We got up well past the crack of dawn and had a nice buffet breakfast at the Indigo Resort restaurant. At 9:00 am the car was ready for us to take us to the orphanage at Williamson.
Our translator was a man named Pomphile. He speaks fluent English and has family in the US. He worked for American Airlines in security for three years. He would spot people that were illegally trying to get on a plane or avoid security. He stopped one person who he had caught twice before. Shortly after that he was shot at twice. He asked for a change of jobs but AA said he was good at what he did and wouldn’t transfer him. He quit. Now he is the warehouse manager for Mercy & Sharing. He’s a smart, competent person. He’s a guy you would want working for you.
We toured the orphanage to get a good idea of the layout of the place. The intention of our project in December is to build a playground for the kids and spruce up the dormitories. They need another coat of paint with some brighter colors. The orphanage is about three years old. It is spacious, clean and orderly but it is still a work in progress. The grounds need a lot of work. There is no playground and it needs some agricultural projects whether it is growing a crop or raising chickens.
It is summer so the kids are out of school. However, there is a summer program for both the orphan children and the area kids that attend the school.
We had lunch at the Kaliko Resort. That gave us a chance to check it out because we would like the group to stay there. It is much more convenient to the orphanage than Indigo.
We ate dinner at the buffet and happened to meet a doctor and his wife that works at a hospital in St. Mark. The doctor is from Harvard and splits his time between Boston and Haiti. This allows him to make enough money to continue his work in Haiti. His wife lives in Haiti and they have two adopted Haitian children.
The area on the grounds of the orphanage where we want to put in the playground.
Mike and I at Kaliko Beach. I’m the short guy.