Haiti Update: Illuminating Their Stories

Tuesday, July 27

This morning we set to work playing and interviewing the orphans. Troy is helping put together videos of each orphan so we can share these with their sponsors in the United States. I brought out some jump ropes to play with the girls. We had so much fun letting each girl jump and counting in Kreyol the number of times they could jump without skipping. It became a little competition. Soon they were teaching us Kreyol jump rope games. I think they might have even forgotten about the cameras clicking away, capturing them in “everyday life.”

Troy filmed while I interviewed and Gerby served as our translator. We asked the children simple questions about their new life here in The Bridge Christian Children’s Home. I learned that some came from very hard situations where one or more parent died or was killed. I was especially touched by the story of a little girl named Judeline. She captured me the first day with her smile that spreads from ear to ear. She is also the little girl sponsored by my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group at church. Today I learned that this precious child has had such a transformation in the months she has been here. She was once living with her parents in Pignon. Her father, who was a witch doctor, was killed a few years ago. She and her mother were left in poverty. Her mother, who attends our Pignon church, brought her daughter to the orphanage for help. Now Judeline is well-fed and learning the Bible. Her spirit overflows with joy. I watched her as a leader among the girls in the orphanage. She has befriended another little girl, Wilnise, who is shy. The two are inseparable. I recognize that these orphans have experienced deep loss in moving here but I also see the rays of hope they have now. What an opportunity we have to encourage them!