Ashleigh and Katie, kicking it in Haiti: A Day of New Activities

Happy Birthday Brother! I hope you are having a fantastic birthday today!
Today was a pretty good day! We got to experience new things, say goodbye to friends, and say hello to new friends! We started with breakfast…the same as the other day because our guests were still here! We unfortunately had to say goodbye to them this morning though. We will miss those gentlemen from Atlanta! They were so much fun and full of kindness! Kerin stayed in bed sick for the second day in a row. Poor girl does not feel good at all. Hopefully she feels better soon so she can get back to this wonderful experience! Katie and I got to help Soni with class today since the teacher that works with him is still out. It was very fun to see a different class and what goes on there. We worked with BJ, Clifton, Delome, Hope, and Esther. These are all children who have contracted muscles that restrict their movement. We first did the parachute with them, which they seemed to enjoy very much. After the parachute, we blew up a big exercise ball. At first I thought we were going to play ball with them and I could not imagine how we were going to do that since this ball was larger than most of the children we were working with. Thankfully my first assumption was wrong and we actually used the large ball for a physical therapy activity. We would lay one child on the ball, face down, and stretch out their contracted muscles. I love the way Soni phrased it when he was explaining it to Katie and I. He said to lay them on the ball and then “try to fix them” by straightening out their limbs. At first I thought that this would be very painful for the children, but after the first, Clifton, we realized that they actually love it. It just stretches out their tightened muscles. After we finished on the stomachs, we then flipped them over to their backs and stretched them out that way. Again, they enjoyed the feeling. After the stretching was done, then it was time for fun! We were allowed to bounce them up and down on the oversized ball! This caused giggles out of every one of them, some of which I had not yet heard laughter from. What a wonderful sound! At around 11am, KC pulled us out of class to discuss the project that we will be working on while we are here. It is a project that another volunteer had set up before we got here but had to leave before she could execute it, so Katie and I are lucky enough to implement the new program with the children. Essentially what the program does is teach the children to properly identify their emotions and then teach them ways to handle those emotions. I think it will be a really great program once it is in full swing, meaning once Katie and I can conquer enough Kreyol to communicate with the children. We received a lesson from KC today and after several attempts at butchering the language, I think we finally started to pick it up! We hope to start one part of the program tomorrow! Wish us luck! After the lesson from KC, it was time for lunch! Then men from Atlanta were so kind to leave us two pieces of pizza from the Baptist Mission, so we got to eat that for lunch! Thanks guys! When we finished lunch, it was time for our usual afternoon activity, sports. We decided to try Frisbee today since we had not yet. Peterson, of course, was more than happy to play with us! We can always count on him to play sports or do anything active! He’s such a consistent participant! Jozye was the only other child that wanted to play with us today, which was fine since a Frisbee is a little harder to toss than a ball, so starting with a small group was ok with Katie and I. After Frisbee we then went to jump rope, another activity we had yet to try. Of course Peterson jumped right in! Watching Peterson trying to jump rope was one of the most precious and entertaining things I have seen! When the rope started swinging, he would start jumping regardless of where the rope was or if it was time to jump. And he didn’t jump with both feet at the same time. He would hop from one foot to the other with the foot in the air sticking out in front of him! He would hop and hop and hop even if the rope had gotten caught between his feet. And he was SO proud to be jump roping! I think that was the best part…the never ending, ear to ear smile on his face. He brings such joy everywhere he goes! Especially while jump roping! Jozye is a good jump roper too, well at least a good rope swinger. He is unable to jump but he was such a great swinger for those who were jumping! Way to go Jozye! After afternoon sports, it was time for dinner. We served the typical la bouille. Katie and I opted to have leftover spaghetti with a peanut butter and jelly croissant, a sticky bun, and some homemade bread from a local bakery! Starch bomb dinner! I love it! After dinner we decided to shower since we had a group of 12 show up this evening. We figured we had better use then bathroom while we could! After shower, the group did show up, all 12 of them! They all seem very nice and I think we will enjoy their presence here (even though I’ve been kicked out of the room and onto the couch). No big deal, it’s better than the floor for sure! Again, Happy Birthday to my brother, Chris! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you! I had a Presidente beer for dinner with you! Love you!