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.

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 :-)

Sweet Home Alabama

I must begin with an "Ode to Home". There are two places that have made indelible impressions upon my heart, mind, perhaps my very soul. The essence of these localities have become a part of who I am. Without them I would not be me. They have influenced my life; they inspire my heart. They are very different from one another, and made their impressions upon me in very different ways, for very different reasons.

Tonight I sit in the house that I have considered my "home" for most of my life - though I've never really lived here - and I ponder what makes this place so wonderful. I know instantly the answer to that is the people who inhabited this place. For all those who never knew my Grannie and Granddaddy, I am sorry. They were truly remarkable people. This month marks the one year anniversary of Granddaddy's passing and it has been a hard year, in many respects. I miss him so very, very much. The life that has filled these rooms is almost tangible. When I wake each morning I think of Granddaddy waking me up at 5:30 am in the summers to eat breakfast with him before he went to work, and I would crawl back in bed. As I drift off to sleep I think of Grannie sleeping on the floor with me, my brother, and our cousin, giggling until who knows how late and finally offering to pay the first one to go to sleep $5.00. Every inch of this house holds such fond memories for me. But it isn't just the two whom I miss and love so dearly who made/make this place so wonderful... it's the family I still have here.

It was here that I learned to ride a horse. To drive a car/truck/tractor. The right way to eat a watermelon (go to the garden, pick one, bust it open, eat the heart out of it, feed the rest to the cows). To wave to everyone who drives by. And what FAMILY really means. Last night as my cousin and I were coordinating our plans for lunch today, our phones were not cooperating. My cell gets sporadic service on a good day (the house phone got switched back on today - hurray) and her phone was having issues as well. I was standing on the back deck, in a chair (picture really bad cellphone commercial - Can you hear me now) when I hear very faintly... Taaaamaaarrraaa! I look out across the field and my cousin is standing on her porch. She yells - I'll see you at noon tomorrow!. We proceeded to make our arrangements the old fashioned way and then each went inside.

Sound country? It is. And I LOVE it. I love that my family expects me to just walk in and holler "Hey!" and that they do the same thing. That my uncle checks on me at least once a day to make sure I'm okay and see if I need anything. That Whiddon sees me at the barn and takes me by the hand and says, "let's go inside" because he wants to play with the vaccuum cleaner (which I still don't know why we have because we have NO CARPETING). I love that when I have a headache it is considered stupid of me to drive to town for medicine when there are at least 5 houses within 1/2 a mile that I could (and am expected to) raid the medicine cabinet when I need something.

So I promised pictures from Mexico and I never really posted any so, here is one from the day Michelle and I spent on Banderas Bay. We did some Sea Kayaking and Michelle did some Snorkeling. It was a great day - music was throw back to high school so it was a bit of a blast from the past. But a good time just the same.

Los Caballos

Michelle and I went horseback riding while we were in Mexico. There were people of all ages and a range of experience. There was a little 3 year old who had never seen a horse before. They took a towel and laid it in the front of the saddle then had the little girl sit on the towel with a trail hand. She did a great job! She wasn't afraid of the horse at all and did a stellar job of staying calm. There was so much excitement for the little one that during the two hour return trip to the hacienda, she fell asleep. On the horse. She was completely out. When the Trail Hand got back to the ranch, he dismounted and rested her on his shoulder while he used his other arm to help others off their mounts. When her mother returned to the house, he passed her off and smiled saying "No more tequila!" Which was about the only thing I heard him say all day.

Un Dia a La Playa

A day at the Beach, was well deserved. We took the day to relax and rest. I got a little too much sun on my back and legs - two places that haven't really seen the sun this summer. After much relaxation (my muscles were a tad bit sore after yesterday), we headed back to the marina for dinner. We ended up going to eat at a restaurant, that I'm pretty sure was full of scams. The guy who brought us our bill tried to sell us a time share. Michelle just grabbed the bill from him and we paid and left. The food was good though.

Hoy fue muy divertido!

Today Michelle and I went on the first of our scheduled tours. When researching the area I came across information on Canopy Tours which are basically zip lines through the top of the forest in the Sierra Madres. I was really excited about doing this, and since its exactly the kind of thing Michelle likes to do as well, I knew she'd be up for it. When we were booking our tours, the travel agent told us about the Outdoor Adventure with Vallarta Adventures (if they offer something, go on it!) Which is a canopy tour on crack!

We rushed upstairs to change and grabbed a taxi to the Pier. This is when we discovered that people here are very friendly, very helpful, and don't give you any more information than you specifically ask for. So if you don't know what you are doing, you end up talking to thirty people to before you have all the steps taken care of - okay so maybe it was only five, but come on! :-) At the Pier we boarded an inflatable motor boat and sped crossed Banderas Bay. On board we met a couple from Maryland and a family from Long Island on. We turned upstream at La Boca de Tomatlan - the mouth of the Tomatlan River - an area with beautiful houses built into the side of the cliffs overlooking the Pacific. The river was too shallow for our boat so they sent a smaller boat out to pick us up. It came along side our boat and we changed boats and rode that to shore. From here we got in the back of a jeep/truck and travelled up into the mountains (the Sierra Madres).

At the base camp we met our guides: Yalenty, Julena, Aldofo, Angel, and I can't recall the last guy's name (for that matter, I may have made all of their names up). Anyway, they fixed us up with the proper harnesses and helmets and then took us into the woods where they introduced themselves and explained the ground rules and how to's. From there we mounted mules and rode up into the mountains for 20 or 30 minutes. Once we dismounted a wrangler took the mules back down and we hiked up the rest of the mountain, pretty much straight up. The view was amazing. Overlooking the jungle and mountains and water. From here, we followed a series of zip lines down the mountain and through the jungle to a waterfall. We rappelled straight down the waterfall and took three more zip lines down the mountains.

We returned to Base Camp to change and dry off and then rode back to the river and took the boat home. We are discussing dinner now as I type this.

More later.

Una Dia Muy Interestante

HOLA! Estoy en Puerta Vallarta Mexico!

Okay so my Spanish is not so good. But I thought I would tell everyone about the last few days. We arrived on Saturday evening. My luggage got lost. We did manage to make it out of the airport fairly quickly. You have to avoid the vast hallway of timeshare sellers and other offers being yelled at you. Apparently they don't let regular taxis pick you up at the airport you have to use an airport taxi. We made it to our hotel - Mayan Palace.

Sunday, we spent the day wandering through downtown. We are here during the Mexican National Holiday - which is to say that most of the tourists here are Mexican, not a lot of Americans around which works well for practicing our Spanish. I do like the fact if we try to use Spanish they speak to us in Spanish. In some places, like Japan, the natives always speak English no matter how hard you try. Since I was short on clothes I bought a dress from a store downtown and wore it out on the street, it was cooler than my jeans. We decided to buy some music, so asked for a recommendation on where to buy music. The shop owner sent us to a Woolworths. Once inside we found the cds and there were a couple guys looking at music. We asked for a recommendation - or rather Michelle did since my spanish is better for understanding than it is for speaking. They found a couple cds for us, one is mariachi music, we think, and we aren't really sure what the other is.... of course we don't have a cd player so we'll have to wait to get home to listen. It's always fun to have regional music.

Woolworths was located on Juarez Street, so we decided to take the bus back to the hotel. The bus said Hoteles in the window, so we got on. Things seemed fin until we turned North at the WalMart. Yes, you read that correctly there are both WalMart and Sam's between our hotel and the downtown. We shouldn't have turned at the WalMart. We didn't worry too much until everyone - and I do mean EVERYONE - else had gotten off the bus. We found ourselves in the foothills of the Sierra Madres, where the people of the area live in run down, sad looking shacks. It very much reminded me of the tv shows where they show children walking through slums and talk about the sad living conditions. It was a very eye opening ride. Dogs running wild. Chickens running around a police truck (pickup) with a man face down in the bed- handcuffed. Then the driver pulled over and stopped the bus. Michelle and I looked at each other. Michelle's face showed my exact thoughts "What do we do now!?" As we discussed it, I felt confident the bus would eventually go back downtown, Michelle didn't seem so sure. Again, Michelle's Spanish being the best we had, she got the task of asking what was going on. We were told it would be 30 minutes before we returned downtown. AHHHH!!!!

As we sat on the bus, a little uncomfortable thinking about getting off the bus - it was really hot on the bus. We started laughing at ourselves. Then we noticed our audience. There were five or six men standing outside the bus staring at us. A couple of them guestured at us to get off the bus. What could we do. So we did. They pulled out plastic lawn chairs for us to sit in. Then tried to talk to us. It was clear they spoke little to no English, which is fair since we are in Mexico.

This is when we met Gustavo. It turns out Gustavo is in charge of determining if the buses are running on time. We hung out with him for 20 minutes or so. We sat and chatted with him and by chatted I mean he spoke NO english and our spanish was pretty bad (well, Michelle's is okay, mine, not so much). Finally we headed back to town, only to find out that that bus does not in fact go anywhere near our hotel. So we got out and found a taxi home.

That evening we decided to find Benitto's Cafe - a recommendation from our tour book. We found where it was located on the map, but what should have taken 15 minutes definitely took 2 hours to find and then the Plaza was closed because it was Sunday. So we decided to wander down an alley just outside the gate to the plaza. There were a few shops visible so we figured, why not?!? (I'll post pictures when I get home.) It turns out we found the Marina. We ate at a great little Mexican place, had some amazing food and returned to the hotel to crash. All in All an interesting, and educational day.

Oh, so while wandering downtown, I ate meat off a stick, and if you know me, that was way outside of my box. Not really sure what it was... fish, maybe Mahi Mahi. It was pretty good. More soon....