The Trip Home

We headed to Detroit Monday the 19th and stayed at a hotel near the airport. Johane got to see the phanes flying overhead. She liked that. We also got to spend some one-on-one time in the pool. She really enjoyed that. She has learned to hold her breath under water. Can't quite float or swim yet but she is learning.
We wore us all out swimming, so we slept really well. That 4:30 AM wakeup call was still hard on us. "Mama it's not morning yet". She said her good-byes to a tear-filled Papa Dennis and off we went to the line.

She's a trooper now for shoes off, shoes on, march through the line. Lets wait around for them to call our plane. We met up with two team members in Detroit. The flight was uneventful with only a few "Are we there yet?"s. I never should have let her see Schreck II.
We had some lunch in Miami and met up with two more members of the team. So there we were a total of 6 en route to Port-au-Prince.

She was so happy to be home. It this Haiti? Yes Johane...it's Haiti. We're here now! Look it's a tap-tap. Look Mama no buckles! Look it's fresco!! (Snow-cones). Yeaaa...it's haiti. Look at that man. Look at that girl. Look a market. Sit down Johane. Look a tap-tap. And it would start again.

We saw her Papa as we were coming down the hill to the Orhanage. Look! It's Papa! If she could have climbed out the window I think she would have. She was so happy to see him. He was very pleased with the way she looked. "Fat and Happy" or at least well fed and smiling. He loved her contact.

Papa was so pleased with the way she looked that He offered to let me keep her and raise her as my own in America. I thanked him for the honor and the compliment but made it very clear that she belongs with her family and her twin. It is such a blessing to have a family like hers...I would not consider breaking her heart by taking her from them. A loving family is a precious, priceless gift. He seemed pleased with my answer, but asked if she could come and visit sometime. I said, "we'd see what we could do".

He asked if I would buy English language lessons for her since her school doesn't offer them. I said that we could check into that too. Speaking English well, opens many doors for someone in Haiti.
So now I need to figure out who might want to contribute towards English lessons. They say its about $380.00 per year. (American) I guess thats cheaper than a visa and plane ticket, though I think we might find some who might want to help with that too. I'm hoping to be able to bring her back once a year for 4-6 weeks in the summer to have her eye re-evaluated, practice her english and have some fun with all of her friends.

She went off with Papa, waved a sweet good-bye and walked up the street towards the tap-taps. She was grinning from ear-to -ear. She was so happy to be home. It was a bitter-sweet moment. I was so happy for her, sad for me, and yet happy to be used to fullfill the journey.
God is good. ALL the time. Cynthia