Our past two days here in Chantal and Ducis, Haiti have been incredible. An update and many photos from Wednesday are below our photos from today.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Today, we have experienced moments of joy that we never expected. We had a party today at Chantal under our trees. The kids were playing for a while with a parachute that one of the BEM team members brought, and they absolutely loved it. They will be excited to know that we recently received two donated parachutes which they will receive when we visit again for a week in January.
While we were having our party in Chantal, a tiny baby along with this grandmother and mother visited. The mother has a mental health disability and didn’t really know how to take care of her baby boy. When they first joined us, the baby had not eaten since 6 am and was extremely dehydrated. The October 2012 BEM Medical Team had seen this baby before and gave money for baby formula and diapers.
A nurse on this team, Abby, was immediately very concerned for the young boy because he was very lethargic. Abby ended up holding and caring for the baby during the entire party. At the end of the day, we decided to go buy more formula and diapers. As we went looking for formula and diapers, many members of the team wondered what more we could possible do for this baby.
We came up with an idea. An idea that will change the rest of his life.
Our houseparents in Ducis, Haiti had recently really wanted a baby themselves. However, ever since the opening of our second home they have been so very grateful that they now have 15 children to watch over. We knew how deeply the parents, Pastor Moice and Mami Moice, had wanted a young baby to take care of and nurture. We decided to talk to the 4 month old’s grandmother and ask if she would like to have the baby live with the children and parents at our home in Ducis, and eventually be able to go to our school. Pastor Jean then called the parents in Ducis and they were extremely excited about the news. We were overjoyed. Later on, the grandmother’s son wanted to meet with us. Since we of course would do nothing without total permission from the entire family, we drove to the uncles house and Pastor Lubin went in and talked to him. He was very sad but ultimately agreed that the baby would be much safer and better off in Ducis then in their home.
After saying goodbye to the baby, and after the grandmother gave us a pack with the clothes they had for him, our littlest RFA member took a ride to meet his new mom would be taking care of him. She was beyond excited and could not wait to get her hands on him. She even said that she was going to love him so much that he would look like her! All the children in Ducis were so excited to see their new brother. Next Wednesday all the legal documents will be signed which will make RFA/BEM the legal parent of the young boy – Adam.
We pray for a time in Haiti when this assistance is not needed and all parents can care for and have the monetary means to take care of their children. Until that time, we are so grateful that we were there to see this little boy and to be a bridge to a life of love for him.
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Wednesday, December 20, 2012
Yesterday, December 19, 2012, we hosted a party at our newly rented and opened home in Ducis. The children from our home in Chantal also came – wearing their soccer uniforms they received during our most recent volunteer trip in August. We even had Santa join us under the tree with all our children. Mami Moice, the new mother of our home in Ducis, entertained all the children for hours. Everyone had a great time.
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