Day 2 - Missionary work at the Home for Sick and Dying Children, Dare Orphanage, and Apparent Project

Home for Sick and Dying Children is a non profit organization that takes care of sick babies and children.   As we walked in; the veterans knew what to expect but not the 4 rookies.  They didn't expect to feel such raw emotion from being there.  We have to admit it was an extremely heart wrenching moment.  We, the rookies, shared our feelings and thoughts tonight;  scary, shocked, speechless, and sadness.  There were so many sick babies and children and we couldn't guess how old they were because they were very tiny and fragile  We understood and appreciated that it was God's calling for them to offer a place to take care of the sick babies and children. We were given the opportunity to tend the sick babies and children with LOVE.  We held, rocked, played, and fed them like they were our own children.

Dare Orphanage is an Orphanage for Special Needs children founded by a pastor named Dare.  There were 27 orphans.   This place truly touched the heart of one of our teammates.  She writes, "When I came out of tap-tap and walked around the place I immediatedly saw a young girl crawl and knew that girl has Cerebral Palsy because I have Cerebral Palsy too. I have had the all medical assisstance such as surgeries, botox shots, walk therapies, a wheelchair, wore braces, and went to many doctor appointments. My mom carried me anywhere we went because before the surgeries, I couldn't walk at all. My feet were up and I walked on my toes. After surgery, my right foot is fine but my left leg is still in the same condition. When I grew up, I always complained about Cerebral Palsy and how much I hate it because it made everything so hard. I felt pain in my hip, back, and foot when I walk or fell but I didn't realize how much I am blessed with what I have and all the family support and medicial assistance I had in my life. I couldn't imagine what my life would be like if I was in same condition as that girl. It hit me hard and I feel guilty about my atitude toward cerebral palsy. This little girl has no medical assistance or anything to help but her atitude was so joyful and she smiled even though she doesn't know how to walk. My heart was broken and I wanted to teach her how to get up and walk, but I knew love is what I could give her in that moment. So I just held her and smiled at her. She looked at me and smiled back. I need to change my atitutde and tell my parent how much I really appreciate them for all their support and love".

Apparent Project- A non profit organization to help Haitian parents rise out of extreme poverty in order to keep their children.  Their mission is to make the needs of Haiti known, to offer opportunities for the Haitians be able to provide for themselves and their families, empowering them to rise up out of poverty... to be able to keep their families together... to avoid relinquishing their children to orphanages.   We strongly advise you to watch the documentary called Poverty, Inc. on Netflix.  In that 90 minute film you will learn about The Apparent Project, other organizations - helpful and not helpful, and that people need a hand up, not a hand out.

Lastly, we stopped by Elite Hotel to jump in the salt water pool to refresh ourselves.  It was such a blessed day for us to experience as we served people here in Haiti.