Big things in small packages

Two significant things today, even though I never left the house. First was a visit with Andrea Brewer. To understand the morning, let me first say that I've come to an understanding of "Haiti time." "Hurry up and wait" would be appropriate for my reaction to it, but that's really not Haiti time. Haiti time just is. Nothing happens when you think it will, or when you want it to, but it seems to happen just the same, and when it needs to.

A huge lesson in this came to me this morning in the form of Andrea Brewer, as in "the Brewer place" mentioned on my first day here. She had brought two of the children from their home to go with Jenny to have echocardiograms done as follow-up. (may I just stop here to say how awesome it is to be doing follow-up care for these kids and not just swoop in and swoop out?) She showed up at 8:30, right on time, but they didn't leave until noon. I could tell you why they didn't leave until noon, but it's not a single incident Iike a flat tire. It's more about waiting for someone who's waiting for someone else, and in the meantime someone who was there left so when the first someone shows up, now you're both waiting for the second someone. And no one cares, or gets bent out of shape, except us crazy Americans and our ridiculous desire for promptness (a.k.a. control).

And Andrea helped me get perspective on this, as she beautifully and graciously sat in our kitchen with E in her lap, and chatted. It was a tremendous joy to me to have a chance to sit and talk to her and hear her stories, and we wouldn't have been able to if they'd left right on time. So it was a gift, wrapped in a frustration that was mine to get past.

The tidbit I'll pass along from what she told us was that they don't feed Haitian prisoners. If your loved one is locked up, you take them food or they starve. Crazy, huh? But truthfully, what she told us is her story, so I'll encourage you to read it for yourself at their website at Reachhaiti.com. You can sponsor a child, and I can personally assure you that I've met these children, and the Brewers are doing a wonderful thing.

I would also like to point out that she's a bit of a celebrity. She was quoted in this article on CNN during the cholera outbreak! CNN article







The other significant thing that happened today is that Jenny went to court and now has legal guardianship of Melissa. Can I get a woot woot? One more step closer to bringing her home.