Loving Haiti

I'm definitely falling in love with Haiti. Not that I didn't think I would...but it's officially happening. The kids are amazing and as difficult as it is to see the ones who are so malnourished and suffering, this is a place of joy and you can feel it everywhere. I think EVERYONE should experience this. Yes, I mean everyone. You will be forever different.

We played with the parachute this afternoon which was really fun. The kids liked being underneath it mostly. Even Licia ran under with a little cutie who can't walk right now. Lots of smiles and giggles which was great. I have a lot more pictures, but I'm sure I'll be able to catch up more once I'm home.

We went for a walk outside the gates of the RC and Clinic through Cazale. Again, SO many pictures and things to write about....but here are just a few. A few of the kids from the RC rode along. The two on the right are in the process of being adopted and the little guy on the left just came to the RC. All are adorable and super sweet.

I love the toys and games the children have created. So creative.

These twins were born Friday night in a one room house with no electricity. The first baby was born and then the second one was feet first and wouldn't come out. All the ladies around her house gathered to be with her and pray and her second daughter was born safely. Their Mom was beeming and they were so cute!

This little guy has me totally smitten. He has severe Kashiorkor (can you see how swollen his feet are?) and he is still trying to play and smile and even kick a soccer ball. I'm amazed he can even walk, and at times you can see how much pain he is in....but he has such a joyful spirit.

Here is at dinner with his Medika Mamba....looking a bit tired.

One of the teeny tiny babies. Her legs are SO little.

If you can imagine the size of a bumbo chair, you can imagine how tiny this little one is.

Can you see the skin on this girl's back, how it's cracking?
Looks so painful. :(

This picture will be my constant reminder to never complain when I carry heavy loads of laundry up my stairs. That is amazing!

Goodnight from the beautiful country of Haiti!

Crazy Fun With Pipe Cleaners

We had so much fun playing with pipe cleaners with the kids this morning. This is the first time they have played with them and we made everything from glasses, to baskets, to turtles with them. I have a ton of pictures, but here are just a few.

No Pictures.....

The wireless isn't working, so I can't upload photos....but here is a quick peek at our day today.

Went to church back in Port Au Prince (about a 2 hour drive).

Ate lunch.

Headed back towards Cazale and went up the mountains to see the land that the new Rescue Center and Clinic will hopefully be on.

Zach asked us if we wanted to go farther up the mountain to see a Fort that the Haitians built to fight against the French (would love to research this more when we return.) This was WAY up the mountain. WAY up. Scary up. But fun!

Came back to the Rescue Center after dark.

Filed files for the clinic.

Currently mashing and squishing packets of Medika Mamba so it can mixed up for the 30 kids that are on it.

Full, wonderful, and busy day. Haiti is a beautiful country, especially the mountains.

Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures tomorrow. Aurevwa.

We're Here

I actually didn't take very many pictures today. Crazy for me, but I'm sure there will be many more to come this week. We landed in Port Au Prince and ran some errands with Zach, which was very enjoyable to be able to see more of the city.

We even stopped for lunch and got to sign the wall.

My favorite part of the drive was when we got into the mountains, closer to Cazale. The people and the sights and sounds were all amazing. So wonderful to be here after all this time!
Zach showed me a lot of the destruction that was caused from the flooding last year. Wild to think that water can be so devastating. It was sad to see everything that had been destroyed.

We got to Cazale late afternoon and were greeted by cute smiling faces and after a tour of the clinic and RC we got to hold babies and play with kids.

Tonight we unpacked the donations and separated them to be put away in the Rescue Center and Clinic.

We had some great help from the kids and it was fun to see everything we had packed only days ago finally here in Haiti.

Thankful to be able to blog quickly and then I'm going to head back downstairs to love on kids for a bit before bed. This little sweetie is getting his meds next to me on the table as I'm typing this. He's 11 months and just celebrated being 11 pounds. Could he be ANY cuter???

We're going back into Port Au Prince for church tomorrow. I'm so excited. I had secretly hoped we would go to church. ;) Hopefully I will be able to post more tomorrow. Off to hug babies...

We're On Our Way

About to leave for the airport.

Thanks for everyone's encouragement and support.

We arrive in Haiti tomorrow morning around 10am.

Hoping for safe and peaceful travels.

Next post will be from Cazale.

Wow.

Practice Blog

I'm learning to blog from my husband's laptop.
This was my practice run.
So far SO good.

In Five Short Days....

....we will be in Haiti! Amazing to think that over a year ago a crazy idea that kept plaguing me would lead to a trip to the Real Hope For Haiti Rescue Center with 3 other women.

Artists For Hope was an idea that lead to a blog that lead to the first portrait that my amazing friend Alexis did of sweet little Deny. We wanted to help these hungry children in Haiti that we kept seeing on Licia's blog and our love for art seemed like a great way to start. It really doesn't seem like very long ago that we posted Deny's picture for sale, and now in five days...

....we will be meeting him in person and we will be able to give him one of the prints made of his portrait that started it all. Again, amazing.
I wonder what he will think? :)

We know we are in for quite a ride on this adventure. This isn't going to be easy. It isn't going to be all "fun". I'm sure it's going to be down-right difficult and horrible and awful to see children who are hungry and hurt, but we're ready and willing to do whatever we can to help and I hope we are able to do something to make their load a little lighter while we are there.

We're excited and grateful to have you (whoever you might be) experiencing this adventure with us. We would love to have your comments throughout our trip so we know people are out there and that you are thinking about us. I hope your passion for wanting to help the children in Haiti will grow right along with us as we get to meet these children in real life. Tell your friends and family about Artists For Hope and talk to those artists in your life so they know they can help a child through their artwork. What better reason to create.

Just so you know~ Our goals in Haiti are:
* to get lots and lots of pictures and video to share the Rescue Center and Artists For Hope with people around the world.
*to do some fun and simple art projects with some of the older and healthier children at the RC.
*to learn more about the RC and the children there and what we can do to continue to help them in the future.
*to do WHATEVER we can to help them throughout the week. Change diapers, hold babies, help in the clinic....whatever.
We are ready to work.

One of the things we did ahead of time were make Cupcake Crayons for the children. It's going to be so fun to draw pictures and see what the children create while we are there. You can read more about them on our Artists For Hope blog.

We will be posting from here whenever we can. If time allows and there is an internet connection~ we will post. I hope to share pictures and experiences nightly, but our main focus will be the children, so we'll see what time allows for.

Thanks to all of you for your excitement, support, and help in SO many ways as we've prepared for this trip. Our crates of supplies are FULL thanks to you. The money we are able to bring to the Rescue Center for medicine, formula, and their daily needs is thanks to you. I feel like we're bringing all of you with us and I hope you gain from this experience as much as we do.
Thank you!

I Can't Wait To See These Little Faces