View of the area in front of the orphanage from the roof...the field currently has corn stalks about 15 feet tall in it!
Back of the house
Outside Kitchen...here they cook for the workers and the children over coal fires
The back yard...this was early in November afer 4 days of non-stop rain....we had laundry hanging/laying in every imaginable place to dry!
Haiti Children's Home...yep, it's ALL cement!! 
Pharmacy....thanks to some awesome people from Alberta, and
The Kids' Playroom
The baby area of the playroom
A Bedroom....most of the rooms are really wonderfully painted....flowers, trucks, dogs, butterflies, etc. Each room has 4-7 kids depending on what type of bed they need and whether they are a boy or a girl as they get older. There are a lot of iron workers here, and so home-made rebar/scrap metal beds are readily available.
So...I've had this reucurring problem that at times can be almost embarrasing(except I'm not easily embarrassed). I itch. I itch everwhere. Sometimes my itches are itchy.
I am the source of much laughter around here, especially in the evenings when the itchiness becomes very...itchy!
I was really beginning to think that I had some kind of issue...I'd checked for bed begs, tried different laundry soap, showered more often, but still itched and itched.
Then...the answer came. I was cleaning my room and happened across my chloroquine information sheet. I read through the sheet, mostly to avoid cleaning, and read about the various side effects, including nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and other as appealing issues. Then I saw it...ITCHING. Yep, it's a side affect!! And of course, I would be the one, the only one Melinda has EVER heard of to experience this wonder!
I've decided if I ever write a book about my experiences in Haiti, I am going to call it "My Chloroquine Itch:Memoirs of Haiti".
I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to handle this for 8 more months...we'll see. The chloroquine may have to go...
So, funny thing happened yesterday. We went into town to fill the truck up with diesel and found out that all the pumps were out and they did not know when fuel was coming. So, seeing as my friends needed to go to the airport the next day, we realized we had to figure out something. After discussing our options and driving around Mirebalais trying to find out where the closest fuel was, we realized we were going to have to go about an hour away to fill up. The thing was, the fuel gage was just above the "E"! So, one of the male workers and I and Melinda's 3 year old son jumped in the truck and headed out with very little fuel and a prayer! Did I mention I was driving...very few of the workers here know how to drive, and so I've been doing a lot of driving as there is always a need for someone to run for water and such. Anyway, we set out on the main road west of here, which I had never driven on before...it's really nice and paved....except for the huge potholes that your truck suddenly falls into!! Seriously, they come out of nowhere!! I have never geared up and down so many times before!! Not to mention the donkeys and kids and big huge trucks that don't like to share the road! Along the way we stopped to pick up a big huge truck driver who had run out of gas on the way to get gas, and I shortly discovered why God had put him in our path. In the middle of nowhere(at least it seemed so to me) I felt the truck give out....yep, we had run out of fuel!! "Conveniently" the driver we had picked up had some "jerry cans" (old empty vinegar containers) and he gave us one to use. So, Lunto (the Haitain worker with me) jumped on a motorbike that was passing by, and said he'd be right back as the town was really close. So, I found myself sitting on the side of the road with a 3 year old, no phone, fully expecting to be there for at least an hour. People were appearing out of nowhere, looking at the "blan" stranded on the side of the road! 10 minutes passed and I could not believe my eyes when I saw Lunto returning with our "jerry can". Minutes later we were on our way again, and sure enough there was the gas station, literally around the next corner!!! We filled the truck up and then headed home. I was so relieved to have made it safely so far though a story Melinda had shared with us recently kept coming to my mind...apparently in Haiti if a driver hits someone and kills them, people will chase them down and burn them alive in their truck....nice huh?? She did say that if that happened to us we likely would not be killed as we are not Haitian...however, we've all been a little more careful!! It's things like that that help you remember you are in a foreign land, especially as sometimes you get so used to things you kind of forget where you are!!
How's that for an ending to a tale??
So, I could hardly believe when I logged on to update my blog and realized I have not blogged since the 5th!!! Sorry!!!
Things have been really busy, more than usual if you can believe it, and sitting and waiting for photos to load onto blogger(which takes FOREVER!!) has not really sounded to exciting at the end of the day!!
We had a bunch of kids get sick at the same time with colds and fevers, and there was a lot to do. Then in the midst of all of that one of the young men that works here came down with what we think is Typhoid, and things were pretty scary for a couple of days! He's on the mend now though, thanks to many prayers and Melinda's know how!! In the midst of all that, there was/is pink eye of sorts going around Haiti, and workers have been missing work due to this, and that always makes things busier, making sure things are being covered!! I even managed to get another weird infection on my leg...me and Amoxycillin are becoming best friends!!
Things seem to be quieting down now though...our group of volunteers is starting to dwindle down now though, and I'm gonna miss a lot of great people(and all their help)!! Two girls left last week, then another this past Tuesday, and Louise and Julian are leaving next week!! That will leave us two long term girls, as well as another girl leaving on the 7th...then my friend Kristy arrives on the 14th!!! I'm really looking forward to that!!
Joanna, Wilclair and Wiltosso with their "bling"!
So much has happened since I've last blogged, I'm not even sure where to start!! We had a four day non-stop rain storm that made travel and communication here quite nuts, and we were not even really affected by the water as people were in Port-au-Prince and other parts of Haiti as well as in the Dominican.
As you will see in the pics on this posting, our numbers have grown again. Last week we welcomed two new children...a brand new baby girl who was born one morning and dropped off at her fathers by her mother who then took off, and was brought here by a nieghbour lady who happens to work here. Her name is Lydia and she's doing quite well, and seems huge compared to Evan and Levi who are still so small!!
And a girl makes three!!
Say hello to Lydia!!
This is Richard(pronounced the same way as our famous hockey player!!). He came to us just over a week ago, a 15lb malnourished, neglected little fellow. However, it has been very intersting to watch him slowly come out of his shell and turn into a very cute interactive little boy. He is quite popular around here, and continues to surprise us every day with his antics. We still do not know what is going to happen with him, as no family member has shown up to either sign him over or let us know what they are going to do with him. This means that at any time someone could show up and take him...we are all praying this does not happen!
The first day Richard smiled!
A couple weeks ago something really...well..funny I suppose is the right word, happened to me. Three of us girls and a Haitian man and our driver took 5 children down to Port-au-Prince to get Canadian medicals done. After a fairly uneventful morning of doctor visits and errand running, things suddenly took a steep turn. We had just finished buying some groceries and I was taking a toddler out of the cart, when the surprised looks and exclaims of the staff in the store grabbed my attention. As I had taken the child out of the cart and swung him on to my hip, diarrhea had literally flew out of his diaper and made a two foot stream on the floor of the store!! Not only that, my side was covered in it, and there was a pile of the stuff in the child seat of the cart! Everyone around was either laughing or looking at us in utter shock, and I was laughing and trying to absorb what had happened. Somehow we got out of the store, though not before the man that came and took the cart clearly showed by his facial expression that this was NOT IN HIS JOB DESCRIPTION!!! The stench was amazing, and I was covered with it. Thankfully I had taken my own advice and packed extra clothes, but then I had to go back in the store and walk by all the smirking people to go and change! Oh the utter hilarity!! The day by no means stopped there, as I was doused again later that day, and while waiting in the bathroom at another grocery store, I realized just how horrible I smelled when one lady who was also waiting suddenly gasped and "Ki bagay se santi konsa?"(What thing is smelly like that??)...she was unknowingly referring to me!!! After I finished in the bathroom, I proceeded to march up and down the aisles until I found my saving grace....a bottle of Febreeze!!! There was a lot of laughter and tears that accompany hard laughter...and everytime we talk about that day, the waterworks start again!! Oh the adventures!!!
Saturday afternoons are craft days...the kids love to put glue on everything...the paper, the table, the chairs, their hands, faces, feet...it's been everywhere!
This is Evan at almost a month...can't believe how different he looks everyday! We are still wondering if he is hydrocephalic..and praying he's not!
I have offically become a wide-eyed, overfull, precarioulsy dodging kids(both the human and goat kind), motorcycles, donkeys, wheelbarrows, driver in Haiti. It's been very exciting let me tell you. But, it's given me a sense of freedom and the ability to go to go and do things that we otherwise have to wait around for. However,I am not planning on hitting the pandemoneum of Port-au-Prince anytime soon!
Meet Levi...the third baby to come since I've been here. He's 19 days old and not super healthy, but he's holding on and starting to eat.
Some new friends and I out for a break!
The Cabaret river flooded last week and has killed 47 people and left about 7000 homeless. You can see how high the water was on this house under the line of mud. The Cabaret river affected the town of Cazale about 3 hours from here. The river near here is also very swollen and actually swept a little boy right out of his house. It's amazing that these things are happening right outside the gate...really makes you stop and think about where you are...
A photo taken in Cazale after the water subsided. The road as been completely washed away in places, and people actually have to drive as far as they can, carefully walk on the a narrow path to the other side where the road is good, and get on another tap-tap(Haitian taxi).
An afternoon surprise in my bed!
A rare smile from Derson
Ketteline looking pretty after surviving her favorite thing....getting her hair done!
Pat and the littlest man in the house, Evan.So, last night a little birdie informed me by hilariously delayed SKYPE(internet phone) that I had really been slacking on the blogging front! Consider my hand slapped! I didn’t realize how many people have been keeping up with me via my blog…maybe a few hello’s would help remind me!!(hint hint)
Anyway, things have been insanely busy here!!! We have had 5 kids leave in a matter of three weeks, so that means that we have had families here to pick up kids and that kinda throws everything into more of a loop than usual...though it's really neat to see kids bonding with their families and to see their personalities emerge that are hidden downstairs amongst 38 other kids!
Two weeks ago I spent the weekend in Port-au-Prince being a support to a lady that was here picking up her little girl and had been waiting almost 3 weeks for the passport to be released. It had been quite a stressful time for her, and I was glad I could "be a pal" and be there for her. I actually went to the Embassy with her all on my own and helped get her visa(I really didn't do much more than translate), after we sat in this stuffy little hot restaurant the Friday and waited for a number of people to get the passport released. Rumour was the machine that puts the emblem on the front of the passport was broken down...only in Haiti does such a thing happen, and only to people who have been waiting for two years to take their baby home! But, by God's grace and perhaps a couple "loaded" handshakes to get us in a couple doors, everthing happened in time for the ladies flight the next day. The day we were at the embassy, we got dropped off there and after we got the visa I realized I had to find a way to get us back together with our driver...only I don't yet have a cellphone, and there is no such thing as a handy payphone in the building!! So, we ventured down the street, as I know that everwhere are what I call "phone guys". Somehow or other they have these regular looking house phones all jacked up so that they are totally portable and are literally a walking payphone. I had no idea what the cost was or how to go about using the system, but with a wide-eyed very trusting adoptive mom in tow, I mangaged to get in contact with our people and not get totally ripped off!! Cedieu, one of the guys that works here was the one I had to get a hold of, and he announced that I was truly Haitian when he realized I had just gone and found a phone and got done what needed to happen without just sitting there for hours!! I didn't tell him that I was somewhat comforted by the big UN tank sitting on the street!!
Last week 4 girls arrived, one of whom is going to be staying for a year as well. They are all so nice and we've had a lot of fun these past couple weeks...the shower line has gotten a bit long, especially since two more girls arrived on Tuesday!!
School here has officially started and the kids are really picking English up quickly!! It's amazing how much they actually absorb when you think you just spent 1/2hr talking for no reason!! There is a gal here who is getting us started for 5 weeks and she's really great!! I am really sad that she is leaving in such a short time, not only because she's a great teacher, but cuz we mesh quite well together!I'm hoping she'll come back again this year while I am here!
We've started doing small group sessions at night, and that has made the bedtime routine so much calmer!! It's amazing!! Pat, Melinda, myself and Minnie(who is here for a year) each have a group and it's been neat to see how the kids identify with THEIR groups each night...they are quite particular that each kid is in the right place!
We've been doing a lot of crafty type things...really focusing on working on hand-eye
co-ordination and being able to follow directions. The kids really love being able to cut and color and use glue and then have something to call their own!! All those years of camp and Sunday School and other such things have really helped me with ideas!
We've been working on improving the kids' diet here, and with the improved changes has come a fount of diarrhea!! Peeheeww!!! But, they are loving the new food and it's been so great to have all these volunteers here who can help cook and show the haitian cooks how to cook new things!
Hmmm....there are a few projects going on here, such as cleaning out the plumbing system as things are not quite running as they should. As well, we have been getting a surprising amount of rain, and it has turned the back yard near the house into a marsh of sorts, complete with noisy frogs! So, we've decided to work it all up and make a big cement pad out there...this will provide a place to park the truck, and keep the water level down which will help with the mosquitos which have suddenly presented themselves in full force!! Melinda never ceases to amaze me with her know-how of so many things!!
Evan is doing well...he no longer looks like an alien! He's a really cute little boy, all four pounds of him! The rest of the kids are quite well...a few sick with colds and we've been fighting eye infections with some, but over all things are helathy here.
I've been doing really well as well. A few too many mosquito bites, and some tired days, but overall content and happy to be doing what I know I've been called here to do! It's been really neat to actually talk with the kids and get to know them so much better...I really have to work on not getting too attached cuz I love them all so much already...although I think it's too late with one little guy that calls my name up the stairs all hours of the day...
I'll try not too be so long between posts next time...my fingers are sore!!
Only 8 of 11 little busy people...6pm-7pm I feel quite smothered...but I love it!!
Squeaky Clean!
Happy Birthday to me!So, it's been a while since I've written and as I just discovered some crazy news, I thought I might as well take the time to say hello and bring you up to date.
This evening I was downstairs feeding babies supper when all of a sudden there was this HUGE HUGE BANG, which surprised and scared everyone! All of us in the dining room thought it was just a big crack of thunder, but about 10 minutes ago I was informed that lightening came in through the window in Pat's room and hit the floor!! NO JOKE!!! Melinda was in the room and saw it all! CRAZY!!! We can only guess that the warming table, incubator(with might I add, a 3lb preemie in it), and the anti-jaundice lights(very techinical name!!) in front of that window attracted the lightening!! Nothing was wrecked and no-one was hurt...guess all this concrete is good for something!!! Praise the Lord that the sound was all that we knew of the incident!!
Things have been very busy here. About two weeks ago we had another preemie join us. I was able to help dub him "Evan...he's been doing quite well after a few not-so-sure-if-he-was-gonna-make-it days, and now he's eating from a teeny tiny little bottle and has normal coloured stools...I know some of you are like "ewwwhhh", but hey, we are thankful for small things here!!
We've been having some difficulites with the older children downstairs as things are changing as about 15 adoptions are coming to a close. The kids are starting to feel the changes and have reacted with some not so wonderful behaviors. We have spent some time discussing things that we can do to make things easier with the many changes coming, and I would appreciate if you would pray that these things work.
I was really happy the other day when Melinda, who speaks Creole like a Haitian, said to me that I speak really good Creole!! Hurray!!! Such an answer to prayer!! Only once in a while do I say something that sends people into peals of laughter...and that makes me wonder what terrible thing I must have said!! My friend Jojo has really been cracking down on me when I say things incorrectly grammatically...and I in turn have been helping him with refining his English. Please pray for him as he goes to hopefully pick up his Canadian visa(hopefully for real this time) and prepares to attend Bible College in Alberta.
Haven't spent much time in the schoolroom the last week or so...we've had a really wonderful adoptive family here the last week, as well as two volunteers, and things have been quite hectic at times. The schoolroom was in a state of disaster as we had cleaned out the storage room in it, and there were random, nasty, ratty, catty things all over! However, now things are clean and ready to go again. We had a meeting last week and decided to wait until October to start formal school as that's in just over a week and our other long-term people will be here by then. This also allows the children of Pat and Melinda to get settled into school before things get busy up there!
I've been doing great...finally seem to have rid myself of this little ringworm on my arm....so annoying!! Have a few too many bugbites in places I have to scratch behind closed doors...oh, I know, terrible Lori, terrible!! Nope, just honest!
Please pray that I will have patience with the kids with these behavoiur issues we are seeing, that I will be more disciplined at self-discipline, and that God would calm and reassure the kids who are leaving and the kids who are staying behind. Please pray for Melinda and as she is so busy with so many things, and for Pat as she deals with the in's and out's of life here at HCH, and pray that I can continue to be a good support to them.
Thanks for all the birthday hello's and encouragements!!
Please pray for this little girl. Her name is Rose-Lisa and she is the daughter of one of my friends I met last year. She was born on August 9th and she has some serious deformities of her legs, likely the result of a botched home abortion. I am in the process of finding out what kind of aid we can get for her, so please pray that God would open some doors and that we could show the families of her parents the God is bigger than this situation. I'll keep you posted as I find out more.
I feel a lot more involved this year in the every day runnings of things, and am currently working on implementing a consistent bedtime routine...and it's tough getting 40 kids into bed, let me tell you! If you ever wanna try a simulation of bedtime here try this....get 15 kids under 3, 14 between 3and 5, and 7 between 5 and 12...then put all the ones under 2 in bed(after you change them of course!), all the while ensuring that everyone else has not overturned the water cooler and have not gone for an evening swim! Then, get all the little girls to the kitchen for a glass of water and attempt to have them drink the water with their mouths not their shirts, if you know what I mean! Send them all to the bathroom with one toilet and 10 potties, and pray that there is toilet paper so you don't have to leave and run for the key to get toilet paper! Once eveyone has done their duty and, get them to wash up and brush their teeth. One you have saved the toothpaste from being eaten at least 5 times, send all the little girls to bed.
Next, gather all the little boys who are by this time driving one nanny or another crazy, and get them watered, all the while keeping your eyes open for any wandering little girls!
Line the boys up and "march" to the bathroom, where once again they share 1 (Yes one) toilet...keep in mind that most of the boys are older and are not cool with using a potty! Oh, and many of them have not yet mastered the whole "aiming" thing...don't think you need more details than that! In the midst of all this there are 10 babies crying as they settle in for the night! Once everyone has used the toilet, get them all to wash up and brush their teeth(if they can find the toothbrush that someone else likely scrubbed something with earlier in the day) and shoo them down the hallways to bed. Double check to make sure you got everyone out of the playroom, and begin tucking everyone in...oh, and have I mentioned that at least 5 of them don't have a sheet on their bed and you need to go and find one and fix up their bed and get them back into it...oh and that 4 of the two year olds have decided to take an evening stroll!! After you kiss 40 little cheeks and think that things are done for then evening, you hear someone calling you and telling you that their ear hurts and that one of the babies in their room is vomiting...there is always something!!!
And just think, it was crazier than this before!! and However, they are learning the routine, and learning that they need to obey me, so in time I know that it will be much easier!
Things are going well...I had an awesome nap yesterday despite a few little knocks on my door to tell me that so-and-so had done such-and-such, and others just checking to see if I was actually sleeping...so nice of them!! ;)
We've got some kinda sickness going through the babies right now...a fever and such...a few have some heat rash...we could use your prayers that it gets through everyone and gone sooner than later!
Meet Danae...all 3lbs of her!
Hurray!!! My things arrived in Port yesterday and the boys went to retrieve them today. I was really happy to see my suitcases, and know I would not have to send my mom on a mad shopping spree! I have underwear galore!!!
The only thing is that they obviously(riduculously so) went through one of my suitcases and it's actually totally wrecked!!! Arggh!!! I may have to write them a little letter...for a free ticket perhaps(I wish!)
Things went great today. We did some organizing in a storage room on the roof and I think I sweated a small bucket full...seriously gross! There is so much stuff here that needs to be organized and I am happy that I can help out with that which will help to know exactly what we have to work with...even with sweat dripping running flowing down my face!
The little girl that I have been taking care of has decided that I am her mother and as she's doing better, we are introducing her back to her group downstairs and there has been a lot of screaming! Kind of flattering but frusterating at the same time as I can't be downstairs without her attached to my hip!
Kind if had a teary moment today when I was sitting with a boy who is six and was thinking about how he hasn't had a mommy to rock him to sleep and pat his back...and still needs one!
Anyway, I need to do as much as I can with the power on.
Sorry no pictures yet!
I'm here!! It's hot and I have so many things to tell you already! The trip was fine, even though once we got to Port-au-prince(Port) we realized that no matter how long we waited, our luggage was not going to show up. Oh, and it still hasn't!! And American Airlines has no idea where it is! So, I have been washing my one set of clothes every night and wearing them everyday...the Haitian way I suppose!
So, where to begin on the rest of the last couple days! After the luggage fiasco, Thym picked us up and we went to a place called Blue Ridge which is a mission run by Mennonites to wait for Melinda to fly in. It was so nice to see Pat and a few kids and let it sink in that I was finally in Haiti. Pat immediatly bestowed me with a beautiful little 2 year old girl who is temporarily at the orphanage as she's quite malnourished and had actually been rushed down the mountain to stay with Pat in Port as she took a turn for the worse. It was kinda nice actually because it gave me a focus for the next couple crazy days. So, we picked up Melinda and witnessed a UN truck flip over...you should have seen the hype that caused!! Only in Haiti! It was already late in the day, and since we were planning to take the much longer route home as the road is better, we decided to stay overnight in Port. It was nice to have a moment to breathe, and enjoy the pool there...yes I was spoiled!
We headed home after a few stops, and after about 1 1/2hrs we had to turn around because the truck started acting up and it was 4 more hours home. So we headed to another mission called Christian Service Int'l (CSI) and got a suite in one of their guest houses while the guys took the truck to get fixed. Shortly after supper, we got a call that one of the babies was really sick and had been taken to the hospital in Mirebalais, which as I have learned is not the greatest option.
So, after some discussion, we decided to load up the truck and head up the mountain road...in the pitch dark! Not a super great idea for many reasons, but a necessary one! There were some groups of people that we drove by really quickly...imagine what you will... The road is looking a lot better however, and the 3 hour trip now takes only 1 1/2 hrs!! Amazing!! And the Lord kept us safe and we made it home by 11pm. There was a nurse at the hospital who did a really great job and the baby was looking good as could be expected, which really surprised Melinda and Pat.
We arrived at HCH and after unloading, feeding some hungry kids, and getting settled, I went to bed. And I woke up sore knowing I must have slept like a log!
I am sleeping downstairs and the noise of the kids woke me up early this morning. It was so great to see them! They are all so big and I was surprised how many remembered me. They also kept asking where Ingie was and saying that we are supposed to come together! The babies I cared for last year are all walking and doing great, and the sick little guy that came right before we left last year is looking amazing and is so cute and totally cuddly!
It's hot, and my one shirt has been quite, shall we say, moist!
The classroom/play area is looking amazing so far. A team was just here and they did a bunch of painting and I am so excited to get things set up amd seeing what God has planned to happen in that room in the next year!
I am really happy to finally be here...admittedly there were some teary moments on the way here, but some really happy ones mixed in there!
So, I'm here, I'm happy, I'm sweating alot, and receiving lots of hugs and kisses.
Lots of pictures to come.
So, on the left of this page and down a little there is a "Guest map"...it's for me to know where people are from when they check my blog...and so I can know who's scrutinizing every word I write and wondering why in the world I chose to be a missionary...in Haiti, in the heat, admist the bugs and tarantulas...yes, you will hear about all of the above...numerous times...but I am so happy to be going!
