FWPIATWC

We developed a sort of Missionary/Expat shorthand for some of the difficulties  and challenges we just learned to live with, "That's so Haiti" or "TIH" = "This Is Haiti". This shorthand could be used for anything from bureaucratic exasperation to cultural frustration. It covered a wide range of ridiculously crazy and frustrating situations. 

It's so funny to be back to the first world and have a whole new appreciation for some of the challenges that I learned to overcome when compared to the constant litany of 1st world complaints I hear around me. 

I saw this today and almost peed my pants:

And So it Goes...

So, this is the end of my story...I must apologize for such vagueness and lapses in time and posts. 

This year turned into a lot of things that I had not intended it to.

There were a lot of stories that were not told.

I would be more than happy to sit with anyone and relate the tales of a year gone by over a meal, or drinks, or both. 

But for now, I will just say to those who kept coming back to check on the progress, I am deeply sorry to have left you uninformed.

I promise that when I return to adventures such as these, it will be on my own terms and with my voice so clearly heard at every turn.

Thank you for your endless support and for cheering me on and sending me encouragement when I needed it most. 

Thank you doubly for all the times you lifted me in prayer.

Always know that you were the difference between me seeing this through and throwing in the towel. 

I couldn't have done it without you!

I will be home soon and I look forward to passing on my tales when I see you.

Love,
Michele

A little redundant

Up until tonight I was feeling very bittersweet about leaving. And then suddenly...

I now understand why the Brits call getting sacked being made redundant. 

I totally get that now. 

I have never felt more obsoleted in my life. 

It was like the family meeting where you invite crazy aunt Ethel, even though you a) expect her to not contribute and 2) don't consider any crazy dang thing she says even if she does.

I'm not going to lie.

It hurt a little bit.

I think there's nothing I like less in this life than to be completely invalidated without even a kiss on the cheek. I think that sums up most of my year here. 

I will say a few prayers to get my ego in check and hopefully get a good night's sleep and be too busy with hurricane clean up to think about it any more. 

Happy Anniversary

Well, my year in Haiti is near completion. I've been here over a year and the end is in site. 

It's a bittersweet end. 

I have learned so many things about myself this past year. 

I've learned many things about my life and my path. 

About my strengths and my weaknesses. 

But mostly I'm thankful for the growth. And boy has there been. 

I've learned that I am capable of a good many things, but that I am not a wonder woman. 

I've learned that I have limitations...boy, do I have limitations.

I've met many people. Some I will be glad to say good bye to, but many that I will grieve as if I've lost them for good. 

Hopefully my departure will be met with some grief from those I leave also. 

I'm vain, afterall, and I would be lying if I didn't say that I hope I've made an impact. 

I hope I will be returning sooner than later. I am leaving a good portion of my heart here, and I will feel incomplete without it. 

What a difficult thing to comprehend, the purposeful ending of what was to be my finest moments, yet were some of the hardest times in my life. 

Pray for me. I am trying to find my direction in all this change. 

Sweet Kisses in the Moonlight

So last night I sat in on devotions to give Samanza her birthday present. She was my first birthday girl when I got here over a year ago, and now she is my last birthday gift as I pass the torch to Anachemy and Patty and Jeff. 

So shortly after we finished up and gave the nightly dismissal, "Good night boys and girls, hugs and kisses" the city power went out. What happened next was sweet, surprising, and just what I needed. 

For months now the boys have been very reluctant to show me any signs of affection, especially in front of the older kids. I suspect they have been harasses about it. Unfair, I know, but I catch glimpses of their adoration now and then, so I don't take it personally. 

But the moment the lights went out, I was tackled by an onslaught of excited boys, all of whom covered me in hugs and kisses in the darkness. I laughed and laughed with delight and reveled in my sweet, secret love signs. 

And then the lights went on, and off they went! lol 

Sometimes He knows just what you need and sends it via the most unexpected messengers.

Thank you Lord for providing for all of my needs, even when I don't realize it at the time. 

Ishka Bishka Bibbity Bobbity Boo

Ishka falls asleep during devotions in the gazebo - photo by Dandy Romain

Ishka, or Nikenson, or Markenson, depending on who you ask, is our sweet little, almost 5 yo (this month) High functioning Autistic. We don't have a formal diagnosis, but ten again, that's a first world thing...here, we just make do with his quirks and attempt to help him pass his days in as gentle a way as possible. 

He's always smiling, until he's not! Usually the smile cessation involves either someone taking a favorite toy, or cutting in line, or getting too much of my attention. But he's usually pretty easy to console, provided you give him a good hugging and some individual attention. 

He's a pretty happy kid for the most part. He has an almost unwavering love for me. And on those occasions when he thinks I have perpetrated some offense, I can usually cajole him back into my arms with a little tickling and some farty kisses. 

Last week he finally couldn't get into his tennies another day. He is growing by leaps and bounds and has suddenly sprouted a few extra inches in height and possibly foot length! SO I got him a "new" pair of shoes from the depot (thank you again Rebecca Strobel and http://www.cityofnewbaltimore.org/recreation.asp ) and brought them out to him. I got him in the new shoes and tied up and off he headed for PE. 

As soon as they were done, he came back to the gazebo to change into his sandals and told me I was not nice and he didn't love me any more. I asked whatever did I do and he said his new shoes hurt his feet. Well, I walked right over and inserted my fingers every which way to see if there was something sticking in his foot, or some bump or knot in the material that was making him uncomfortable. I checked his little feet for marks of an impression and couldn't even see a red spot or anything. I asked him if he was sure they were hurting him and he insisted they were. 

I figured we'd let a week go by and see what happens. Maybe he would forget they hurt his feet. Stranger things have happened!

So, fast forward to yesterday, PE day, and sure enough, as I put his shoes on them he began to tell me that they hurt his feet. So I asked him a few preschool teacher questions designed to get to the bottom of this situation. What I surmise is that the soles of these shoes are very heavy to him. Much more so than say, his cheap dollar store sandals. So I explained to him that these were special super hero training shoes, meant to make him grow big muscles in his legs so that he can run faster than a speeding bullet. I asked him to show me how fast he can run in these super hero trainers. He ran to the outside wall and back and said, "wow, Miss Michele, they are good!"

Crisis averted. Love restored. All in a days work for a preschool teacher! 

Ishka's 4th birthday, 30 August, 2011

Disapointment

I've never been one of those people that can hide my emotions. I wear my heart on my sleeve, I wear my disappointment on my face and in the slump of my shoulders, and if I'm angry, well, look out! I've got dagger eyes for sure!


I know this is not ideal. I know that this is something that by my age, you'd expect me to have learned a thing or two about at least disguising my feelings for the sake of argument, but I have not. 


And I don't think living in Haiti is going to benefit me any in developing that ability. 


I feel like I could live in Haiti for another 100 years and I won't get any better at it. 


And yes, I know that disappointments are all about perspective, and that I am in control of how I react to issues in my life. I've read all the books, taken all the workshops, I even do yoga and meditation/prayer every day to keep my balance. 


Yet, here I am, long in the face yet again. 


I keep setting myself up for failure because I keep counting on others. I should know better, right? 


The Psalmist reminds us not to put our faith in princes, or man, for there is no salvation there. 


But isn't part of growing in the community about putting some trust in your fellow man? 


Maybe I am reading things out of context because a. I am not so awesome that I can do everything and 2. occasionally I am not capable of doing everything for myself and I MUST ask others to help. 


So, God please grant me the patience to see the lessons these occasions offer, instead of the disappointments. And please help me to disguise my disappointment when I fail at seeing the lessons offered. Amen

How poor is poor?

Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting one of the settlements north of Port au Prince. Some friends of ours have a little chunk of property out there and they had 5 houses built for some of the earthquake survivors they knew. I really thought I'd seen the worst of it. Then I went there.


The drive out to the settlement takes us through several other small villages that I've seen on the 2 trips I've made up the coast. Then we take an abrupt right and head out to the plains, just before the mountains to the north. This is seriously land that good men have forsaken.


To begin with, Haiti has long been victim of massive deforestation and over farming, leaving the land blanched and dried, and desert-like. Next, there's really no moving water to help take away some of the waste, so the entire area is much like the back end of a flea bitten dog, and just about as loved.


There are tracts of houses built by odd NGOs here and there. Some structures are extremely temporary, not meant to be lived in for more than a few months. Yet here are families, 2 1/2 years after the earthquake, still living in these tents and stick and tarp homes. There are wooden structures, which are not very practical for Haiti's climate, meant to last about 3 years, so, let's say they are on their last 1/2 year of life expectancy. There are some tin shanties, and occasionally a brick and mortar structure, usually unfinished. 


Apparently, the government is intending to survey the land, and plan out the roads and turn this into a permanent community. They even have their own police station. But even if they put up street signs and create a mapped community, this will still be little more than a tent city, with a few schools and many churches and very little infrastructure.


There are wells with pumps spread sporadically throughout the area. The water must be riddled with parasites. Every so often we would pass a clean water vendor. I wonder if they really are selling clean water. The roads are nearly impassable, resembling more of a baja bmx bike course than a village or subdivision. I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be to go in and around there during the rainy season. 


Most people have no access to waste facilities, and simple do their business in a bucket, the contents of which is then strewn about their yard. 


We met one woman who has a 3 year old son, born by emergency c-section that took too long, who now suffers from severe CP. He just lies on a tarp on the floor of her one room house, naked from the waste down, covered about the head with flies. He cried nearly the whole time we were there. The woman's daughter had just passed away a few days before, they suspect either from AIDS or TB. Her brother lives with her, he's deaf. Also, she is taking care of her grandmother, who looked like a stick figure in a dress, sitting on the floor of their home, tracing circles in the dust around her feet. 


There were a lot of young ladies around, many had small children, some where pregnant with more souls to be sentenced to this hard life in Haiti. 

We met some young men that had created a few "art" pieces by carving either stones or large chunks of ceramic. A few of them looked like birds and one of them I think we voted it was an addidas soccer shoe. Funny. They tried to hawk their wares, and one of the ladies visiting from Indiana decided she would make a mercy purchase. 


"Konbyen sa?" How much for this?


"Fifty dollars" 


Wow! The laughter that ensued. 


We finally settled on a price of 50 Gourdes (fifty goods) or about $1.25 USD. 


We had gone out to meet the biological mother of the daughters of the woman from Indiana. Unfortunately, because none of the ladies out in this desolate place have cell phones, she wasn't around while we were there. 


Back in the trucks we went. Humbled and perspectives sharpened. 


It's hard living in Haiti. Harder still to think of the millions of dollars that have flowed in since the earthquake and how little actually got spend on programs or processes to help the people of Haiti to create a more sustainable life. 


Such waste in teaching these people that God wants them to propagate at such alarming rates. 


Depoprovara, that's what Haiti needs, in copious amounts. And clean water. And public bathrooms. And better sources of fuel. And roads. And schools, real schools, schools that teach skills that can be used to obtain income, financial support. And prayers, lots of prayers. 

Felling Crazy, Lazy Saturday Afternoons

So, I decided to stay in my jammies today. It was going to be a day of leisure. My intern is back after a 2 week break so I threw on a sports bra under my jammie tank and headed out to open the school. I got the office open, handed out vitamins, opened up the school, passed out the arts and crafts, the balls, the jump ropes, basketball, and the giant parachute and was going to head back up to my room for some coffee and a good book. 


Of course the best laid plans.


So next thing you know, I'm visiting with our Poured-Out guests who are shortly going to be headed to the airport. We chat for a bit and I get a good laugh because Carlee, the beautiful, lithe, laid-back leader of the group, poured herself a coffee, embelished with a little cinnamon that turned out to be Cayenne pepper! 


By the time I get back to my room, I'm covered in skeeter bites (I didn't spray because I wasn't planning on staying out there) and I'm a little sunburned (again, I didn't spray because I wasn't planning...well, you know that line already) and sweaty as all get out. 


I sit down, crack open my hard boiled egg, and take a sip of my coffee. 


Karma is a bitch.


And she had my name on her list. 


This is why you never laugh at the misfortunes of others!


I apparently filled my cup with hot water, creamer, and sugar, and skipped the part where you stir in the spoonful of coffee crystals. 


It was like drinking hot melted ice cream! Blek!


So, then I had to go relieve a crisis in the gazebo as the children put on their socks and gym shoes. 6 1/2 days a week they wear flip flops, but on Saturday mornings, they were gym shoes with socks. (Thanks again going out to New Baltimore, Michigan Parks and Rec and Rebecca Strobel for getting us all those awesome sneakers!) But of our 20 little miscreants only about 2 can tie their own shoes, so down I go to cries of "Miss Michele!" "please help me!" "I can't tie this stupid thing".


First we do the over/under. Then we make a tree. Then the rabbit runs around the tree..."Like this?" Yes, yes, yes, just like that.


So, we got 20 little pairs of feet into 20 little pairs of socks and sneakers and off to class to do their arts and crafts. 


Then the rest of the teachers showed up for pay day. So then I have to go and make sure they all play nice while our director is out. 


Okay, I'm heading back up to read and relax. 


Wait, the power went out, I have to go start both generators. 


Well, I can see I'm not going to relax today. I might as well start the inventory. We need to get next year's supplies order before the crew comes down the end of July. 


So I plant myself in the third classroom and begin the arduous task of counting pencils, crayons, markers, construction paper, bottles of tacky glue, glue sticks, glitter, etc. 


Somehow, I let the entire morning slip away. And still I haven't eaten any more than my egg. And whatever happened to my coffee?


So I make my way back to my room and grab the cup of iced coffee chilling in the fridge. Hmmm, seems I made decaf. What was I thinking? 


Then a Skype with the boss. We have a situation to take care of. We have to make arrangements for one of our girls to go stay with family for a while. She has some behavioral issues and we aren't really equipped to deal with that. I mean, I'm pretty awesome and have a wealth of experiences, but there are just some things I am not trained to deal with. 


We have a team pow-wow. The family exchange is going down around 4 pm. 


Well, I'm surely not going to get any kind of down-time before then.


Back to the classroom. Back to the inventory. 


By now some of the "red shirts", my 1st graders, are board. The movie has ended, (Beethoven) and the babies laid down for their naps, and they want to know if I will do yoga class with them. So I find a stopping point, we all grab mats, and off to the preschool classroom we go. 


If you ever want to find out what you are made of, try teaching a yoga class to 10 6, 7, and 8 year olds, with 1 or 2 9 and 10 year olds in the mix. They fight over mats, they fight over mat space, they fight over who gets to put their mat by mine. Then they start stealing my mat, they climb on me, they climb under me. They think it's really funny to poke my "booty" when we do downward facing dog. 


You want to find your zen? Try doing fish pose with a six year old sliding in under you, or hanging from your neck as you do Lord of the Dance!


I truly have transcended. I never lost my cool. I never fell over. I never gave up. I just kept reminding them that people who do yoga don't fight over mats, we share our space. We love one another. We encourage one another. And, le sigh, I applaud myself for how strong I am for being able to do awkward airplane with one child on my back, one on my leg, and one straddling my neck while one crawl under me to pepper my face with kisses. 


So, after all that, we had to deal with our separating child. She handled the transition with more dignity and grace than I could have hoped for. After a year of her anti-social behaviors and aggressiveness and abhorrence of PDAs, she gave me a long hug, and a big kiss and told me she loved me. I will grieve over her absence, but some children just aren't cut out for this kind of situation. 


After that I needed to let a little lose. The van is running and I have no intention of staying in if I don't have to. I invited the interns to head out for dinner and the pool at the good ole Visa Lodge (I'd prefer the hotel Montana, but there is no way in Haiti I'm trying to drive that van up the mountain ever again!). I invited one of our young men, Emmanuel Gedeon. He is one of our best students, and he earned all high marks on his exams. 


It was a good evening. I ate waaaayyyy too much. Drank too little. And then we swam! 


Manno was lucky enough to have met a woman in the pool that had just spent the day teaching her two Haitian escorts how to swim, and offered a few lessons to him. After about an hour in the pool, he was executing a novice breast stroke that was really impressive. Of course, he lost his rhythm and inhaled a bit of water, which scared him a bit. So then he sat guard on the stairs. The fun part about the Visa Lodge pool is that the stairs are evenly spaced at about 5 inches in rise, till the last step, which drops about 2 feet, leaving you in water about 5 1/2 feet deep, and that's the shallow end! 


We swam for a while, til we were pretty knocked out, and headed home for showers. 


That's about it for me. Church tomorrow and then we are thinking we might sneak back over to the pool. 


Our Jacmel trip got sidelined. But we're headed to Calico Beach up the coast. I'm so excited! I can't wait to swim in the ocean. Been living on an island for an entire year and have only swam in the ocean 2 times so far! 


TTFN!

How much is Too Much?

One of the hardest parts of this job is knowing how much to give, and when to pull back. One could make themselves crazy down here trying to do what is best in every situation. It's like living in a moth bitten tent in the rainy season. You have to decide which holes to patch and which holes to leave. And you have to rearrange the furniture so the rain doesn't come in on the really important stuff. 


There are so many places that our tent needs to be patched up. You can't possibly fix all the holes. So, let's say we leave one, and tuck a bucket under it to collect rain water. That's well and fine, but if you don't watch out, that bucket overflows and now you've ruined the rugs! So you have to keep shuffling buckets and moving the furniture around. But nobody else is helping. So as fast as you can move buckets around, patches bust and more holes are letting in water. 


So now you are simultaneously, and independently, attempting to sew up holes, move buckets, rearrange furniture, and trying to keep the most precious of your possessions from getting destroyed by the ever onslaught of the masses of rain that just keeps pouring, and pouring and pouring in. Eventually you just want to go lay down on the bed and wait for the mudslide to carry you down hill. 


Surrender is inevitable. 


Yeah, it's that kind of Monday. 

Positive and Constructive Criticism and Sportsmanship

One of our biggest challenges in our school is the demand for perfection. Whether it is part of the Haitian school system's way of teaching, or it is part of the Haitian culture, I'm not sure, but our students become apoplectic if they make the littlest of mistakes. And to make it worse, our teachers, even after 8 long months of trying to model positive reinforcements, still have a tendency to bemoan errors. If a preschool student writes a 5 instead of a 2 the teacher pounces and sternly tells the student they did it wrong. Then the students starts to cry and covers their head and throws themselves on the ground and that's the end of that lesson for this student! 


Another challenge is teaching sportsmanship. Here's an example: 


   Saturday is our PE day. We were doing relay rages using these "wands" that hold plastic balls. A few students hold out hula hoops for the racers to climb thru, tag the PE teacher, and race back to their team. I go thru the whole thing and explain that their are no individual winners, that the whole team must finish, and that even if one person is slow, another person might be fast enough to make up for it. Ready, set, go! I have them lined up littlest to biggest. Our two littlest runners head out. They cheat, as our kids always do, and one of them heads across the team line. At that moment, our other littlest one realizes defeat and throws themselves to the ground. I can't even get her to cross the team line to tag her next team member. The game is over. I repeat the ready, set, go! so our second runners in line can take off and again, the one that didn't make it back first throws himself to the ground and acts to have a seizure, flopping around and screaming. I can't even console him in the slightest!


I am beside myself with ways to help them around these issues. In the short term, we have ceased all competitive games for the little ones and instead are doing activities were they all win! I feel like such a leftie! 


God forbid we ever try to do a "student of the week" idea!


If you have any hints, tips, web links for ideas on how to work around this, please forward them to my email! Thanks!

Pillow Dresses~!

Our girls Love, Love, Love their dresses! This is such an awesome way for church groups to give in Haiti! Just wish we had an easy solution for dressing our boys. 


Thanks to the ladies from Texas who toiled over all of these works of art! Out girls are so excited about their new dresses! 

Same old, same old

Okay, so those of you that know me, know that I've always been a Martha. If there's work to be done, I am in the kitchen getting the meal ready, in the yard preparing for the party, in the office, getting the paperwork done. I CANNOT, I repeat, CANNOT sit idly by while someone else toils without feeling compelled to share the burden. It's not that I'm some kind of martyr or anything. It's just that I really really really try to live by the ideal of the Golden Rule. If that was me preparing whatever for whomever, I'd love, honor, and appreciate a spare hand. 


Maybe it's because I was the big sister when my dear mother was wasting away from the C-word and I felt compelled to pick up the slack and make sure my little sis was taken care of. Maybe it's because since her death, I was always at the mercy of family and friends for my means. Maybe it's because I was a very liberated and independent single mother and most people just assumed I had it together and rarely offered a hand. Whatever the reason, just know that I'd no sooner lounge around and be served than I'd want to amputate my leg for no reason. 


But it's not just out of some sense of what I think is right. I genuinely enjoy service. I think it must be tattooed to my forehead because every where I go, I find myself invited into opportunities to serve. And the funny thing is, even if I joke about it, I would actually do it and feel nothing was out of sorts about it. 


This leads me to my fortune this weekend. I have been attending services at PAP Fellowship for several weeks now. For some reason yet to be revealed, I could not sit still in my row in church. I knew service was about to start, but the chapel was still fairly empty and I thought perhaps I'd pop out and see if anyone was hanging out that I might have a minute or two to meet up with and chat. As I passed the pastor (haha, I totally didn't plan that, but it sounds pretty funny! Go ahead, read it again, passed the pastor,) he invited me to be a part of the distribution team to hand out the sacraments. Hehehe, little did he know, (or maybe He told him) how often that happened at my home church in The States! I must say, it gave me great pleasure to be able to get up and serve the congregation. 


Afterwards, since we had gone to early service, I go the opportunity to go home early with our lovely hostess, Beth, and help her prepare the afternoon meal for her multitudes and masses. Funny how my idea of relaxing on my day off was to get up at the crack of dawn to get to church early, serve the communion, head over to a friends house and cook and prepare food for a large crowd, but I must say, it was a most excellent way to spend my day. 


I was home by 4 in the evening, got to spend some quality time with my kids and still had time to do a little reading and some personal time to boot. 


I must say, if this had been my experience the first 6 or 8 months, I might be more inclined to keep at this awhile longer. As it is, I think I am going to need a long break if I am going to be able to find my way back here. I know that God is not done with me yet. And I know that I am not done with these kids quite yet. So now I need to spend some serious time in quiet contemplation to discover what my next move is after this. 


All for now...

Such a busy 2 weeks!

Wow! The past few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of activity. Emotions have been exaggerated, stress tolerances and patience tested, limits pushed, curiosities piqued, and energy levels tapped out to say the least.


First my intern went home for a 5 day weekend 2 Thursdays ago. No biggie, but I have turned quite a few areas of responsibility over to her and she has made several changes that I haven't managed to keep up with. Questions came up and I wasn't able to answer them. We managed, but just barely. It's amazing how quickly you can come to rely on someone. 


While she was gone we had guests, Jason, who is part of the Detroit Muscle Crew, and his wife Courtney, who decided to spend their wedding anniversary here. They came on Sunday. Courtney said that Haiti was the only part of Jason's world that she hadn't yet shared and she wanted to see where his heart kept getting called to come. While they were here we went for a loooong walk to escort one of our girls to her family's residence, in a tent city. It was eye opening to walk that much through Delmas 33. When they say "walk a mile in another man's shoes..." they really aren't kidding. It was a good experience for us all. We got to see the conditions of her home and how her family makes due with such humble accommodations. 


On Monday we also received a visit from Dr. Nellie Williams, one of the original benefactors of the mission grounds. She was the angel responsible for raising the funds that paid for the building of the guest house, which includes my "apartment". She was escorted by her grandson, Neal Porter, who was an Army mortar man. He fit in nicely with our other intern, Josh, who was an Army paratrooper. We swapped war stories and regaled the rest of the crowd with tales of our bravado and silliness that is military comradeship! 


Our intern returned on Tuesday. That night we went out to eat in Petionville. In honor of our guests we decided to try Magdoos, Lebanese fare. I was so delighted! I've been wanting to check that place out since I moved here last year! The ambiance of the place is worth almost twice what the menu prices were!


On Wednesday we said good bye to Jason and Courtney and got back to business in the school. Our other guests stayed until Friday. Saturday midday we greeted Mitch and his wife, Janine, along with Patty and Jeff Alley. The Alleys were here to check out the place while they consider where God is calling them. Hopefully we will see them moving down here to help out. It will be nice to have a father figure and male role model here, as well as having a nurturing mommy to cuddle with the little ones. 


An hour after they arrived we escorted the second truckload, Anachemy, Cara and Cara's son, Jesse. Anachemy is Haitian born, US raised and educated. She just completed her degree in education and will be staying with us for a year to teach in the school. We are so excited to have her joining our team. She will be here full time in July, to run a summer school program to catch up the 6 new kids and make them ready for our school in September.


Cara, as most people know by now, is the other half of my brain. She is the rock star who writes all of our lesson plans and directs our curriculum and provides me with a sounding board for all of my ideas for the school. Jesse, her eldest son, is an aspiring movie producer. He was doing some filming to accompany Mitch's speaking engagements to help fund-raise for the upcoming year's budget and hopefully the expansion of the school. 


Oh, and then we had a third trip to the airport to pick up our good friend, Nedal Tamer, the plumber. He missed his earlier flight, but we won't fault him because that man worked from sun up til sun down and fixed and completed so many jobs and projects around the mission. What a blessing to have such talented and skilled tradesmen who volunteer to come work here and help us keep this place running in the best possible shape! 


Our company all departed by Monday evening and we are slowly working our way back to normal. Well, as carry puts it, what passes for normal. This is, after all, Haiti! 


Love and stuff, 
Michele

A day of sun, cool water, and good company

It seems to be rarer and rarer the occasions we get out of the gate to go and do anything other than mission business. Today, we had planned to tag along with some friends to a hotel pool and relax in the shade and watch some sporting event or another and just let go for the day. Our original plans got hijacked by some bad roads so we were rescued by Alain (thank you!) and then we paid a small fee for personal tap-tap to get home. 


The only caveat is that we had to stay close to home so we went to Visa Lodge pool. Good food, but the poolside accommodations leave something to be desired. The pool was nonetheless exactly what the doctor ordered. We had a little too much sun, but that was a fair price to pay to get some delicious food and some time outside of the gates. 


Thank you to Kyle and Josh for some good conversation and good company. 


Now I'm just relishing the return of the internet for the few minutes we may have it and thanking God for our new friends. We will be going to the market and to church tomorrow so that will be another opportunity to socialize and mingle with like cultured folks. 


For now, I'm going to finish cooking my rice and then curl up in the bed with a good book and get a good nights sleep while I still have electricity! 


Praise God for the little things too!

Have A Nice Day!

Today started off a little groggy. My A/C went out at some point in the night, but I was too groggy to realize and turn it back on. Also, I went to bed around 9:15, so by 11:45 I was back awake and tossed and turned all night in variations of chills, and night sweats. It's funny how in my sleep-deprived grogginess, I always assume I have Malaria! Too bad I didn't wake up enough to make sense of my situation and get up and drink a bottle of water. I was probably just dehydrated. 


So, the alarm went ignored for some time while I abused the snooze button and then eventually turned on my iTunes and slowly greeted the day. This makes 3 weeks in a row of lousy sleep. The stupid part is, I know exactly what I need to do to return to sleep-filled nights, and am just working up the courage to do it. 


Meanwhile, the morning continued down-hill. Some animal made it's way into our yard last night and apparently left "bombs" around the yard. One of these "bombs" was promptly stepped in and dragged through my office. Oh, yay! Like I don't already live in a crap-scented world down here? What a delight that was to clean up. And because it rained most of the night, it was nice and squishy and EVERY WHERE! 


Meanwhile, we continue to have problems with the power. The difficult part is that they are intermittently sending power through the utility company, so by the time you go through the bother of getting the generators up and running, city light has been restored. It's a real pain in the butt!


Woo sah! 


I need to take a moment to remember why I came here 


Woo sah!


I need to take a moment to remember to let these things go. 


Woo sah!


I need to take a moment to discover the lessons that are being revealed to me in these instances.


Woo sah! 


I need a drink! lol (just kidding! or not! lol)

Home Away From Home

I just returned from a 2 week "break" in Michigan. I would say it's nice to be home again, but the lines are becoming blurred. On the one hand, when I go "home" to Michigan, I stay on a futon in the guest room. Now, I bought a new mattress for it before I came down last summer, but let's just say, it bites! Things are not in the places that I expect them to be. The house is a disaster since my dear son took over care and upkeep. I feel like a guest in my own home, which, since he pays all the bills, I basically am!

So I get back here and I am, for a moment at least, looking forward to getting back to a space that is all my own. Except that the plumbing issue I left behind was not fixed so I had no water, and I had quickly forgotten how hard that bed is to sleep in! 

So well. The homecoming was awesome. The kids were very happy to see me, (or at least to see what I had brought them!) It was like Christmas all over again showing them the many things I brought for them, which is just a drop in the bucket since I could only carry 2 of the 6 bags I have full of things for them!

And oy! I had forgotten how hot it is here, and how bad the mosquitoes are! That took a little adjusting. Hopefully my sleeping and eating patterns will adjust as quickly, I am still trying to catch up from how busy I was during my "break". I say "break" because I spent so much time visiting with all of my generous supporters and collecting donations for the Mission that I only had about 2 1/2 days of actual rest and recuperation! 

I think I need a vacation from my vacation!

All for now. Pics later!

Consumerism and the Disparity Between Socio-economic Classes

It always amazes me when I witness someone consuming something for the sake of consuming. Okay, I'm not excluding myself; I'm sure there have been a multitude of moments when I have done this without even realizing I am doing it. Which is probably why I am seeing it happen in my world. Karmicly speaking, I suppose I should be doing something to counter-act this so I can change my perceptions and not see this anymore.


I thought I was living a life of conservation, preservation, re-using, reducing, and recycling, but since moving to Haiti, these things have become rather challenging. 


Anyways, today I realized how convicted I feel when I under appreciate the blessings in my life. For example, a tub of hummus costs $6. Not a big fee for something so yummy and wonderful and healthful. But when you put that figure aside the $5/day minimum wage here, you realize how spectacularly luxurious that is. I try not to live a life of excess and appreciate the things I am able to have in my life. It really annoys me when I see other people just busting through their resources like they are sure they have an unlimited supply. 


But when I look around here I see so many people living that way. Some from privileged, some from a sense of "who knows what tomorrow brings, let me enjoy today" I begin to wonder, do I have it wrong?

Jonathan U

I know I posted about him on my Meet the Children page already, but as I was going thru my pictures to find something to post this weekend, I kept scrolling thru these pix. This kid has such great character and personality. He has such a thirst for knowledge. He is our newest kid, only here since October 30th, but he completely bowls me over! I just love him to pieces!

taken from my balcony

Another make up post...

Here are some pictures of the kids opening presents from Christmas.


Thank you to Rhema Hospital for providing boxes full of goodies, Karine Kraus for providing the stuffties, Caroline Mudge of Send Out Cards for the lipglosses, Pat Hill of Bodhi Seed for the pens, and all of my other contributors who donated the moolah that went in to getting all of the kids watches, candy, toys, clothes etc. We had a fabulous time opening gifts and playing with all of our new stuff!


Flickr slideshow: Christmas 2011

Kony 2012 and Why I Want to Stay in Haiti

(Republished from Rager's Rages, Rants, and Ramblings post)


In the beginning, my dream was to go to Africa. I mean, doesn't everybody at some point or another have a vision of themselves in the Motherland doing something, whether it be missions work, humanitarian aid, or even just a safari? My initial interest was sparked after seeing the animated film, Hugo the Hippo. It turned me on to Zimbabwe and the political strife of the region. Later, as I started seriously thinking of what type of work I would do in Africa, I realized I wanted to work with children. I looked into several options.  For a few years now I've been looking into positions with assorted NGOs and charities in Zimbabwe such as the Zimbabwe Project,  a Canadian orphan care organization. But as I do not have a Master's degree in the areas they require, I had been unable to catch a break. I guess true experience and expertise in a field doesn't mean squat when you have shareholders to answer to. 

The Hardest Things

One of the hardest things about this place, is that when you see something that needs to be done, you can't just do it. This is not a culture where efficiency is accepted and appreciated. On the one hand, you have to follow an unwritten code of pleasantries. There's this way they have of constantly blowing smoke up one another's asses that seems to be the order of the day. Anybody that knows me even just a little knows that this is not a skill I possess. On the other, nobody has respect for you unless you are the boss. It takes one square move by your superior to effectively neuter you in the eyes of the masses. There's no coming back from that. If they have determined that you have no power, or they perceive that you have no power, you are pretty much useless here. 

Social Butterflies

I said "My, my" like the spider to a fly

"Jump right ahead in my web"

Well, we had a crazy busy weekend. Friday we spent the evening car shopping. Then we had friends over for drinks. Saturday we went out clubbing and up to the mountains to see the sights. Sunday we spent at Hotel Montana. The social scene is definitely picking back up like it was before the holidays. 

I am a member of an expat bloggers web forum and through that I routinely meet new people down here. Some are locals, some are foreigners and some are Americans. I've had pretty good luck so far and have met some really great people this way. 

Day Trip To Okay - Kanaval

Day Trip To Okay - Kanaval, a set on Flickr.

Tuesday we drove to Les Cayes (Okay to the locals) for National Kanaval - Haiti's answer to Mardi Gras. We spent the afternoon at a public beach and then headed in for the Kanaval parade in the evening. It was a day of AWESOME! Being able to get out of the city limits and see so much of the mountains and the ocean and the province! Ah! Of course, in retrospect - the decision not to carry my camera into town for the parade was not the best, I missed out on taking some spectacular pictures, but considering the vastness of the crowd, I'm not that mad about it.

Carnival Nationale

This will be an interesting week if it plays out the way I hope it does. 


Our older kids that go to Haitian schools have the whole week off as the island buzzes with Kanival celebrations. 


Our little ones that take school here on the grounds only have Tuesday off. :(


Because of this, I was unable to travel to see Kanival in all it's splendor. 


A friend has offered to let us ride with him as he delivers a car to aux Cayes (Les Cayes) just for the day. Aux Cayes is where the "official" Carnival Nationale celebration takes place. 


Meanwhile, the kids are prancing around the yard singing, "Say nan kugran m'pran" = It's the spark I take - roughly translated - I am the body electric!


Happy Mardi Gras to my American friends and family!

Christmas Past

Okay, so I know this is long over due, but I did tell you I had a rough holiday so sue me! 


Anyhoo, Christmas would not be complete without the advent story - so here for your viewing pleasure, are the C&S players in the telling of the birth of our Savior:

Luke 2

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that 

a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² 

(This was the first census that took place while 

Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ 

And everyone went to their own town to register.

Dinner AND a show

The dining-out experience in Haiti is something I will never forget the rest of my life. I have such a new appreciation for American customer service. I have always been a decent tipper, but I think living here these past 5 months (yes, tomorrow will mark 5 months!) have given me a whole new perspective on what a good server is worth. 


Here's what a typical night out looks like:


They have printed menus, but that doesn't mean they have these things available. So as you ask for things, the waiter will say he has to check. Then he "dashes" away to the kitchen. 10 to 15 minutes later he returns and tells you if they have it. They you ask for the next item and the process repeats. It takes between a half hour to hour and a half to order. Then it takes at least an hour before the food comes. And when the food comes it's always worth a good laugh to see how they interpret "vegetarian spaghetti with pesto and mozzarella" which a. doesn't have mozzarella or pesto, and 2. is made with fettuccine noodles, not spaghetti. You have to order your drinks two at a time or you will die of thirst waiting for them to come with drinks...and then it takes another half hour to get the bill, which you then have to check item by item, and each question you have the server "dashes" off to ask for an answer. Then when you hand them your credit card they try to tell you they can't process it because they would rather have cash, after all, it's hard to short the till on credit card receipts. All the while, you know the poor guy is barely making any money and then they don't get tips to boot. It's worth the experience.

Mi Vida Loca

So, yesterday one of our neighbors' hens got in our yard. I didn't want to make a big deal of it before the kids got into their classrooms so I pretended not to see it. But once I got all of our blue shirts (preschoolers) and red shirts (primaries) into their respective rooms, it was on like Donkey Kong! 


So, I tell the guard at the gate, Mr. Germain, to open the walk-thru and try to head her off on the right flank while I came at her from the left. 


Well, the readers' digest version is, I got at least a mile run in at the beginning of my day. That little chick ran this way, that way, and then the other way again. She ran in the chapel, out the side door, back in the side door, through the yard, back into the chapel...you get the idea!


Crazy days!


Today I taught myself how to drill through tile. Yeah, my days are carazee! lol


Also, I got to make some mini-mes for our My Body series: 

what's under there, we do not share!

the parts you see there are okay to share

yes, those are granny panties!

 

don't judge my fashion sense, there are only so many colors of
construction paper available! And don't look too closely
at those fingers.  I'm a teacher, not an artist! lol

Okay, that's all for now. I need a glass of wine and a shower!

Parachute!

Who doesn't remember this? The bestest days of primary school for sure. It's no different in Haiti, even with a little ole bitty one like this: 

the children are introduced to the parachute

they're still a little too wild for this, but hopefully as we continue
demonstrating the teamwork model they will get it

it's a good thing they are so little and can fit under this thing!

rock-a-bye baby!