Finding joy in unusual places

We're on day 5. The internet is not dependable so this will be short. I hope to post more soon. Right now we are in the car with Sheila and Rigan. Sheila's brother is driving us to Jacmel. These Haitians are such great hosts. This morning we left early and drove to Fort Jack, a fortress in Port au Prince. This is the first day I have felt a breeze anywhere- it was wonderful. we walked around with a tour guide and then sat on the side of the fortress and had a picnic together. The fortress was in the moutnains so we had a beautiful view.

So far we have spent most of our days working at the orphanage. The first day was really overwhelming. There are 30 kids and they all really need some attention. I am now "mama Lisa" to all the kids. Most of the kids are in the 4-8 years range, but the youngest is 3 months and the oldest is 16 years. The place is pretty sweet. Jasmine keeps it IMMACULATE. I have never seen a house with any children look as clean as this does. She has a tight reign on the behavior as well so meals, prayer, and getting ready for bed are all controlled events.
I have gotten a ton of nursing experience in the orphanage. It feels like I am a school nurse. The orphanage really needs to have a nurse there working full time. I would say that 75% of the kids have a skin condition that needs treatment, half of the babies need a nebulizer, and a handful are still suffering from malnutrition. Each night I average 3-5 hours of sleep... there are kids and babies crying off and on the entire night, no fans, and a shared bed with Gretchen. Despite these conditions, I'm loving every moment I have here. I love the kids so much. Ah, I wish I could take some of these kids back with me. They really need the attention of a mom and dad. Jasmine does a really good job of finding hard working nannies to help with the kids, but there are still children without shoes, underweight, and attention starved. I'm slowly getting to know each kid as an individual and being able to look past their medical conditions and appearance.

Gretchen and I visited the FSIL nursing school on Friday to spend some time with the dean. We helped grade some exams and then to our suprise, many of the students came to the school to see the results. We were able to spend the entire afternoon with our friends. They are so great. We went out to eat at that victoria plaza with Evens and Rigan for dinner.

well the road is quite bumpy. more later