on a dusty dirt road...

Somewhere in Haiti, me in a truck with Gina, the orphanage director, driving to paint a house. It was just her and me in the truck mind you, Ty and Ryan had flown off to rescue someone or something and everyone else was already at the house we were going to help paint. So...... silence. I had a little debate inside my head of what to say. Quick decision - do not bring up the topic of adoption AT ALL during the next few days. You are just here to help and work your little butt off (literally, I had been seriously slacking on my exercise regime)

Me: "Sooo...... I read an article about you back home before I came on this trip." (thank goodness for google - yes, that is a shameless plug; google, if you want to send me some money that would be fine)

Gina: "Oh really?" (unimpressed)

Me: "Ya, I looked you up and read this incredible story about how you found a newborn baby inside a pile of blankets at a hospital in Port-au-Prince. The mother had died and they couldn’t care for the baby so they just put it in the corner to die. The article said you noticed the baby was still alive and still attached to the placenta and that you ended up saving the baby’s life?" (incredible story that I thought was most likely made up, or at the very least an exaggeration of what really happened...)

Gina: "Oh yes, that was a long time ago. But it wasn’t a pile of blankets, it was a pile of garbage. And she’s my daughter now."

Me: (jaw drop) "Lady, that is un. be-freaking. lievable." (maybe I didn’t use that exact terminology, or maybe I did)

Gina: (smile)

Me: (inside my brain - 1. "I am in the presence of an amazing woman,"; 2. "yesssss. we’re totally bonding.")



We arrived at the house, I briefly said g’day’s to the other members of our relief group and picked up a brush. We were painting the inside of a small clay home being used as an adolescent center for the teenage girls brought to the orphanage. Let me just say, I have never sweated so much in my life. It was like I had jumped in a pool. A pool filled with sweat. It was bloody hot but I am pretty sure we were all high from paint fumes, so it was a good time. We painted for a few hours (still can’t believe I’m here) and jumped on the back of a pick-up truck to ride back up the bumpy dirt road for lunch. All, like, 8 of us on the back of this truck, on this tiny dirt road, with adorable little naked kids bathing in run-off water on the sides of the road, chickens and goats walking around, and everyone waiving at us like we were in a parade. I felt like Cinderella at Disneyland, where all the kids want a piece of you. A gross, sweaty Cinderella. In Haitian Disneyland.

Lunch - mmmm, mangoes. Not to revert back to mangoes, but, you are not truly enjoying a mango unless it is completely smeared all over your face and running down your arms.


More painting, now the outside of the house. We went with blue and yellow, very festive. Some of the teenage girls were there helping us, and probably the greatest moment of all was when they all broke out into Michael Jackson’s "We are the World." Most of them don’t know any English, but they knew that entire song word for word. I thought it was a great song before, but now, I will never listen to that song the same again. We painted until it was too dark to see the paint and drove back to the orphanage to play with the babies, eat dinner, and head off to dream-land.


Did you hear that? Play with the babies... yes, finally. As soon as we got back, I got a quick tour of the orphanage by one of the awesome guys in our group and he showed me, last of all, the room where they keep the younger children. Babies,babies, everywhere. My heart melted like the wicked witch of the west caught in a cool summer rain. And, best of all, all of them wanted to be held. I felt like if I could hold each one just for a few minutes I could let them soak up some of my love.

Let me just say that the women there taking care of these children 24-7 are remarkable, strong, loving women. But I was quickly realizing (I knew this already, but it never really sank in until that moment) that even in the best and most loving orphanages, it’s still an orphanage. There is simply no way to care for each child like a parent would. The amount of time devoted to our children in our own lives..... it would be an impossible feat. I decided it was my new job to let each one of those babies know that I was absolutely in love with them, so I started making my way around the room.

I think my most favorite feeling in the world is holding a little baby who just wants to snuggle in to you. It is incredibly rare. At least, in my experience, unless a child is sleepy, sick, or trying to grab a piece of candy you have strategically placed behind your back, kids like to be free and wriggle out of your grasp. But, the babies here were remarkably different. Each one just wanted to be held. And as soon as you picked them up, they were happy and snuggling in to you like you were a big fluffy marshmallow. The first little girl I picked up could not have been more than 10 months old. She laid her head on my shoulder and put her arms around me and kept patting my back with her little hand. Like she was taking care of me. I had found heaven. I think one of the guys said, "If anyone needs to find Natalie, just look in the baby room, she’ll be in there."

I was most shocked to see the scars, burns, and missing limbs on some of the babies who had been hurt during the earthquake. I thought about their parents most likely lying somewhere under a building, and all I could think was that they were probably happy looking down and seeing someone hold and love their baby.

I really can’t remember much else that happened that night, except calling my Miss London of course, who was staying with two of the greatest ladies on earth, my mom and my sister, Angie. I started to try to relay what had happened up to that point to my mom, (including the 14 hour red eye flights I had taken to get there, forgot to mention that part) but I didn’t even know where to begin. I vaguely remember eating dinner (more mangoes?) and hanging out and laughing with everyone and then going to bed in a room close to the baby room. I don’t think I got more than 3 hours sleep. I could hear roosters, dogs, and babies crying all night long. I loved it.

this adorable little guy i am holding is being adopted by an equally adorable couple, tonya and brian, who were both in our group. how dang cute is he?????