Today

This has been an interesting time - this gap in writing on my blog. What has transpired during this time has taught me a lot about God, the Grace that we live in each day, and the importance of relying on the Gospel in our daily lives. It is with a sad heart that I am writing to say that I have left HaitiBaby and SurfHaiti and must remove my endorsement of these ministries at this time. I appreciate all of your love and support and will keep you posted on how God is leading me in life, ministry, and my love for Haiti.

February 4-6

Saturday & Sunday, Days THREE and FOUR, Kris (a surfer friend who is French and comes most weekends) came in to surf. He brought a friend from work, Hannes, with him. Hannes is from Germany. I really feel like we should get a map and start marking where all the people who come through here are from. We also had a couple guys who work with Save the Children in Port au Prince come over to rent surf boards for the day. Colm is from Ireland (Red Hair, Fair Skin – classic Irish); Mark is from England. This was their second weekend to come. Last weekend they both got “sun stroke” which their supervisors had instructed them NOT to get this time. I called them in every couple hours to remind them to rehydrate. Spain was also well represented this weekend. Three surfers from a spanish NGO in Jacmel came out to surf. Olive Tree showed up early Sunday – I love when they come spend the day with us. Alfaida (the cutest baby) comes with them and she lives with Sarah and I LOVE getting to play with her. Sarah took in Alfaida when her mother, who is HIV positive, wasn't sure where she was going to live. Said she needed help for a few months to get things together. She is supposed to come back for Alfaida in March. Alfaida has tested negative for HIV! Which is a HUGE blessing. One more test to go for it to be official.

Monday, Day FOUR, we walked up to Marigot in the morning and then spent some time across the way in the Baby House cleaning and organizing. Then Travis said he was off to see Nick and Gwen, with Joy in Hope. We invited ourselves along (after calling first) so we could meet their kids, see their place and use their internet (which is faster than ours way out here in Kabic). We decided to cook dinner – BBQ chicken and Rice. We made the BBQ sauce from scratch. Plus they gave us a Loaf Pan so I can make bread in a real loaf pan! Two of their girls helped us cook and we played Apples to Apples together... which is a lot of fun! The winner of the night: “Your Face” I'm thinking.

Beginning to Catch Up

I have not posted much in the last couple weeks, because they have
been busy, growing experiences...and because Dr. Ken left for two
weeks to go back to the States which meant Amber and I were here at
the beach house just the two of us (though Travis did come stay with
us and our friends were awesome to come by regularly and check in on
us). The real test as to my comfort living here – off a compound, in
a community. So over the next few days I will post things I wrote
while he was gone, but waited to publish until he returned as I didn't
want to publicize that we were living "alone" any more than necessary.

Days one and two have gone well! Thursday (Day ONE) began with a lady
coming into our yard through the beach gate. She kept saying something
in Kreyol about Travay (work). I tried to communicate with her but
she didn't seem to understand me. I tried asking her to come back
another day, in Kreyol, but she wouldn't leave. We ended up calling
Sarah from Olive Tree Project and handing her the phone. Sarah talked
to her – apparently she wanted us to give her a job. Sarah told her we
already had all the people we needed right now working for us, Thank
you, Sarah for handling that one! Then we went by Hands and Feet and I
dug around their depot and found all the clothes I was missing except
my swimsuit - oh and my baby sling, I just thought of that one... We
met Cameron Peoples' parents and saw Rebekah (never enough time).
Then we went over to Dave and Darlys' house and helped them with some
office work - QuickBooks and filing papers. Darlys took us over to
Cyvadier Plage for Jus au Lait, which is not on the menu but they made
it for us anyway :-) and French Fries – thank you Darlys for that
treat! We ran into Nick and Gwen while we were there, as well as the
Hands and Feet crew. Then we headed back to the house. Travis came to
stay with us for most of the time Dr. Ken is going to be gone. It was
a day full of people and friends, just like being at home – which is
nice because sometimes being here can feel very isolating. So many
people want things from you, everywhere you go, everywhere you turn,
so having a community of people who are not demanding anything but
friendship from you is really important and running into them all day
is really a treat.

Friday (DAY TWO), we spent some time doing Bible Study together,
looking up different verses that talk about prayer and discussing
their implications....The Bible says to pray without ceasing, but it
also says to be careful how you approach God, to listen rather than
say a lot of words. Those are two things I've been pondering how they
fit together. We are told to ask God for things, but to examine our
motives before we ask. We are told to submit all requests to HIS WILL.
Then we walked along the road towards Marigot, came back and swam.
Then headed to Cyvadier Market for water and eggs (the eggs were
really fresh looking!) We got some cleaning done in our room and Kris
(a French surfer friend) called to say he would be coming Saturday, so
Amber and I spent the afternoon cleaning the guest house for his
arrival. I paid our weekly staff all by myself today! That consisted
of Eva, who I am quickly becoming a big fan of, who cleans for us
twice a week and Benji who takes care of our yard and generally looks
out for us girls. I had to hunt Benji down, I think he thought maybe
with Dr. Ken gone he wasn't going to be paid but once I found him, he
came and did his job as well as he usually does it. Angenita showed
up and started fussing at us, she does our laundry, she was quite put
out that we hadn't had her wash in 5 days! She gets paid by the month
and does the most amazing job ever! We had clothes that weren't white
when we brought them (but were supposed to be) that are now as white
as if they were new. Laundry is done by hand and Angenita definitely
has skills. Then we had visitors stop by looking for Diane. We sat
around a while staring awkwardly at each other. I tried to talk to
them, in both Kreyol and English. But mostly we sat there. Then they
left. The funny thing is that I know one of them speaks English – she
used to talk to be pretty often. Oh well :-)

Heading Back to Haiti

So as I get ready to head back down to Haiti next week I find that there are some people I haven't had the opportunity to share what my exact plans are....so here is a short post to introduce the current path I am on:

I will not be returning to The Hands and Feet Children's Village, though a wonderful ministry where i made some amazing friends, God has set my feet in a new, though related, direction.  I am moving down the road a bit to work with HaitiBaby and SurfHaiti and by work with I mean, help start these two new ministries.  My main focus will be the Infant Rescue and Recovery Center...or so the plan is, I find that in ministry - and I assume this is true anywhere- you must be flexible and ready to shift where God opens doors, so I am happy to lend my skills to any area of ministry these organizations require them.

One of the tragedies in Haiti is seeing parents, specifically mothers, who give up their children to an orphanage because they can't afford to feed and clothe their baby, or the infant requires some special medical care that she is unable to provide.  I am told that one in every four newborns in Haiti die in the first year for lack of nutrition, love, and medication. HaitiBaby will be a temporary home where babies can be loved and cared for while each mother also receives the love and care she needs in order to be able to someday care for her own child, as God intended. Our purpose is to empower mothers by helping them find a way to make money through learning skills, or marketing and utilizing skills they already possess. Often this will include providing meals, vitamins, and shelter for the mother while giving her time to "prepare a nest" where she can take her baby.  We are concerned with orphan prevention whenever possible...and when not possible, due to death or abandonment, we will care for the infant through the first year of their life and then find a safe, loving place for each child to live and grow. 

SurfHaiti is another ministry I will be participating in.  This organization teaches street children to surf and through surfing hopes to teach skills necessary to succeed as an adult; skills like showing up on time, and being consistent are skills that will help them find and keep jobs as they grow and mature into adulthood. It also facilitates the distribution of water filters to surrounding communities.  80% of the ground and surface water in Haiti is contaminated and this clean water initiative brings clean drinking water to communities that have never had access to it before.  We also have a pharmacy/clinic that we are setting up in order to provide for medical mission teams that come down and need a place to work out of. 

As these ministries grow and begin to expand in many directions to reflect the need and opportunity to create long term ministries that will hopefully create true solutions and not create dependence upon charity, I look forward to sharing with you all more.

Medical Dominoes

I am home now...and looking at posts I never finished typing or didn't get around to posting, so I apologize for being slack, but wanted to continue to share with you all what my time in Haiti to this point has been.  I will be in the States for a few weeks and then plan to return in January.  I hope to speak to many of you while home, email me or call....

This has been a difficult week...exhausting really.  I haven't had much time to email, facebook or think much less sit down to blog.  My week began with a frustrating Sunday (I think it was Sunday, my days run together right now) night trip to two hospitals.  The twins had developed high fevers and diarrhea.  We went to the Cuban hospital, where they diagnosed pneumonia (Wendi) and a lung infection (Wendia), but had no beds available so the sent us to another hospital. At the Cuban hospital the staff speaks Spanish and Kreyol and a piti, piti (little) bit of English...since we were driving past our compound anyway, we dropped Wendia off with Kyle and asked her to start the meds prescribed for her infection, and picked up Stacie to translate for us at St. Michel.  We went, but honestly I was hoping, should have been praying, they wouldn't admit Wendi as it isn't the cleanest and the staff there... well lets just say the nurse who finally started our paperwork wasn't really sure how to work the scale to weigh Crystella and Wendi.  For obvious reasons, it isn't a place I would choose to go. After three hours of wandering around trying to figure out where we needed to be, they finally checked Wendi over said he didn't have a fever (because we gave him Tylenol, which we told them) and sent us home...even with a referral from the Cuban hospital and his chest x-ray which they sort of looked at.  

Monday began with a phone call at 3 am from the baby house - Woodley was having a seizure. I got up and found the thermometer - the last (and only other I know of) Grand Mal seizure he had was fever related and met both Camerons in the Baby House.  Sure enough he had a temp of 102.  The seizure lasted almost 20 minutes. Poor little guy was exhausted when it finally ended.  We gave him Tylenol and wiped him down in an attempt to get his fever down.  It took two hours to get him below 100. He's just under a year old. By 5, I headed back to bed only to be greeted with a baby from the other baby house: fever and vomiting.  Stacie, my roommate and fellow missionary has been violently ill for a few days now (High fever, vomitting, severe pains...we are fairly certain she has Dengue Fever, but it could be a variety of things with similar symptoms. She leaves this morning for the states to have a full work up done, to rest and recover) called at 6am.  "Can you come up here, I have an emergency."  I walked into our dark room and found Stacie sitting in bed with Saintana in her lap.  From where I stood (and in the darkness) it looked like she had boils all over her face...it turned out to be dried blood.  She had fallen off the bed in the night and split her lip open pretty badly.  I carried her downstairs to clean her up...and she was fine - though we moved her to a bottom bunk and added a higher railing (thank you Cameron) to the top bunk. By 9 am we had three fevers with vomitting, an ear infection, one severe asthma attack, one child who vomitted though it appears it was self induced to prevent having to take an exam at school, and I lost count on the diarrhea. 

Never Let Go

We gathered for church - our first official church in English for missionaries...So much has happened, we've all been through so much - working , no living this life for Jesus.  It's easy to get caught up in all that needs to happen and does happen and forget to pause and spend some time just worshiping the One who brought each of us to this harsh and beautiful land. To these people we love and have come to serve.  As we gathered and shared our hearts, we sang this song, and the following is what ran through my mind as we sat there, taking everything before God, together.  We request your prayers, as life here is not easy, but you are never safer than when you are in the center of where God wants you to be - for the only True safety is found in Christ.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

Gunshot Wounds. Being robbed at gunpoint. Fear for your children, their safety. 

Your perfect love is casting out fear

But He is there.

And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life

Not knowing where you'll be the next day...sick children, worries from home.

I won't turn back

He is why we are here. There is no going back

I know you are near

He will never leave me nor forsake me.

And I will fear no evil

Voodoo. Crime. Anger. Desperation.

For my God is with me

He walks us through it all.

And if my God is with me

We know He is 

Whom then shall I fear?

No weapon formed against us shall prosper

Whom then shall I fear?

No one is as great as He.

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm

He is the same no matter the circumstance

Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low

I don't get to decide what is good and what is bad

Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

but through it all He takes care of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on

This world is NOT all there is

A glorious light beyond all compare

Knowing Him is better than anything

And there will be an end to these troubles

There are no "sides" in Heaven, just God

But until that day comes

God has us here for now

We'll live to know You here on the earth

But we will strive to follow Him through our daily lives

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on

Hope still exists.  Read Revelation.

And there will be an end to these troubles

And this too shall pass.

But until that day comes

We must walk through life here, faithfully

Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

He is Good and Worthy of our praise.

(Thank you Matt Redman for the song You Never Let Go)

PS Mom, this did not all happen to me - don't panic :-)

Haiti

Since arriving in Haiti I have been praying and grasping and pondering and wrestling with God over my future.  Okay so I've been doing that for longer than just being in Haiti, but of all the things I continually bring before God, is what is my future going to look like... Do I go back to Ohio, Oklahoma, Alabama? Work for Redeemer? Get another job? I wish I could really and truly share what life is like here with you all.  But I can't.  I can't really express with words or photographs what it is like to watch people 50 feet on the other side of your walls dying from starvation. Filthy from the trash, bacteria, and waste that is all around us.  80% of the ground and surface water in Haiti is contaminated with e. coli and other bacteria making it not safe to drink.  There are two (at least) little Restavek girls who spend most of their day walking back and forth getting water from our clean water spigot to the houses where their "owners" live. One of them arrived the same day Saintana came to live here.  Human Trafficking is real. We see it daily. Infants die from starvation or abandonment. Malnourished kids. One of our wash ladies' child died because she couldn't get the medication she needed for her child. 


Last Sunday some of the other staff and I took a drive.  We drove for about an hour going down the coast (eastward). We left the larger villages and began to head up into the mountains and drove through these squalid communities.  A car full of Blans (whites) driving in their truck, which was more than most of them could ever hope to afford, looking out, and yet most of the children we passed smiled and waved at us and how their eyes lit up when we waved back!  We as a staff here, regularly watch this video, a good reminder of why we are here. The only thing I could think was - how do I go home?  How do I leave all of this when there are so many who have such need and I am one of the few who have, now, personally bumped into it. I keep asking God, what about the plan - to do ministry development at Redeemer? What about the plan to go home and be near my family, my loved ones?  What would you have me do? (A little bit of complete honesty - if I stay, will I ever get married?) and all I got was "How do you go home from this?"   Which is not to say - I never go home again.... but not yet.  So then God, What now?


While I am sure this doesn't really shock any of you, and I admit I had an inkling I'd be here more than three months, what exactly does this look like?  For years I've prayed for a vision for my life...a vision of ministry - or someone whose vision I could get behind and support and make my own.  I love what Hands and Feet is doing here, but what I began to get a taste for was "infant rescue".  So many children here in Haiti are Social Orphans, meaning they have parents living, but they can't or won't take care of them.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a place that could help medically with children (like Crystella and the little twins) while teaching parents how to provide care and empowering their parents to find work (through child care or vocational training)?  Rescuing babies - not to be taken from their families but to be restored to God's plan for children to be apart of their biological families if possible, and adoptive families if not (and Hands and Feet can be considered an adoptive family).


Where does that put me?  It puts me partnering with Diane (and Dr. Ken)'s new ministry - just down the road.  Dr. Ken is starting up a new ministry (Surf Haiti) that will put a church on the beach where people won't be turned away for not being clean enough, and street kids can learn to care about their environment by learning to surf - and the best cleanest surf.  Diane and I (Lord willing - I sound like my Grannie :-) ) will be opening an Infant Rescue house - yet to be named.  We will have a NICU set up and some cribs for other babies who need rescueing.  A clean safe environment, with medical support available.  Next door to this (in the duplex) will be a team house, for groups to come in - teams of Nurses and medical personnel to utilize the fully stocked medical clinic and baby house, or professional surfers - and surf enthusiasts to come and enjoy the beauty of Haiti while doing ministry at the same time.  This duplex is across the street from Ken and Diane's new home about 5 miles from the Children's Village here.


So that is where I believe God is taking me.  I must pray more about logisitics - time frames - finances, etc.  But It feels right.  Like God is doing something here.  I'm not sure how, or if, I'll continue to be at Hands and Feet in some capacity, helping - I love the kids here and the ministry.  I have much respect for the work and commitment to quality.  I pray hard it will continue to grow in God's direction for the benefit and success of the kids and their vision for orphans who will change Haiti for the better.

One of our beloved team members left this morning for a new chapter in her life. Emi Pierce leaves behind friends, 10 boys (collectively known as the "naked boys" for their propensity for being naked - their only 3 what do you want from them), parents who love her, a community who will miss her activism and ministry, Magda, and the insanity known as our life in Haiti. I find it humorous that the things we laugh most often about are the daily - sometimes it seems hourly - "disasters" that we endure, usually taken in stride because "this is Haiti." Today, in honor of EMi's departure, they seem to all have happened in unison.

The morning began with no electricity - which isn't all that unusal.  EdH (the Haitian Power Company) usually goes off around 4 am and returns some time after 6 am....though lately its been off longer and longer, but as I write this at 4pm we still have no EdH power.  Generally we compensate by turning on the generator until EdH comes back on; however today, the generator won't work.  Try as they might the guys can't seem to find the problem and therefore no solution...which means no power. Still. Did I mention it's blazing hot? Hotter than it's been in a Haitian month (which may actually only be a week or two but feels like a month). No fans. No Internet. No Water! Our water system requires a pump - which uses electricity...so as I speak we have begun to run out of water in the houses...and still we are sweating away.

In the midst of all of this, Child Services shows up. They only come when Dr. Ken is gone, or so it seems. They also seem to show up when the kids are in school and want to speak with a child who isn't at home because, surprise - they are at school at 10:30 am on a Wednesday. These visits seem to take forever! and Wednesdays are a crazy busy day for us with getting our weekly supplies delivered to each house.

While all of this is going on, my phone rings and the man on the other end of the line announces that he has just spoken to my husband (at which point I got excited because I haven't even spoken to my husband yet, as I'm not married) and he told them I could give them some medicine because their whole mission team was sick.... At which point I realized delirium had probably accompanied his illness and he was just confused when Dr. Ken gave him my phone number.

After hanging up the phone and pondering the likelihood of God revealing my future husband to me via a phone call from a complete stranger (and determining it to be highly unlikely), Cameron returns home from picking up the kids from school.  While on his way to the school, he was stopped in a traffic stop in which he may or may not have been the only car stopped - and the only Blanc driving.  One a singularly positive note, Odius was nearby and kept him from spending the night (in Haitian time - a week) in a Haitian prison/jail - and to get his American driver license returned.

This has been our day - the Day Emi Left... WE hope it's not indicative of life without her...though I'm sure the universe will be balanced again soon - at least we hope.  So as I finish writing this - old school with an actual pen and paper - I realize that the day is not nearly over and I just want to say if the septic system goes out and we have to call Billy PooPoo, it's Stacie Tippett's fault for suggesting it could still get worse.

Epilogue:
Then came the torrential rain - right at dusk. In time for the dark to be even darker - and no power.  Water bottles are distributed to all the houses (especially the Baby houses) to get them through the night - we can't find our flashlights and can't find all the babies in the dark - okay so we could, but it sounded funny - and it did make counting noses difficult.  And now I hear the glorious sound of the generator and the lights have flickered and come on!  Praise God for electricity.

Church on the Beach

We held our first church on the beach...Dr. Ken started playing his guitar... we were singing... and these guys showed up. - sorry for the bad sound quality but it was recorded on my digital camera that is several years old so don't expect that much from old technology...

We think maybe they liked their music better... They played Guantanamera though, which I love, so that was okay. Then they left and we went on with our time together.  Part of Dr. Ken's new ministry is to have a church on the beach. It may start with local missionaries but we hope it will quickly expand to include the neighbors.  It will be a place where people won't be turned away because they aren't clean enough or they don't have nice enough clothes - which happens here in Haiti.

Crystella and the Miracle Twins

Another week has passed and here I sit. I can't even begin to explain how the days fly by and yet it feels as though another month has passed. We had quite an eventful week this week. On Monday we had a young mother come to our driveway asking for some assistance. When Stacie went out to meet her, she asked her to come on into the big house to evaluate her needs. The young mother then handed a tiny baby wrapped in a towel to Stacie, that's when she realized there were two babies! We brought them in and weighed them. Little boy, Wendi, was 2 lbs. 10 oz. Little girl, Wendia, was 2 lbs. 8 oz. You could see his ribs, his bones. He lay limp, barely moving. Wendia, looked somehow better; stronger. She immediately curled up in a ball and began to whimper. We changed their diapers and found them some premie clothes and started asking questions. Crystella, new mother, recent widow (the twins father died of Cholera back in June). Living with a friend, sleeping on the floor and not receiving any help with the babies, she didn't eat consistently but when she could. The doctor told her she was anemic so not to try breastfeeding. I am told most Haitians don't nurse because of a superstition or lack of information, but who knows all the reasons, I just know that here is another example of poverty being more than a lack of money. Imagine you don't know that you can provide for your child or that it's better for them to nurse...so you give up your child so they can have access to formula...or worse you watch them starve from sugar water because that's all you think you can give them! Crystella said they were born 4 weeks premature, but look like it could be more than that. The babies, 15 days old, had only had sugar water to eat, three times a day, no one had told her they should eat more often than that. We gave them their first bottles...each ate 1/2 an ounce. She was told at the hospital she won't be able to have any more children and wants to keep her babies, but she needed help. What kind of help did she come to us looking for? Just help. Whatever we can give her. We fed her lunch and gave her some water to drink while we examined the babies. We gave her some diapers and enough high calorie-premie formula to feed the babies for a day and asked her to come back the next morning...Dr. Ken and Diane, our Directors, were in Port-Au-Prince and we weren't sure what we would be able to do. Stacie and I discussed paying for formula ourselves if we need be. We prayed she would be back the next morning and the babies would live another day.Tuesday morning came and went, with no sign of them- but this is Haiti, and everything runs on island time so just after lunch, she returned with both babies. This time Ken and Diane were both here, as was Mark, the Executive Director/Founder of Hands and Feet. We brought them in and checked them over. Diane asked most of the same questions and then some. After discussing our options, we offered for Crystella and babies to stay with us for a few weeks, to see if we can't get them stable, and help the young mother out. We asked if she needed to go get clothes, or her belongings and she replied yes. We asked if we could keep the babies here to avoid the stress of a crowded, bouncy TapTap (think 3rd world taxi/bus in the back of a truck) and the germs off the street, again she replied yes. We immediately sprang into action setting up a nursery in the front room of the upstairs baby house. Stacie tended the babies. Cameron brought up a bed for Crystella. Mark brought up a new Mattress. Diane found a bassinet - of sorts - and some more formula. Kyle found clothes and Diapers. I made the bed, got the hand sanitizer out and started making it ready for all three new occupants. We moved the babies upstairs. When Crystella returned, we showed her to her new accommodations. Nurse arrived. By 6pm we had introduced Nurse to them all and asked her to watch over them if they needed anything. Stacie and I made sure they knew how to get to our room if they needed anything during the night. Crystella ate and slept and slept and slept and slept. For almost two days I think she was only awake to eat or nurse. The best we can guess she hadn't really recovered from the birthing process let alone taking care of twins alone. We split the day up into three hour shifts each (Emi, Kyle, Stacie, and I) taking one and allowing Nurse and the baby nannies to cover the night, unless an emergency arose. I picked the first shift going until 10 am. The first morning I walked in to the nursery to check on everyone and there was Nurse: eating, feeding a baby and staring at Crystella while she slept (this is called active supervision). She said the night had gone well, I wondered if she'd watched them sleep all night or if she had gotten any rest herself.When Eliazer arrived we sat down to talk about some things/get Crystella situated. It was our goal not to take over care for the babies entirely but to teach their mama how to care for them and create the best environment where they can thrive...while providing whatever support we can for her. We explained that the best thing for all would be if she could nurse, we put her on prenatal vitamins, and plenty of food and clean water. I take her a snack (High Calorie Protein shake) first thing and then Breakfast around 8:30am. Lunch arrives at noon via Stacie. Kyle comes with an afternoon snack or two, usually Avacado (or Zaboka in Kreole), or peanut butter and crackers. Then Emi follows up with dinner around 7 pm. I'm not sure Crystella has ever had so much food available to her, but we want her body to produce as much milk as she can so we are trying to give her the best chance we can. Formula will make her dependent upon someone to supply it, nursing means she only must find a way to feed herself when the time comes for her to leave. We are bottle feeding between nursing to increase their calories and chances. Wendi is nursing well. Wendia on the otherhand hasn't gotten the hang of latching on very well, so most of her feeding is by dropper. We are praying for a breast pump so she can at least get some of her mom's milk that way. Each baby is receiving Kangaroo Care for a couple hours a day, and are beginning to thrive. Friday, Wendi reached for his mom and hugged her when she picked him up - the first sign of enough muscle tone to move on his own! He started moving to see where sounds are coming from also. We have a nurse who came in this week to work at a different mission in town. She has been gracious enough to come by each day and work with Crystella on care and techniques. Crystella is a great mom! Everything we ask of her, she does. Anything she sees us doing, she imitates as well. She is learning so much and practicing the skills she is learning. I am inspired by her clear devotion and love for her little ones. I pray for her, that they survive. I pray for her that she be healthy and live a long life with her children. I pray she would learn to recognize the One who has walked her through all of this. Just being in the room with the twins is being in the presence of not just one but two miracles!Today the babies have each gained weight! They both weigh in at 2 lbs 14 oz! I got asked to attend their baptism at church...I think... My creole is non existent and I had a hard time following what the nannies were interpreting for me ;-) I guess we will see...

Tiny Tiger Walk

Have you ever felt so hot that you aren't quite sure where the heat is coming from? The air, the ground, the people around you? Everything adds to the intensity of it? The type of day where there seems to be steam instead of air? Welcome to Haiti.  Not every day, but often enough and definitely today. To know me is to know that I don't get too hot. (To illustrate, I live in Haiti and sleep with three blankets on my bed - though I'm not always under all three of them). I'd rather be hot than cold. I hate shoes - but wear flip flops as a concession to the social convention of wearing them. I love being in the country, and animals and children make me very happy.

Around here, my favorite time of day is about 5pm. The sun has fallen behind the requisite buildings/tress and the center of our compound is shaded.  The older kids are usually on the "basketball court" listening to music and playing.  If you sit and rock on the front Galri of the Big House, you can hear shouting, laughing, singing - all in Kreyole so you probably wouldn't understand it, but it's the same noises and intonations you hear anywhere children frolic.  Then comes what I (as an Auburn alumnus) like to call the Tiny TigerWalk. As the heat dissipates, little voices are heard. "Kylo!" (Calling Kyle) They come out in a trickle, like a stream one at a time.  The first stops to wait for another.  They clasp hands and begin their nightly ritual of walking down the driveway to the gate and back. Their daily outing.  Holding hands in groups of twos or threes, our nine toddlers exit Kay Kyle and begin to meander their way across the gravel yard to the drive.  Occasionally distracted by interesting things, like rocks and a stray sandal here or there, they gradually make their way to the first gate.  Our driveway begins and ends with gates. For weeks they would always be accompanied by many nannies and  older kids, but by now they are old pros at this, and walk confidently toward their destination.  Kyle or Tabby begin the procession while the other usually brings up the rear. Diane and I often take this opportunity to pull out the jogging strollers and walk three or four babies too. At the end we find ourselves in the midst of the fray on the basketball court as the older kids beckon the youngest of our numbers to come and join them.  One large family having an awesome party!

One Month in Haiti

The following is more or less an email I sent out this morning to friends and family....which I am posting here as I realized how many email addresses I don't have or how many are old and out of date.  Note to self, update contacts list. So without further ado:


My first official email newsletter is one month late, though I have started many drafts, here I sit with so much to share and not sure how best to start. I live in a children's village here near Jacmel in the direction of Cayes Jacmel in Cyvadier (which you won't find on a map). We are East of the Jacmel airport and if you look in Satellite view, I'm pretty sure we are hidden by the cloud.

It's been quite an adventure so far, I've met the most interesting people and visited the (in my life prior to this) unlikeliest places (with the possible exception of when Michelle and I took a detour on the wrong bus in Mexico). I've visited the cleanest little shack, one room for five people that was just big enough for one person to turn around in and two beds up on blocks because the house floods when it rains...we took pictures to see if we can't find someone to help fix the roof (their only complaint)... Another house that only has a bed sheet for a roof and inside lives two 18 month olds with sickle cell anemia, so bad they haven't learned to stand yet, because they are too weak. And a few other places I won't mention here because I don't know how to properly describe or explain.  If you've been to a third world country and left the main streets you can probably imagine, and if not, I don't know how to tell you, pictures would never even begin to show it (and that says a lot for someone who loves photography).

The children here are so beautiful, even when their arms show clear signs of malnutrition and starvation they smile and play and share with one another. The children's village has 66, 67 hopefully as of Monday provided her TB test comes back negative, children. Each with their own story and each with a unique personality. One of the most amazing stories, I am simply putting a link to my friend, and fellow worker here, Stacie's blog, as she has written it so beautifully.

The question I have gotten most often from people so far is what does a day look like for you, so here I will do my best to describe one for you:

Monday thru Saturday look almost the same for me... I wake up about 5/5:30 and spend some time reading my Bible and preparing for my day. I head down around 7 am to unlock the Big House and start laundry. I go over to the baby house and collect their dirty clothes hamper and Emmanuel - the sweetest little 9 month old boy- and return to start laundry. Then I snuggle Emmanuel until he falls asleep for his morning nap - if that happens before the breakfast bell at 8 I take him to his bed and get another baby, usually Jacob or Mirlande, and snuggle them until they fall asleep or I finish my breakfast. Our morning staff meeting occurs over breakfast where everyone takes turns listing their goals for the day. From there we adjourn to Bible study for 30 minutes. At this point the day begins in full swing. I try to spend my mornings with the 9 little girls that are "mine" ages 4-6. Usually this consists of jump rope, hand-clap games, or coloring/crafts. The boys often join us as they get upset that I "only do things with the girls." Lunch is at noon and is usually either beans and rice or pasta and chicken legs or hot dogs. With fried plantains and a bit of lettuce or tomato slices for side dishes. Then I try to get the administrative things I need to get done, accomplished. Stacie and Cameron have been gone for three weeks so I've been handling the ordering and delivery of our weeks supplies and making sure each house has what they need. I am also coordinating with groups coming in (which will be my main administrative function when Stacie gets back). By four most of the compound has found shade and the kids begin to come out of their houses - we believe in siestas around here to avoid the heat of the day. Three of the older girls, Valencia, Georgina, and Thaina have been helping Diane and I walk the babies up and down the driveway. We have 11 under the age of one, and they don't get out of their houses much.  All the kids like to play with them and usually want to help. The boys will often volunteer to push the strollers and if there is only one or two, we let them, more than that becomes a destructive force we aren't willing to subject the strollers, or babies to. The stereo often comes out about this time and music and dancing/ community begins to happen at the basketball court as the kids and nannies gather to talk and play. The toddlers often come and join in the fun. It can be crazy. The babies often take an evening nap around 5:30 so as they begin to fall asleep we put them in their beds. Dinner is at six and consists of whatever ingredients lunch didn't consist of, and sometimes the same ingredients put together a bit differently. We often unwind after dinner by watching a tv episode someone has on DVD - we just finished season 2 of White Collar. Then I'm in bed by 9 and ready to do it all again the next day.

Sundays are a bit more relaxed as the kids are gone all morning to church. We do church together here and then take it easy, sometimes go to the beach, though I'm skipping that as I got very dehydrated this week and i am avoiding the sun (good luck to me - note to self you are on a tropical island this may be difficult) for a couple days. I feel better today but it's easy to loose track of how much you sweat around here, so even when you think you are drinking enough water you probably aren't. For the most part it's hot and humid, the nannies in the baby houses laugh at how much I perspire - I don't know why they don't keep the fans on more soothe air will move - that alone keeps me a lot cooler - when I come into the upstairs nursery the nannies go ahead and hand me a cloth to wipe my face with! Lol.

We made it through an outbreak of chicken pox in the baby houses pretty quickly. And it doesn't seem to have spread beyond a couple of the toddlers. We are getting ready for school to start in October, and have been sizing uniforms and making sure everyone is ready. I'm sure once school gets going again my day will shift and look totally different.

For those of you still reading this massively long email (post), thank you for your love and support! There is so much to be done in Haiti, and most of it is long term; not the throw aid at people type of relief that seems to happen in many places. I am blessed by the opportunity to be here and thank you each for your support. Send me emails or facebook me. Let me know what is going on at home, as I get a bit disconnected from the rest of the world.

Emmanuel

My baby.  I don't know if any of you recall my telling you about him when I returned in March.  I fell in love with him back then. He is so sweet.  The most chill kid you have ever met. At four months, he was just happy to be in the nursery. content. rarely crying. Number one adjective to describe him then: Relaxed.  Fast forward a few months... Today, he's a little over 8 months old. He has the most adorable crooked smile and dimple you have ever seen (I might be a little partial- but I doubt it). When I arrived a few weeks ago, he was the only baby in his house not actually crawling yet..he was still doing the tummy shuffle - military style and that not very efficiently. I get to spend some time everyday with him. Usually early in the morning before the other kids have left their houses for breakfast, I go and get him (and the laundry - yes I'm still doing laundry for more than 11 people daily) and spend an hour or so snuggling him. by 7:30 he's ready for a nap and he falls asleep while I rock him on the Galri of the Big House. Since arriving, he's really taken off - and I mean he's a little speed turtle (thank you Sandra Boynton). He's also started chattering - I think talking will come soon. I put him in bed a couple days ago and he pulled up on the side - a first for him - and reached for me to hold him again.  He's definitely decided that I belong to him - which is okay by me...although he doesn't like to share me. He is really starting to flourish and his little personality comes more alive each day! It's so fun to watch him.  He often waits for me at the door of the nursery, and on Saturday, Diane said he got so excited when he heard my voice outside that he threw himself backwards trying to get through the door!  Pray for him, his mom is around but has no interest in him or coming to see him.  I hope he grows up to be a world changer...he's already changed mine.

Weeping and Wardrobes

Have you ever seen Yours, Mine, and Ours? The good one with Lucille Ball (not the farse with Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo)? Do you remember the scene where Frank is doing a voiceover about getting life at home ready for school and you see Jean standing in a long dress crying while her dad is hemming it up. He says something to the effect of "have you ever been 4 and had to wear a dress worn by your 5 older sisters and remade by an old sail maker?" I had a moment like that this week.

I went over to the little girls' house and went through their clothes. I took out anything that was torn up, made a mending pile for the items missing buttons or with tears that could be fixed, and put up items that were too small for them. We (Rosamond, Lucy, and I) looked at their shoes to see what they needed in the way of church shoes and sandals. The ground here is really hard on shoes - especially flip flops. At one point the rule was the kids always had to have shoes on, Dr. Ken - the director- said he thinks the original reason for that was to protect against hook worm, but as our soil isn't really moist and there isn't animal feces around in the yard, he hasn't pushed this rule. Still the kids can go through shoes really quickly. I've been here a week and my flip flops are pretty worn down already and I don't run in them.

At any rate. After evaluating their needs, I went into the supply room - it's called the depot - and pulled out several dresses, shorts/skirts and shirts. Then I brought each one in individually and let them pick one of each item to try on. Melusa (which is pronounced a lot closer to Melissa than one might expect) went first. She's four. The smallest of the girls, but also the roundest. Her eyes grew large and an expectant smile spread across her face as we walked into the Depot - It was like Christmas Day! We quickly discovered that the language barrier -as the younger girls haven't learned much English yet, this gets tricky at times - began to become an issue. I tried to explain she could chose one of each item. Using my very poor French skills (which given her age she really only speaks Creole so I was hoping there would be a lot of cognates) and the few Creole words I learned... Jip (zheep) for skirt, wob (wub) for dress, and a word they said was pronounced "My-you" but ought to be chemiz for shirt. It quickly deteriorated into her precious face crumpling into tears as she looked up at me with a look that said her heart was breaking and it was all because she couldn't tell what I wanted from her. So I did what I could - I started putting clothes on her. We finally found items that both fit and that she liked. The tears were wiped away and her dimples came out again. I had to assure her that the skirt and shirt were in fact "pou ou" (for you) before we could move to dresses. In the end she skipped back to the house carrying her new clothes and sent the next girl in.

Alexandra, the newest girl to the group, was last in to pick out her clothes. I let each girl pick who they sent in after she was finished, so it just ended up this way. Alexandra is a sweet little girl. As the newest, she knows the least English of The Nine. She may also be the most appreciative as well. When she came into the depot, she smiled shyly and I tried to get her to pick from the shorts I had laid out. Our interaction went as follows...

Me: "Choose one - chwazi un."
Alexandra: "Mesi" (thank you)
With a general lack of actual selection. She was happy to get whatever I would give her. So I would hold one item up and tried to gauge her expression to see which she liked the best. In a couple minutes we had her new clothes selected and off she went to put them away and get back to her English lesson.

Getting to know the girls...

I met with Dr. Ken, Rosamond, and Nathalie (Lucy was out of town) yesterday. We discussed a bit that I would be working in their house and a bit of what our thoughts were. Afterwards I realized that with Lucy gone and Nathalie leaving at 2pm each day that put Rosamond to do bedtime alone. So last night I went over and asked Rosamond if it would be helpful for me to come help at bedtime. She said it would so I purposes to come and help. It went quite smoothly.... A bit like a Madeline book ... Eight little girls all in row... Okay so maybe not that orderly, but they brushed their teeth, washed their feet, arms and faces, then knelt down by their beds. Rosamond led them in bedtime prayers, which I couldn't understand but she kept going till they were still and focused. Then into bed they went, lights out and good night kisses. The girls and I practiced saying good night in English - it's a work in progress. I am looking forward to working with her. Today, I am learning from Stacie how to do some of the jobs around here that she does because she will be going home soon for a few weeks. I will try to post pictures in a day or two.

Travel and Blessings

So my travel here was remarkably uneventful...that being said, I have many instances where God was clearly walking with me - some I didn't even know about at the time. For some reason I was a bit anxious about my travel here - probably because I didn't feel I really knew what my travel plans were once I landed in Haiti - just having faith that God was taking care of them for me. I remember a sermon from Junior High - probably the first one I really ever paid attention to and tried to apply. Pastor Andy Hollinger spoke about "living by Faith" asking God for the little needs and watching Him show up in those areas to build our Faith to ask for the big things. At the time I seem to remember my application involving school and a boy and being quite impressed with How God worked things out... Now that seems like a selfish application yet it really moved me forward in my understanding of living for Christ and trusting Him to come thru as I walk in obedience to the direction He was leading me. Back to my travels, I have had remarkable support from family and friends, especially Tami, who worked so hard to let people know what God was leading me to do. That in and of it's self is an answer to prayer because I know that my being here is the result of many people giving to the work here and to the vision of what Hands and Feet wants to do in the lives of these kids and in Haiti.

So I landed in Ft. Lauderdale on Friday afternoon after circling the city for 45 minutes because of rain and lightening. My bag was not checked all the way to Haiti because my layover was so long, so I got my bag -47 lbs and headed to the hotel shuttle area which was clearly marked - as being in the opposite direction from where it was. After asking three people for help someone finally explained where i needed to go - by now my arms were aching from carrying my duffle while having my camping back pack and carry-on bag all on me as well - I'm sure I was quite the sight! The rain began to fall harder and I was having a difficult time staying dry with the wind blowing and walking beyond the overhang. A young man walking the other direction stopped and asked if he could help me with my bag. At first I declined because it was so far and in the opposite direction from where he was headed by he offered again so I accepted. He carried it all the way to the other end of the next concourse for me!

The next morning I rose early and headed for the airport about 5 am. The sitting in the airport was long and boring as there was no one to call at that time of morning and little to do to entertain myself. Still the flight got off without a hitch, I swapped seats with a man so he could sit by his nephew on the flight and moved to the back of the plane. I sat next to two very nice, but non-talkative men. I realized at some point filling out my immigration form that I didn't know the address of where I was heading. Neither of my neighbors had cell phones that were turned on yet in Haiti so they couldn't help me but the one to my left offered to get his friend to let me use his once we landed - I did have a phone number. One of the flight attendants approached me and asked if i was going to an orphanage. I replied that i was and she asked if i could take some donations. She had two paper sacks of clothes and flip flops her sons school had collected to donate. She said she always tried to find someone to donate to when she flew to port-au-prince. The line through customs was long And I ended up at the end of the slowest line. I was three people away from the front when I heard my name! Michelle, who works at the Port-au-Prince site was there to meet me. Se helped me gather my bags and head out to the vans. Kyle and I headed out to Jacmel while the others (Mark, Will, Shannon, Cora, and Michelle) headed to the Grand Guave site. Kyle told me the fact that I got here on a one way ticket was pretty impressive they often require people to buy a return ticket before letting them come! Thank God for that. There were more little blessings along the way... The man who sat next to stayed with me until I met up with Michelle - which was kind of him.

So here I am. Taking time today to get to know the girls and to see what I think needs to happen in their house. Dr. Ken got me set up with a Haitian cell phone so I have that now and I may be able to call home on occasion which is good news as I look forward to hearing voices of my loved ones before three months are up :-). More to come...

Thank you!

I fly out early in the morning and wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone who is/ has supported me in this! I am very excited to be going and will try to let you all know when I get settled in :-)

My Girls!

I found out the names of the girls I will be living with in Haiti. Lejeane, Alexandra (check it out we have the same birthday!), Luca, Loveda, WaWane, Melusa, Barbara (Yes Andy, I get Barbara!), Clara, and Junette. I am looking forward to getting to know them all. I hear they have tons of energy! Kyle, who oversees the baby house in Jacmel, sent me a message a couple days ago telling me she found the little girls blaring music and dancing around their house the other morning. I can't wait to get there and for us to have dance parties - just maybe at a better time of day ;-)

The Adventure is About to Begin...

In 23 days I will arrive in Haiti to work with Hands and Feet Project at the Children's Village in Cyvadier, a village just east of Jacmel on the southern shore. As many of you know, Haiti is a country plagued with corruption, poverty and hardship. The mission of the Hands and Feet children's village is to raise up the children in their care, not to be adopted out to other countries (though a very few are), but rather to love them, educate them and train them to then, as adults, be responsible, capable, loving members of the Haitian society who can effect a change to improve their nation.

My plan, though I know God often changes plans, and I am open to His direction, is to spend three months in Haiti before returning to the states. The three month internship is an unpaid position and if you would like to help support my time there financially, or contribute to the ministry in general there are a couple ways to do that. The first is to write a check to Redeemer Church in Norman (let me know if you need an address) and put something in the memo line about Hands and Feet, the second is to donate directly through hands and feet through their website. Both of these should be tax deductible contributions.

Two other ways to contribute would be through prayer support and moral support! I won't have phone access, which is how I usually keep in touch with people. So, emails and facebook messages will be greatly welcomed! I will try to keep my blog and facebook updated to share with you all what is happening and specific ways you can pray for me and the children (and other staff).