Visit to an orphanage

UPDATE: We went back to the orphange yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) and did more of the same. Some of the girls hadn't had a chance to make necklaces and on Monday we didn't have any ink pads for the rubber stamps we brought. I continued reading with them in the books I had brought. Some of the girls stayed interested and stayed with me. But, there were several distractions and the empty tiled room echoes a lot. So, for some I think it was good.

One thing I really loved was helping some of the girls who were never in school before this orphanage started a couple months ago with their writing. One little girl couldn't write her name, so I wrote it and helped her copy the letters. At first one girl was embarrassed because I asked her if she could write the alphabet. Some of the girls who were probably between 9 and 12 years old, could write numbers, but needed help, or could recognize and copy the alphabet when I write it for them to copy. I was amazed by how happy they were to be given pencils and paper and how motivated they were to work on this.
Since we have off from school for Carnaval/Mardi Gras, and Richard and Ricky went on a 3 day bike hike, Joy and I went to an orphanage started by friends (Joy's good friend, Ari, and her family) just before Christmas.
We did crafts with them. (Yes, Joy did crafts--a true missionary willing to sacrifice!:)) We made necklaces and bracelets with foam beads and let them make pictures or cards. Then we started reading a comic-style booklet that tells the whole story of the Bible. These were given to us by the Frank & June Williams and the kids really like them. We read in French and translated into Creole. Only a few of the girls have been in school long enough to read or understand French. These girls were taken off the streets and given a place to live beginning just before Christmas by this wonderful family, The Manasserros (sp?).