Today was quite the day- let me tell you! As you can tell my first week here has been incredibly busy, little down time and lots of go go go! Today was no exception, we were scheduled to have the main house fumigated for coachroaches (they are everywhere- they usually surprise you when you go to open a cupboard!!), so everything needs to be taken out of cupboards, all the staff and babies need to evacuated to avoid the fumes. So 4 of us stayed at the main house to help out and the rest of the group of volunteers headed up to the property in Fort Jacques to pack bags for distribution that will happen next week. The 4 of us helped bring up all the babies (both from the NICU- tiny babies, and the big nursery) approximately 35 in total plus the nannies, nurses and other staff on a balcony we are used to sharing with 10 individuals max. Quickly there was fussing and crying and dirty diapers, fighting and jealousy, lap sharing (no less than 2 babies on our lap at a time), it was all very exciting at first as I sat with my teeny baby B in one arm and another bigger babe in another but soon I grew tired. The kids just seemed to be soooo cranky, it was a very hot day and some were feverish and some just overtired/ hungry or thirsty. I have grown to really appreciate what those nannies do all day every day. THEN we found out that the people had not shown up to spray still at 12:30, so we had been enduring for NO reason, finally the staff just went and pruchased the materials and did it themselves, we were able to bring the children down around 3:30 (a highlight for me was being about to carry down the two preemie babies- A and J they are no bigger than 3 pounds each and they are just so incredibly cute- carrying one in each arm they weighed almost nothing), we did the weekly thorough clean of the balacony (sweep, mop and soak all the toys in a bleach/ water mix) and then took a much needed break until dinner.
Sitting at the computer again trying to upload a picture or two (no success) I noticed the cockroaches running out, the first reaction is to run and scream like a crazy white person and for some reason I just turned and stomped right on it---> James who is Dixie and John's foster son, he is around my age turned and said "I am proud of you for not screaming" not even 5 minutes later another one came running towards us and Robin turned, ran and SCREAMED, we died laughing!
Still sitting in the computer/ lobby area chatting a women and a couple Haitian children walked in, after talking to this women for a bit we found out she was a Canadian women who had adopted 2 boys from GLA about 4 years ago, the three girls with her today were her two son's biological sisters, their mother died a week before the earthquake and their father disappeared thereafter and they are now seperated amoungst family members. She told us she was interested in adopting the youngest girl as the two others were too old to be processed through GLA- she talked to Dixie and I am nto quite sure what the verdict was but she approached again after, the little girl had been sitting on Hopes lap and I kept trying to talk to her and even talking in Creole she was super timid and if she answered is was to quiet to hear. The sisters told us that she hadn't smiled since thier mother died, it was devastating to see such a broken spirit in a child. I probed more to learn about the older girls, they were so sweet and I learned that neither were attending school, their aunts and uncles they were living with could not support their tution and thier cousins tuition took priority- again my stomach clunched--> who knows what future these girls would have with no education. This is not a result of the quake, this is the situation in Haiti preceeding the quake.
Not only does such interactions remind me how incredibly lucky I am to have been born in North America, but they remind me of the realities so many choose to ignore, I can only hope that the publicity following the quake and the aid and development projects since proposed will mean a positive transition up for Haiti as a whole.
Headed to bed soon- it is a hot night and I am burnt so I am not looking forward to the muggy sleep.
More tomorrow...
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