It was a pleasure to be back in Haiti visiting the orphanage of Mission Haiti Helping Kids, once again.
Since my last visit, the number of children had grown from 12 to 31 and these 31 kids were now living in three separate rented houses.
While in Haiti this time, my greatest joy was in seeing positive changes in many of the original 12 kids. The hardness in some of their faces was gone and they seemed to be developing in good character and ability.
Having lived on the streets, having gone without food and medicine, and having experienced trauma from the death of family members, as well as violence and abuse unimaginable, it melted my heart to see them becoming healthy and whole.
Four times I had opportunity to teach the boys on subjects such as respect, honesty, stealing and anger. They seemed to soak it in like sponges.
One day, one of the boys, Samson tried to fix my battery operated fan but apparently couldn't fix it, and I found the fan back in my room without the batteries.
Forty-eight hours later, he came to my room and handed me the batteries. I was so proud of him for returning what was not his to keep.
During our eight days in Port au Prince, we only had electricity for part of the time, the pump on the well kept breaking, the sewer was backed up for three days and our truck broke down, yet life for the kids is a hundred times better than where they come from.
They live safely inside 10 foot high walls and gates, with steel doors and bars on the windows of each house. They are well fed, loved by hired women who are called Mommas, given the medical help they need and are attending schools and churches near each home.
On the other hand, many others in Haiti are not faring so well. We toured Pastor Hubert's house which had no electricity, no plumbing and no water.
He has a wonderful family of six children who sleep in a tent. He and his wife have a bed, covered with a net, in a room within an uncompleted house with no doors and no windows.
This is not uncommon, but it's still far better than living in a tent city. For those of us who went, it was very fulfilling to bring in supplies and be an encouragement to a small segment of Haiti's population.
We visited a handful of other orphanages and brought gifts and words of encouragement to them as well. In return we bring back memories of many smiling faces and the faces of many more who are still in great need.