KIDZ KORNER

Posted: 22 Dec 2008

Saturday we had a very rare opportunity to take a large group of kids on an outing. A Haitian dance school was putting on “The Nutcracker Ballet” at a high school nearby. They heard of GLA through a random connection and offered free tickets to as many children from the orphanage as we wanted to bring. What a thoughtful thing to do!! Joyce and I at times will take kids out for a special treat but with only on vehicle, and only 10-12 children at a time. This day however Dixie also drove a car, and James, giving us the capacity to seat 22 kids, as well as volunteers and some staff! We took all the kids that were just under 5 years and everyone older. It just so happened that it turned out to be 11 girls and 11 boys, perfectly even. The girls got their hair done the day before, which was great, cause had we waited till Saturday morning to do it there would have been no way we’d have left the house at 9:30am. Everyone got to get dressed up in a new outfit including new footwear! Our kids are so many different shapes and sizes that it took a little time to find the perfect fit for everyone, but by the time Dixie and James arrived at Kay B to pick up part of the group everyone was standing at the gate and excited to go. The drive down took only a short 25 minutes (seemed like a breeze compared to the previous days travel) and there was even parking by the school where the ballet was hosted! We unloaded and found seats on the balcony level so the kids would be above everyone else and could see better. Then they all put on their florescent pick wrist bands (tickets) and waited expectantly. They waited and waited and waited.. and were SO GOOD about it. I could hardly believe how patient they were. An hour and a half after scheduled show time the music started. Only in Haiti. It was beautiful, the kids were captivated. I watched their expressions more than I watched the show. Each one liked a different dance in the ballet, or a different costume. The dancers were very good, and the costumes were bright and colorful. At one point there were little 6 year olds standing just off stage in red dressed with golden angel wings. Evna could see them standing there and was so interested she missed the rest of the current scene and tilted her head to try and get a better look at these little girls that were her age. The program lasted about 90 minutes which was perfect for our group. They were starting to get tired. All the dancers came back out on stage and everyone stood up and clapped for them, and then to the surprise and excitement of many many children who were there they announced that each and every child would receive a gift. There must have been over 300 kids there from different orphanages and schools, and each one received a sturdy should green shoulder bag and a brand new soccer ball.   What a treat!!! All greatly enjoyed it, and it will be a memory these kids take with them from Haiti and all the way Home, the Christmas they watched “The Nutcracker Ballet”. 

Molly

       

 

Posted: 17 Dec 2008  

Time flies at Christmas! It’s been an unusually busy December it seems. Or maybe I just forget about all things we try to pack in every Holiday Season and can never fit, but we try anyway. Toddler House Christmas decorations have been up for 3 weeks now, and then kids have been enjoying them. I am so thankful we did it early this year so that when other things came up it didn’t have to be postponed and the kids will be able to enjoy them for a full month… if the lights last that long. Four of our little munchkins seem to enjoy pulling the lights out of the string. I thought we had a handle on those four when to my surprise I was folding up a pair of the kids’ pants last night after they had gone to bed and three little light bulbs fell out of the pocket. Now if only I could remember who wore those pants yesterday? Thankfully we have a whole box of replacement bulbs. We have two trees up this year, the new one a full 8 ft tall and as beautiful as any fake tree I have ever seen! It is on the balcony away from little fingers, easily seen from the entire yard. And it is level with the girls’ bedrooms, so at night they can lay in bed and look out the window falling asleep to its colorful glow. Our other tree is only 3 ft tall, but it is downstairs just inside the garage and all the kids can come right up the door and look as long as they like. Baby Jesus is sleeping peacefully under that tree with the magi and His earthly parents looking on. We also have many stockings and garlands hung all around, and Jean Louis’ decorative light arrangements. The kids all have garland and bulbs hanging in their rooms, and Joyce’s kids’ in English class have completely remodeled their basement classroom. Homemade decorations are hanging from every possible place. Kiki’s preschool, our youngest kids, made about 30 feet of paper chains one morning!  

So far we’ve manufactured, yes, manufactured, over 13 dozen Christmas cookies. Some may have a looked a little more professional than others, but ALL were enjoyed and ALL were consumed by one of the 165 little people, 70+ national staff, or 25+ foreign staff and volunteers. When you break it down like that, its really not that many cookies. Just a lot of time, laughter, and a LOT of sugar.  Each member of Joyce’s classes participated in the baking. Many of the kids did not or did not want to understand that the dough had to baked.  We handed out balls of dough and then showed an example of how to pat the dough flat and cut out a pretty shape. However by the time we got down the line to help each child several of the kids had smaller if not tiny tiny portions of dough left… Jimmy in fact, had NONE. It seems it was much more tempting to eat the dough than to put it on a cookie sheet to be baked for after naptime. Everyone had a great time making and creatively decorating each of the sweets, and it helped bring a little traditional Christmas spirit to a warm green Haiti.     

 All the kids that made the move to Toddler House from the baby house in November are doing very well. The agility of children never ceases to amaze me. They all seem to have made new friends, memorized their new routine, and are loving the extra room, freedom, big kids to play with, and organized activities. We had to rearrange the school program and make an entirely new pre-school class just for the group that moved up in November!   In the last two weeks five other children have come to call GLA Toddler House their home as well. These kids have come from various areas of Haiti, two from all the way up in Cap Haitian, and one even from Jeremie! They are doing very well and we’re already seeing new friendships form and bonds begin with the kids and their new caregivers. I am so thankful for a staff that is so in tune with and aware of each of these kids’ needs, fears, and comforts. They have been Christ’s hands as they spent long hours talking, holding, reassuring, and loving these new faces to help show them that they are wanted and have a place here with us.

We celebrated Wilde’s & Cindy Love’s potty training success on Friday, FINALLY!!! lol.

 

Daniel found a big slug on Saturday which is currently residing in a 20oz coke bottle with hole in the lid, and his new name is “Sheerah“. 

Monday I caught a 3 inch grasshopper in our kitchen. I thought the kids would love to see it, so I put it in a peanut butter jar and took it out to the yard. Since then Jackson, Daniel, Arry, Robenson, and Peterson have caught three more “friends for the kreeket“.

Arry lost a tooth yesterday morning. He was so proud and could not wait to show it to Joyce and I. We were elated for him and “wowed” over this big moment in his childhood for several minutes. Instead of quarters the kids get a piece of candy for their teeth… an unusual trade, but they seem to like it. When Rèmy saw that Arry had candy, he called him over to help him with his loose tooth. Joyce saw what was happening and tried to intervene, but by the time she got to them the work was done and with a very large, very bloody gummed grin Rèmy proudly handed over his tooth and asked for a sucker. 

Tonight it’s very chilly and there is a damp breeze. It’s beginning to feel like winter. Joyce and I are just heading off to do rounds and make sure everyone is tucked in tight. Good Night!     

Molly

              

 

 

Posted: 6 Dec 2008

Thanksgiving 

I am a little late with this post, but Thanksgiving at Toddler House this year was just too good to go without being noted.   Most Thanksgiving’s the kids enjoy a little change to the menu and an extra large portion of some great turkey. But in previous years I don’t think they’ve really gotten it. This year we celebrated the Wednesday before American Thanksgiving. The wonderful ladies in the kitchen at the main house cooked & carved two beautiful birds for us on Tuesday, so we were all set to go. Joyce and I explained the traditions behind the holiday to the staff and the kids several times over Monday and Tuesday, and by Wednesday morning the house was hopping! Even the staff got excited telling us what they were thankful for. Joyce got everyone to work decorating in our regular Toddler House celebration apparel, balloons, streamers, and homemade construction paper signs designed by our kids exclusively for the day. Ghislaine, our head cook, prepared garden rice and fried plantain, while Joyce and I put together some fresh dinner rolls, snow dusted cupcakes, and fall leaf jello jigglers. Dinner was set for 12:30pm. Rose Mitha, Chalinda, and Peterson proudly finished off the last touches to the dining room decor before we kicked them out to begin serving. In an attempt to prevent a stampede and keep all the plates from meeting and untimely demise on the floor we dished all the food up before letting the kids inside. As six of us went about this the hand washing bucket was carried out to the play yard, thus the time had come. We began to hear chanting and realized that we were in over our heads, the excitement for the meal and the surprise of the decorations was too much for them to wait any longer. We hurriedly put the last spoons on the table (everything here is served with spoons) and began to let the kids in four at a time to go find a place at one of the five tables. With eyes ever so wide the first dozen walked in scoping out the plates, knowing they had the best pick. Everyone had their own top priority, they wanted the larger pile of rice, the meat with the bone, the orange sucker topped cupcake, or the seat on the end (minimal elbowing!). Finally everyone was settled in and though Daralyne and Cindy Love were sure they could sneak a bite before prayer without anyone noticing they were caught red handed and everyone had to sit with arms folded to keep from being tempted.   Prayer was said with such enthusiasm by all, I have no doubts they were thankful for what God had blessed each with this year, and especially for the special meal He had provided. It was one of the quietest Toddler House meals in my memory. Seven year old, Ermithe, holds the new record for turkey consumption, thanks to many children not being able to finish and sliding their portion over onto her plate. The smaller children conked out soon after lunch and slept soundly until woken up around 3pm. But there was no stopping our older 20 children, who were too excited to settle down and played games, made crafts, and chatted about “Danksgivin” until late that night. I am so blessed to be a part of the Toddler House family and all its inhabitants. If space permitted, I would love to list them all here, because to group them all together seems to diminish in some way the importance of each individual person that makes us this family. But I fear it would bore many or perhaps amuse them in trying to pronounce the rich Creole names that so many of our children possess. In any case I hope that if you will be encouraged to know that your prayers, your love, and your encouragement to us help to make this house a home and a family to these amazing children for the time however long or short that God blesses us with their presence here.   

Molly  

        

 

 

 

This is the new blog about the daily life at our Toddler House.  Molly Little, who is responsible for our older children and Joyce Trainer, a long term volunteer who is responsible for our English program, live at the TH and will share with you some of the funny and interesting things that happen there!  Maybe one of the children will want to tell you something that is special to them or a volunteer will want to tell you about something special that happened in their day!  They will try to share as often as possible, but whatever it may be, please enjoy...a little taste of daily life in Haiti!