We are back from Haiti. There wasn’t much time to post to the blog while we were there, so now my mind is in overdrive trying to decide what to tell you all because there’s so much. Maybe I’ll post it little by little…
We’re so thankful to all of you for your donations for GLA; They filled three suitcases to the max. After flying away with more luggage than we’ve ever traveled with, we arrived in Haiti on Thursday and our arrival and trip to GLA was a real sensory experience. Haiti is just so very different that anywhere else we know. It’s a sad place with pockets of joy. Upon our arrival at GLA, we met Jude for the first time. It’s funny…neither of us had any nerves. Jude has been ours in our hearts and minds for so long that going to get him just felt like the most natural thing to do; I say we met him physically because we’ve known this child since we first saw him. He delights us, but he doesn’t surprise us.
He had his first major meltdown just a couple of hours after we had him. He wouldn’t eat any lunch, and when we took him to our room in the guest house at GLA for nap time, I put him up on the bunk to take his shoes off and he let loose with cries of terror. Poor creature was utterly terrified…new people, new place (the children don’t even see the guest house), nothing very familiar. I held him as he cried inconsolably, then gave him to Matt while I looked for something we’d brought in his diaper bag. I slipped into the bathroom to get him a tissue and the fear screams got louder, so I came and took him back from Matthew and he shut off like a switch. From that point on, he was attached to Mama, and I’ve hardly been able to put him down since. It was such a blessing to us that he bonded with one of us so quickly, but it’s been a little hard for Matthew, as Jude has still not connected with him. After that, the only way we could get him to fall asleep was on me…
I’ll post more later…
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