Note: This is the second in a series of journals that will be written by members of the SRU Athletes for Forgotten Angels group that will be in Haiti Jan. 12-17 helping the country recover from the earthquake that rocked the country two years ago. For more information and links to all journal entries, visit the Forgotten Angels homepage
Hi from Haiti, day two!
We were awoken at midnight by the shrieks of Noreen.
Kalli Wakefield was the first to wake up because she does not fear the eight-legged creatures. Next to wake up were
Jessica Shroyer, Dana O'Neill and
Emer Flatley. They all ventured into the bathroom to see what the commotion was all about. As they entered the bathroom, they soon saw the MASSIVE SPIDER (like ENORMOUS). It was in the shower stall staring us in the face. Most of us attempted to trap the creature, but the only successful attempt was made by Emer, after help from
Alyssa Barrett. We then proceeded to scream and the brave Noreen scooped the hairy eight-legged insect (we named him Paul) into the cup. Kalli then got rid of the cup, and Paul.
We then saw the next obstacle in our room... THE TOAD! Teddy the toad was just chilling on the ground when Noreen once again spotted the intruder. She trapped the little toad in a cup and then placed it outside in the wilderness. After this fiasco, we were all able to sleep soundly until the roosters began to crow in the morning.
Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs and scrambled sausage. This was taken down easily by each one of the SRU Forgotten Angles members. After breakfast we headed in two directions. One group went to see some soccer fields while the other group returned to EBAC Orphanage. The soccer fields were in the middle of a pasture with cows and goats as guests. While at the orphanage, we colored with the children and made bracelets with beads and string. They were going crazy over the beads and other craft materials.
We returned for lunch around 11:30 and ate sandwiches and fruit. The soccer group headed out after lunch to the Haiti National Stadium with a group of Haitian soccer players in a cargo truck. The trip to the field was quite lengthy and pretty bumpy, but we made it there safely. There were 101 Haitian soccer players in attendance and we then split them into groups for soccer drills and games. It was surprising when the soccer players did not drink from water bottles but from a sandwich sized plastic bag filled with purified water for the session. We played at the field for about 3 hours in the sweltering heat.
Meanwhile, the other half of the group returned to EBAC orphanage to make more bracelets and play with the children. While at the orphanage, we talked to Kathy and Alice, who have run the orphanage for 35 years! We bought some cards with amazing drawings made by a 9 year old child in the orphanage named Michaelson. We got a mini tour of the orphanage and got to see where the children go to school and where they eat their meals. A few of us played soccer in the yard with some of the kids while others watched The Lord of the Rings in the pavilion. We headed back to the dorms around 4:15 p.m. to begin cooking dinner.
Dinner consisted of ham, corn casserole and broccoli. There was a bonus tonight, we got dessert!! Ashley Martin was ecstatic to say the least. After dinner, we cleaned up, played some pretty intense card games, talked to Captain Kirk about our adventures for tomorrow, and anxiously awaited the power generators being shut down for the night.
We will write again tomorrow,
- Emer and Kalli
