Friday October 5th 2012

Hello once again!

This is our last day here at the orphanage. We had our regular devotion this morning and at this time we basically said our goodbyes, even though we have all day. We will not see many of the staff and children tomorrow. It was very emotional for us because we shared with the Haitians our thoughts about the week. Some of them even shared their thoughts with us also. Tears were shed by many adults and children alike.

Buddies Sam and Dieunel

Today is a slow day for us as we are winding down on our time here. We will be spending most the afternoon with the children.

Moise, JJ & Djemima

The ladies will be putting up the photos of the children with Amanda Muise from her last trip.

Kids saying thank you, Amanda, for the photos

We took the time to ask our team members about their experience here this week in Haiti.

Gerry Rhyno, Yarmouth Nova Scotia: Gerry is our team leader and a member of the HATS board. Gerry said the team spirit and work ethic were very strong on this trip. The team was cooperative and worked very well together. That thing that touches him the most is to see the children worshiping the Lord. He says it warms his heart every time.

Gerry with Mirlande

Evan Mullen, Weymouth Nova Scotia: Evan said he finds that everyone here puts 100% in their worship. He noticed that, for the Haitians, work is survival. They work 7 days a week and very long days, just to feed their families and many times that’s not even enough.

Evan with Ti Luc and Moise

Nicole Boudreau, Little Brook Nova Scotia: Nicole said that the children are very loving. She finds the people work very hard to get by and they still have very little. The staff here is always very happy and appreciated us being here. We also worked hard as a team and had a very successful week.

Nicole with Karena

Marcia Muise, Church Point Nova Scotia: The biggest thing that Marcia noticed was how the children are, also Karen’s sacrifice of leaving a comfortable home in Canada and her family to come live here and serve. She, too, noticed how hard the Haitians work, long hours, with no breaks for very little money but they do whatever they can to feed their families.

Marcia

Cory Melanson, Church Point Nova Scotia: Cory’s greatest experience was to see how very happy the kids are to see us. He was also impressed by the Haitian’s lifestyle because they work very hard. Cory feels the team has accomplished a lot this trip.

Cory 2 and Ismyis

Sam Muise, Church Point Nova Scotia: Sam was impacted with the children how they are so happy friendly and content with what they have. He said the food was good, the climate was hot and the country was beautiful. He was also impressed by how hard the people work. The people are different they do what they can to help others. He was also impacted by the church service and how energetic their worship is.

Sam and Jonathan

Cory Muise, Church Point Nova Scotia: The love of the children impacted me and just the way they give hugs and kisses all the time. Also, all the hard work the workers put into the orphanage.

Cory 1 with Ti Luc

On behalf of all our team, all of us will leave a small piece of our hearts here and everyone has said they would love to return one day.

Donna with Leica

We would like to also thank Karen and Mariah for everything they have done for us this past week as for all the staff. All of you have made our experience an unforgettable one. 

Mary Ann with Judel

N.B. Karen here. I want to say a huge thank you to the team. To those who made comments above and to the other two team members Donna and Mary Ann. May God bless all of you.

Love from all of the HATS family who live onsite.

Thursday October 4, 2012

This week our team leader Gerry Rhyno and his wife Heather celebrated their 20 wedding anniversary. Our team would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them. Gerry has a real heart and dedication for HATS Haiti. This has been his 18th mission’s trip to Haiti so far.

  This morning, we had the chance to go observe a typical opening at the school complete with a national flag rising and anthem. Mary Anne had the opportunity to help Karen hand out school books to the children. Nicole and Marcia went over to the school to observe what recess is like. The children were all very happy, running and laughing. They were completely content even without any recreational equipment as you would find in a typical Canadian school yard.

The men completed their project of building a roof over Karen’s patio and also had to go to the school to fix a leak in one of the taps.

Nicole was able to get her hair braided by Antoinette, one of the house mothers at the orphanage.

After lunch Donna and the ladies were able to hand out more food to the staff members here at the orphanage. They were all very grateful and appreciative. We were told by Karen that many families even the staff have higher expenses every October when school starts as they prepare their children for school.

The ladies were also able to pick out two dresses for each little girl, which will be handed out tomorrow.

Shortly after, the women were able to enjoy some sugar cane with the children. A big treat for all!

Before supper the whole team, Karen and Mariah headed out to visit Antoinette’s church. Her husband is a pastor at the church.

Shortly after supper, we headed out to Luchner’s radio station. We sang some songs, Evan sang a solo, and 4 team members shared their experiences in Haiti. It was a good experience that we will never forget.

That completes our 6th day here in Deschappelles! Join us for our last blog tomorrow night.

Until then!

October 3 2012

Good evening HATS followers!

Today was a very eventful day! We started off our day early, like every other day with a good breakfast followed by our morning devotion at 7h30. After that, the women went to the market with two other women, Mariah and Antoinette on a Tap-Tap from the compound. What an experience that was! There was everything you could imagine! There was meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, baked goods, sugar canes c and even toothpaste. One of our gracious hosts, Mariah, bought a round of sugar cane for everyone so we will be able to try it as a group tomorrow.

People just sit there on the street or in booth covered in tin with their products. People go very early in the morning with their supplies and set up their very little space. The women we went with were there to buy food for the orphanage. They had a hard time getting good deals on food since three white women were there with them. They would ask over double the usual selling price, so the two women had to return later on and finish getting the supplies. There are always a lot of people out at the market.
Early afternoon, Donna went to help Mme Sainte a Dieu with the laudry. Donna is now very aware of all the hard work she does hand washing all the clothes for the orphanage.

All day, the men continued to work on the space out back for Karen. They got a lot of work done today but the project is not quite done yet.

Evan had a little boo-boo on his figure with the handsaw. Nothing serious! Marcia and Nicole were bringing long boards for the men to use on their project. So they thought they would try the Haitian style or carrying and they rocked

One of our team members is Donna Wheeler from Carter’s Cove, NFL and one thing that has impacted her on this trip so far is seeing the children and all the dedication in this orphanage. There is so much going on behind the scenes to keep the HATS orphanage and school running. Donna wants to be able to do some fundraising when she returns to Carter’s Cove in order to sponsor children whose parents don’t have enough money to pay for tuition. She would also like to return to Deschappelles someday. Donna says God has been doing the work in her life over the past several months that have allowed her to be able to join our team here in Haiti.

Donna received many donations for her mission’s trip and vaccinations she required. She has extra money after all her expenses were paid and she prayed to God to lead her in the direction that he would want her to spend the extra money. God impressed on her heart that she should buy food for the hungry families in the area. So today, a staff member went out and bought cornmeal, rice, black beans and vegetable oil. One cup and a half of each of these doubled in the past year. The people cannot afford to feed their families and some are too weak to even go to school. The ladies spent all afternoon measuring portions which will feed about 50 families for at least 4 to 5 days.

Another one of our team members is Mary Ann Bulger from Summerside, PEI. The biggest thing has impressed upon Mary Ann’s heart was the warm feeling she felt in her heart when she got off the planes. The reason for this was because she knew it was the Lord’s will for her to be here. She says she feels at home here and completely safe.

To complete the evening we participated in an auction for our souvenirs to bring back home and Cory 1 was our auctioneer. We practiced our songs and just sat around as a group and chatted when Donna was in bed by 7h30. Ti Luc practiced his numbers on his chalk board before bed.

Until tomorrow, bonsoir tout le monde!

Tuesday October 2, 2012

 Good evening!

Our day started with a devotion again led by Mariah.  After the devotion the men started a new project for Karen.  They drilled holes and put studs in the back of the house in order to add on a roof for Karen to sit and relax and have some privacy in her back yard.

Cory Muise was sporting around his new hair extensions during his construction work.

Beautiful Cory with hairdresser Evan

                                                                 
Nicole went to the school and helped Karen distribute textbooks to the parents and she got to see a typical morning in the classrooms.  There was lots of singing, dancing and reciting.  She will have lots to report to her own students and colleagues when she returns to Nova Scotia.  She was amazed at how happy the children  were in spite of how little they have to work with.

Currently the school has 27 students who do not have sponsors to help fund their education.  That means H.A.T.S.  has to pay for these children out of their working fund.  An amount of $275.00 ( for primary to grade 6) per year will supply a uniform, their textbooks and on e meal a day for the entire school year.   The cost is $375.00 per year  from grade 7 to graduation.  We should all be praying that God will open the hearts of His people in order to help these children.

After school was all finished the entire group headed over the school as Gerry presented the elementary teachers and Luckner with a watch for their wonderful service to the school.

Presentation of gifts to teaching staff

Gerry with Claudy

Marcia and Nicole were asked by Karen to go show  Mme.  Saint Ardieu, how to use her new washing machine.  However she informed us she was content today with washing the children’s clothes by hand as she has always done.

Gerry was able to hand out some balls to the children, given to him by his grand-daughter Erin.  The children had hours of fun playing with the balls.  Thank you Erin!

Marianne, Donna, and Nicole were able to hand to hand out suckers to all the children and staff.

Karen had time to sit and share with us some of her past experiences here in Haiti.  Many of which were very touching and difficult for her.  We really appreciated her for that.  Marcia, on the other hand,  took that opportunity to take a snooze.

Nap Time

We went for a ride in Karen’s tap tap to a local general store.  They kept a little bit of everything in stock from medical supplies, pampers, to hair products, school supplies and food.
 

The ‘everything’ pharmacy in Verrettes.

Today was our hottest day yet.  The heat and humidity is very tiring on us Canadians.  Tonight it is thundering quite loudly hopefully it will remove some of the humidity and the rain won’t be too bad, considering we are sleeping on the roof.

After we returned, we went for a walk along the canal and saw men working in their rice fields, a young boy washing up in the canal, a beautiful view of the mountains, oxen, horses and mules.

Canal

Rice Paddies

Our supper tonight consisted of goat meat and white rice in a bean sauce. It was delicious!

Goat Meat with Rice in Bean Sauce

Goodnight, until tomorrow!

Monday, October 1st 2012

Good evening HATS followers. Here again, Marcia and Nicole are bringing you the latest events from Desshappelles, Haiti.

This morning, was the children’s first day back to school. What an exciting morning it was. All the children had their gorgeous uniforms on. They looked quite adorable.

First day of school

Karena's first day of school.

This morning we had our first devotion with the children at 7h30 am. We sang a few songs, had a bible reading and prayer.

Monday morning devotions

Afterwards, we were able to go to the school to see the assembly of students and staff members. They open up each morning with energetic song and prayer.

First day of school assembly.  (Less than half students there)

This morning’s project was to build picnic tables for the children at the school.

making tables with benches for school lunch room

We also received all 22 suitcases today, praise the Lord! The ladies spent the afternoon sorting out all the clothes, toys and medical supplies that were graciously donated by many at home.

Suitcases with wonderful things to bless the people

The extreme is taking its toll on Mary-Ann, she informed the ladies when she was sorting clothes that she needed “a camera for her batteries”. We all got a very good chuckle out of that.

Corey 2 was finally able to take a shower and change his underwear. Fiew! Today, Mariah took out her braids and sported around with a new hairdo.

Later in the afternoon, we all crammed in Karen’s Tap Tap and went to the local radio station which is owned by Luckner. We got to see the recording studio where we will be broadcasting live on Wednesday night. Tonight, we practiced our songs for the radio broadcast we will be doing this week.

Trip to Radio Creole

Gerry learning about Luckner's second studio for

Leaving Luckner's for home with lots of pop and water

We have been eating very well here at the orphanage. Germaine, Martha, Marguerite and Roselene are very good cooks and work very hard all day long. And for that we are very thankful!

Well look at that, after a good hot and busy day, we were all very tired and in our tents by 9:30 pm.

That wraps up our day here in Haiti. We will be back here with you tomorrow night. Take care!

Saturday September 29th 2012

Good evening to all HATS followers!!!

This is Nicole Boudreau and Marcia Muise reporting from Deschapelles, Haiti. We will be your news anchors for the week bringing you the latest events happening on site.

Our voyage:
Our wakeup call came at 4:00 AM on Friday, September 29 th 2012. Our flight departed at 7:00 AM from Halifax and we were well on our way to our destination all 9 team members and 22 suitcases. Our journey here has been very eventful to say the least after two connector flights, a long delay that kept us from landing in Port-au-Prince due to a thunder storm.  We ended up circling Haiti for over an hour before the captain announced we were being diverted to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for refueling.  We were in Santo Domingo for about an hour and a half, but we were  well entertained as Corey 1 and Evenlina sang, “I shot the Sherriff”.  When we reached Port-au-Prince, Karen was patiently waiting for our arrival.  Hugs and warm welcomes were received by all.  Unfortunately, our 22 suitcases never made their way to Haiti.  So needless to say, we are finding out what it’s like to live without what we thought were needs.

Police Daniel happy that Gerry & team finally arrived,

What a trip.  Now where are the suitcases.

Not one suitcase of 22 arrived.  Yikes.

The three hour bus ride to the orphanage was an eye opening experience for the first time visitors.  We arrived at the orphanage at 11h30 PM and shortly thereafter some of us were fast asleep in our screen tents, mainly the oldest gentleman of the bunch, our team leader. For the rest of us, the sounds of the roosters and the cows serenaded us as we tried to fall asleep.

  Sunday , September 30th 2012
This morning, we woke up as the sun came up and as we all began to trickle downstairs; we were met with warm welcomes from the precious children. Sam instantly made a new friend as baby Jonathan spent most of the morning in his arms.

Sam and Jonathan

 As the children arrived, we were deeply touched and came to the realization of how important the HATS organization is to this country.  Many children who would not have had any opportunities are now well nourished, educated and have a loving home and a mother who loves them more than we could ever comprehend, Karen Huxter.

My kiddies are getting heavier

Shortly after a delicious breakfast prepared by Germaine and Marta, we all went to worship God together, Haiti style. The service consisted of enthusiastic singing by the children and the house mothers.  It was very overwhelming to hear their angelic voices.  And again, we realized how important this work is as it is leading many children to Christ. Corey 1 led the devotion and our whole team sang, or tried to sing.  We paled in comparison to the children’s performance.

Nicole, Marcia, Cory 1 ready for church,  Looking good for arriving with no luggage

Mary Ann ready too and looking beautiful

On the way to church

During lunch, Donna had a really hard time swallowing her food as Corey 1 was telling her the meat in the spaghetti sauce was snake, eliciting  a very loud gag relax.

This afternoon, the men worked to prepare classrooms for the first day of school tomorrow. The ladies got to spend time with Karen and the children. What a blessing that was! Each one of those children are so very precious - more than we can put into words.

Karma and Sandra

TAP –TAP tour via Karen:
We had the opportunity to experience a Tap Tap ride today with Karen, Mariah, and Gerry.  We were piled on the back of the truck and headed to the hardware store and got to see the hospital and a typical Haitian village.  We experienced a very bumpy ride, some limbs fell asleep, some butts got sore and some of our hair got styled, Beiber style from the wind.  We also saw Vladimy ‘s new  school.

Karen's TapTap. Always room for one more

Inside the Tap Tap

After we got back, all the boys had received their back to school haircuts.  We also finished preparing the classrooms for tomorrow’s big day.  Sam swept the floor in one classroom so now Marcia knows what he’s capable of and will definitely benefit from his newly acquired skill.  Marry-Ann was a little red today because her sunscreen in still in her luggage at Port-au-Prince airport.

During supper, Corey 1, again, was trying to convince Donna that the chicken legs were actually Gecko legs.  Needless to say, we reportedly heard Donna is eating lightly.

This cute little fellow tried to ride upstairs on the foot of Cory 1.

Later, during supper, Corey 1 asked Evan if he was missing Rhonda, Gerry said, “who’s Rhonda, Your dog?” and the room burst out in laughter and someone replied, “Rhonda’s his wife”.

Corey 2 was beginning to smell a little foul as he was the only one who did not pack any clothing in his carryon baggage. So tonight, he had to borrow a t-shirt from Corey 1 to put on after a shower.  His underwear, on the other hand, well we’ll just leave it at that……..

Well that just about wraps up our day, reporting live here on site, we will be joining you live once again tomorrow night! Goodnight all!