Poorest of the Poor

The orphanage at Cite Soliel today was pretty amazing.

There were tents with packing blankets on the dirt where the kids slept. 

One tent had three sets of metal bunk beds but unfortunately they 

weren't functioning as beds, they had clothing stored on them with no mattresses.

The most modern thing about the whole orphanage was the bathroom facilities. 

I didn't venture to open the door to see how things worked but it appears 

to be a pretty nice way to handle what could otherwise be a huge health problem.

 I wonder what relief organization built it for them.

The kitchen was an open-air hut with a charcoal-burning cooking frame. 

Pots and dishes stored on the ground. 

Adjacent to the kitchen hut was an empty chicken coop. 

There were several chickens roaming on the property.

Other than some scabies, a girl with asthma, and another girl with female problems 

this was a very healthy bunch of kids. 

The adult caregivers are doing the best they can with the resources they have - 

which are very scarce. They were very gracious to us and very much appreciated 

the medical checkup for the kids, staff and some of the villagers

 and for the load of food provided by Chadasha.

The big challenge of the day for me was to dust off 

my 20 year old blood-drawing skills and draw blood from 

a set of malnourished and dehydrated twins. 

Whew! I am glad to report that with lots of sweat and prayers I was successful 

- and the twins are HIV negative.

This orphanage is terribly, terribly poor but healthy considering the living conditions. 

So glad we were able to help.