This has not been a normal week.  I am not at all sure what a "normal" week is,  but I know this is not one.

On Tuesday morning we experienced an earthquake.  I have always wondered what an earthquake would feel like, and now I know.   We have had hundreds of aftershocks in the four days since the initial earthquake.   Praise God the buildings the kids are in stood up well to the shaking.  A few of us staff members  have some rather scary cracks in the walls of our personal homes though. 

The kids were shaken up of course (literally and figuratively), but they did amazingly well.   They are now old pros at meeting in the middle of the playground after each major aftershock...just to make sure all is well before they run back to whatever they were doing.   The first night all the kids slept downstairs with their mattresses on the floor.  They felt safer being on the ground floor and enjoyed being all together.  But everyone has moved back upstairs now.  We know that we will be talking about this for a long time,  as it was a very scary experience for the kids and for all of us.  We praise God for the protection we were given. We do not take that for granted.   There are many that suffered devastation and death because of this earthquake.

But we are not here to worry about cracks in our walls and aftershocks.  We are here to take care of kids that need us.  So that is what we are doing.  Today we admitted a new baby!  This little guy has just  joined the Duterte Home. He has some medical concerns, but we feel like we are back to business as usual. So here is our newest family member!