"New" Playhouse at the Toddler House

Those of us who call the Toddler House “Home” would like to say a huge THANK YOU to the people of Faith Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs for donating their old play house to GLA. It arrived in pieces on January 31st in our most recent container of supplies from the US. John, Brad, Steeve, and three volunteers Todd, Patrick, and Roger carefully hauled the giant pieces over to Kay B and put it back together. They reinforced several areas, and replaced some of the older wood making it “Approved” for the demands of our rough and tumble Haitian kids. Its been in use (and when I say in use I mean 1-30 kids are on it from 6:30am-7pm seven days a week) for a month now. It’s a wonderful structure and we are so thankful to have it! The kids use the top decks but also like to go underneath and use those areas blocked off by chairs and cover by the deck floor as little rooms to “houses” and “forts”. The swinging bridge is a little scary for the 2 year olds who are only now four weeks later taking small steps to cross on their own. Saraphina actually made it all the way across and back this morning by herself for the first time! She was quite proud. One other major bonus that I have to mention is that the tallest platform allows the kids to look out over the property wall without standing on their tip toes and watch the passer bys and vendors on the street below as well as our neighbors beloved cow, goat, and chickens.

Thanks to all who helped put this addition together for the kids at the Toddler House!

Maureen's Note: Having seen what the kids had to play on before, this is a wonderful improvement. I love that the kids are able now to do some imaginative play. Isn't it fabulous to see what sharing an old piece of equipment can do!?!

February Goings On at the Orphanage

Well. the good news is that our girls' birthmother did go to Parquet for her interview. Now we are just waiting to get out of Parquet and go on to the next step in our adoption, moving ever closer to the day when we can bring our girls home!

I wanted to share what has been going on at the orphanage... these posts once again highlight the dedication of the staff at God's Littlest Angels. I know I wouldn't handle 50+ kids with the chicken pox as well as they did!

Posted: 25 Feb 2009
Itchy Itchy Chicken Pox

January was an interesting month. It was happy and sad, tiresome, hard, joyful, and promising. It seemed like every day we were saying “Good-Bye” to a child we love, and though something that we pray for daily, and a great time of rejoicing, it can be very hard to let go and watch them leave. I love reading emails from parents and seeing new photos of our kids after they have gone home to their “Forever Family”. But my keyboard has felt a lot of tears as the “missing” is still great especially during the first few weeks. These kids are so precious and there is no way (not that I would want that) to not let them take pieces of my heart as they go to their new homes.

Mid January the Toddler House generator broke down and as we waited for the mechanic to diagnose the problem and God to provide a solution we went without power for two weeks. The ladies did such an amazing job keeping the routine going changing time schedules to fit the daylight hours. They drew water from the underground cistern by hand for cleaning the house, bathing the kids, and hand washing all the clothes. They knew what needed done and did it despite the extra work involved. None of them ever complained to me about it, and I was humbled to see them work so hard with such great attitudes. I will say it again, I am so thankful that God has blessed us with such wonderful Haitian women to act as caregivers and to provide love and set a good example to our kids. God provided a slightly used generator, the power of which exceeds what we need daily at Kay B, for a miracle price! He is always amazing!

The first week of February chicken pox appeared at Kay B. It was February 4th to be exact. A day which I will remember for years to come. We did not quarantine anyone, knowing that we would never know who already was infected, and hoping we could get through the illness quickly. The first week there were half a dozen cases, the second week about a dozen more, and this last week we had two dozen at one time with bumps and feeling icky. One morning as Joyce and I made the first rounds of the day we had 53 children with fevers. Thankfully most were low grade fevers and had we not checked the child’s temp you’d have never known they were sick, no slowing of pace. As the kids have been getting their spots it last 3-4 days usually before they start to dry out and heal over. The big kids keep boasting that they will not get it, they say and hope that they had had it at their Haitian homes before they came to live with us. One by one though they are getting it as well. They are all troopers and some actually think that being covered in calamine is somewhat special and not just annoying. As kids come down with it we let them lounge on the couch and watch TV, play with toys and coloring books in their beds (trying to bribe them into resting!!!) and have made many combinations of powdered juice mix and sprite for a fun way to keep hydrated. So far the two top ranking “Sick Time” movies are “Tinkerbell” and “The Bee Movie”. We only have 19 kids left that have not had it… so hopefully next week will be our final one. I speak for all of us when I say I am looking forward to a regular sleep pattern again. Unfortunately our gatekeeper/all around handy guy, Jean Louis, first felt achy on Sunday and is today just covered in bumps! And our Elementary school teacher, Mademoiselle Elange, showed up for work this morning (great lady that she is!) with a fever and blistery spots. We sent her home immediately, but she would not leave before she handed out a few goodies that she had stopped and bought for her class on the way to work.

Posted: 24 Feb 2009
Kanaval!
We postponed our Kanaval celebrations at Toddler House this year due to our recent chicken pox outbreak. This afternoon our current group of sickies was feeling much better so we decided to go ahead and have a little party. Joyce, three of our volunteers, and myself spent a good 4 hours Saturday night decorating some fun party masks, 90 of them to be exact. With a few extra ribbon touches today they were ready to go. After lunch the big kids and Joyce strung balloons across the yard and creating a “used car sales lot” effect. And as we prayed that the sun would turn down its heat a notch clouds rolled in and with them a cool breeze. The little kids woke from nap and excitedly headed outside to see what all the commotion was about. We handed out musical instruments and masks to each child. Then proceeded to make music a.k.a. NOISE!!! I thought we could try some singing but our voices could not be heard above the music and we just played a fun beat. We marched outside and down the street, attracting a crowd who came out to cheer on our talented kids. Unfortunately our beautiful masks were a little too much cover for some of the kids who couldn’t see their feet and needed a little extra guidance.. . poor Sammy fell three times but refused to lift his mask and put it on his forehead to clear his vision he was such a trooper. Wide eyed Delidson could hardly keep up with his feet he was so excited to be marching in the neighborhood and felt very secure being in the middle of all his friends. Marie Mica greeted most of the neighbors and had to be reminded to stay in the group and keep moving, socialite that she isJ. After climbing back up the hill to our house I expected the kids to have lost some energy but they were still going strong. My ears were ringing by the time we wrapped it up and asked all the kids to sit down in their groups so we could have snack. Just before handing out the cupcakes though we passed out a party popper to each child and Joyce explained to them how they worked. As everyone counted to three they got their strings ready and PULLED! I’d say half of the bunch went off at the same time? That’s pretty good I think. It was a special afternoon spent in a fun way with some really REALLY amazing kids! God is good!