Day 5: A day of challenges

       This day has always been a difficult day for most of the members. It involves a trip to the Home for the Sick and Dying Children and also to Dary's Orphanage. The team was split into two today as the Home for Sick and Dying only accepts ten members at once. While the team was split, the challenges we all faced today grew us closer than ever.
       At Dary's, which is an orphanage for special needs children, we were able to meet about twenty amazing kids. While the language barrier was difficult and it was a little hard to do things with them at first, we all settled in very quickly. We were able to sing many songs with them such as "Glory to God," "This Little Light of Mine," and "10,000 Reasons." The kids sang along joyously and we tried to match the enthusiasm with dance moves and hand motions. We also were able to feed them with apple sauce packets that we brought with us from the guest house. After the singing ended, we picked up some of the kids and threw them in the air, catching them on the way down which caused them to have laughing fits. Eventually, we had to say goodbye to the kids, which was difficult to do, but we all left with a valuable experience from Dary's.
       At the Home for The Sick and Dying Children, a clinic/orphanage that provides for children who are sick, we were in a room with about twenty kids. Though we were not able to care for every one of them, we played with as many of them as we each could. At the time that we were there, it was visiting hour for the parents. So, when the visiting hour was over, the parents had to drop off even more kids in our room. At that point it got really crazy since there were so many kids with us and many of them were crying. That was a really hard moment for us to see the parents having to leave the screaming children behind. Later, when the kids were more settled down, we fed them lunch. Soon enough, it was time to leave. Even though leaving the children was hard and we weren't able to care for all of them, we did what we could and we know that each of their lives are in God's hands.
        Today truly was a day of challenges. From the fun and laughter of Dary's to the solemn and thoughtful moments at the Home for Sick and Dying Children we all learned something new. We grow closer everyday we are here due to experiences such as these. Tomorrow, we will be returning to Cite Soleil to deliver water one more time. We continue to ask for your prayers and your thoughts and we thank you for reading!

-Josiah and Tiana