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| Leaving the mission for the airport |
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| Luckner stopped enroute to show them charcoal being made |
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| Aren't sidewalks just extra lanes for traffic |
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| Going through security to enter airport |
You are greatly missed now by all of us.
Karen and gang
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Bye for now and thank you.
Dickie, Sandra, Shondi and Jim, thank you very much for coming, for doing, for working, for repairing, for painting, for goat herding, for organizing, for cleaning, for playing jokes, for laughing, and for loving. It is all greatly appreciated .
You are greatly missed now by all of us.
Karen and gang
You are greatly missed now by all of us.
Karen and gang
Monday, February 6, 2012
Goodbye
Sandra writing.
It is soooooo sad to say goodbye here. It has been an emotional day!
We all finished up our projects or new little jobs today, then went partying with Luckner, Rose Lore, Girlancia and all the students at the trade school who are studying English. We had cake, cold drinks and wished Mariah a Happy Birthday in 3 languages. Luckner went on the air wished her a Happy Birthday and played a song for her and some Newfie music for us. We had a great time.
We don't leave tomorrow morning until 7:30 AM so will say goodbye in the morning.....it will be hard! Many tears will be shed and wishes to return will be shared.
We will be travelling in the truck and there will be a fight for the back as it always is when we travel. I am sure we will share the fun.
That's our trip this time around...we have loved our time here and been loved by the kids, Karen, Mariah and staff.
It is soooooo sad to say goodbye here. It has been an emotional day!
We all finished up our projects or new little jobs today, then went partying with Luckner, Rose Lore, Girlancia and all the students at the trade school who are studying English. We had cake, cold drinks and wished Mariah a Happy Birthday in 3 languages. Luckner went on the air wished her a Happy Birthday and played a song for her and some Newfie music for us. We had a great time.
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| Birthday girl and massage parlour |
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| Birthday girl with Baby Jonathan and opening gifts |
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| Celebrating birthday at Luckner's |
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| English class celebrating Mariah's birthday |
We don't leave tomorrow morning until 7:30 AM so will say goodbye in the morning.....it will be hard! Many tears will be shed and wishes to return will be shared.
We will be travelling in the truck and there will be a fight for the back as it always is when we travel. I am sure we will share the fun.
That's our trip this time around...we have loved our time here and been loved by the kids, Karen, Mariah and staff.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Sundays Blog
Sunday is one of my favorite days in Haiti. It is more relaxed with no projects planned and some of the crew sleeping in to past 6:30 while others enjoy the breaking dawn with a cup of coffee and a leisurely breakfast. Then we all go over to the school that has had a room rearranged for church. The membership consists mainly of local children and a few adults who gather for some lively singing, prayer and good teaching. It is a joy to listen to them, even though I don't understand many of the words the music is familiar and I can sometimes sing along in English. I had the honor this morning to play a small part in a skit with Karen, Antoinette and Naomie. Then Karen and Antoinette presented teaching based on two of the ten commandments, don't steal and don't lie. Then there was more singing by several small groups and a soloist.
After church we enjoyed a rest period then joined the children and house mothers to celebrate Mariah's birthday, Now that was a high energy and high volume hour or so.
After that we visited Project Help mission in Borel (where Karen lived for 9 years while renting one of their houses and started the orphanage in another house she rented there). While some watched the soccer game others took a tour and learned some of the mission and a lot about solar energy used for pumping water.
The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the children and the beautiful sunset. Each day leaves us more aware of the brief time we have left to enjoy the giggles and hugs of our small Haitian friends. We will miss them more than words can express and are already thinking ahead to next years trip.
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| Three young songsters |
After church we enjoyed a rest period then joined the children and house mothers to celebrate Mariah's birthday, Now that was a high energy and high volume hour or so.
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| Bday girl with Jofky, Sandra & Jonathan |
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| Enjoying the birthday bash |
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| Jonathan sleeping with Sandra |
After that we visited Project Help mission in Borel (where Karen lived for 9 years while renting one of their houses and started the orphanage in another house she rented there). While some watched the soccer game others took a tour and learned some of the mission and a lot about solar energy used for pumping water.
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| Project Help |
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| On project Help |
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| Solar powered well pump |
The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the children and the beautiful sunset. Each day leaves us more aware of the brief time we have left to enjoy the giggles and hugs of our small Haitian friends. We will miss them more than words can express and are already thinking ahead to next years trip.
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| Sunset |
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Pelig
Nine of us left the compound today at 7:30 AM headed for the dam at Pelig...just a few minutes from Mirebalais. On route we saw very different scenery than we are used to in the Arbitionite Valley. Luckner told us the history of the dam and answered all questions we had. We saw where the water started and drove along the river several times that feeds the canals that irrigate the Artibonite Valley. We watched many people doing their Saturday laundry, animals drinking, people fishing...from the dam wall and in hand dug-out boats. Dickie drove and he missed all the police kouches except one, only slight injuries to Sandra. We returned at 1 o'clock hot, hungry, and thirsty.
Practise was held for the lesson at church tomorrow. Karen and Antoinette had decided to act out what Antoinette will be teaching on tomorrow - two of the ten commandments. ' Do not steal' 'Do not lie'. They asked Naomie and Jim to assist. Antoinette is going to be the voice of Satan and Jim the voice of God. Karen feels that Jim needs to do a lot of practice tonight so he can be ready. He needs to say several times this word - "Non" "Non" "Non". Karen is not sure if he can remember all those lines and be able to do all that in Creole. He might end up having to do it in English "No" "No" 'No". Sandra was entertained by Dieunel and Judel for a while. A walk along the canal is on for the older kids and some blan yo at 4:30 PM. We hope to play a game tonight when all is ready for tomorrow.
A note about last night...we went down to Radio Creole 104.7 FM (Luckner's Radio Station) about 9:00 PM. There was quite a lively and animated discussion going on about soccer. There was Luckner, his assistant, Arice, and several guests all involved in this discussion. One man was very animated and interested in getting us on the air...he kept giving us the ear phones and trying to share the microphone and finally he came back to me (Sandra) and asked if I spoke Creole or French and when I said no he moved to Shondi and she said "un peu" so he was talking long and animated in her face and I saw Wagler (assistant to Luckner at the school ) move in closer to Shondi and then he leaned to hear what the man was saying to her and then Karen appeared and sat beside Shondi. Rose Lore, too, was on route to rescue Shondi if needed. I laughed and knew that they knew something about this man that we didn't. He went off to use the bathroom and we were gone when he returned. It was interesting.
Those that know Timote, we saw him at the Radio Station last night. He was pleased to see us and we to see him. We heard from Seth. His surgery was Monday past. He is in the middle of the painful healing process. We are all hoping and praying that he is back on his feet and as good as new before much longer.
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| Can't travel like this after Tuesday |
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| On the road to Pelig |
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| The group minus 1(holding the camera) |
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Fishing from the dam |
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| View downstream from dam |
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| Lake above the dam |
Practise was held for the lesson at church tomorrow. Karen and Antoinette had decided to act out what Antoinette will be teaching on tomorrow - two of the ten commandments. ' Do not steal' 'Do not lie'. They asked Naomie and Jim to assist. Antoinette is going to be the voice of Satan and Jim the voice of God. Karen feels that Jim needs to do a lot of practice tonight so he can be ready. He needs to say several times this word - "Non" "Non" "Non". Karen is not sure if he can remember all those lines and be able to do all that in Creole. He might end up having to do it in English "No" "No" 'No". Sandra was entertained by Dieunel and Judel for a while. A walk along the canal is on for the older kids and some blan yo at 4:30 PM. We hope to play a game tonight when all is ready for tomorrow.
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| Time to relax finally |
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| Evening on the canal |
A note about last night...we went down to Radio Creole 104.7 FM (Luckner's Radio Station) about 9:00 PM. There was quite a lively and animated discussion going on about soccer. There was Luckner, his assistant, Arice, and several guests all involved in this discussion. One man was very animated and interested in getting us on the air...he kept giving us the ear phones and trying to share the microphone and finally he came back to me (Sandra) and asked if I spoke Creole or French and when I said no he moved to Shondi and she said "un peu" so he was talking long and animated in her face and I saw Wagler (assistant to Luckner at the school ) move in closer to Shondi and then he leaned to hear what the man was saying to her and then Karen appeared and sat beside Shondi. Rose Lore, too, was on route to rescue Shondi if needed. I laughed and knew that they knew something about this man that we didn't. He went off to use the bathroom and we were gone when he returned. It was interesting.
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| Enjoying the debate at Radio Creole |
Those that know Timote, we saw him at the Radio Station last night. He was pleased to see us and we to see him. We heard from Seth. His surgery was Monday past. He is in the middle of the painful healing process. We are all hoping and praying that he is back on his feet and as good as new before much longer.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Our time is short
We are getting to the end of this trip, so little time left and so much to do. The first week seems pretty long but the second week flies by. We are going on a field trip tomorrow to see a large dam on a route that eventually gets to PaP. It is a poorer road and dangerous to travel on to get to PaP.
When you drive the highways here you see that houses are built right to the edge of the roads. It is convenient because most people do not have their own transportation. Most of these houses are to say the least substandard to our values but some are actually pretty nice here.
When you travel away from the roads the houses become very poor. Most are made of sticks and mud with a thatched roof and mud floor. Some have tin roofs. The only source of water is a community well or the canal. Either one means carrying water a long distance. Very few are made of cement blocks. When we travelled up to Antoinette's church yesterday the conditions were very bad. The Church where they worship has a mud floor and no roof. It is perched on a hill with a great view of the valley. There were 18 boys playing soccer on a very small cleared area with a ball made of wound rope and rags. I think everyone who comes to Haiti leaves feeling we have way too much in North America. It makes me want to help where and when I can.
We were all busy today as usual. Many tasks were preformed today. Shondi and Sandra were painting benches from the school which I had repaired. Jim as usual was improving the computer/internet. As we do everyday we spend time with the children.
We presented several of the dresses that were made and donated by students of Stephanie Dean-Moore at Hants East Rural High School. The others will be given to children in the community.
A hairdresser came today and gave Mariah a beautiful new do.
When you drive the highways here you see that houses are built right to the edge of the roads. It is convenient because most people do not have their own transportation. Most of these houses are to say the least substandard to our values but some are actually pretty nice here.
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| Roaring down the highway? by the canal |
When you travel away from the roads the houses become very poor. Most are made of sticks and mud with a thatched roof and mud floor. Some have tin roofs. The only source of water is a community well or the canal. Either one means carrying water a long distance. Very few are made of cement blocks. When we travelled up to Antoinette's church yesterday the conditions were very bad. The Church where they worship has a mud floor and no roof. It is perched on a hill with a great view of the valley. There were 18 boys playing soccer on a very small cleared area with a ball made of wound rope and rags. I think everyone who comes to Haiti leaves feeling we have way too much in North America. It makes me want to help where and when I can.
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| Some Housing |
We were all busy today as usual. Many tasks were preformed today. Shondi and Sandra were painting benches from the school which I had repaired. Jim as usual was improving the computer/internet. As we do everyday we spend time with the children.
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| Bench facelift |
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| Something is looking good |
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| Mr Computer and Internet |
We presented several of the dresses that were made and donated by students of Stephanie Dean-Moore at Hants East Rural High School. The others will be given to children in the community.
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| 7 Princesses in new dresses |
A hairdresser came today and gave Mariah a beautiful new do.
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| Mariah's new doo |
Thursday, February 2, 2012
A few funny anecdotes...
...of our adventures on and off the compound and some photos.
The other night, I (Shondi) had forgotten to bring my flashlight with me and was the last to go to bed. I eventually found my way to my mosquito tent and crawled in - the first time I'd ever gotten in without first thoroughly checking it for bugs and/or surprises. I was reading my kindle soon after and saw something move out of the corner of my eye and then felt something touch my arm. I jumped up so fast and let out a huge scream - only to discover the supposed 'creepy crawly' in my tent was actually one of my ear plugs that had rolled out from under my pillow!
A few nights before that Mariah was the last to go to bed and came flying out screaming there was something in her bed. Karen heard it downstairs and came looking to find out what was happening. Sandra being the brave one went to investigate and had to remove the 4 blankets she had on her bed (remember the rest of us don't even use a sheet) and then saw it so used a blanket to pick it up and throw it away BUT the spider hit her arm and she danced and screamed too. Finally we all settled down again but Dickie hasn't seen the spider since so we are waiting for it to make another appearance.
More time with Mariah's class today, and one little fellow (who is always a handful) crawled under the gate to the field while we waited for the man to come and unlock the gate. Shondi and Sandra were watching the kids and when we saw him we both laughed and said we would tell Mariah we had thrown him over the gate when she returned. The look on her face when she saw him in there running around was priceless.
Dickie has been playing tricks on Martha and Germaine - leaving a snake on one of their bags, putting a spider in the laundry and in the blender, etc. They got him back last night by loading up his tent with corn flakes. He had to take everything out to get rid of them. They said that the wind must have blown the corn flakes in there!
Karen is moving faster today...much faster.... her foot still isn't healed but it is hard to keep her down for long. We were the objects of her grade 7 English Class as they learned about family so we represented sister, brother in law, niece, cousin, mother, daughter, father, sister in law and others. Sandra had to write on the board because Karen sat on the desk to rest her foot. We had conversations with the students as they had to come and ask us questions. One nice young fellow asked if Sandra wanted to sit towards the end of class...guess he thought that white hair meant she was old. At 4:00PM we had an English Class at Luckners Trade School and again we were involved in the class.
After English Class we went to see the church that Antionette and her husband are building in the country and we saw a lot of Adams (naked men) along the way! We're not usually out and about at that time - just before dark - I guess maybe that's bathing time?!
The other night, I (Shondi) had forgotten to bring my flashlight with me and was the last to go to bed. I eventually found my way to my mosquito tent and crawled in - the first time I'd ever gotten in without first thoroughly checking it for bugs and/or surprises. I was reading my kindle soon after and saw something move out of the corner of my eye and then felt something touch my arm. I jumped up so fast and let out a huge scream - only to discover the supposed 'creepy crawly' in my tent was actually one of my ear plugs that had rolled out from under my pillow!
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| Organizing Karen's cupboards |
A few nights before that Mariah was the last to go to bed and came flying out screaming there was something in her bed. Karen heard it downstairs and came looking to find out what was happening. Sandra being the brave one went to investigate and had to remove the 4 blankets she had on her bed (remember the rest of us don't even use a sheet) and then saw it so used a blanket to pick it up and throw it away BUT the spider hit her arm and she danced and screamed too. Finally we all settled down again but Dickie hasn't seen the spider since so we are waiting for it to make another appearance.
More time with Mariah's class today, and one little fellow (who is always a handful) crawled under the gate to the field while we waited for the man to come and unlock the gate. Shondi and Sandra were watching the kids and when we saw him we both laughed and said we would tell Mariah we had thrown him over the gate when she returned. The look on her face when she saw him in there running around was priceless.
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| Computer, Internet Expert (with a lot of help from Tim) |
Dickie has been playing tricks on Martha and Germaine - leaving a snake on one of their bags, putting a spider in the laundry and in the blender, etc. They got him back last night by loading up his tent with corn flakes. He had to take everything out to get rid of them. They said that the wind must have blown the corn flakes in there!
Karen is moving faster today...much faster.... her foot still isn't healed but it is hard to keep her down for long. We were the objects of her grade 7 English Class as they learned about family so we represented sister, brother in law, niece, cousin, mother, daughter, father, sister in law and others. Sandra had to write on the board because Karen sat on the desk to rest her foot. We had conversations with the students as they had to come and ask us questions. One nice young fellow asked if Sandra wanted to sit towards the end of class...guess he thought that white hair meant she was old. At 4:00PM we had an English Class at Luckners Trade School and again we were involved in the class.
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| Off to English Class at Trade School |
After English Class we went to see the church that Antionette and her husband are building in the country and we saw a lot of Adams (naked men) along the way! We're not usually out and about at that time - just before dark - I guess maybe that's bathing time?!
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| Front of church - Antoinette and Benoit |
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| Inside of the church |
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| Antoinette and Benoit |
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday takes us back...
...to school and a busier routine than on the weekend.
Luckner's Aunt died and he was busy attending to details for the family and was in and out of the office so Karen was busier than usual there and because she has a bad foot and having trouble walking she stayed put. You know there is something wrong when she is sitting still for longer than 20 seconds and she has actually been sitting for a half hour at a time.
We got rid of the last 2 goats and now just have to send the photos to those who bought them.
Jim is very busy doing computer work so we will wait until he is done before we send them out. Jim does get out of the office some BUT he does spend the bulk of his time there.
Shondi & Sandra went to school to help with the parachute and playdough and cookie cutters for Mariah's class. We had fun time on the field then back to class. The children did really well with their playdough and no one ate it. There was a new student there and the kids thought it quite amusing and then were impressed with his playdough skills.
Mariah got her braids taken out and we went off to Verrettes to get relaxer for her hair and for other needed things at the Pharmacy. There is always a fight for the back of the truck...everyone wants to sit out there.
Antionette came back to work on Karens' foot and leg and gave Sandra a good massage on her bad leg too.
Tuesday brought the construction crew to the roof of the Security Tower and it was interesting to watch them take the concrete up in buckets.
Shondi did the payroll and paid the employees, helped with Mariah's class and disappeared for a long time and no one knew where she was.
Dickie painted shelves for the children's bedrooms and went to Mariah's class to see the kids.
Jim played soccer with Mariah's class in the field, and worked on computer all day again.
Karen was at the school office and taught English to grade 8, albeit on one foot.
I had the awe full task of having 2 babies to myself....Jonathon & Sandra and then Ti Luc and I played for an hour or so before we walked along the canal.
Luckner's Aunt died and he was busy attending to details for the family and was in and out of the office so Karen was busier than usual there and because she has a bad foot and having trouble walking she stayed put. You know there is something wrong when she is sitting still for longer than 20 seconds and she has actually been sitting for a half hour at a time.
We got rid of the last 2 goats and now just have to send the photos to those who bought them.
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| Goats are gone |
Jim is very busy doing computer work so we will wait until he is done before we send them out. Jim does get out of the office some BUT he does spend the bulk of his time there.
Shondi & Sandra went to school to help with the parachute and playdough and cookie cutters for Mariah's class. We had fun time on the field then back to class. The children did really well with their playdough and no one ate it. There was a new student there and the kids thought it quite amusing and then were impressed with his playdough skills.
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| The parachute |
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| Dickie perfects his play dough skills |
Mariah got her braids taken out and we went off to Verrettes to get relaxer for her hair and for other needed things at the Pharmacy. There is always a fight for the back of the truck...everyone wants to sit out there.
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| Losing the braids |
Antionette came back to work on Karens' foot and leg and gave Sandra a good massage on her bad leg too.
Tuesday brought the construction crew to the roof of the Security Tower and it was interesting to watch them take the concrete up in buckets.
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| Pouring the roof |
Shondi did the payroll and paid the employees, helped with Mariah's class and disappeared for a long time and no one knew where she was.
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| Payday |
Dickie painted shelves for the children's bedrooms and went to Mariah's class to see the kids.
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| Cabinet Painting |
Jim played soccer with Mariah's class in the field, and worked on computer all day again.
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| Mariah's class |
Karen was at the school office and taught English to grade 8, albeit on one foot.
I had the awe full task of having 2 babies to myself....Jonathon & Sandra and then Ti Luc and I played for an hour or so before we walked along the canal.
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| Everyone watches the video on the camera at the same time. |
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