to have new sandals most often. For the kids who have don’t “get” to switch out their sandals they receive a balloon or candy, or both depending on what we have. It is usually a big enough incentive to keep the naughty ones from throwing one of their sandals in the garbage or over the wall when no one’s looking.   In the past it has not been though and one of my funniest sandal-change-out day memories is that of Sammy booboo. I was in the house with one group of kids checking their footwear and praising the great group that had done so well not loosing or breaking their sandals. When they were finished I dismissed them and headed out to call the next group. I stepped outside the door and looked to my right to catch Sammy sitting on the floor gnawed his way through his sandal strap so that he can get new ones! Sadly for him his prize instead was to get his old sandals duct taped together and no treat. But he never had a repeat sandal sabotage offense. Love you booboo! 

Posted: 9 April 10 

A Flooded Surprise  

Poor Joyce headed down to the basement with class in tow to begin school this morning and was greeted by a rather trying surprise.  Her room had flooded.  Evidently one of the kids was in the bathroom just above her school yesterday afternoon and tried to turn the tap on.  But because the generator had been off for several hours already there was no water flow, and the child forgot which way was on and which was off. SO the sink stayed “on”.  When I turned the generator on yesterday evening it started the pump and water gushed from the sink and overflowed onto floor down, the stairs, and into her classroom.  Because we have 32 kids living at the Toddler House right now there is no one staying in the bedrooms next to the bathroom and that part of the house is only used for schooling between the hours of 8am and 4:30pm.  So we are VERY thankful that Christianne, one of our cooks, wondered into the house early in the evening and noticed the tap on.  She turned it off and mopped up the floor, having taken care of the issue she didn’t feel the need to tell us the trouble when we got home from the main house, and unknown to her the water would sit overnight wicking up into cardboard boxes behind the closed school room door.  Joyce, Endy, and Sonson set to work immediately this morning salvaging and drying what they could.  The yard was littered with notebooks and construction paper laying in the sun throughout the afternoon.  Ironically some of the almost dry papers caught a breeze and blew into a puddle of water outside, dooming them to place in the trash bag of lost causes.  Some days you just have to laugh:)          

Posted: 7 Apr 2010

Expressing Your Feelings

Today the kids in Joyce’s English class learned about feelings.  They had a new print out book to read in class.  As they flipped through the pages there was a photo of a child on each page with the expression of that emotion on their face.  When the kids got to the “sad” page there was a photo of a girl with tears on her face as she was crying.  Amongst themselves the kids decided that she must be sad because someone had hit her.  They got to the “excited” page and the class decided that the boy with the excited face must be excited because he was getting to play with water.  And when they read the “angry” page they were sure that the boy was angry because he had been bad and had been scolded.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed their lesson because they could relate to it and they could also make a it a bit humorous.  They tried making the facial expressions that they saw on the page.   Here are some of the results. 

Posted: 12 February 2010

One Month Later…  

At this time January 12^th, 2010 every member of the Toddler House family was outside sitting on the ground, praying, praising, and waiting. News trickled in slowly.   Death tolls were being predicted, the Palace and all its meaning and pride had crumbled, powerful government leaders lay under the rubble, the airport was closed, phones were spotty or down altogether, loved ones were missing, and aftershocks continued to shake the ground, the house, and our confidence. God gave us strength and wisdom and we put our energy into shielding, sheltering, and keeping the kids from fear and sadness. We did not know who was alive or even how to find them, we did not know what would happen with all the lost adoptions, we did not know where supplies to feed 200 plus staff, children, and infants would come from, we did not know how long, how hard, or how much damage the aftershocks would continue to cause, we didn’t know anything… but as ALWAYS God had the answers. He provided every item we needed before the previous storage had run out. He provided water and propane, diesel, salami, rice, spaghetti, and sugar. He provided surplus months in advance of packaged rice and lentils that we would could pass into the community at a time He knew they would need it most. He provided strength, and comfort when the good-byes were too many and came to fast. He provided peace when loved ones were confirmed dead, and when loved ones will never be found. He held the rain clouds at bay, when His Haitian people lay under the open sky without a shelter to call home. He opened the eyes of the world to the needs of His children. He called on the hearts of millions, some to serve, some to pray, some to give, and some to bury. He carried us through every step of the way, and continues to do so each moment of every day. 

Toddler House is quiet. We are blessed with the cheerful laughter of three (the ones left) of our original 68 children before the quake. We pray the leaders of France will open their hearts and grant these three their visas that they too may be united with their Forever Families and begin their new lives. In the mean time they attend school, eat, sleep, play, read, watch TV, sing, dance, and unite together as “The French”. They are an encouragement to each other knowing that they have one great tie that binds them all together, that is that one day they will all call France their home, they will speak French as their main language, and wave the red, white, and blue stripes with pride. In the mean time they embrace other children that have come in and out for a short period: a friend’s nurse and her two children, a GLA staffer’s son, a GLA staffer’s niece, and a group of 15 from another orphanage needing a place to crash for the weekend. 

We have washed, scrubbed, bleached, and cleaned the orphanage from top to bottom. We have touched up and painted. We have arranged and rearranged the furniture. We have organized, sorted, and categorized our supplies.   We stand with open arms ready for whomever the Lord should send to our empty home, and our aching hearts.   Little ones who are just beginning to call the Netherlands, Canada, the US, and Luxemburg home - we miss you!! We were so blessed to know you, so privileged to care for you, so unworthy to love you, and so thankful for the time we had with you! We shed tears of joy knowing you are safe, secure, loved, and running full speed ahead. And we shed tears of sadness missing your smiles, your laugh, the way you called my name and ran to me, your hugs, and how much you loved to be loved by me. You all have pieces of our heart there with you, you’ve changed each of us for the better, and we’ll never … ever… forget you. 

A HUGE THANK YOU to the many parents who have sent photos and emails letting us know how your little ones are transitioning. Joyce, myself, all the staff, and the kids who are still here have poured over the photos and laughed at your emails picturing for ourselves the kids’ reactions to snow, big beds, pets, green vegetables, and new siblings. We pray for you and your families adjustment as the changes took place so quickly and without warning. May God give you wisdom and energy, strength and enthusiasm, peace and comfort, and joy and laughter like your home has never known before.