September Birthday Pics

Levi-1, Evan-1, Daniel-2

Daniel and his new duck
Levi wasn't too sure about the she-bang!






and Evan put so much energy into eating his cake he went right to sleep!

This week...

Melinda and Minnie left for the states for about 3 weeks.

I went to the hospital to pick up a baby, and ended up watching a c-section!

There was a mouse in our room...very eventful time trying to get it out!

Janae(c-section baby) joined our ever-growing family. Her mom had come to us before she was born and for a number of reasons wanted/needed to give her baby up.

Just two hours or so after our nurse(Melinda) left to catch her plane, I went to the hopital to pick up another baby. This one was a premature (28 weeks) baby, so very tiny and so very cold. This little boy was the tiniest baby to ever come to HCH. The wonderful pediatrician here, Dr. Touissaint, needed the use of our warming table and incubators for this little one.

For the first time in my life I performed CPR... on that same tiny little baby! I never would have thought that those CPR classes would be put to use on someone so tiny. Pat and I brought him back twice, but then the third time God decided to take him home. That was really hard. It gave me an even deeper appreciation for Pat and Melinda, who do this all the time, putting their all into a child and sometimes losing them. It's way harder when you've been hands on. However, seeing how that little baby struggled so much in his short life, there was also some comfort knowing that he is with the best Healer of all.

Levi stood up without holding on to anything!

Lineda 2nd front tooth came in the rest of the way! Finally!

I started teaching school while Minnie is gone. I don't know how she does it! I've learned that I can teach just fine, but how she keeps all those kids going in their books with all of them being at such different stages I DO NOT KNOW!! As well, there was a lot of "testing the waters" going on. I am not regularly in the classroom, and so many of the kids were trying to find out if I was the same Lori in the classroom as I am downstairs! Some of them didn't like it too much when they realized that I could(and did) put them on time-out even in school! However they did quite well, and they are all still alive (jokes) and I was very thankful for Hannah(one of our great volunteers) and all her help!!

I've acquired a nasty cough/sore throat/plugged ears..very annoying!

There has been much laughter over how the toddlers have all started to say "brush your teeth". Not "brush my teeth" but a perfect copy of how we say "brush your teeth" when we call them to do so.

In my preschool class I've been working on the kids' English vocabulary. One day I held up a picture of a bed and asked them what it was. Gerald responded "go to bed"!!!!! Then they all looked at me in sheer beweilderment as I collapsed into laughter!

I continue to be so blessed by being here. There are times when it's hard(especially cuz I am a wimp when I'm sick cuz I rarely get sick...except for this time it seems!) and I wonder what I am doing here. I never thought potty-training would be such a learning curve...and not just for the kids! I've finally re-adjusted to the weather, and thankfully November is slowly but surely bringing its gift of cooler weather! There was one day when one of the kids said "you bath again?" because my hair was soaking wet with sweat! Sick, I know!
Yet, despite the sweat and feeling like I look like crud almost everyday, and the very difficult days, and all the everday issues, there is so, so, so much joy in being here and knowing I am doing what God has called me to do.

I have called you and you are mine
-The Lord

Visit to RoseEvelyn

This beautiful little girl was under my care the minute I stepped off the place back in August 2007. She had just come to HCH and had to be brought down to Pat in Port as she was doing poorly. It didn't take long for her to get back on her feet and be a happy little girl!

While I was gone after I cut my thumb, her dad(who was not really in the picture) decided that he would not agree to have his daughter signed over to an orphange. So, in Ferbruary she went home with her dad as her mom was very ill at the time. Recently we discovered that her dad ran off to the DR and left RoseEvelyn with her mother and 3 other children to care for on her own.

While we were there, RoseEvelyn's mom told me that Rose always calls me her "Maren" which is Creole for godmother. She then asked if I would like to be Rose's Maren. In Haiti, this is a significant thing, and so I was happy to be asked. Rose's mom also shared with me that she was having a hard time financially supporting all her kids, especially in regards to school. She had sent her 3 oldest to school, but two were sent home after a couple weeks as she could only afford to pay for one to stay in school. So, at this time only the oldest boy is in school. In Haiti, everyone has to pay to go to school, and when kids are younger it costs $100-$200 in addition to uniforms and meals. This is a big deal for the majority of Haitian families, when you think that the average annual income is $350USD. Some families are able to find extra funds to cover these costs, but there are still hundreds of children unable to go to school. There are a small number of schools that are supported by churches or other organizations where children can attend school free of charge, but they are few and far between, and the criteria for being admitted to these schools is necessarily rigorous. In Haiti, children start school when they are well able to sing and talk...which for most kids is about 3 years old. They are required to have three years of kindergarten and be able to read before they can graduate from kindergarten and start grade one. Some children in the free church school here are 12 and 14 years old and just starting school! Such a late though welcome opportunity!

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot since our visit with RoseEvelyn. About how difficult it is to access so many things here, and how easy it is for us at home in North America. I sometimes feel so overwhelmed on the behalf of the people here, especially when I really stop to think about how much they struggle for just the simple things of life.

I am blessed.

The children in this home are blessed.

And I hope that during my time here I can in turn be a blessing to the people of this country with my time, my heart, my funds, and my Jesus.

Fun, fun, fun!

Chris and Moise

These rocks made many, many trips!

"Can we play 'catch the ball' ?"(James)

Who is that anyway??

I get the funniest glares from the washing ladies when I pull out the chalk...but we just keep drawing...even on ourselves!

Our very own petting zoo!

An adoptive family purchased some livestock for the biological family of their daughter. The kids were more than happy to share our yard with them until we could get a hold of the family. The only thing that they decided they didn't like so much when the animals went home 3 days later, was the goat poo everywhere!

Checking out the cows

Worth dancing about!

They all had these silly grins all afternoon!

Can I feed it? Will it bite me? It's greedy!

Non-stop chatter for 2 days. Every child that can talk can now say goat and cow and recognize them without hesitation!

Happy Birthday:August in November

Due to a flood of new and fragile children, an actual flood, the activities co-ordinator(me) being gone, and a number of other reasons, we are just now catching up on our August/September/October birthdays, just in time for our November party!

James-tickled pink with his motor-cross cake!

Golson grabbed the Oreo nose right off the cake!



RoseLisa turns 1 year old!

A well as Golson-2, Robentzson-4, Amanda-10, Lineda-1, James-7, Jamesky-1


We are currently working on getting bikes for the older toddlers and children here.

Thanks to all of you who have been a part of this project! There are some kids who have been really happy this year, and we nearly have enough bikes for all!

Grandma Pat's Babies

Please check out Grandma Pat's Babies to catch up on what has been happening here at HCH. Things have been busy and every time we go to blog the power goes out or a baby shows up or something else!! So I managed to help Pat get her blog caught up and so now I will be working on getting mine caught up!
I am doing just fine except for a scratchy throat! Our house has recovered for the most part from the crazy sickness that we were dealing with and it's amazing what a difference that makes in the everday runnings of things!

Lots of great stories and photos to follow...and if you are not already going to the fundraiser on Saturday, you should get yourself on the phone and get registered!