An Afternoon of Thanksgiving

6/6/2012 

Today was a fairly routine day with the kiddos. We got to the Main House around 8 am and spent the morning with the youngsters. Before each volunteer leaves we take a picture with them and all 6 of their kiddos. So, today we took a picture of Megan and her 6 children. Because all of her kids came up we played with them this morning for extra time in the morning. I didn’t get my kids out in the morning because I was helping Megan with hers but it was fun to see my kids after lunch. 

Wednesday afternoons the nannies have a 30 minute Bible Study time with one of the missionaries here. So during the time of their Bible Study, we go and hangout in the nurseries with the kiddos to give the nannies  break. This afternoon was pretty calm at first but towards the end of the study naps were ending and everyone was going crazy. It gave us a good idea of what the nannies do here. They are with the children 24 hours a day. They work 4 days in a row and then have 2 days off. They are amazing women who love the Lord and who love these children. Many of them have families of their own that they don’t see for 4 days while they are working. Despite the exhaustion of their job and the long days and time away from their families, they are making great money. Even though their jobs look awful to Americans, Haitians would consider their job quite amazing. Hard to believe that such a hard and exhausting job would be so highly coveted and respected but it is. These women truly know what it means to work hard to provide for their families...something I have never before experienced quite so closely. 

This is what one of the nurseries looks like. There is one NICU with about 10 babies. There is an isolation nursery with 3 babies. Then there is a baby nursery with about 15 babies. And another infant nursery with about 10 babies. 

Seeing the way these women work so hard makes me realize just how blessed we are to live in America. Where there is always clean water, electricity and so many various jobs we can choose to do. The Haitian lifestyle is much simpler but these people have a joy and a contentment with life that most Americans will never experience. I don’t know if they are so content because they know things could be worse or if it is because they know nothing else. Either way, these people don’t complain and they are so grateful for whatever gift God gives them. It is inspiring! I hope that this is something I will never forget, even when I go back to America. And I hope that I never fall into taking everything for granted like I used to in the past. God has blessed us with so much more than we ever realize and ever care to admit. May this challenge your heart like it has mine...

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17