My First Full Day's Adventure

Today was my first full day in Haiti and it was absolutely wonderful! I slept outside last night under the stars with many of the other girl interns since it is actually cooler outside than it is inside. And by cooler I mean, you don’t sweat as much. It took me a while to go to sleep because there were a ton of dogs barking and it was still rather warm, but once I did, I didn’t wake up until it was time to arise for the day’s activities

Once we woke up we moved our mattresses back in and got dressed for the day. We then got some Haitian coffee (actually REALLY good) and then headed up to Devotion time, which consists of praise and worship by one of our staff, John Black, who is NWHMC’s media guy and then a devotion by either a staff member or someone who has come in on one of the groups. Today it was an intern who shared with us a Haitian Proverb. After devo we had breakfast which was pancakes and peaches (with butter and syrup) and an orange fruit drink, which I actually drank and enjoyed. For those of you who many know me really well this is quite an accomplishment because I absolutely HATE citrus and all orange flavored things, including fruit snacks!

Once we were finished with breakfast all the interns including myself went up for orientation with the new group that such came in. The other interns, who have been here for a couple of weeks were their because many of them are in charge of groups and take them around the town and on campus for different needs and ministries. I was there because I actually needed the information provided at the orientation. It was very informative even though my fellow interns who are some of the sweetest and most welcoming people I have ever met!

It was actually at orientation that I learned more information on the interns survivor game they are playing. This week, on Sunday our two “tribes” will have a challenge to see who has to vote off a member. I hope my team (yes I was already recruited by team Dife (which means fire in Creole) My teams color is orange, the other tribe, the Green Goblin is well…green! (Orange and Green. Gideon shout out! I can travel 1500 miles and still be reminded of Impact) I am super excited for Sunday though! Not only will we have the contest, but we also have kids graduating from our nutrition program so it will be a day full of events after church!

After orientation each pair of interns (the summer interns who are in charge of the groups that come in are paired off and the groups are split amongst these partnerships) took their group on a tour. I joined Kelsey and Kelly on their tour. Iy was great! I had no idea the mission was sooo huge! To learn more about what they cool things they are doing, check out their website at the bottom of the page.

By the time we had finished the tour, it was almost time for lunch. Lunch today was black beans and rice with some kind of onion sauce. In terms of the onion sauce I had no idea what I was eating, but it was pretty good. I hear I will soon get tired of this meal though. Lunch was another great opportunity to get to know the other interns more along with the group that came in.

After lunch I went down to the Miriam Center to help Autumn and Stephanie in the Miriam Center to fed the kids their lunch. I sorted plates on the table and gathered the silverware. I was able to hang out with a few of the kids as well. After lunch I went up to Autumn’s room to help her feed Petey, a special needs boy who she is looking after for another woman who works in the Miriam Center, Heather. Heather is currently in the Dominican Republic getting medical help since she has been very sick. Please pray for her. Autumn let me actually feed Petey though which was a really cool experience!

Once we were done with Petey, we went back down to the Miriam Center for Outreach. Outreach is a program that Autumn has just started with families in the community with special needs children. These children are not officially apart of the Miriam Center, but once a week at Outreach we are able to show the parents how to do therapy with there kids! The best part of my day was that Autumn allowed me to do the exercises with one of our kids from the Miriam Center with cerebral palsy to be the model for the parents and there kids. To understand how cool this was, in the United States due to liability issues, in all the shadowing of OT’s I have done in clinics I was never able to actually touch or help treat a kid, but today I in Haiti I was able to. I also got really excited when I realized that there would be many days like this ahead and I will likely be able to help with many other kids treatments! AHHH!!!

After this time I was able to bring Autumn and Stephanie the supplies I had brought them from the states. We had a good time doing this and it was a nice break. Once this break was over though it was time to start thinking about dinner with the kids. During this time of feeding the kids of the Miriam Center, rather than just sorting the bowls and silverware, I was able to feed two of the kids which was fantastic! I like these times because I am really able to spend one on one time with one child rather than playing with them in large groups. It was also really fun because one of the other interns, Kelsey (we are going to be good friends I can tell already brought some of the girls in her group to come help feed the kids!

Once the kids ate, it was time for me to eat which was rather unfortunate because I wasn’t able to take a shower even though I got spit up ALL over me while feeding the last girl I helped with.

We then had our evening devotion and now we have a bit of free time which is how I am able to write this blog with some of the other interns in our staff room. If I can I’ll try and upload a picture of the view from my dormroom’s front door onto my facebook page, but no promises with this internet...

Ally-ism of the day: During our tour I accidently put the padlock back over the door leading to the surgery room that isn’t in use right now because the surgery team isn’t here. Little did I know when I did this I had locked Spencer and Morgan’s group in the surgery rooms. Also little did I know, Spencer was the one with the keys and he was inside the surgery. Good thing though: there was another door on the back side.