The Days are Packed

Dats took this picture of me teaching my class at Cowman this morning.  Had a lot of good face-time with my students today.  I am going to have them write a research paper this semester and there was no way I could imagine leading these guys through the research paper labyrinth via emails and Skype!

Friday mornings are chapel times at Cowman.  A visiting pastor spoke to the older kids about Luke 6:45 - "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."

At one point this morning I looked out my classroom door to see Dats and his classmates on the walkway outside.  Dats was working with the self-proclaimed "worst speller in the class" to study for an upcoming 25 point spelling quiz.  At lunch, the conversation turned to the quiz.  Dats says one student remarked, "I think I only missed three on the quiz!" The bad-speller piped up, "I think I only missed twelve!"  Now, don't think that means Dats was not an effective tutor: Mr. Bad Speller claims he once missed 23 out of 25!

Some goofy kindergarten students...

... who were getting ready to go for a march with their musical instruments.

After school we finally got to deliver the items to the orphanage.  I don't have the strength to write about this experience tonight - my heart has been squeezed a bit too hard and I'm so sleepy (dang roosters start crowing way too early in the morning).  So I will post more pictures of the orphanage later.  Besides, we are going back tomorrow to help Jane shop for food for the kids, so we will see them again.

Beyond visiting the orphanage, meeting Sammy was a true highlight of the day.  All I can tell you right now is that he is a miracle baby - brought back from the brink of death three months ago.  Dats' classmates were touched by a picture he shared with them of how Sammy looked when he was rescued - and that's what prompted those 6th graders to go out and buy piles of baby food and finger food to send with Dats to Sammy.  Here Dats was feeding Sammy some of the finger food provided by his peers and Sammy was gobbling it up.  This sort of thing isn't available in Haiti.

Sammy kept wanting more!

No more ribs showing on Sammy.  He's 13 months old - when we came to live with Bud and Jane three months ago, he looked so fragile they feared picking him up.  In three months he has gained 8 pounds, doubling his weight!  And he's just full of personality...