Our first full day in Haiti we took a boat ride to an island called Torguga. The mission we stayed at had a connection with the people at this school/orphanage. It's the island across the ocean in this picture.
We were welcomed to the island by several kids jumping up and down screaming in excitement to see us! We got to play with them for several hours. We sang songs, played games like ring around the rosie, performed a drama, played soccer, and other little things with the kids. This was one of the first times these kids had seen/interacted with 'white people'. They were hesitant at first, but by the time a teacher announced it was time for us to leave, all the children went silent. One of the highlights of my time here was getting to hold this boy for about the whole time!
After the kids had to go back to school, we got to swim and hang out by the ocean. I've always wanted to go on a tropical cruise or just to a beautiful island for vacation, but never have... but this reminded me of that! The water was sooo blue and clear! It was really beautiful!!
We got back to the mission early afternoon and had the rest of the day to do whatever. At the mission, they have a baby orphanage, special needs orphanage, elderly home, medical clinic, birthing center, and several outreach programs that we could jump right in and work with. Almost every day we would have all afternoon free to spend time in the mission's programs. This is a picture of people making bracelets for the old people... they looooved it!!
Day 1 = success!! It was such a blessing to be such a blessing to the children at Tortuga. To play something as simple as ring around the rosie brought such joy to these little kids. It's amazing to realize how much a smile can do! Although we weren't able to communicate without a translator, sometimes a smile was enough!
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