As with Be Like Brit, we know that love helps us through loss, and what a beautiful way to honor and remember Jim than with a place filled with happy, joyous children! What a fun night it was when the children dressed up in the Hawaiian leis, brought out the beach balls, and danced the night away! All you need is LOVE.
In addition to Lisa and Megan, we had a wonderful group of Britsionarys here at Brit's Orphanage this past week! In true Britsionary fashion, they took to the tasks at hand like it was old hat! Don't think we don't know how hot the month of June is here in Haiti - it's the month that all of the locals say is by far the hottest! Temperatures in the 90s with relentless sun and humidity bore down on our group all week long -- even our own Gama said it was too hot some days to continue working!
Our group took it all in stride and kept themselves busy with other tasks around the orphanage, and the end result was incredible! As a result of their hard work, another family on the mountain near Be Like Brit is resting well, knowing that the roof under which they sleep will keep them safe from harm - the same elements which once threatened to rip away their shelter - are no longer something that will keep them up at night, worrying about how morning might come. What a wonderful gift! All you need is love!
Also included in our group this past week was Carolyn - our Medical Britsionary. Medical Britsionarys travel to Brit's Orphanage with our groups not only to keep tabs on our Britsionarys while they work so hard, but also to be sure all of our children are in good health, and responding to any health issues which might arise or present themselves over the course of the week. Carolyn, along with our other medical Britsionarys, often make themselves available to our staff and their families, too!
This week, Carolyn had her hands full! Yes, not only did I get chikungunya, but 12 of our children fell sick with the nasty virus, too! Carolyn was such a wonderful nurse and such a great asset to have on hand. Together with our Britsionary group, they offered all of the TLC necessary to make little ones feel better, and under Carolyn's direction, made sure all medicines were delivered on time to keep our kiddos as comfortable as possible. We can't stress enough how fortunate we were to have her on hand with us this past week through what seems like round 3 of our chikungunya crisis!
Carolyn also got a chance to accompany me to the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation - a hospital about 2.5 hours to our south and west where we have some children in long-term care. The St. Boniface Haiti Foundation has been so kind to us and has been unwavering in their support of our children and our efforts to deliver to them the best possible medical care and services available in Haiti. It is through St. Boniface that we've been able to connect with some of the best providers in Haiti (including St. Boniface themselves!) When I had to bring a child in for a medication consult, Carolyn came along! I am so happy she was able to get a sense of what medical care and hospital trips look like here in Haiti! I think it was a very good experience for her!
She also got to check out a 2 month old baby whom we met while visiting our friend Pastor Paul and his church in the small mountain area called Deschamps. Cherylann had initially met the woman and her newborn when she was in town visiting. Both mother and child were sick - and had been brought to the church to sleep so that they could be prayed for and looked after. I visited and did some basic testing to rule our significant infection, gave them some over the counter meds to help alleviate their discomfort, and went on. With Carolyn on hand, she was able to perform a more thorough examination. After learning that the baby didn't have the ability to latch or nurse, we were able to refer them to the proper place to have the life-saving corrective surgery! I think Carolyn liked having this little one around, don't you?
As you saw last week, friends of Peter and Kiley from Kid Orange Tech stopped by to visit them when they saw on our facebook page that they were in Haiti! Kathleen heads up the St. Vincent school in Cite Soleil, and extended an invite to Jonathan to visit. I was able to stop in and meet the director, Patrick, just this past Friday, and to say hello and congratulate some 500 children who were there receiving their report cards. For those of you who don't know, Cite Soleil is one of the worst and most dangerous slums of Port au Prince, and having a successful school there with 2000 students is an amazing feat! I am looking forward to returning to the school this coming week to talk to the director about some orphaned children he has in his care, to explore ways in which Be Like Brit might be able to help! We're so grateful for the connection to the school and our new friends in Haiti!
Summer is underway and the children have one week left of full-time play and fun! After that, we will be starting our summer school programming here at Be Like Brit to be sure that our children are ready for the next school year! We're anxiously awaiting report cards and we are confident that all of our children will have done well! Given some of the backgrounds from which they come, it's amazing that our children are doing so well!
An exciting development for us is the addition of Amanda Scanlon to the Be Like Brit Team! Amanda has been to Haiti and to Be Like Brit twice as a Britsionary. When it was decided we needed to bring on someone to assist the Program Director, we knew that that person should have some background in teaching and education, as that is such an integral part of our programming here. With my skills being around mental health, program development, and administration, the addition of Amanda is invaluable, as she will be better equipped to help design and implement educational activities and strategies to be sure our children are learning and doing well! Amanda comes down in July and we are sure to have lots of exciting news and developments for you! Stay tuned, and help us welcome Amanda on board!
As always, thanks for reading, and thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit! Enjoy some photos from the week, and we'll see you next Sunday!
