After our mini tour of Port Au Prince we headed straight to the orphanage. The kids were excited to see us back and I felt like we had a slightly better plan than the day before....but only slightly.
Ashley quickly fell into her calling and was cuddling a baby that within minutes had gone to dreamy dream land in her arms. Sigh......I love a sleepy baby. 
One of my favorite little faces at Well Being was this little girl, Fabiola. Her personality reminded me so much of a little girl we met in El Salvador that we called "chica fresa". She and Fabiola were both high energy, all smiles, and chatty chatty! 
One thing I've learned on both of my mission trips is that the big kids are in as much need for some snuggling as the little ones. This gal sat down in my lap and then wrapped my arms tightly around her waist. 
One thing the orphanage DID have was an almost never ending supply of mangos from their mango tree. It was huge and tall but that didn't stop the boys from climbing way, way up and snatching some for us. I didn't partake in the eating but others did! 
This little gal was a sticky mess by the time she was finished! 
Samantha was busy lovin' on these 2 girls. 
I had my wrists full of silly bandz and I handed them out throughout the day. They were a hit with all of the kids! It was neat to see them react to what shape they got and to hear them say it in their language. I did find out via the translator that there is no word for dinosaur. They had NO idea what I was even talking about!
This little boy took a different approach with his silly band!
One of our team members, Joe, had brought an entire huge suitcase full of hats. We passed out lots of those, too, and got lots of smiles in return. 
We sent some of the team out to get some additional supplies for us and had them pick up some paper plates. We ended up sitting on the porch coloring plates and letting the kids draw on them. We cut some of them into twirlygigs and others we just punched a hole in and strung them up above their eating area. The kids seemed to enjoy the last minute crafting. Note to self: next time you go to Haiti, spend some time in our gigantic resource center at church and cut out a gagillion die cuts. We could've been so much more creative! 
Here's a picture of our team (minus Joe who was under the weather) with our Fearless Leader, Steve. He was our navigator, safety and security coordinator, and resident problem of any kind fixer. We all heart Steve.
We were able to provide Well Being with a water filter that will provide them with clean drinking water. That is going to make a huge difference in the health of all the children there! Steve did teaching with Jameson on how to use the filter. The best part of all is that it lasts forever. It NEVER needs to be changed! 
It was nearing lunch and I was put in charge of making the pesto for the rice. A lady grabbed my arm, pulled me aside, handed me a plate of garlic and onions, a smasher thing and a butter knife. Thank goodness Gaelleson was there to tell me what to do! He said his mother had taught him how to cook, now he was teaching me! 
It really took me about an hour to make approximately a cup full of pesto. I quickly understood why lunch preparation started at about 10 but the actual eating didn't start until 1 or so. So much preparation, so much time. There was nothing quick in Haiti. 
It was finally time to sit for lunch. We had gotten all the kids special drinks. Once again, all were still and quiet until everyone was served and the blessing said. 
This was a serious feast! Pasta, fruit, fried chicken, rice, fried plantains. Yum for them! 
It was so sweet to see this older boy feeding the younger one. This particular little boy had cerebral palsy and needed a constant caregiver. He was so smiley though! 
It didn't take long to realize that the ladies were making enough food to serve our entire team (which was NOT our intent!). I didn't want to offend any of them but I REALLY didn't want to be on my death bed with diarrhea and vomiting in a foreign country. So, I did the most reasonable thing: I hid. Some had stomachs of steel and dove right in! 
We passed out pixie sticks after lunch. They had really never seen them before so eating them required a bit of education. 
Sam had the right idea and was just dumping it into the mouths of the little ones. Nothing like a bunch of white people to come in your orphanage, hype up your kids on sugar, and then leave for the day. I'm sure mommy was stoked!
This little one was Mommy's grandbaby. She was a cute little thing, just learning to walk and still wobbly. 
The plastic cup and spoon kept her entertained for quite a while! 
After lunch I ended up with dish duty, too! Let me just say that I am SO thankful for my kitchen at home with it's dish soap, hot, clean water, and a dishwasher! There were SO many dishes to wash. My "rag" was a piece of string lace ( I had even said " I feel like I'm washing pots and pans with a pair of thong underwear!" Ha!). My hands felt like crunchy sand paper because my bucket was full of bleach water. At least I'm hoping it was bleach but it was poured out of a container that said "Liquid Draino". Eek. Surely not. 
The men on our team also sturdied up the tarp over the eating area to make it more user friendly before we left and we set up someone to come and fix the well they use for water. Currently they were dipping a bucket on a string 80 feet down to catch water. A pump will make it so much easier! So, that was our two days at Well Being. I did more loving on kids, got to accidentally witness a girl using the squatty, played soccer next to a cow, pounded out pesto, and cleaned out and bandaged a head wound. Sounds like a pretty productive day to me!
Tomorrow: tiny little airplane to the country. Yikes!
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