Gertrude's

After landing in Port Au Prince, the first thing I noticed was how much nicer the immigration and baggage claim areas were!  Much improved from just 6 months ago.  Upon getting to the baggage claim area, we were immediately offered help from multiple Haitian men who work for tips by carrying luggage out for people.  One guy walked with us and then another guy tried to move in once we got to the baggage carousel.  I quickly nixed the 2nd guy and said the 1st guy was "our" guy.  No problem after that.  Got our bags and headed out to a mass of people just outside.  Scanned the crowd and saw Keith and Leonard right away.  YAY!
The whole team had gotten in earlier then us and had come to airport to pick us up. 
The drive to Gertrude's was familiar and it was so good to pull up along side her gate. 
As soon as we got inside I recognized all kinds of faces from a few months ago.  At first a few of the boys just looked at me, then Wolton or Edson yelled, "Sawah!"  Heart soaring kind of happy! 
I joked and played with a few of the boys and little Christina, who doesn't know much English, but yells "Sawah" the loudest.  I call her party girl!  She's always smiling and hanging with the boys!
Spent the evening getting settled in, had dinner, and checked out the new space in back that the girls and the handicapped kids are living in.  SO much better then before!!
The first full day was spent at Gertrude's.  A group of us went to buy rice and beans at a warehouse.  Keith had a good chunk of money from donations and was able to buy 50-50lb bags of rice and 3-100lb bags of beans.  $22.50 for each bag of rice and $84.75 for each bag of beans.  Some of the Haitians there brought out the bags, 4 stacked on each one's back!  Pretty incredible.

Back at Gertrude's several people started in on filling the baggies with rice or beans and Kim S. and I headed to the back to help feed the handicapped children.  That was a new experience.  The disabilities range from cerebral palsy, to Down's syndrome, to autistic to unknown mental illnesses.  A very "in the moment" kind of experience and a true joy to spend that time with a few of them.

We went through donations and WOW do we have generous friends!!  Divided it up into different bags to take to different places, Children's hospital, Home for the Dying, Pastor Bernard, Josie, and Gertrude were all recipients of people's generosity!
Spent the evening playing with the kids, holding little Alvarez who is walking now and made paper footballs for some of the boys.
It was certainly time well spent that first day.  We didn't get to spend that much time at Gertrude's last time.

Gertrude, herself, is really amazing.  The handicapped in Haiti are thrown away. Literally.  Many of the children under her care where found in the "abandoned" room at the hospital.  Some were left at her gate.  One she found on a trash heap. 
I had a great conversation with a woman, Rachel, who is good friends with Gertrude and lived at the guesthouse/orphanage for 6 months.  Although the conditions at this orphanage are still not what many in the US would deem acceptable, they are good.  Really good considering most would not even consider caring for the handicapped let alone 20 of them.
Rachel said there was one time some guests came and saw one of the handicapped girls roped across her waist to a chair.  They were appalled, as many of us would be.  Rachel explained that this particular girl, who has Down's, was able to open the gates and had been running away.  As they frantically searched the streets for this little girl, the fear of losing her was profound.
There are 20 handicapped children here and about 3-5 workers at a time.  Obviously tying her to a chair is not the best option, but it was the best they could do in order to keep her safe while they took care of the other children for that time.
Perspective is such a powerful thing.  We often assume things about what we see without knowing the whole story. 
If nothing else, traveling to Haiti, making friendships there, has given me perspective.  And compassion.  And a better understanding of truly how we are all trying to do our best and that can look vastly different.