Week 2 - Sick and Thankful

Well. I have been here for 2 weeks now. I still feel like I just got here, and I feel like I've been here always.My Creole is already getting better. I can't quite have real conversations yet, but I guess I have only been here for 2 weeks...And I am falling even more in love with the kids here - not only at New Life though. Every single place I have gone - other orphanages and communities - I just am enthralled with how beautiful the kids in Haiti are. I can't go anywhere without kids swarming me, just wanting to be held or to hold on to me. If the kids are told to sit down, they bring me to sit with them. Even when they are talking amongst themselves, they all have to be in contact with me somehow.I just love the children of Haiti. Simple as that. It seems that my body is reacting to everything lately. It is so unusual and so frustrating. I have work to do! I don't have time to be tired or unwell.On the other hand, this is all making me  so thankful.A little sickness or infection is NOTHING to me. I get enough food, I can easily drink more clean water than I would like to, I can go rest in a cool room if I need to, I can take a day to do administrative tasks rather than physical work if I choose to do so, and I am pretty much guaranteed to have access to doctors and medication if it comes down to it. Feeling unwell is basically just an inconvenience for me. That's it.I am so thankful.I am so privileged.This is a huge contrast to the people that I see in the mountains, in the tent cities, in other orphanages, in Cite Soleil. A small cut can turn into blood poisoning for many people here, simply because they don't have access to clean water even just to clean the wound, never mind the ability and money to access doctors and medications. It is shocking. For bodies that are already so hungry and so thirsty, a "small" sickness can take everything a person has. And these are just 2 reasons that I have to come to Haiti. For some reason, I have such a deep love for the people here. And I can't just leave them behind. I know what it feels like to be forgotten, to be overlooked, to be isolated. I can't do the same to people that I love like I love my family. This is my family. These are my brothers and my sisters, my mothers and fathers, my children. I can't just leave them behind.   In 2 years, I will have completed my Bachelor of Therapeutic Recreation. Then, as soon as God opens the door, I will be buying a one-way ticket back to Haiti.