The anticipation of meeting our Sweetpea all lead up to this
day. A warm Sunday morning in Haiti. The sunshine was out and there was an
amazing cool breeze. We were driven to the orphanage by our driver and translator
around 9am. The ride to the orphanage revealed our first true experience of
Haiti. Pictures we’ve seen could not possibly prepare our hearts for this
experience. Never in our lives have we seen such poverty. I found myself saying
over and over in my head, why do people have to live this way, Lord?
After about a 30 minute drive we made it to the orphanage. I
saw the big white building as we turned the corner and I think my heart skipped
a beat. We made it through the two gates and our translator walked us in to T’s
room. All of the kids in her room seemed to know that her mama and papa were
here or blans (white people) as they also refer to us. They were yelling her name with
excitement. She came out of the room and seemed a bit nervous. Shawn scooped
her up for a hug and then handed her off to me and introduced her to Mama. She
flashed a smile, but it seemed like a forced smile. A smile that said, “I don’t
know you, but I know I am supposed to smile, so here it is.”
As we headed upstairs, Shawn scooped up another little
boy before realizing he was half naked, with only a shirt on. Before he knew it
he was holding this sweet little boy with his bare cheeks on his forearm. We
walked up to the third floor balcony, with other littles following beside us, holding a free hand. They have seen this happen enough times that they know if
they grab a hand and follow close then they may get a chance to hang out on the
balcony and partake in any food or toy gifts the blans bring. We sat with T and
proceeded to give her the special items that we’d brought for her. She loved
her bunny, sunglasses, sandals and small toys. She was pretty protective of the
things she wanted to make sure she kept. She made sure they ended up back in
our backpack when she was done with them.
About halfway through the day T was already getting pretty
comfortable with us. Our translator pointed out that we will be in trouble in a
few days when she’s really comfortable with us. J
He predicted she’d be full of it. We could see as the day went on that her
smile was no longer a forced smile. It seemed like it was genuine. At one point
she was sitting on Shawn’s lap, just cracking herself up. We’re not sure
what it was about. (Now I know what my friends experience when I crack myself
up!! She and I will get along just fine!!)
At the end of the day when our driver came back it was time
for us to leave. As we started to pack things up T started to get sad and cried
because she knew we were leaving. We had our translator tell her we’d be back tomorrow.
Mike pointed out that she’s already sad on the first day, insinuating that she is definitely
bonding. I carried her downstairs and when we got to her room I put her down so
she could say goodbye to her Papa. She cried and didn’t want us to leave. It was
heartbreaking to walk away, but thankful we have 13 more days to spend with
her. It will be so much more difficult on that last day to say goodbye for now.
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