Sewing and Days for Girls Planning

This continues to be a very exciting time!
This morning the sewing machine repair man and sewing teacher came.
He says all 7 machines are repairable.

His students arrive tomorrow to be familiar with the machines and on Wednesday they will start classes which will run through next Friday (8 days of 3 to 4 hours a day).
Then we will see if members of the class will get together to form a cooperative microfinance business.  We will give them money to buy supplies and they will pay back 1/2.
Awesome!

We cleaned out the sewing room - lot's of donations of fabric and a fair amount of donated children's clothing we sorted and sized for the orphanage...
We will pay for shelves for the clothing that will be marked with sizes.

Jonathan spent a good part of the day figuring out what medicines we have and what is missing...
We are not sure how we will deal with the lacks...
Hope it works out....



 This afternoon we met with 3 translators and a mom to agree on Days for Girls education plans...
It took some real discussion but we can to agreement about sex education, a little health education, self esteem and trauma resilience all as components of the classes the girls will take to get their kits.


 
Tonight we spent some time at the orphanage doing puzzles and reading books. The children read French well! They snuggle well too!

Tomorrow we meet with a craft group that would like to be microfinanced and then with the sewing students.  We hope in the afternoon to visit a couple of hospitals.
Such a yeasty week!
Thanks to everyone who helped!
shantia

Day 1 - Getting Back To The Children

Miriam and I, she is 4 years old

I am setting on a screened porch, listening to the sounds of the night in Port-au-Prince. I hear bugs clicking, cars sputtering along, dogs barking, music playing, and the voices of many conversations. The smell of burning charcoal is in the air. A slight breezes passes through now and again. It is good to be back in Haiti. I miss they sounds and smells when I am not hear and when I smell wood charcoal burning back in the states it instantly brings me back to Port-au-Prince.

We attended church at the Pastor's church in Martissant this morning. We met old friends and listened to teachings on learning to see what God is asking of you and not to be blind to his guidance. The Pastor also spoke to the congregation about the newest child that will be placed in the orphanage. She is two years old and was brought to the Pastor a week or so ago very sick and with out any cloths. The mother asked the Pastor to care for the child as she could not. The mother is 17 years old. 

The Pastor said that the child is too young for the orphanage at this time and his family is currently caring for the child. Although she is not completely well, she is healing. The Pastor reminded the congregation the love is not a game and they must not treat it as such. 

After church it was off to the grocery store for lunch supplies for the week. We live on PB&J for lunch. It was a short trip to the market, but it is not cheap. 

A quick rest and we were off to the orphanage to get reacquainted, play, and to meet with the Pastor to plan and schedule for the rest of this first week. It always amazes me that the children remember my name. I am in Hait for only two weeks a year and there are other teams that come down from all over, but they remember me, my name, and even that I have two daughters and a son.

I have to admit I did have an alternative purpose in the trip to the orphanage the evening. My goal was to find out a bit more about the age groupings of the children and their current "life skills" training. The mother oldest child at the orphanage is 15 and after him are a group of about 4 or 5 that are 14. None of the children have had life skills training. This means they do not know how to shop for food, cook a meal, or wash their cloths. All skills required to live independently. Nor do they really have mentors to whom they can turn for guidance.

The Good news is the Pastor is open to ideas about providing mentors and life skills training, but this all takes money which is not currently available. Some of the organizations which provide major funding for the orphanage are looking to purchase so property for the older children. We looked at it yesterday. It was nice; it needs a lot of work, but it is a good base. While not the complete answer, a place to live must be part of the answer. 

I love and miss my family. And when I see someone like Richardson who is 15 and lives at the orphanage I think of my children and my son of the same age. I am grateful for him, and my girls. I pray that these children will either find a forever family or learn the skills to be successful as an independent adult.  These children, as mine, will always be part of the family of Christ. Amen. 

The Way Out

I have spent a lot of time in airports this week. I had an unexpected business trip to Atlanta, which meant I spent all of Wednesday and much of Thursday in airports getting between San Jose, California and Atlanta, Georgia. Now I find myself in an airport again as I head to Port-au-Prince, Haiti for two weeks. I am not sure my spirit and mind have caught up to this reality and I suspect this long over night flight from SJC to LAX to JFK to PAP is a blessing in disguise so that I can quiet my soul and get in the right place for this trip.

If you have been reading any of my posts you should be aware that one of the main things on my mind is the children at the orphanage that are nearing the age of majority. At some point the children, really young adults, will be too old to continue to live at the orphanage and alternate arrangements will have to be made else they may end up on their own in the streets or in situations of abuse. I have been doing a lot of reading in this area and armed with a little knowledge I hope to help in anyway I can and not be a burden or a roadblock to the pastor managing the orphanage. 

I have tried to make contact with one of the stateside organizations that help fund and direct the orphanage, but have not received much information about their plans. That is not to say they don't have plans, just that I am not privy to any plans. I know that their has been some talk about purchasing additional land to build young adult housing, but based on my reading, while important, that is only a small part of the overall problem and simply placing the the young adults in alternative housing is necessary, but not sufficient. I hope to have time to work with the pastor to learn of any plans in progress and provide input based on my readings and inputs from others such as Jonathan LaMare from the BeLikeBrit orphanage and Lighthouse Youth Services. 

I pray that God guides this trip to Haiti and that he works through everyone involved to help plan and provide for these children and young adults so that they understand that they are beloved children of God and that they will not be abandoned even as adults. That they are part of a larger family that will be there to support them through their trial into adult hood. That they are given the training and support they require to be who God means them to be. 

While I am away I pray that God protects and supports my family and gives my wife strength and support as she becomes a single parent. Amen. 

Fwiw I set the dog to kill and instructed him on his duty to protect the family before I left. 

Time with children, Planning: Education, Microfinanced businesses, Health Promoters in local churches and more :-)

It's been a busy and productive day.  I hope you will all have time to see the photos that we will share.
Worship is always amazing and inspiring - and long :-) (about 2 hours).








We did a little shopping for lunch food and some organizing for our first orphanage visit.











We took our new 9ft parachute and the children had a great time trying to keep the nerf ball on the fabric and then lifting it high and playing underneath while it came down.  We had a couple of stellar jumpropers. And the Puzzles Becky Marshall's Kindergarten sent were a huge hit!!!!!

Bubbles were fun and I must have read the one French and English story book we had about 10 times :-)  The older children read the French and I read the English.

In the late afternoon we met with Pastor Ronel, Manese, and 2 translators who will be working with us for the next 2 weeks.  We made a schedule for this wonderful gift of a planning week (the first time we've had a week to plan).
Tentative plans: -
A) we are exploring the creation of 2 micro-finance groups.
1) would be a sewing group: we have hired a man to come in and tune up the existing sewing machines and then teach 3 days of sewing classes.  At that time we will decide whether they should focus on simple sewing projects - bags and dresses - or try to include the more complicated Days for Girls kits.
2) would be a craft group
B) we would like to begin to train 2 Health Promoters (a little like Parish Nurses) who could monitor health needs and perhaps do some Health Education in the different churches we work with. Eventually, if it is successful,  we would like to have 5 - 10 of them in different churches around Port au Prince.  We would also plan to bring someone over from the existing Health Promoter Program at the Good Samaritan Hospital in La Romana wich has promoters in the Bateys (Haitian Sugar Cane Villages) in the southeast section of La Romana DR.  This program will necessitate sponsors who will pledge small amounts monthly to support 1 (or part of 1) promoter.
C) as many of you know we are initiating a Days for Girls Program here this year. We will have about 130 kits to distribute to girls (about 20/day) and with each group of 20 we will do a class including sex education, sexually transmitted disease prevention, Self Esteem, and Trauma Resilience. We will do an introductory planning session this week with our resident Mom (Marese) and our 2 translators.
D) we plan to visit 4 to 6 hospitals, in the Port au Prince area, to know better where we can refer patients (and team members) if it's needed.  We also hope to establish a relationship with at least one.
Pastor Ronel is extremely supportive of all of these initiatives.
Whew - just writing about all of this is tiring.
Please pray with us this week!
In deep gratitude to all of you - shantia

A Thank you from Pastor Ronel Mesidor

Ronel Mesidor
Dear Shantia I would like to thank you in the name of Haiti  (Haiti Baptist Convention) for your help, your support and mostly your love for Haiti.  More than 500 people had opportunity to see a doctor, received appropriate medecines.   I receive good testimony from  the dean of the school  about improvement of teachers. the therapist was very useful for tutors at touch of hope. Because of your support Concorde Baptist church have a safe place to install a water purification system. We  are so grateful for that.    Please let all members of team know how their presence was a blessing for us.   thank you so much for coming  and we are waiting for you next year.

Rev. Ronel Mesidor

West Executive Ministry

Haiti Baptist Convention

Phone: 509 38538506

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. Psa 41:1

searching skin

For several of these days, I have been screening children to determine whether or not they need to see a medical doctor, or if we can simply give them a fine dose of worm medicine and vitamins - plus the experience of being truly seen and heard.  I ask the children how they are feeling, what they notice in their bodies, what questions they have about their health.  I them search their skin, looking at their dusty legs and feet, their little arms, their empty bellies, and beautiful faces. 
Here are my observations and confusions;
1. I usually can easily get children to engage with me - to giggle at a funny face, to laugh when tickled, to respond to questions with more than a nod.  The children in the mountain village we visited yesterday were blank - no smiles or frowns, few words aside from the ubiquitous complaint of a stomach ache from hunger and headache from dehydration.  Even when tickled, they remained stoic...I had always thought that response to tickles was involuntary!  I wonder why the faces are so devoid od expression - are we new or scary to the children?  Have they been taught to be expressionless or is it a way to cope with the stresses of daily life?
2. In our urban settings, there was scabies all around!  Itching and scratching! Little bugs crawling under skin and nesting!   As one who has had scabies, I know how easy it is to catch, and I also know that without clean sheets, clean clothing, and clean water (plus the powerful scabacide cream) it is difficult to cure.  So many of these families are unable to wash themselves.  They don't have clean water - they have dirty puddles, whatever little pools have formed after the nightly downpour.
3. In the remote village up in the mountain, way up a dirt road with a cliff on one side and grazing goats on the other, I found these wart-like growths on the children, some infected and others dried.  I learned from the doctors that they are a bacterial infection, and many of the children had it on their knees and arms, the exposed places that get dirty.  Again, no clean water is available.
4. Most children complained of stomach aches and reported being hungry.  They all stared at my water bottle and the bold ones asked to drink.  Others asked for food.  One mother asked me for food while nursing a baby and holding a toddler. 

I wish there was a way to offer these medical clinics and serve a big feast to everyone.  It doesn't seem complete to offer vitamins and anti-fungal cream (and prayers and compassion), without the practical - a hearty meal and a clean glass of water. 
I know, I know,  people will come from all over for a big meal and water and it won't be easy to set a limit....but there must be a way to get people all that they hunger for, real food and real love together.

Just a Few Thoughts

Guess I'm seeing my age - so little energy left at night to tell you all I think and see...

BE LIKE BRIT  - an amazing place - and along with what the others have said - I was impressed with their caring for the children's roots...
A volunteer made a scrap book for each child. Photos of aunts and uncles and cousins, information about their family and community of origin, and about them... like we might have a baby book...
Each month the children go for a "home" visit back to their community to see their extended family and run off and play with their friends.  They are accompanied  on this visit by the social worker and a brother or sister from their orphanage family.
Amazing place - amazing people. Thank you so much Len and Cherylann Gengel!

A TYPICAL DAY - up at 6:30 / a hearty breakfast at 7 - always eggs in some style, bread, fresh fruit and often slices of ham/ make sandwiches and prepare to leave / gather for a prayer circle and song / depart about 8:15 for our worksite for the day /  work until done :-) stopping between noon and 1 for our sandwich lunch - for most of our team PB&J, for the translators - ham and cheese, Monday did not end until after 6 and our supper was at 7 - way too much about 180 patients seen - tired and stressed, Tuesday and Wednesday we managed to see well over 100 and still leave before 4 - very civilized... After Monday we made up numbers (1 - 100) to be given out to those waiting (knowing that we "held" another 20 or so for urgent needs... the numbers still climbed up - but it was much more manageable.  Another thing we added in was a triage for children....  Each church has a school.  The children of the school were checked, temps taken, worm meds given and those who had medical needs were referred to the Providers.  In this way we "saw" perhaps another 100 children while keeping the stress down on the providers - Wonderful idea Julie Cedrone!  [This triage will necessitate upping our Children's vitamin count significantly - but what an added blessing that will be.] Thursday we saw over 120 adults and children and probably 75 school children and left around 5 from the gorgeous mountain top of Blanket for our 1 hour ride home. After work we return "home" shower, rest a little and have supper.
After supper we visit the orphanage about 2 blocks down - or we gather to share thoughts of the day and an evening prayer... The group disbands around 9pm.
Amazing group - amazing days!