It's the 6 week mark today! My planned departure will be either August 17th or 18th...it is all still very surreal, as I have been absorbed with planning, fundraising, purging my belongings to the bare minimum (yes, I kept my bed and my favorite loveseat, but not much else!) and attempting to remain engaged at the hospital while processing this major transition. I had several sessions with a French tutor, which was a good start, but it sure is not coming back to me nearly as easily as Spanish did! So therefore, the investment in Rosetta Stone, which I have been told is the gold standard. We shall soon find out! My last major fundraising event is tomorrow, for which I am grateful and excited. The generosity of those who have given to my cause is nothing short of divinely moving. I am overwhelmed to think of the gifts I have been given. I have to try and remember them right before I fall asleep, when my mind races with thoughts of, "What on earth do you think you are doing?"
It has been a challenge to accept the support and generosity of others - I like to be the one doing the giving! It has also been a challenge to accept the encouragement and generosity of my friends, who have proven beacons of great light to me. But it is yet another lesson that God is teaching me, as life simplifies and the truly important things come to light and are most prominent. Relationships, understood and freely offered love, with no condition; hope, and trust in the One who holds all things in His hands: these have been playing over and over again in my mind these recent days.
I was able to find a very powerful video this evening on the Friends of the Orphans website, which details the work NPH (or NPFS in Haiti) has done since the earthquake, and it will give you a glimpse into the program in which I will be working. I will be with the children in St. Louis and St. Anne homes. I am amazed at the courage and determination, and the resourcefulness of NPFS Haiti, and I am honored to become a part of their family. The video is long, about 15 minutes; my program is detailed in the beginning, but I encourage you to watch the whole thing to get a better picture of what Friends of the Orphans/NPFS is doing, and why I sought to work with them.
http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/s/769/blank.aspx?sid=769&gid=1&pgid=1333
More to come soon! Thanks for reading.
Bridget
