Chickens in the grape vine......

Today we discovered that chickens like to sleep in the trees or bushes and not on the ground. We still have about 18 chickens for overnight and they wanted to roost in the grapevine and several of them broke their tether and got up there.

a chicken that made it's way to the grape vine

Another busy day at HATS....I wonder if there is ever a non busy day here.

Dickie was on sewer duty, sinks, basketball net & backboard and a million other things as they arose. Jim was a Dickie helper, painted the basketball backboard, fixed a door in devotions room and of course is still attached to Karen's computer.

Jim worked really hard today

I (Sandra) went to school right after devotions, did some more payroll, went to grade 7 and 9 to get photos of sponsored children, helped feed the children, and had my favorite meal for lunch! When the chickens arrived we had no room for them as the desks that Eden was making for the school were all in the chicken spot so Eugene and I moved 12 desks to make room for the chickens. This doesn't sound like much work BUT it was very very hot and the desks are big and very heavy. After lunch I did food and chicken distribution. I now handle the chickens like the Haitians.....pick them up by the legs, hang them upside down and tie their legs together and pass them to them. I long to be able to handle the rice, beans, corn and oil as they do BUT am far from being able to do that yet.

New desks.  At HATS we send even the chickens to school.

The chicken lady has become good at her job

Thankful parent with food for his children

Karen and I went to Deschapelles to visit Josue and it was over a very narrow rough road. He was very pleased to see her and spoke English to me. A very handsome young man who is recovering from a bad accident.

Josue and Karen

Jim was the only one who made it to night devotions with the children!

Ti Luc had a great day after school. He loves to work on the computer with his special keyboard and then he got to use his new tools on the work station that Dickie made for him. He is a whiz with his tools and such fun to watch.

Total concentration on working with tools like a man

Ti Luc practices typing.

Karen, of course, had a very lazy laid back day as she does every day!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, how I wish she could have a laid back lazy day!

After their "easy" day these two lovely ladies definitely resemble each other

Our last week is passing too quickly....

After devotions this morning I (Sandra) headed to the school with Karen to get five sets of grade 2 text books and 2 sets of grade one! It took a little longer than we expected and we were there until recess time which is always a joy to watch.

Preparing textbooks for some grades 1 & 2 students

Dickie was busy with a sewer line...a crappy job, but needed to be done. He was busy with water lines, sinks, doors and many other chores ...including fixing the gun! Jim was working on the computer again and came to school for recess with a snack for the children, helped Dickie with the water line, helped sort and distribute clothes etc. and got adopted by Karena.

Dickie deserves a medal. This time he has his head and hands in the septic tank again.

After lunch we gave out more food to needy families, gave shoes to all the ladies working at HATS, shirts to all the male employees, clothes and sleepwear to all the children. We had a short drive to Luckner's in the back of the truck to try to cool off and get some cold pop.

Food ready for distribution

Parents taking food home to their children who are students in our school

Papa of another preschool student picking up food

New duds

pleased with the new clothes

sorry Mariah, she picked me.

We just finished devotions with the children and are heading to bed soon...it has been very hot the last few days and the best place to sleep is in Karen's bed and we have all threatened we were going there tonight.

for explanation of this picture see blog post of Jan 11, 2013

Dickies Blog

This has been another great day in Haiti. We were all up by 0600. We had pancakes for breakfast which is a favourite of everyone. It was one of the least noisy nights since we arrived, which makes for a better sleep.

Early this morning I saw the neighbour climbing a coconut palm tree. He was fascinating to watch. He climbed barefoot with no mechanical aids carrying a machete then began to harvest most of the large palm fronds from the top of the tree. When he had gotten all he wanted he threw the machete to the ground and after knocking off a single coconut climbed down. A couple of hours later on our way to the school we saw him heading to the marked with the results of his labour.

up or down, equally easy with experience

harvesting Palm fronds

newly woven privacy screen heading for market

I spent most of the day doing small odd jobs, from fixing the truck door to stopping a leak in a washing machine. Doing the jobs is easy, it is trying to find parts or proper tools that take the time. I have been cleaning up the tool room and putting away duplicate tools which will help the next work team. I also posted a large sign asking for help to keep it organized and clean.

Sandra was busy all day doing jobs for Karen. She even has her own desk. Some food was given out but some of the chickens have not arrived yet. She spends a lot of time answering the door and diverting calls needing Karens attention. Jim was busy working on Karens computer. We also put together a clothes rack for the Reimers apartment and transported that and 3 mattresses to the apartment.

assembling clothes rack, who needs instructions?

We all helped feed the children today at School, which we all really enjoy. I saw a lady fixing TJ Kerrys belt at recess this morning and I went over and asked her if she was his Mama, she was and posed for a picture. TJ is sponsored by the Yarmouth Wesleyan Church Kids Club.

Sandra helping feed the kids at school

Dickie and Sandra with TJ and his mom

Jim and I just got back from the Kids home where we had devotions and played with the children for a little while.

We really enjoyed having Pastor Dave and Jess Buckle here for a week. They fit in really well and were a tremendous help to HATS. They got to Canada with no problems, which is a blessing.

When the cat is away.....

Karen, Luckner, Daniel and Pastor Dave and Jessica left about 6:00 AM this morning to take them to the airport and for Karen to get some shopping done in Port Au Prince. We have accomplished some things but both Dickie and Jim had a rest this afternoon. Dickie has been working since 6 o'clock on stuff! I did some computer work for Karen and Jim was helping Dickie and working on Karen's computer.

Beautiful flowers everywhere

Germaine has been looking after both Dickie and Jim as they have been under the weather...making special juices for them etc. Today she made ginger tea for Jim, then later she gave him a drink of squeezed limes and salt! I would have liked the ginger tea BUT Jim could keep the lime and salt.

He has a sore throat and raspy voice and she is determined to get him back to normal...well, as normal as Jim can be.

We got to take a snack for our children to recess at the school today. Jim was swarmed by the little kids and at one point I heard "Sandra help" and I didn't even have a camera!

Ti Luckner during recess

This young fellow was intrigued by Jim for some reason.

Just heard from Karen 4:15 pm and they were on the way home and were retying the mattress to the truck! Hopefully they will arrive before dark.

Luckner & Daniel tying mattress unto truck again

Ti Luc has a keyboard that he uses with his feet and today he wanted to show me how he could use it so after lunch we spent a little over an hour on it. He is good.

Yesterday we had a little mishap here ...... first a tap got kicked and broke so the water needed to be turned off and in doing so the shut off valve, that was shut off with great vigor, broke and we had water spurting everywhere from the second floor over the stairs and on the back wall. Jim put on his swimming trunks and was first in the line of fire with Pastor Dave assisting. It didn't take long and we were back in business again. The pictures are all on Dickies camera and we have no cord or reader that will connect to his camera so just use your imagination. (Just picture Pastor Dave standing behind a beached beluga whale on a ledge with wrenches in hand and a 1.25 inch pipe spewing water) We will add some pictures of our little swingers instead.

Swinger number one

Swinger number two

As last night was the last for Pastor Dave and Jessica we took glow sticks down to the children's home and after devotions we all went outside in the dark and had some fun.

fun with glow sticks

As I write this both Dave and Jessica should be in the air...Dave going to Newark and Jessica to Montreal and both will be home tomorrow!

We forgot to mention Dickie scraped his forehead in several places one day and we (Karen and I) had to put iodine on it...we did it for you Don.

The expression tells the story

Karen here.
It has been a long hot day but thankfully a profitable one. I saw Pastor Dave and Jess into the airport 8:30 a.m. They had to wait more than an hour for Air Canada to open, then another 5 plus hours before takeoff.

Pastor Dave and Jess ready to leave Haiti

Now a six hour wait at airport

Luckner and I (with our trusty security, Daniel) ran all over PAP running errands and doing some shopping for the house of our soon to arrive support missionary family - the Reimers.

It was difficult to see Pastor Dave and Jess leave this morning. Luckner and I, however, believe they will both return. They were quite useful but also fun to have around.

Pastor Dave, thank you for finally getting here.  It meant a great deal that you took the time from your personal family and from your church family to come. Yarmouth Wesleyan Church has been a wonderful support for HATS for years, and we had waited and hoped that you would come. You have now seen for yourself what HATS is about here in Haiti. It has been great seeing you with the children, having you join in the day to day running around, fixing things, setting up and putting furniture together in the house for the Reimers, and more importantly joining in morning and evening devotions, giving the message in church, and blessing many in this area by singing and sharing on Radio Creole.

Jess, thank you, too, for coming. I am really glad you did. We loved having your dad here two years ago and now have appreciated and enjoyed having you as well.Your parents did something right when bringing you up. Thanks for your help in so many areas. Thanks for being willing to jump in wherever and whenever needed.

Pastor Dave and Jess - thank you from all of us at HATS. You came, you accepted, you did, you gave, you supported, you encouraged, you laughed, you cried, you prayed, you blessed.

Hopefully I will see you both in July.

Jess and Dave say Farewell

This week has been amazing-- one of the best weeks of my life thus far, hands down.  I can't really think of any other experience in my life that can even come close to comparing to this.  Though my visit here was short (too short), it has been incredibly eye-opening, and life changing.

I will never forget the people I have met here, or the things I've gotten to experience!  Driving around Haiti in the pan of the truck with all of the kids, singing on Luckner's radio station, running around barefoot catching chickens, beginning and ending the day with devotions with the children and staff, handing out food to people and gifts to sponsor children, our morning walks along the canal with the kids, trying (but failing) to beat JJ in a foot race, buying machetes at the market, attempting to get a family photo of Karen and all of her kids (where they are all looking at the camera at the same time-- not so easy), cracking up laughing at all of the noises with Sandra every night, stargazing on the roof with the older kids... I could go on and on!  These are just a few of the memories that I know I will cherish forever.

Most of all, I would like to say how remarkable it is to see first-hand the amazing work God is doing here, and the way He is using Karen and the staff here at HATS to minister to the community.  I am behind this ministry 100%, and will continue to support it, and encourage others to support it, as much as I can.

I am so, so blessed to have been given the opportunity to come here, and I am REALLY not looking forward to saying goodbye to the children tonight.  My heart sinks just thinking about it.  There's no doubt that they've had a bigger impact on my life than I've had on theirs.  I can say with certainty that I will be coming back here the next chance I get.  I will be leaving a big piece of my heart with these people and this country.

God bless!

Bondye beni nou anpil.

Jess

 ..............

This is Pastor Dave and I just wanted to write a few words on my final day here. This has been a unbelievable experience, much more than I expected. This place gets into your heart, especially the kids. Karen says all the time “it is all about the kids” and it is. This is a place of safety, stability, instruction, training, love and giving them Jesus.

Each day I am impressed by the quality of care and upbringing HATS provides both in the orphanage and the school. Karen, Luckner and the staff really put it all out for the kids. I must admit, there were times when I just wanted to rest and sit, but when the kids came it had to be about them. It is about the kids!

During the last day here I was able to help Dickie with some fixer up projects, plumbing, hanging curtains, repairing door knobs, steps to be painted.

This evening will be our last time with the kids during their devotional time. This will be hard as Jess and I will be gone when they get up. I have so enjoyed the devotional times with the kids. They sing with such sincerity and passion. You sometimes sit and worship at other times you are standing and clapping or marching around the room. Most times I can pick up the tune and sing in English and so get to worship with them. There are many of times when the kids just want you to sit by them and they rest their head on your shoulder or hold your hand, boy that is hard to not melt when that happens.

This has been a wonderful time, lots of work got done, I was able to preach in Church and along with Jim and Jess was able sing on the Radio. The food has been unbelievable, I was hoping to lose weight, does not seem like that is happening. It will take some time to process all this, but I have been challenged in my faith, faith to trust God for the miraculous. I have heard stories of how Karen and Luckner have trusted God and saw Him work in miraculous ways, by providing with them with resources, healing of bodies, and healing of souls. God is working in Haiti.

I am so thankful God provided this opportunity for me to come, and look forward to coming back, but am very excited to see what God is going to continue to do here and what new territory He will take here in Haiti. I also go back with renewed faith that God wants to do some much more in my life and in the life of my Church and my town.

Thanks Karen, Luckner and HATS for allowing us to come.

Sunday greetings from all of us here at HATS.

Sandra writing for us tonight. (Note from Jim...Sandra wants everyone to know that she is not responsible for the photo's chosen or their captions. I will accept the credit/blame as I select them from the photos submitted and if they come in without captions, I add them.) Tomorrow you will hear from Jess and Dave as it will be their last night. We had a wonderful day worshipping the Lord here, I sure hope you all had one as good as ours. We were all out to church here at the school where Pastor Dave spoke and Karen translated. 2 groups of children from here on the compound sang for us and then a group of school students plus 4 children from here sang for us. What awesome singers they are. We were all blessed!

Pastor Dave preaches

Karen translates

I found a beautiful baby that the mom let me hold.

Always a baby in these arms

After church we all piled into the truck and went down to Luckners for a cold pop and a short visit! How many Haitians and blan yo can you get into a truck? ...21 and there was room for more.

heading out to see papa Luckner

at Luckners

We worked a little in the house for Brad and Lois and family, gave some gifts to the children, took lots of photos, had a demonstration about snow and showed photos of snow! The kids were quite interested. Then we handed out some sponsor gifts, which is always a fun time.

Beautiful Anne with her godfather and a gift

Pretty in pink

Dieunel wearing part of his sponsor gift, with his sponsor

Moise getting his sponsor gift

After supper we went for night devotions at the kids home and then took 4 of the older ones and went to the roof for 30-40 minutes. It is absolutely gorgeous up there.

Good Times

JJ intrigued by Daves IPad

We will soon be off to bed for another good nights sleep with the frogs, roosters, pigs, cows, donkeys, dogs and hopefully some singing from a late church service and of course Jim's snoring!