Today was one of those days. You know them. You wake
thinking you had a plan, but something doesn’t come through so you figure
you’ll find something else to get done instead. Only each thing you try, well,
you get interrupted and have to hurry so you can wait, so you can hurry some
more. Yep. It was one of those days.
We got down to breakfast only to find out we were early
once again. With a sick cook this week, schedules have been a bit off. But soon
food arrived and we were well on our way to getting the day started. We had
planned all week to spend today painting floors; three of them to be exact. But
floor paint was nowhere to be found on the mainland. Sooo… step back and punt.
One team began cleaning out a caged room full to the ceiling with equipment for
the impaired kids and adults… and I mean to the ceiling. Walkers, standers, wheelchairs,
and arm braces. Foam boots, back braces,
eating trays, and miscellaneous wheels, attachments, gadgets, and cushions.
From floor to ceiling, wall to wall. We spent the first half of the day just
taking apart the puzzle of appliances and lowering them to the grassy lawn
below (about 8’ drop). Then we sorted and inspected. Like items with like
items, missing pieces found and attached, broken items removed to another pile
for scrap metal.
After lunch we began sorting by need at the orphanage, or
usable elsewhere. It seems there is another orphanage on the mainland that is
in relationship with this one, so the plan is to make a delivery on Tuesday of
any items not being used here. This way their kids will have some needs met, as
well. Because the Physical Therapy Room
is more usable now, we were able to incorporate several new items into their
repertoire of equipment. Kids who have
never been mobile were moving themselves around the room on new apparatus.
Little ones who only laid on mats were now sitting up and looking around at the
world surrounding them. It was amazing.
Another team kept work moving in the kitchen. Although
Haitians were actually laying the tile, our team was overseeing, guiding, and
inspecting each step. By the end of the
day, the backsplash was installed and the whole for the sink was sized.
Tomorrow the sink should be placed and caulked, and the plumbing tied in. Then
we can finish the painting of walls surrounding the countertop to complete that
room. The kitchen was another room we had planned to paint the floor, but
again, that wasn’t possible without the correct paint.
Another team installed the permanent equipment in the
Therapy Room. A concrete drill was obtained so the new set of parallel bars
could be bolted to the ceramic tile floor. This will allow children to be
assisted in their walking therapy once they graduate from the stationary
Standers. So many new opportunities will
be available to the therapists now. Exciting! Some screening was also installed
over half the pergola outside the Impaired Classroom. This will help when the
staff are out there washing down the wheelchairs and other equipment. It does not block the sweltering sun, but it
at least diffuses it.
Another team got the kid’s canteen painted. This is the
room that the kids that are not impaired are fed their meals. The upper half had some really cute murals
and were in good shape, but the bottom half was in pretty bad shape. So a new
coat of paint, and voila! What a difference. Kelly was the painter extraordinaire
in there today!
Several of the guys had to head down the mountain to the
dock to retrieve a delivery of water and Gatorade today. That might not sound
like much… but you would be mistaken to think so. I can’t do it. Tried once.
Bout killed me. Some of the older teen girls have helped out a few times this
week, but each time another one or two fall off the team. We’re down to all guys now. What a job! Hard
to explain but think of it this way. You get out of Sam’s Club (with no cart or
boxes) and have to carry everything you bought for 13 on your team (or 72 kids
and a staff of about 20) from the check-out, through the parking lot, up the
side of a mountain covered with large, loose, sharp rocks, while moving to the
side each time a local rides by on their loaded down donkey, or simply to miss
piles of goat, horse, dog, or donkey poop piles underfoot. Yah. It’s like that… For some, that’s a 45#
five gallon container of water. For others a 25# bag of rice or case of
Gatorade or canned milk. I am so glad I am not a guy, nor am I a feminist. I’m
too much a wimp to be either.
About midafternoon a couple more friends came across the
island to visit. Jean Gary stopped by with two of his fellow elementary
teachers with a gift in hand. I slowly
untied the bag to receive a whiff of homemade brown sugar encrusted cocoa cookies embedded with whole
cashews. Mmmm mmm bon! Can’t wait to eat them after dinner tonight. How
gracious of friends to make the 45 minute walk after a day of work, but then to
bring such a thoughtful gift? Oh the hospitality to learn here.
The work day ended with Darryl, Tom and I moving off to a
private room at the back of the orphanage to go over expenses, project funds,
and anticipated expenses during travel home come Monday/Tuesday. We made some
decisions as a team to use part of the funds to help Sister Flora get the
building torn down she had originally planned for us to do this week before
seeing the multitude of needs in the Therapy Room. The building is about 5 rooms in length and
two stories high, so it would have been beyond our capability with the
orphanage’s tools anyway. This way, a local demolition team can get it down and
break up the rubble to be used along the mountainous road that leads to the
orphanage. It has bad wash out so it will be used well there. It will also put
some locals to work.
We also made the decision as a team to purchase a stereo
for the Therapists to use with the kids. There was an old one on sight but Art
said it was beyond repair. So a new one will be purchased for them with our
project funds. We were also able to assist the staff with a couple weeks of
adult diapers for the teens and adults, as well as the kids. This cost runs about $250 each and every
week. With little to no water, cloth are
not an option… especially for the 30 or more who need to wear them. We will also be leaving behind some
undesignated funds for Sister Flora, Alishe, and the other directors to use, as
needed. How wonderful that God has provided in such gracious ways that we are
able to meet even a few of these needs. Yaaay God!!
With the day’s work done, we’ll sit on the top of the
mountain tonight with a breeze cooling our swollen and blistered skin. Cards
are being passed, pistachios are being cracked, and dreams of the lobster we’ve
been smelling all afternoon will soon be eaten in reality. Oh, the sacrifices we make as God’s servants…
Ha! We’re so spoiled. J
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