day 4 - our first day at mother teresa sister's of charity children's hospital

we traveled by tap tap to the mother teresa, sisters of charity, hospital for children.

walking back into that place was like coming home for me. i can't explain how very natural it is to be there. the other team members mentioned feeling this way also.

i spent the day holding children - particularly drawn to angeline - 8 mos old - 4 kg. - very small and sweet. sitting on the floor at lunch, some of the children were grabbing big fists-full of each other's food and feeding one another ... and then stuffing food into their own mouths - beautiful. others were docile and sickly, with no obvious hunger - but actually starving ... some had to be force-fed.

the sisters are so inspiring - loving, patient, smart, firm, soft-hearted women with a gentle but solid faith. they do not allow pictures to be taken in the hospital, but allowed us to take a couple of a volunteer and me beside medical packs that we donated to the hospital. these packs were obtained from health partners international of canada. they contained thousands of dollars worth of medicines which we acquired for only a few hundred dollars (the money for these was generously donated).

every other time i have gone to this hospital, our groups have had to leave at around noon, which is a standard rule that the sisters strictly adhere to. it was about that time when a truck load of food arrived at the hospital, which i helped to unload with the sisters. it took a fair amount of organising and we had such a great time doing it together. afterward, as our group was about to leave, i asked if our team could stay a bit longer than noon each day, to hold the children and help out. sister stanisha hesitated and then said, 'as long as you leave no later than 5 pm'. i couldn't believe it! i was so deeply touched that she allowed us this incredible honour ... what a true answer to prayer that came about in such an unexpected way. i think part of it was because there have been so very few volunteers, with all of the unrest there has been in the country. so tomorrow we will bring our lunch and sit in the courtyard for a break ... after which we will have about 4 - 4 1/2 more hours with the children per day than we expected. i am so happy about this ... words will never properly express the joy.

we came back to the guesthouse and debriefed. i taught the gals how to play farkle. we had a lot of fun with this. we tried our luck at emailing home too ... never sure if the emails will be received because they system here is down a lot.

seeing haiti ... particularly today at the hospital ... through the eyes of the women on my team is very impacting for me. they are having very profound and meaningful experiences. it is such a huge 'get to' for me to be here with them.

here are a few pics of our travels today