We had a wonderful day and were very blessed by the children and adults that we had the opportunity to meet. At the home for sick and dying children, I stayed with the very sick, newly admitted babies. I mostly held two babies. I thought this part of the trip would be so hard for me, but I knew that just holding and singing to the babies was helping, even for just the few hours we were there. Someone else who was also visiting and serving there for a few weeks was telling us that the baby she was holding just wouldn't stop crying, no matter what anyone had tried. It warmed my heart to help by holding and singing to this very snugly baby. He didn't cry with me and he eventually slept. All he wanted was to snuggle and listen to my heartbeat and be walked around. The facility was so nice and new and bright and clean. The caretakers were so caring and on top of everything that was going on. They work so hard day in and day out and are so dedicated to serving God by serving those dear children. You can tell that they love what they do. What a beautiful picture of being the hands and feet of Christ.
Apparent Project started when a woman adopted 2 children and moved down to Haiti, but saw the need was so great for parents to be able to afford to care for and feed their children, rather than give them up for adoption. She started teaching 4 women how to make simple things. 
Now the organization has 200 employees, 90% of them are head of their household. The neatest part is that you know that the money the organization earns is helping to keep these families together. We even had a quick tour of their facilities and saw the employees sewing, making paper beads, making ceramic beads, making necklaces, ornaments and metal crafts. So very cool! Their work was beautiful and they took great care in what they did.
Gertrude is a woman with a big heart. She has taken on the care of kids with special needs in her community. What I really loved about our time there was the joy on the children's faces at simply being taken outside to play and enjoy the breeze. One of the boys I spent time with was just happy watching other kids laugh and play. Smiling when I rubbed his head and his legs, he laughed when other kids did something funny. Another little boy just enjoyed sitting on my lap and happily tore up little leaves and placed them in my hand. 
What is God trying to teach me? Simple joy, a caring touch, dedication to an amazing work ethic. One life can make a huge impact on those God places in their path. I saw many beautiful living examples of that today.
Written by Tracy
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