Haiti is...

(Cross posted from Chicken Run Haiti)

Haiti is

Exhausting
Exciting
Fun
Tragic
Growing
Hard work
Hot and sweaty
Uplifting

Haiti is

Spiritual
Sad
Painful
Sweet
Breezy
Sunny
Noisy
Smelly
Yummy
Thirsty
Hungry


Haiti is

Faithful
Holy
Buggy
Life giving
Life saving
Sharing
Kind
Grabbing
Struggling
Scraping

Haiti is

Digging
Shoveling
Suffering
Benevolent
Romantic
Improving

Haiti is

Palm trees
Coffee
Banan frites
Spicy
Refreshing
Old and new
Welcoming
Angry
Sullen and resentful
Resigned
Broken
Repairing

Haiti is

Warm pools and dusty streets
Scary
Friends
Traffic
Open sewers
Homeless children
Laughter
Helping

Haiti is

Moist
Illiteracy
Education
Unemployment
Politics
Corruption
Robbing peter to pay paul
Beautiful
Handcrafts
Pride

Haiti is

Tears
Joy
Sugar
Tap taps
Horns beeping
Roosters crowing
Free range goats
Locked gates
Guards with guns
Open arms
Faithful
Peaceful

Haiti is

Haiti Uses Me Like a Rubber Band

Haiti uses me like a rubber band. Stretches me

Because my heart knows I am here to serve, yet

My head does not know how, or even why. It

Wonders if what I do here will matter.

My teachers are about to arrive.

I see Mersilia

As she comes to my scale to be weighed.

She must be helped to walk,

With each slow step she winces in pain:

70 pounds

28 years old

Sickle cell anemia

Dr. Rony says she must go to the hospital—

Something else is wrong.

We make plans:

Her older sister and mother will come,

I will go to make arrangements and pay,

Pastor Solomon will drive (a gentle man who

Is also a lawyer, working to help victims of Haiti's child slavery).

After her frail body is carried to the truck

We begin the long, bumpy ride.

The intake physician is kind, but

The small ER has half a dozen people

Working on the unconscious policeman

Whose motorcycle crashed into a wall.

Other patients sit or lie in different corners

Of the room, some on IV's.

We wait our turn.

Finally I am sent to pay the first fee—

Everything seems agonizingly slow here.

Pay, then blood work. Wait.

Pay, then a shot of morphine. Wait.

Pay, then x-rays. Wait.

Four hours have passed.

We will probably have to bring her

All the way back here tomorrow

To see the Canadian doctor.

No—maybe if we wait longer

He will finish in the OR and come.

I look over at her.

In her tiredness and pain

She returns the most gentle, understanding smile.

Another hour passes—I wonder if we should leave.

I try to apologize to Pastor Solomon for the long waiting.

He smiles and says simply,

“If we love Jesus, this is what we do.”

Is it time? I look over at Mersilia:

No, my heart decides. We must persevere for her.

The ER becomes even busier.

I tell them we will have to leave soon.

“No, wait ten minutes—the doctor knows you are here,

He will come!”

He does.

She has rheumatoid arthritis. She can have pain medication.

A specialist can see her next Wednesday.

They will treat her disease.

Later, as we say good bye,

She warmly smiles her thanks.

My heart knows it has been worth it.

So I am different now,

Stretched out into

A place of gentle waiting where

Events can flow around me. Sometimes

I remember I can respond from within,

Instead of reacting from without.

I wonder—

Will the rubber band snap back

So that I lose this new found gift of

Waiting for the heart to lead?

Yet I see I also have been working, preparing for

This gift Haiti has given me.

Now my heart knows—

The rubber band

Can always stretch again.

Jonathan Wright-Gray

March 29, 2015

Daphka and Ada

Ada is a wonderful person who has come down to Haiti with us for a couple years, but was not able to join us this year. Durning that time she has made a connection with a child at the orphanage named Daphka, who is a sweet little girl of 10 now, but I think 8 when Ada first met her. 

When we first visited the orphanage this trip Daphka came up to me and asked where Ada was because she did not see her. I told her that Ada was not able to come which made her quite sad. In an attempt to cheer her up I tried to call Ada from the cell phone I have with me, but unfortunately Ada was not available and the call went to voice mail. I tried to get Daphka to leave a message, but I don't think the message was more than Daphka saying Ada's name. 

Daphka left and I continued to play and speak with the other children. A while later Daphka came back with a letter for Ada and made me promise to deliver it.  I said I would and gave the letter to one of the people with us who will see Ada when we return to the US.

I received and email from Ada saying that she saved the voice message so she could hear it when she wanted and she wrote a letter to Daphka using Google to translate it. This letter was attached to the email and we were able to print it out. 

Tonight when we visited the kids at the orphanage after a very long medical clinic day, I took the letter with the intent to read it to her, but as a now 10 year old it turns out that she was able to read it herself, which I think is really better. She was overjoyed to received the letter and read it out loud a couple of times I think. 

While the letter was greatly received, Daphka was still sad as she misses Ada. But as someone pointed out it was a better type of sad than before she had the letter. While Daphka was reading the letter I was able to call and reach Ada on the cell phone and they talked for a while as a tear dribbled down Daphka's cheek. Just as Daphka handed the phone back to me my international minutes ran out. Praise God for his timing. 

Durning the prayer time before the children go to bed I was standing with Daphka and at one point 

the children are told to pray their individual prayers. This is a time when all the children pray at the same time and it is actually a wonderful time of prayer as all the different thoughts, hopes, dreams, and fears are lifted to God is a twisted ball or overlapping words that only God could possibly understand. 

Right before this praying started Daphka reached up and whispered into my ear to "pray for Ada".

So tonight I pray for Daphka and Ada and the wonderful relationship they have formed over short weekly visits and continued thoughts and prayers of and for each other.  May God continue to watch over and care for this relationship and may it blossom for many years to come. Amen. 

Joys, Evil, and an Unhealed Heart

When I sat down to write this post my intent was to only speak of the joys of today. That however is  not honest. The main joys were in the morning, even though there were joys in the midst of the evil to surface later in the day.

The day began as we loaded the truck and headed to the site where we were to hold the medical clinic. I jumped in the back of the pickup truck as opposed to getting into one of the SUVs because I find it much easier to be a part to the city riding there and feel separate from the city when in an SUV. Port-au-Price is a city full of movement and it is strangely comforting to be in the movement.

We arrived at the site and the school was still in session so we really could not set up the clinic as the children were finishing a exam. This meant we had a little bit of time to mingle with the neighborhood. I enjoy talking to the people in my broken Creole and they all seem very willing to help me get my pronunciation a little more correct as well as very patient with me. One of the doctors and I ended up purchasing some fried plaintans from a vendor and while I didn't end up getting any I hear they were good. 

While all this was going on some other members of our group were setting up activities and playing with the kids. They were playing with a parachute with what seemed to be 20 or 30 kids. There was pure joy there and it was a blessing to be able to stand there and simply observe the joy and love being shared. 

Once the medical clinic began it was much like many clinics. There was lots of activitity, triage people triage-ing, doctors doctoring, etc.  in these moments you can miss things as you hustle to make the clinic function and miss individuals. The individual today was fortunately not missed thanks to at least one individual on our team. She was 18, had some mental capacity issues, and just found out she was pregnant. The evil in our midst was that she was raped by someone in the village and was now pregnant because of that rape. And she almost slipped out the door. 

Praise God that one of our team noticed her face and called out for a translator to stop her before she left. From there we were able to connect her with the with wife of the main Pastor with which we work, as well as the local church pastor, and another of our team members who has worked in rape counciling centers. For the brief time she was in our arms she was showered with love, acceptance, prayer, and acknowledgement that regardless of her situation she is an valued and loved child of God. 

To be honest there was little we could do for her beyond what was done. While she did not attend the church where the clinic was held (the church doubles as a school on weekdays) the local Pastor agreed to try to help her and look in on her; but acknowledged that despite this that this was likely not the first nor the last that this girl would be abused because her mental capacity made her vulnerable.  I am not sure which is more evil, the fact that she was raped, the fact that there is almost a helpless acceptance that it will continue, or the fact that this is the second trip to Haiti that I have hard to rage against the men of Haiti and their treatment of women. THIS MUST STOP. The churches need to speak and teach of this and NOT accept it.  

While the events that brought this girl to us were evil, there was joy. She was and is loved. By the time she left us one of the main individuals from our group that was loving her said that she smiled. I suspect that smile won't last long and that there will be rough days, weeks, months, and years ahead. I pray that in those tough times she can look back on the love she received today and find strength through God's grace. 

While we were reviewing the day someone in the group mentioned that every time they come to Haiti their heart breaks again and again. For me, I don't think that is true. My heart doesn't break each time I come to Haiti. Instead I don't think my heart has healed since the first time I stepped off the bus 3 months after the earthquake into Haiti for the first time. The wound sometimes feels less painful, I may even forget about it for short periods of time, but being in Haiti quickly reopens the wound and the blood flows. 

I pray for the girl tonight, that she rest easy in the love received today and in God's grace. That girls all over the world that have and are experiencing these evils tonight feel God's love in the midst of the unspeakable pain and that despite what the world says, that they realize that they are valuable and loved not only by many on earth but an eternal father that may not seem to be there at times, but is looking at and holding them in love.  Amen. 

Musee du Pantheon National Haitien (MUPANAH) & time at the orphanage

Greetings!
A whole week has passed - so very long and so very short.

Laundry day - drying on our guest house roof top.

I wish I could send you a video of the buzz of activity in the sewing class...
I keep being excited...
I visited today to talk with the teacher about making  Days for Girls kits.
He seems to think it's very doable - I am more hesitant given the responses of accomplished seamstresses in my life - but we live on hope and faith....

We visited the National Museum of Haiti today.
It was fascinating to see the interplay of major players in our history and theirs.
We saw lot's of artifacts and learned alot about their history (and - by the way we saw the anchor of the Santa Maria with a little circular hole in one place where a piece was removed to give to Charles Lindberg)

And, across from Museum, the bicentennial tower celebrating Haitian Independence. Young Roneldine called it the Haitian Eiffel Tower. She says folks can no longer climb it but it is decorated well at Christmas time.

Afterward we shared lunch with our hosts here at the Guest house (PB & J sandwiches and ham and cheese sandwiches, juice and cookies...)
And after a brief siesta we returned to the orphanage for basketball and coloring.
Christina is learning to make baskets from the OT therapy aid who is also teaching the class for adults.

What a good day!

The value of a person

WEDNESDAY - visited 3 hospitals and discovered something about their specialties and how to contact them about a referral.  The closest I can come is to compare it to visiting 3 colleges in one day in 95 degree heat.  Such a simple thing and it was exhausting...
These photos are of the courtyards of St. Damiens.

 And their chapel

The visits were well worth it though and again I am grateful for our "planning week" and all it has offered.
On our way the hospital visits I stopped in and took a few photos of the sewing class going strong!

In the midst of these visits we stopped at Walls International Guest House to pay our deposit for next week.   Our reservations were apparently made after the prime rooms were booked and the rooms they had for us were moldy and one of them was shamefully dirty.
I was so depressed - sure it would be too late to get anything decent that wasn't exorbitant.
We looked at another place on our way by and it was worse - not good security and not appropriate.  I felt alot of guilt for the group...  

THURSDAY
Today "Madame Pastor," Pastor Ronel's wife Manise came and picked us up to visit another guest house.  As mired as I was in group leader guilt, I was not hopeful... But it was wonderful!
So we are staying at the Coconut Villa Hotel, Rue Berthold, Delmas 19, Port au Prince

You can visit online for a description and photos at www.coconutvillahotel.com

This afternoon we went down to the orphanage to work with the children.  Today was "Photo" day.
(See David's blog for info about documentation and for a photo of the drying instant photos)  My part was taking instant photos of each child to give to them.  Nette borrowed an idea from her daughter-in-law Amy and bought clothes pins.  We fastened yarn to each pin / each child wrote their name / and we clipped the photo at their bed.
When we gave them photos last year they didn't seem to last long - but this year they seemed proud of their names and their clips.  I had fun looking at each photo with the child and admiring how pretty/handsome they were.  Some of them seemed to get it and stand a little taller...

In our prayer circle tonight we prayed for these sweet children, for the folks packing up to come down on Sunday, and for all that God has helped us / allowed us to see and do in this patched together week.
Thanks to all of you for prayer and support!
God bless us everyone, shantia

Kites and Kids

It was a simple plan, capture the names, birthdate, school grade, and take a photo of all the kids at the orphanage. We even thought we would be clever and I created a form on the iPad to capture the textual information. Piece of cake.

Things even looked promising when we got to the orphanage and the kids were all on the bedroom floor as there was some sort of meeting going on at the orphanage; so they were contained. And, the house mothers agreed to help us. 

The problem started when we attempted to gather the information. Quickly it was determined that the iPad was too much work and we reverted to paper. Then one house mother brought out their records on the children. It was a single, well used piece of 81/2 x 11 paper; partially torn on the folds. On it were handwritten notes about each child. Some had last names, others not. Some had birthdates, others not. Some had birth day, but not birth year. There was no information about parents, village of origin or anything else. There was one birth certificate that was pulled out for one child with a mother listed, but no father and the child didn't know his father's name. 

As we were collecting information and several children didn't know their birthdays I asked if the orphanage celebrated birthdays. The answer was no. The orphanage is not overly funded, so I was not surprised that they didn't throw parties for each child, but it appears that the birthdays are not even recognized. More on this later. 

After we were done I have to admit I was feeling a little down because these children were not being celebrated and told how valuable they are on the anniversary of their birth. I know how I feel when I see my children beam on their birthdays and we typically have relatively muted celebrations. 

As I was heading down the stairs I noticed some boys playing with some handmade kites in the stairwell. It made me both happy as the boys were clearly having a good time. It made me sad with how little they have; yet even in this they find happy moments. 

We don't and may not be able to get the birth date of each child and I don't know how we might even get a card mailed from outside Haiti to the children, but if I can solve these problems is there anyone who would commit to sending each child a card on their next birthday with a simple happy birthday note? Please don't take this commitment lightly if you say yes, it is a year worth of work. But I can promise if it can happen it will bring joy to a child and they will feel how very special they are. Email me if you are really willing to commit. 

Tonight I pray for the children of the Source of Light orphanage, that they realize that they are beloved children of God and that they are valuable. I pray for the doctors and nurses that will soon be leaving their homes to come to join us for next week that they might have safe and easy travels. I pray that anyone that reads this blog will spend 1 minute and pray for just one child somewhere in the world that needs to understand their value.  Amen. 

5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 ... Bag

.

One Month of Food for the Children

5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 ... Bag.  This is the chant of a pill counter. This is how my day ended.  Well, to be honest it ended with a shower and bed, but counting pills was right before that. Counting pills is an important part of the medicial clinics we hold down in Haiti. We essentially purchase medicines in bulk and then pre-package them in one month supplies to be handed out at the discretion of the doctors with which we work. It isn't the most physically challenging work, but it is nessisary and usually is accompanied by bad jokes, mistakes, forgotten counts, and laughs.

Previous to pill counting I had my second Creole lesson from a translator. Not sure about their take on the subject, but I feel I am learning, if slowly. I seem to be able to usually get my point across, even if it is not in the most structurally or grammatically correct way. Only when I switch words like vann (sell) and achte (buy) do I really confuse people. I am still not able to pick up everything being said at "full speed" Creole, but hope to get there at some point. 

The Sewing Class

Before leaving the orphanage today for the guest house and my Creole lesson we met with the sewing class to get that group started.  Classes will start tomorrow and it sounds like the teacher is both knowledgable and strict as he has already scheduled a test as well as informed the students that they will be charged a small penalty if they are late. God speed to this class and may it turn into a skill and a means to provide income for their families. 

You want it moved where?! That was my initial thought when the food for the children was delivered to the orphanage while we were waiting for the people of the sewing class to gather and the meeting to start.  We had just unloaded five or six 30 pound bags of rice and one 50 pound bag of fine corn meal along with other provisions such as beans, noodles, staples, etc.  Now we had to move it up to the third floor for storage. Any guesses what one stupid person decided to start with? 50 pounds never seemed so heavy and I am going with the story that I am not fully climatized as well. By the time I got up to the top I was quite winded and one of the older kids actually helped me get it into the room. But back down I went and after the 50 pound bag the 30 pound bags seemed quite reasonable. It felt good to get really sweaty, well at least in retrospect.  We are not really doing construction this first week like we normally do, so getting out and doing something really physical was a good change.

3rd Floor View

The day began at 7 AM with breakfast. They do feed us well while we are hear.  And I also do enjoy walking down to the orphanage after breakfast as we greet people as we go. I often wonder what they are really thinking as we pass and say hello. I hope they see us as friends trying to help.

Tonight it is raining again and I pray for the people of the neighborhood. I pray they are dry and have enough food and clean water. I pray that when we see them in the morning they will see us as friends. I pray that the men we see sitting out in front of their dwellings most of the day are able to find work if that is what they are looking for. I pray that all the children we see as they head off to school have a wonderful day. Amen. 

Such Extreme Excitement - the formation of a micro-finance group

Today we went to the school (Source de Lumiere - where the orphanage and the chidren's school are) to meet with the new sewing class.  They will meet from Today through Friday 3/27 from 10-2.  Their teacher says they will have an evaluation ("test") on Friday to see how they're doing.  They are fined a small amount if they are late and they will meet with Shantia next Wednesday to see if they want to begin a micro-financed business.  He's good and he's tough...
I REALLY THINK THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN!  THE WOMEN ARE VERY INTERESTED AND EXCITED!
We talked about the commitments they will have to make to keep each other accountable to paying back the loan and building a small business account for future purchasing of materials.
They will each fill out and sign a rather detailed application on which they are backers for each other.
They just kept nodding and smiling!  (And Junior chose to summarize several times so I know they really understood.)
WE HAVE BEEN SEWING THESE SEEDS FOR 3 YEARS - IT IS SO EXCITING TO HAVE A BEGINNING!
We also met with a craft instructor who will explore the possibilities of a craft making group.
I am less certain about that at this point - but we will see how it goes - they MAY begin to meet tomorrow...
Oh friends this is amazing!
Thank you all for interest, prayers and support!!!!
blessings, shantia

"Warm Welcomes" and "Cold Showers"

I sit here at @ 8:12 PM in our eating area of the guesthouse in Haiti attempting to write my discoveries in our first 2 full days of working on planning, and playing with the children of the Source de Lumiere orphanage just 3 or so blocks down the street from where we are living this week.

Let me start with "Warm Welcomes" which began just after touchdown at Port au Prince Airport (PAP), including a local band playing Caribbean music that met us as we entered the airport.  They continued as we met some of our translators and Pastor Ronel, our host for our two week mission trip.  The staff at our guesthouse made us feel welcome at the front steps.

The "Warm Welcomes" were again present Sunday morning as we attended Pastor Ronel's Church in Martissant.  Hellos and Bon Jours were repeated at every new face I saw.

As they day progressed I was also introduced to the real" Warm Welcome" of the weather of Haiti.  My weather app on my phone said it was 94 degrees but the actual feel read as 104 degrees.  Once we left the coolness of the airport, I knew what tropical heat was!!

Sunday afternoon we went to the Orphanage to play with the children.  We brought a parachute and a ball and then the children started to run under the parachute as it was in the air.  "Un, Deux, Trois, Anba (Creole for Under) became the chant in the courtyard for this group   

Other smaller groups played with puzzles, jump ropes, and kickballs.  Shantia read an English/French book to many small ones at least 9 or 10 times.  "Warm Welcoming" laughter filled the air.

Today, Monday, we spent many hours at the orphanage with a local Tailor who was evaluating 7 sewing machines that we were readying for the new sewing group that we hope will turn into a small business enterprise.  In addition to that, Shantia, David and I took the opportunity with Manese, Ronaldine, and JJ to go through several bags and suitcases and one t  Another opportunity came when we discussed with Manese, Ronaldine and JJ the possibility of getting some shelving made to go into a room where they could store clothing items already sorted for the sizes of the children. 

runk that we discovered contained clothing for the children at the orphanage (it was there as storage but it was not sorted) and much fabric and thread that had been donated, which means we do not need to purchase these items for the sewing students who will be given lessons by the Tailor the end of this week and possibly next week.
We got a “Yes that would be helpful” so we will try to make that happen while we are here. 

Now to the “Cold Showers” and other interesting reflections on my short time here.  Of course the “Cold Showers” was a surprise when I went to shower Sunday AM after breakfast.  If I was told this before coming here, I did not remember that little tidbit.  I did remember a few other words of wisdom—like disposing of used TP into garbage containers in the bathroom (sewer system works hard enough for water—do not add to the waste), and do not eat or drink anything that is not prepared by us at the guesthouse (lunches for us) or the staff at the guest house. 
Another easier “Cold Shower” surprise is that we get ice for our drinks at breakfast and dinner and the water dispensers in the guesthouse (bottled of course) give us cool water to fill our bottles before going forth into the heat. 
On the way to the orphanage this AM, Jonathan asked me about my impressions of Haiti so far.  I did start to read about Haiti before and after the Earthquake in January of 2012, so the “riverbed” roads reminded me of several of the lakes and streams in Arizona that are that way until the runoff comes down for the mountain lakes above Phoenix.  I saw the taptaps (local transportation in the form of either buses with seats or trucks with open seats) mentioned in the books, saw one of the few working traffic lights in Port au Prince, and was delighted with the “Cold Shower” surprise of an air conditioned grocery store (after several hours in the heat in church and in the car driving to the store).  An additional “Surprise” was finding myself looking out of the car and seeing a statue of Neg Mawon (a black man blowing a conch shell) who is the symbol of freedom for Haiti. 

Our translator/driver was happy to drive up to it so I could take a picture of him.  I saw this picture in one of the books I am reading and was delighted to see it up close.
Other impressions are of country really hurting from economic, political and now physical disaster from the devastating Earthquake of January 2012---but also of a warm welcoming people and very hot temperatures.  Driving through the City of Pot au Prince Saturday and Sunday I saw people living in huts of cardboard, working at stands on sidewalks, walking with baskets and bags upon their heads filled with wares to sell or food to eat.  I know that I will see more areas of extreme poverty and despair as the time goes on, but I was prepared for what I have seen so far. 
So “Warm Welcomes” and “Cold Showers” are like two sides of a coin at the moment and as I toss it up in the next 11 days I will take whatever side  I get with smile and a prayer.