Sunday night and Haiti is back to the one I know and love – very hot, humid and me – very sweaty! We shared a wonderful day of worship. Patty and I were seated in the front row of church with all the little ones today and what an exhilarating service it was. We had the pleasure of the 15 oldest girls singing in Creole and English and Edvar, Marie’s son, preaching the sermon. He spoke in Creole and English for our benefit and it didn’t take long before God’s grace and mercy was flowing through the congregation. It was a very moving service for all involved. By service end, four young girls were sleeping on my lap with many more sleeping in pews and chairs around me. Then we moved out for many blessings and hugs by the congregation. All the girls were dressed in their best dresses, so camera shots were clicking. They had fun sharing a pair of my sunglasses for “some cool” pictures as well. Then it was back to Marie’s for a little lunch and an afternoon of fellowship with Marie and her son. He is a Pastor and has a ministry in Florida and St. Michelle, Haiti. What a pleasure it was to hear his testimony growing up in Haiti and Florida and decision to go to seminary. Got a chance to discuss Marie’s ministry with him as well as all the work IFJ has been doing since the quake. What an awesome opportunity to share some of the God connections that have been made. In late afternoon, Andy our translator and friend stopped by to see us to talk about a computer skills ministry that his team would like to start with Marie’s school. This is definitely something that would help all students out as they go on to higher education. Before leaving we prayed that God would give us direction on next steps for this great opportunity. The evening ended with a plate of stewed chicken legs and fresh vegetables. Dinner was capped off with frozen Snickers bars all the way around the table! As the evening ended, Patty mention we are counting down to three days left and realizing we both have much more to do! So it is to bed early for some much needed rest and we will hit it early tomorrow again. Thanks to all for your wonderful prayers and support of this ministry. Know we are bringing home with us all the love and fellowship shared from each one of the girls for all of you to see through our hearts, stories and smiles.
Renee
7.25.2010
7.23.2010
We're back...
Almost a month has passed and Renee Plaza and I are back in Haiti. We came with no agenda, no expectations. We are here to visit with Marie and love the girls. We spent our first 24 hours doing just that.
Marie's house felt pretty empty with just the two of us when we arrived. We brought frozen burgers in our suitcase and good old American cheese. So - I fried us up a cheeseburger for dinner and slapped it on to the crushed buns that traveled in my carry on. Marie was excited to have a REAL burger! We didn't sleep too well, which is often the case the first night as you get reacclimated to the night noise, confines of a mosquito net and the climate. But I MUST report we woke with NO bug bites and were pretty darn happy about that. (I am writing this about 9:ish p.m. and can no longer say the bugs aren't bitin')
We started the morning with pancakes, our instant coffee bags and and a beautiful day. The breeze is totally fab and the temperature has been in the 80's. Renee commented that it almost feels like we are on a Caribbean Island...of course we are - but not how you would necessarily picture the surroundings.
Regardless of how many times you witness and experience Haiti - the first day is always the hardest for me. All you see, hear, smell and feel comes rushing back and the feeling of hoplessness creeps its way into your thinking. Nothing seems to change and I have to remind myself that while I go home and resume my life of what they would consider luxury, theirs is the same day after day after day. A pace that would put most American's in a frenzy. When you don't have a job and there is nothing to really do - you sit. So - in addition to the activity of people selling in the street - many sit and just take in the day in any shade they find.
Renee and I haven't decided which pace - theirs or ours would or could bring us insanity.
We visited the girls at the orphanage this morning and shared many hugs as we reunited. It's quite all consuming to be greeted by about 20 girls at once - each wanting her fair time of being acknowledged and hugged. We decided to take the youngest 11 girls back to Marie's house and do puzzles and such together. Well - that took constant entertainment to keep them confined to the allotted floor space and from climbing all over the couch with their dusty feet and legs. So - after some puzzles, stickers, a little singing, dancing and a few tears from agressive "sisterly love", we corraled them and put them on the porch where they sat like little wooden Indians NOW under the watchful eye of Madam Marie Major. We gave them each a couple swallows of good ole Tang to wash down their treat of trail mix. Then off they went in a jagged line back to the orphanage. While this is my FAVORITE age to experience ONE AT A TIME - I was reminded that it was probably a good thing I didn't become a pre-school teacher.
We shared good conversation with Marie and laughs were many. She has been so busy with the construction, running here and everywhere. The roof on the orphange was suppose to be "poured" today (one bucket of cement at a time) but there was insufficient rebar to do the job. They are having trouble finding rebar to purchase - which is surprising as we surely aren't seeing much construction.
There was a wedding in the area and many in Marie's house were invited to attend. She also agreed to five of her girls to go. So, Rene was the chauffer of the pick up truck - and about 20 people were on their way - all dressed up and ready to celebrate. The girls looked beautiful and no one thought anything of getting in the back and putting down on handkerchief on the dirty spare tire on the bed of the truck to protect their clothes.
We went to Hope House for about an hour and met the team who is there. Turns out - at least five of them were from Naperville and Bolingbrook. There were a lot of "Oh my gosh-es!" going on. I also met Marnie - who is on the board of Lazarus Project and does beautiful water color paintings of the children of Haiti
This evening we brought out the projector and Marie, Renee and I watched a movie off a wall at Marie's house - The Secret Life of Bees. When it ended Marie said, "Who would have thought I would have been watching a movie on my wall in Haiti!"'
The winds have picked up and Renee is presentlly on her computer checking out Hurricane Central. Here we are commenting on the beautiful breeze, which keeps getting stronger and stronger and the site flashes Port-au-Prince right off the bat!!
Guess we may be in for some rain and heavy winds. Sounds like Chicago land folks have had some crazy weather, too. Well - I will close for now with the request for continued prayer. Several of Marie's girls are sick and need prayer and affection, too. We have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but will greet it with anticipation as there is always an experience you never expected!
"Sister" Patty
NO FAIR grading my spelling and such - there is no "spell check" and there's always that fear you will loose power and loose your entry!
Marie's house felt pretty empty with just the two of us when we arrived. We brought frozen burgers in our suitcase and good old American cheese. So - I fried us up a cheeseburger for dinner and slapped it on to the crushed buns that traveled in my carry on. Marie was excited to have a REAL burger! We didn't sleep too well, which is often the case the first night as you get reacclimated to the night noise, confines of a mosquito net and the climate. But I MUST report we woke with NO bug bites and were pretty darn happy about that. (I am writing this about 9:ish p.m. and can no longer say the bugs aren't bitin')
We started the morning with pancakes, our instant coffee bags and and a beautiful day. The breeze is totally fab and the temperature has been in the 80's. Renee commented that it almost feels like we are on a Caribbean Island...of course we are - but not how you would necessarily picture the surroundings.
Regardless of how many times you witness and experience Haiti - the first day is always the hardest for me. All you see, hear, smell and feel comes rushing back and the feeling of hoplessness creeps its way into your thinking. Nothing seems to change and I have to remind myself that while I go home and resume my life of what they would consider luxury, theirs is the same day after day after day. A pace that would put most American's in a frenzy. When you don't have a job and there is nothing to really do - you sit. So - in addition to the activity of people selling in the street - many sit and just take in the day in any shade they find.
Renee and I haven't decided which pace - theirs or ours would or could bring us insanity.
We visited the girls at the orphanage this morning and shared many hugs as we reunited. It's quite all consuming to be greeted by about 20 girls at once - each wanting her fair time of being acknowledged and hugged. We decided to take the youngest 11 girls back to Marie's house and do puzzles and such together. Well - that took constant entertainment to keep them confined to the allotted floor space and from climbing all over the couch with their dusty feet and legs. So - after some puzzles, stickers, a little singing, dancing and a few tears from agressive "sisterly love", we corraled them and put them on the porch where they sat like little wooden Indians NOW under the watchful eye of Madam Marie Major. We gave them each a couple swallows of good ole Tang to wash down their treat of trail mix. Then off they went in a jagged line back to the orphanage. While this is my FAVORITE age to experience ONE AT A TIME - I was reminded that it was probably a good thing I didn't become a pre-school teacher.
We shared good conversation with Marie and laughs were many. She has been so busy with the construction, running here and everywhere. The roof on the orphange was suppose to be "poured" today (one bucket of cement at a time) but there was insufficient rebar to do the job. They are having trouble finding rebar to purchase - which is surprising as we surely aren't seeing much construction.
There was a wedding in the area and many in Marie's house were invited to attend. She also agreed to five of her girls to go. So, Rene was the chauffer of the pick up truck - and about 20 people were on their way - all dressed up and ready to celebrate. The girls looked beautiful and no one thought anything of getting in the back and putting down on handkerchief on the dirty spare tire on the bed of the truck to protect their clothes.
We went to Hope House for about an hour and met the team who is there. Turns out - at least five of them were from Naperville and Bolingbrook. There were a lot of "Oh my gosh-es!" going on. I also met Marnie - who is on the board of Lazarus Project and does beautiful water color paintings of the children of Haiti
This evening we brought out the projector and Marie, Renee and I watched a movie off a wall at Marie's house - The Secret Life of Bees. When it ended Marie said, "Who would have thought I would have been watching a movie on my wall in Haiti!"'
The winds have picked up and Renee is presentlly on her computer checking out Hurricane Central. Here we are commenting on the beautiful breeze, which keeps getting stronger and stronger and the site flashes Port-au-Prince right off the bat!!
Guess we may be in for some rain and heavy winds. Sounds like Chicago land folks have had some crazy weather, too. Well - I will close for now with the request for continued prayer. Several of Marie's girls are sick and need prayer and affection, too. We have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but will greet it with anticipation as there is always an experience you never expected!
"Sister" Patty
NO FAIR grading my spelling and such - there is no "spell check" and there's always that fear you will loose power and loose your entry!
7.06.2010
One final hello from Haiti.
As the day is winding down I find myself wishing for more time, but all good things must come to an end. At least we ended our week spending as much possible time with the girls. Today was the day that we went to the beach with all of the girls and the other group here, which I’m thankful for because handling the girls at the beach may have been a bit overwhelming. We left for the beach at 9:00 am and it took us about an hour to get out there. That hour was spent singing worship songs and cradling some of the girls that fell asleep, which were only about three or four of them surprisingly.
Once we finally arrived at the beach, it didn’t take much time for us to strip down to our swimming attire. As opposed to Lake Michigan and any other beaches back home, the water was perfect. It was warm enough so we weren’t freezing, but cool enough so we weren’t hot, although it was really easy to get hot when you had three girls hanging on you begging to go into the deep end only so they can freak out and grab a hold of you for dear life. Since most, if not all, of the girls couldn’t swim, they mostly hung out in the shallow end or hung on to people, they loved being in the water. The entire day there wasn’t a cry or a complaint to be heard. We had a short break for lunch which was spent scarfing down food as fast as we could so we could get back in the water. Who would have thought that bread and crunchy peanut butter would taste so good on a warm summer day at the beach? Between tossing around beach balls, footballs, and soccer balls and trying to teach some of the girls how to swim, everybody pretty much wore themselves out. Now the way back was spent sleeping and taking embarrassing pictures of people sleeping. It was easy to see the exhaustion on everyone’s faces.
When we got back a few of us walked the girls back to the orphanage and told them we’d see them later. Unfortunately it rained for the third night in a row, not that I’m complaining about the rain whatsoever, and we weren’t able to make it back to the orphanage. It’s our last night in Haiti and I can’t help but think about how hard tomorrow is going to be. It’s amazing what a single week can mean to a little girl, and how it can completely change one’s perspective on life. It will be hard going back to normal life, with the running water, air conditioning, and lack of mosquitoes…ok maybe that will be easy to jump back into, but not being two blocks away from the orphanage won’t. I think the hardest part is that we can’t just walk over there any time we want to play with them or just sit and watch a movie. I’ll miss walking into the orphanage and seeing their smiling faces, feeling a hand ease its way in to mine, and letting the older girls take over our cameras. I know that everyone’s been changed by this experience, and I pray that we’re all able to come back to Haiti in the future. It’s been an awesome week full of adventures, and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t change a thing.
Thank you all for keeping up with the blogs and keeping us in your prayers. We’re glad to have been able to share this amazing experience with you.
Shannon
Once we finally arrived at the beach, it didn’t take much time for us to strip down to our swimming attire. As opposed to Lake Michigan and any other beaches back home, the water was perfect. It was warm enough so we weren’t freezing, but cool enough so we weren’t hot, although it was really easy to get hot when you had three girls hanging on you begging to go into the deep end only so they can freak out and grab a hold of you for dear life. Since most, if not all, of the girls couldn’t swim, they mostly hung out in the shallow end or hung on to people, they loved being in the water. The entire day there wasn’t a cry or a complaint to be heard. We had a short break for lunch which was spent scarfing down food as fast as we could so we could get back in the water. Who would have thought that bread and crunchy peanut butter would taste so good on a warm summer day at the beach? Between tossing around beach balls, footballs, and soccer balls and trying to teach some of the girls how to swim, everybody pretty much wore themselves out. Now the way back was spent sleeping and taking embarrassing pictures of people sleeping. It was easy to see the exhaustion on everyone’s faces.
When we got back a few of us walked the girls back to the orphanage and told them we’d see them later. Unfortunately it rained for the third night in a row, not that I’m complaining about the rain whatsoever, and we weren’t able to make it back to the orphanage. It’s our last night in Haiti and I can’t help but think about how hard tomorrow is going to be. It’s amazing what a single week can mean to a little girl, and how it can completely change one’s perspective on life. It will be hard going back to normal life, with the running water, air conditioning, and lack of mosquitoes…ok maybe that will be easy to jump back into, but not being two blocks away from the orphanage won’t. I think the hardest part is that we can’t just walk over there any time we want to play with them or just sit and watch a movie. I’ll miss walking into the orphanage and seeing their smiling faces, feeling a hand ease its way in to mine, and letting the older girls take over our cameras. I know that everyone’s been changed by this experience, and I pray that we’re all able to come back to Haiti in the future. It’s been an awesome week full of adventures, and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t change a thing.
Thank you all for keeping up with the blogs and keeping us in your prayers. We’re glad to have been able to share this amazing experience with you.
Shannon
7.05.2010
July 5, 2010
Hello from Haiti
Monday morning started early for us today. We were headed out for Grace Hospital by 7am. To be honest that wasn’t really a big deal for us since we are all up by 5:30 anyways. I keep trying to tell my mom that we need to get a rooster at home in order for me to wake up on time. So far she hasn’t gone for the idea.
Grace hospital was a sobering experience. It was also slightly scary walking around a building that was crumbling from the earthquake, a minor fear to what they live through every day. I don’t come from a medical background like Rosie, Toni, Mae and Sharon do, but I’ve been in a hospital as a patient enough to recognize how extremely blessed we are to have the health care system we have, regardless of your stance on health care reform. Old baby food jars were used to collect samples for TB tests, none of their information was computerized and their labs would not pass codes in any way. But it is beyond incredible the amount of work that they accomplish each and every day. In the eye clinic alone they see 60-80 patients a day and 3-5 surgeries a day, 3 days a week. They also have 6 orphans that live there because of being abandoned by their parents. They also have an HIV clinic as well as staff that go out into the community to educate others on disease prevention and control. What I also noticed was that all this work is done with a smile of pride and joy for their work. I am proud to have the Methodists support such an amazing organization but also see that their need is great.
After the hospital we ate at Epi D’or where we got to have ‘American’ food. I was very grateful to drink a Snapple. From there we had a very sweltering journey to Port A Prince. We stopped and got out of the truck to see the palace. Despite the fact that Maria and I beat Sharon and Shannon repeatedly in Euchre, Sharon still refused to give me and Maria over to a man that wanted us. Thank you, Sharon we greatly appreciate it. After the palace I headed inside the cab and promptly fell asleep due to low blood pressure. I am sorry I cannot personally report on the rest of the trip, I am told that the sights were depressing and numbing, seeing the wreckage and the indescribable living conditions. Despite all of this the people walk the streets with an easy smile on their faces. How much we can learn from them. I am continually humbled by their strength of spirit.
After returning home we lifted our spirits, after lifting my blood pressure, as well as the girls’ spirits by watching Finding Nemo. It was a great way to spend time with the girls and unwind after a draining day. I was asked how I liked Haiti, I responded with I didn’t want to come home. When asked why I responded with because of the little girl in my arms. They have become so much a part of our hearts I can’t believe we have to say goodbye soon. I’m not ready for it and I know the others are not as well. Don’t get me wrong we miss our friends and family and safe drinking water, but Haiti has wound it’s way around our hearts and into our lives forever. I thank God for this opportunity to come and experience His love through the amazing people Haiti. Another group from Kentucky arrived this evening so now our rooms are a little on the full side, but more friends more fun right?
I sign off as the rain falls and the thunder rolls.
Hannah
Monday morning started early for us today. We were headed out for Grace Hospital by 7am. To be honest that wasn’t really a big deal for us since we are all up by 5:30 anyways. I keep trying to tell my mom that we need to get a rooster at home in order for me to wake up on time. So far she hasn’t gone for the idea.
Grace hospital was a sobering experience. It was also slightly scary walking around a building that was crumbling from the earthquake, a minor fear to what they live through every day. I don’t come from a medical background like Rosie, Toni, Mae and Sharon do, but I’ve been in a hospital as a patient enough to recognize how extremely blessed we are to have the health care system we have, regardless of your stance on health care reform. Old baby food jars were used to collect samples for TB tests, none of their information was computerized and their labs would not pass codes in any way. But it is beyond incredible the amount of work that they accomplish each and every day. In the eye clinic alone they see 60-80 patients a day and 3-5 surgeries a day, 3 days a week. They also have 6 orphans that live there because of being abandoned by their parents. They also have an HIV clinic as well as staff that go out into the community to educate others on disease prevention and control. What I also noticed was that all this work is done with a smile of pride and joy for their work. I am proud to have the Methodists support such an amazing organization but also see that their need is great.
After the hospital we ate at Epi D’or where we got to have ‘American’ food. I was very grateful to drink a Snapple. From there we had a very sweltering journey to Port A Prince. We stopped and got out of the truck to see the palace. Despite the fact that Maria and I beat Sharon and Shannon repeatedly in Euchre, Sharon still refused to give me and Maria over to a man that wanted us. Thank you, Sharon we greatly appreciate it. After the palace I headed inside the cab and promptly fell asleep due to low blood pressure. I am sorry I cannot personally report on the rest of the trip, I am told that the sights were depressing and numbing, seeing the wreckage and the indescribable living conditions. Despite all of this the people walk the streets with an easy smile on their faces. How much we can learn from them. I am continually humbled by their strength of spirit.
After returning home we lifted our spirits, after lifting my blood pressure, as well as the girls’ spirits by watching Finding Nemo. It was a great way to spend time with the girls and unwind after a draining day. I was asked how I liked Haiti, I responded with I didn’t want to come home. When asked why I responded with because of the little girl in my arms. They have become so much a part of our hearts I can’t believe we have to say goodbye soon. I’m not ready for it and I know the others are not as well. Don’t get me wrong we miss our friends and family and safe drinking water, but Haiti has wound it’s way around our hearts and into our lives forever. I thank God for this opportunity to come and experience His love through the amazing people Haiti. Another group from Kentucky arrived this evening so now our rooms are a little on the full side, but more friends more fun right?
I sign off as the rain falls and the thunder rolls.
Hannah
7.04.2010
Happy 4th of July!!!
Bonswa from Haiti! Today was another beautiful day of worship and hanging out with the girls. Many of us started off the day at 5:00 am (a new experience for some) and went to church at 9:00. We joined the girls in their Sunday School class where we were immediately surrounded and had them fighting over our limited lap space. After listening to them repeat words back to their teacher, they all went up front and sang a couple of songs for us. It was incredible! Those little girls were louder than our whole congregation at home… and they sang beautifully. I kept thinking of Mom (Bonnie) and how much she would give to have a children’s choir like this! After the two group songs a few of them went up alone to do solos (which seems to be common to their church services – they did it later in the day at the Youth (young adult) Service we went to at 3:00). Then there was a time of more group singing and a lesson. Rod closed the time in prayer.
Around 10:00 we joined the adults in the regular service where Marie interrupted the service to introduce us to them. We each had to introduce ourselves while Andy interpreted for us. The sermon was very exciting and passionate… even if we couldn’t understand it. It was about Jesus’ second coming. Every once in a while Andy would squeeze in a few words of interpretation for us.
After church we went home for a lunch of crackers and summer sausage, tuna and pistachios. We hung out for a while with Andy and his friends Stevenson and Johnson who help with the English Youth Service at 3:00. At the service, we once again had to introduce ourselves to everyone, and Sharon and Mae and I led the singing, I prayed, and Angela read Psalm 150. After church we got to play with the girls again and also presented the completed painting they worked on a couple days ago.
When we got back to Marie’s, Shannon, Hannah, Angela, Maria and I taught Andy, Stevenson and Johnson how to play UNO. It was a fun time… and Angela and I have mastered a few more Creole phrases: “Se tou paou” = “It’s your turn” and “Se tou mwen” = “It’s my turn”. We also learned some numbers and colors. The Haitians are much better at picking up English than we are at picking up Creole… we blame the American education system :P For dinner, Ethan and Toni made tortellini and garlic bread. Andy, Stevenson and Johnson joined us for dinner after some persuading by us.
This whole trip has been amazing as far as experiencing unity as brothers and sisters in Christ. Praying and worshipping together with our Haitian brothers and sisters has proven that the message of the Gospel of Jesus transcends races, nations, cultures, and languages. It is extremely humbling to hear them pray for us, speaking of how we have given up and left behind everything we have to come here… when in reality it is nothing for us to come here. We will quickly return to all of the comforts and excesses of home and life in America. They will remain here, where even in the midst of unbelievable poverty and tragedy, they are still full of joy and love for their Savior. We can learn so much from them… more than they will ever learn from us. I think each one of us will be sad to leave… it is easy to fall in love with Haiti. Especially those precious little girls. It’s hard to believe we will have to go in just two days! It’s amazing how fast the week has gone by when the days seem to float lazily by. Thank you all so much for your prayers… please continue to pray for our team, that we will be aware of and obedient to God’s will for us in the next two days, and that the love of Christ will guide all of our interactions.
Tomorrow we go for our tour of Port au Prince and the Hospital. For now, it’s time to wind down and get ready for bed at this late hour of 8:30 pm :)
Orevwa!
Love,
Joanna and the Team
Around 10:00 we joined the adults in the regular service where Marie interrupted the service to introduce us to them. We each had to introduce ourselves while Andy interpreted for us. The sermon was very exciting and passionate… even if we couldn’t understand it. It was about Jesus’ second coming. Every once in a while Andy would squeeze in a few words of interpretation for us.
After church we went home for a lunch of crackers and summer sausage, tuna and pistachios. We hung out for a while with Andy and his friends Stevenson and Johnson who help with the English Youth Service at 3:00. At the service, we once again had to introduce ourselves to everyone, and Sharon and Mae and I led the singing, I prayed, and Angela read Psalm 150. After church we got to play with the girls again and also presented the completed painting they worked on a couple days ago.
When we got back to Marie’s, Shannon, Hannah, Angela, Maria and I taught Andy, Stevenson and Johnson how to play UNO. It was a fun time… and Angela and I have mastered a few more Creole phrases: “Se tou paou” = “It’s your turn” and “Se tou mwen” = “It’s my turn”. We also learned some numbers and colors. The Haitians are much better at picking up English than we are at picking up Creole… we blame the American education system :P For dinner, Ethan and Toni made tortellini and garlic bread. Andy, Stevenson and Johnson joined us for dinner after some persuading by us.
This whole trip has been amazing as far as experiencing unity as brothers and sisters in Christ. Praying and worshipping together with our Haitian brothers and sisters has proven that the message of the Gospel of Jesus transcends races, nations, cultures, and languages. It is extremely humbling to hear them pray for us, speaking of how we have given up and left behind everything we have to come here… when in reality it is nothing for us to come here. We will quickly return to all of the comforts and excesses of home and life in America. They will remain here, where even in the midst of unbelievable poverty and tragedy, they are still full of joy and love for their Savior. We can learn so much from them… more than they will ever learn from us. I think each one of us will be sad to leave… it is easy to fall in love with Haiti. Especially those precious little girls. It’s hard to believe we will have to go in just two days! It’s amazing how fast the week has gone by when the days seem to float lazily by. Thank you all so much for your prayers… please continue to pray for our team, that we will be aware of and obedient to God’s will for us in the next two days, and that the love of Christ will guide all of our interactions.
Tomorrow we go for our tour of Port au Prince and the Hospital. For now, it’s time to wind down and get ready for bed at this late hour of 8:30 pm :)
Orevwa!
Love,
Joanna and the Team
7.03.2010
Haiti Saturday July 3
7-03-10 blog
We started the day preparing to go to the Wislet orphanage. It is about 5 miles away which in PAP can take an hour or more some days. We got on the road around 9:30 and actually got there by 10. Our purpose was several fold. First since Ethan and I were the only team members to have seen the other orphanage or meet Pastor Wislet it was an opportunity to see another example of God using his faithful people to do his work. Pastor Wislet doesn’t speak any English so we used two interpreters which made the visit incredible. Andronic speaks French, Creole, Spanish and English. Maria (Hannah’s friend) speaks Spanish and English. The meeting went very well and Pastor Wislet shared his story and his faith for over an hour. It was amazing. We finished our meeting by praying over Pastor Wislet and his wife. We then delivered 10 bags of assorted supplies from the Impact for Jesus people and gave three of the children gifts from their sponsors. One of the most moving times came when Joanna gave a book of photos prepared by the Faith Church youth group to Stecy their sponsored child. Joanna showed her the pictures one by one telling her each of their names. Stecy just kept looking at each picture and really seemed interested in the pictures of the youth group sledding. Before we could leave one of the girls sat Maria down and braided her hair. In about 30 minutes Maria had a head full of rolls of braids.
The trip back took much longer. We got out of there about 12:45 but didn’t get back to Marie’s until 2. I believe that the temp was 99 when we got back which shot the rest of the afternoon for us. We needed to drink lots of water and stay inside for a few hours. We have gone through over 20 gallons of water since noon yesterday but no one has had any problems with the heat. It was good to take the trips these last two days. I got to see firsthand the rebuilding that is going on. We haven’t been in the worst area yet, that is coming on Monday, but there is obvious rebuilding going on. I was here in the end of March this year and in the areas we have been in many of the damaged buildings have been rebuilt or repaired.
Once the sun went down a little we went over to Grace House of Hope and spent about an hour singing with the girls. Sharon has brought a guitar and several of the girls just love to sing praise and worship songs with us. They know several songs in English but it is so sweet when they sing the same songs in French. After getting back Jenna our cook made a great stew out of potatoes carrots plantain and goat. Everyone seems to enjoy the goat. Maybe it is the hunger and the humility of realizing how well we are being treated just to have any meat at all.
It gets dark here about 6pm and is now about 8:30 so we will all be headed to bed soon. I know this seems early but the roosters will start working at waking us about 3am and we will be going to the church service at the orphanage at 9am. Several of us will be joining the younger group for a service at 3pm. Sharon and Joanna will be leading us in a few songs and based on how some of the orphans sing should be wonderful.
Good night and keep praying for our trip. It is Sat. night and I am sure we will soon be hearing the Voo Doo drums.
Rod and the team
We started the day preparing to go to the Wislet orphanage. It is about 5 miles away which in PAP can take an hour or more some days. We got on the road around 9:30 and actually got there by 10. Our purpose was several fold. First since Ethan and I were the only team members to have seen the other orphanage or meet Pastor Wislet it was an opportunity to see another example of God using his faithful people to do his work. Pastor Wislet doesn’t speak any English so we used two interpreters which made the visit incredible. Andronic speaks French, Creole, Spanish and English. Maria (Hannah’s friend) speaks Spanish and English. The meeting went very well and Pastor Wislet shared his story and his faith for over an hour. It was amazing. We finished our meeting by praying over Pastor Wislet and his wife. We then delivered 10 bags of assorted supplies from the Impact for Jesus people and gave three of the children gifts from their sponsors. One of the most moving times came when Joanna gave a book of photos prepared by the Faith Church youth group to Stecy their sponsored child. Joanna showed her the pictures one by one telling her each of their names. Stecy just kept looking at each picture and really seemed interested in the pictures of the youth group sledding. Before we could leave one of the girls sat Maria down and braided her hair. In about 30 minutes Maria had a head full of rolls of braids.
The trip back took much longer. We got out of there about 12:45 but didn’t get back to Marie’s until 2. I believe that the temp was 99 when we got back which shot the rest of the afternoon for us. We needed to drink lots of water and stay inside for a few hours. We have gone through over 20 gallons of water since noon yesterday but no one has had any problems with the heat. It was good to take the trips these last two days. I got to see firsthand the rebuilding that is going on. We haven’t been in the worst area yet, that is coming on Monday, but there is obvious rebuilding going on. I was here in the end of March this year and in the areas we have been in many of the damaged buildings have been rebuilt or repaired.
Once the sun went down a little we went over to Grace House of Hope and spent about an hour singing with the girls. Sharon has brought a guitar and several of the girls just love to sing praise and worship songs with us. They know several songs in English but it is so sweet when they sing the same songs in French. After getting back Jenna our cook made a great stew out of potatoes carrots plantain and goat. Everyone seems to enjoy the goat. Maybe it is the hunger and the humility of realizing how well we are being treated just to have any meat at all.
It gets dark here about 6pm and is now about 8:30 so we will all be headed to bed soon. I know this seems early but the roosters will start working at waking us about 3am and we will be going to the church service at the orphanage at 9am. Several of us will be joining the younger group for a service at 3pm. Sharon and Joanna will be leading us in a few songs and based on how some of the orphans sing should be wonderful.
Good night and keep praying for our trip. It is Sat. night and I am sure we will soon be hearing the Voo Doo drums.
Rod and the team
7.02.2010
Haiti on Friday July 2, 2010
Friday 7-2-2010
Another “warm” day with temp near 100 and a couple of hours spent with mid day sun frying the tops of toes, nose and ears as the 11 of us travel to and from our destinations in the back of a pickup truck. The sun is north of us overhead- too strange, and I’ve lost any sense of direction since arriving. We listened to much shouting as the soccer was broadcast, little pockets of fans huddled around someone’s TV or cell phone amongst the street vendors. Unfortunately, many were Brazil fans and were a bit disappointed. And now, since the game is done, our turn for getting electricity today was only 15 minutes instead of a full 6 hours like yesterday, when people were treated to a little more power in honor of the games. Battery backup is still OK so far, so we may keep the fans working so we can sleep tonight.
Took a trip to the metal works to haggle with vendors for some beautiful artwork. All are pounded out of 50 gallon drums, but you would never know it from how the pieces end up looking. As Marie reminds us, Haitians re-use absolutely everything, and for good reason, when there is so little to start with.
We also spent the afternoon with the girls at the orphanage. Yesterday we painted a 30 ft parachute with them (some budding artists there too) and today we unfolded the parachute and tried to show them how to grab the edges and billow it up and down and throw bean bags up in the air with it, “tried” being the operative word. Immediately the girls were screaming with laughter and running underneath it and hiding and pulling it down and rolling around under it on the rough concrete floor. Competition must be universal with children, because when the 8 beanbags went onto the center of the parachute, all 30 kids jumped into the middle, diving onto the parachute with concrete below to get them. No casualties from the repeated skirmishes, but those of us “adults” still trying to hold onto the edges were dying of laughter. When some of the little ones slowed down enough to do a fake nap rolled up in the fabric, a couple of us pretended to join them and promptly got barrettes removed and hair braided. The little ones were bit confused by straight blond hair that didn’t stay too well in little braids, but one of the older girls, Roseland, took pity on me and redid them for some of us. By that time I was also covered with fingerpaint handprints all over my arms and neck, left by the girls as they ran by to wash the paint off their hands at the pump, paint from Hannah’s great poster-art project. We now have a poster of the flags of both of our countries painted in a joint project by the kids back in Elmhurst and the girls here. They have an identical one that they will keep too. We also exchanged a video hello between the 2 groups. A beautiful exchange between the girls and our kids back home.
But the highlight of the afternoon was capturing a video of the 4 and 5 year olds teaching our "_ _-something" Rosie to dance the pika-pika as Sharon and I sang “I Will Call Upon the Lord” and “Jesus Loves Me”. And she was doing pretty well too! God’s universe is filled with such odd and amazing expressions of love and joy.
Mae and the team.
Another “warm” day with temp near 100 and a couple of hours spent with mid day sun frying the tops of toes, nose and ears as the 11 of us travel to and from our destinations in the back of a pickup truck. The sun is north of us overhead- too strange, and I’ve lost any sense of direction since arriving. We listened to much shouting as the soccer was broadcast, little pockets of fans huddled around someone’s TV or cell phone amongst the street vendors. Unfortunately, many were Brazil fans and were a bit disappointed. And now, since the game is done, our turn for getting electricity today was only 15 minutes instead of a full 6 hours like yesterday, when people were treated to a little more power in honor of the games. Battery backup is still OK so far, so we may keep the fans working so we can sleep tonight.
Took a trip to the metal works to haggle with vendors for some beautiful artwork. All are pounded out of 50 gallon drums, but you would never know it from how the pieces end up looking. As Marie reminds us, Haitians re-use absolutely everything, and for good reason, when there is so little to start with.
We also spent the afternoon with the girls at the orphanage. Yesterday we painted a 30 ft parachute with them (some budding artists there too) and today we unfolded the parachute and tried to show them how to grab the edges and billow it up and down and throw bean bags up in the air with it, “tried” being the operative word. Immediately the girls were screaming with laughter and running underneath it and hiding and pulling it down and rolling around under it on the rough concrete floor. Competition must be universal with children, because when the 8 beanbags went onto the center of the parachute, all 30 kids jumped into the middle, diving onto the parachute with concrete below to get them. No casualties from the repeated skirmishes, but those of us “adults” still trying to hold onto the edges were dying of laughter. When some of the little ones slowed down enough to do a fake nap rolled up in the fabric, a couple of us pretended to join them and promptly got barrettes removed and hair braided. The little ones were bit confused by straight blond hair that didn’t stay too well in little braids, but one of the older girls, Roseland, took pity on me and redid them for some of us. By that time I was also covered with fingerpaint handprints all over my arms and neck, left by the girls as they ran by to wash the paint off their hands at the pump, paint from Hannah’s great poster-art project. We now have a poster of the flags of both of our countries painted in a joint project by the kids back in Elmhurst and the girls here. They have an identical one that they will keep too. We also exchanged a video hello between the 2 groups. A beautiful exchange between the girls and our kids back home.
But the highlight of the afternoon was capturing a video of the 4 and 5 year olds teaching our "_ _-something" Rosie to dance the pika-pika as Sharon and I sang “I Will Call Upon the Lord” and “Jesus Loves Me”. And she was doing pretty well too! God’s universe is filled with such odd and amazing expressions of love and joy.
Mae and the team.
7.01.2010
Second Day in Haiti
Some of us who took Benadryl and two guys who claim mosquitoes seem to leave them alone slept pretty well last night. The rest are planning on catching up tonight.
We` started the day with unpacking and rearranging stuff to distribute, while Hannah, Maria, Angela and Mae were gearing up for the kids’ activities. Andy, our interpreter came and very easily got warmed up to our company. He was so delighted to open his American presents from Karen. What a treat!
Seeing the girls and couple of boys at school before and after school highlighted our day. Toni definitely won the “MVP” award for sewing quite a few dresses for the kids and women who work there. How wonderful to see their faces beam with gratitude!
While we were visiting with the little girls, the construction the orphanage is making progress.
The day was hot and breezy. We’re thankful that the World Cup is not going to end until the 10th of July; so far, we have been blessed with “city power” all day, afternoons and evenings. Fans are going and drinking water is cold. How we take things for granted in America!
Dinner- Gina prepared pressure-cooked beef (not goat), vegetables, and black rice and beans.
Our team seems to be hitting it off; we should be thinking of a team name. Marie spent some time talking to us. Fascinating stories… we encouraged her to really write a book about her life experiences and stories about each child that has stayed in grace House of Hope. We even thought of one Christian journalist who could do a good job write her story beautifully.
Sharon, Rod and Mae have been asking me if I was done with my blog. I have trouble typing without a mouse.
God is really good!
Rosie and the Team
We` started the day with unpacking and rearranging stuff to distribute, while Hannah, Maria, Angela and Mae were gearing up for the kids’ activities. Andy, our interpreter came and very easily got warmed up to our company. He was so delighted to open his American presents from Karen. What a treat!
Seeing the girls and couple of boys at school before and after school highlighted our day. Toni definitely won the “MVP” award for sewing quite a few dresses for the kids and women who work there. How wonderful to see their faces beam with gratitude!
While we were visiting with the little girls, the construction the orphanage is making progress.
The day was hot and breezy. We’re thankful that the World Cup is not going to end until the 10th of July; so far, we have been blessed with “city power” all day, afternoons and evenings. Fans are going and drinking water is cold. How we take things for granted in America!
Dinner- Gina prepared pressure-cooked beef (not goat), vegetables, and black rice and beans.
Our team seems to be hitting it off; we should be thinking of a team name. Marie spent some time talking to us. Fascinating stories… we encouraged her to really write a book about her life experiences and stories about each child that has stayed in grace House of Hope. We even thought of one Christian journalist who could do a good job write her story beautifully.
Sharon, Rod and Mae have been asking me if I was done with my blog. I have trouble typing without a mouse.
God is really good!
Rosie and the Team
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