a yellow cast

day one in haiti went really well. hot, but well.

molly and i had quite the adventure yesterday. one of the boys here at the orphanage broke his arm playing soccer last week, so they took him to the hospital in town to have it casted. he broke both heads of his radius and ulna at the wrist, so his arm had to be immobilized from wrist to just past his elbow. he was instructed to wear a splint, but that "got lost" soon after. then, he was uncomfortable, so he ripped the part of the cast off that covered his elbow. not good.

This is Liton :-)

so, molly and i took him into town to get it recasted. we crammed into a truck which dropped us off at the house of a haitian physician associated with espwa. he examined the boy and told us we all had to go to the hospital because that's the only place in possession of a cast saw (his cast was fiberglass). so we all jumped on the back of motor-scooters and zipped through the streets of les cayes in search of the hospital. after several trips to espwa's office, a convent, and the general hospital, the cast was removed, the boy got another xray, and then the afore-mentioned doctor recasted it in the shade of a huge tree using an old wooden bench for support.

i was speaking to the boy (his name is liton) on the ride back to the orphanage about how important it is to keep the cast on (in broken creole-english mix). the cast was green and i asked if he liked that color. he said he liked yellow. so, i asked if it were yellow, would he keep it on? without missing a beat, he said "yes." these kids are really funny.

and the problem was solved. i just wish all of haiti's problems were that easy.

today was a bit slower. we spent the morning in the clinic, organizing the donations and supplies i brought down from the states. it's saturday, so the clinic is only open until noon. father marc (the priest who began this project 15 years ago) took us to a local beach where all the orphans were spending the day. they load them up on two huge busses every other saturday and drive them 10 minutes to a local beach to let them play. we got there in time for a huge dance party, so i jumped in and we had a great time!

i am excited to 'get to work' so to speak in the clinic and find a way to round up the girls for a discussion group, but it has been very good to get to know the americans working here and the haitians living here on the compound. i love holding the kids' hands and seeing me look at me like i have 3 heads because i'm a 'blanc.'

the orphanage has 800-1000 kids here during the school year, but there's not near that many here in the summer time. espwa supports 'economic orphans' as well. there are children who would have been (and some who actually were) thrown away because their family cannot support them. espwa feeds, clothes, and schools them during the school year. many of these kids go home during the summer, so espwa will be a bit more roomy during my stay. this means that the kids here really don't have anywhere else to go.

please pray that i'm willing to step outside my comfort zone and listen and learn creole by playing and interacting with the kids. it is a hard balance to strike between working and being 'useful' and just being with the children.

i'm looking forward to mass tomorrow morning (even though i'm not catholic). i already asked father marc about this and he said he doesn't care who i pray to as long as i pray :-)

love,
jenny