Post Christmas Report

Mmmmm, what a wonderful Christmas I've had. After a mere 3 hours sleep, I did manage to work on the building for a wee while, but my crew didn't show up, and it was quite hot, so I didn't slog at it for long.

Late afternoon, I did get a chance to accompany Emma Simpson, one of GRU's awesome volunteers, to a tent community for a Christmas visit. Since we were going anyway, we also took deworming medicine & Vitamin A with us to give to each child. Cynthia (I think that's her name) is a Haitian doctor, and she came along with us. Both she & Emma are really dynamic, beautiful women. Before we handed out the medication, Cynthia did a really energetic lesson on why it is important to take the medicine, and she had the kids do a call/response to make sure they understood. So, 150 kids lined up, and Emma & I plopped a couple of pills into each little mouth and had to get them to chew the pills well before washing them down with water.

                                            These kids are paying close attention to what Cynthia is saying.

There are fair rides set up at the tent community, beyond the line of tents. It was an odd thing to see when arriving!

One of the guys there told me that they are still functional, but I'm not so sure I'd trust them, myself. New plywood homes being constructed amongst the tents- very simple block foundation, and 2x4 framing. As one of the men there said, the houses are small, but it's better than living in a tent.

After the deworming ceremony, there were some group songs, and one boy did a rap in creole, followed by a solo song by a young girl with an incredible voice. Then it was time to sing in Santa- they sang a creole version of Jingle Bells, and in walked Santa. The cheering, the yelling, the excitment were priceless. They had to line up, and then in groups of 10, they went and sat with Santa, received a present, and had a group photo taken. After the photo was taken, they were ushered up onto the rides, where they sat in the little cars admiring their new toys. I went up to see them in the cars, and they wanted me to touch their toy, to hold it, to share their excitement. They were just beaming!

 This boy in particular, couldn't stop smiling after receiving his stuffed animal. They are all so beautiful!

Adorable! 

When I went back to the Santa lineup, a few wee kids couldn't stop touching my white skin, and they all wanted to hold my hands. One of them in particular (quite young!) was incredibly strong- she was pulling my recently healed fractured finger, and I had to jerk my hand away so as not to injure the finger!

                                                               Posing with Santa!

I can't imagine what daily life is like for these kids- living in tents, in close proximity, being displaced from their home, and I don't know how many of them lost family members in the earthquake, or if they have school in their tented community...but I do know that the excitement and joy they experienced yesterday was probably more real than anything I've ever seen in my life. I'm thankful that Emma has taken on this really important role in the area, of distributing medical supplies & care to orphanages and tent communities, and that she brings love and attention to these wee ones.

Our cholera team returned from their excursion yesterday, having successfully delivered the water purification systems. I look forward to seeing photos today. We had our BBQ party down the road, ending the night with a trip to the Hole in the Wall for a last round of beer & rum out on the back porch. All in all, quite a special Christmas.