Every morning when I wake up, I awake to one huge family. A family consisting of many women and children. I used to tell people the orphanage had about 48 kids on average and 14 or so nannies. I would go into detail about how Haitian women are in charge of specific children and I would tell how they live in separate bunk houses. In my heart that was the perfect way to describe it.
During these past few weeks, however, that description of the orphanage no longer aligns with my heart for this place. It didn't happen overnight and I really can't say exactly when this "movement" began, but this place is a house full of members of my family. Each child plays a significant role and every madam is valued.
I want to take time now to share about the madams and I will do that by giving examples of our lives together.
-The morning I woke up to a series of symptoms of the mumps virus, they were the first ones ready to care for me. We cried together because of the pain, and we laughed together as a distraction. A few days later when one of the madams woke up with the same symptoms, I returned the favor.
-We teach one another English and Creole/French and like to make fun of each other when we confuse vocabulary. For example: I asked a lady here in labor (a whole different story of its own and I will hopefully post about that soon) if she wanted candy. "Ou vle bibon?" is what I asked her. When I heard everyone burst into laughter I suddenly realized I had asked her if she wanted a bottle, not candy. Even the woman in labor got a good laugh out of it. Now, we like to ask each other Ou vle bibon? Another example: Venite told me, in Creole, that she wants to speak SO much English! After that, she proceeded to speak English very quickly. Here is what she said: I love how are we come here sir! It made absolutely no sense and we all rolled on the floor laughing about it.
-We share about our families and we tear up with each other when we miss them.
-We make crazy faces at one another for fun, but even more so when the children act crazy (which is most of the time).
-We talk about how crazy men are and we laugh about how crazy girls are too.
-We call each other on the phone just to say hello when one of us is off campus.
-We cheer each other on when we do something awesome, and sometimes when things around here get stressful we dance the worries away.
-When emergencies arise, you should see our team work.
-We read the bible together and try to talk about it with broken English and Creole.
-We pray for each other and encourage each other when we are down.
These women have become my sisters. While no one could ever replace my family back home, I am so blessed to have a family here in Haiti.
I share some of my life with you through this blog and I want to share some of these women's lives with you as well. I will do that with my new blog series called "Madam's Monday." Mondays will now be dedicated to sharing their stories with you as a way of letting their voices be heard. Each Monday a new madam will be featured- pictures of them along with their story. Tonight will be the first posting of a madam here named Venite! I am excited about this new adventure with them and with you. May God bless you and keep you.
During these past few weeks, however, that description of the orphanage no longer aligns with my heart for this place. It didn't happen overnight and I really can't say exactly when this "movement" began, but this place is a house full of members of my family. Each child plays a significant role and every madam is valued.
I want to take time now to share about the madams and I will do that by giving examples of our lives together.
-The morning I woke up to a series of symptoms of the mumps virus, they were the first ones ready to care for me. We cried together because of the pain, and we laughed together as a distraction. A few days later when one of the madams woke up with the same symptoms, I returned the favor.
-We teach one another English and Creole/French and like to make fun of each other when we confuse vocabulary. For example: I asked a lady here in labor (a whole different story of its own and I will hopefully post about that soon) if she wanted candy. "Ou vle bibon?" is what I asked her. When I heard everyone burst into laughter I suddenly realized I had asked her if she wanted a bottle, not candy. Even the woman in labor got a good laugh out of it. Now, we like to ask each other Ou vle bibon? Another example: Venite told me, in Creole, that she wants to speak SO much English! After that, she proceeded to speak English very quickly. Here is what she said: I love how are we come here sir! It made absolutely no sense and we all rolled on the floor laughing about it.
-We share about our families and we tear up with each other when we miss them.
-We make crazy faces at one another for fun, but even more so when the children act crazy (which is most of the time).
-We talk about how crazy men are and we laugh about how crazy girls are too.
-We call each other on the phone just to say hello when one of us is off campus.
-We cheer each other on when we do something awesome, and sometimes when things around here get stressful we dance the worries away.
-When emergencies arise, you should see our team work.
-We read the bible together and try to talk about it with broken English and Creole.
-We pray for each other and encourage each other when we are down.
These women have become my sisters. While no one could ever replace my family back home, I am so blessed to have a family here in Haiti.
I share some of my life with you through this blog and I want to share some of these women's lives with you as well. I will do that with my new blog series called "Madam's Monday." Mondays will now be dedicated to sharing their stories with you as a way of letting their voices be heard. Each Monday a new madam will be featured- pictures of them along with their story. Tonight will be the first posting of a madam here named Venite! I am excited about this new adventure with them and with you. May God bless you and keep you.
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