This is Me

Ale La

2012-01-27T01:19:00.001-05:00

(I’m repeating a post I did about a year ago. Forgive me if its uninteresting. But it’s a great reminder for me…It’s a poem from a collection of Haitian Poetry; Open Gate- Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry.)

Go There

Go there where you see your hearts
Leading you keeping you from changing
Into a dry desert of sorrow
Worse than the skin of a drum.
Go there even when you’re discouraged
When you end up as salt meat
In banquets for bigwigs.
You have to go there, my bothers and sisters,
Where the people suffering
Never hear “Good Morning”
Where there’s no light
To enliven a day with hope.
Go there and bring the warmth of your love along
To make the people's heart happy
To defy injustice and evil
Endured by the wretched of the earth
As if they had no right to be there,
There in the morning splendor of being alive.
You have to go there, live there, join us
If only with the little smiles of your mouths
O my sisters and brothers, we have to be there
Where together, without any dirty tricks,
We can grow corn, oranges and friendship
For all of us on earth so in need of transformation.

-Tontongi

P.S.

2012-01-25T13:59:00.004-05:00

I updated my newsletter for the new year- click here for the latest version. Be sure and check it out!

Three Weeks In

2012-01-25T13:35:00.001-05:00

Its been about three weeks since I started hitting the fundraising trail…its been a little slow getting started but it seems like things are starting to move forward! I’ve been in Jacksonville since Thursday and I headed down to Gainesville yesterday afternoon for my first of three appointments to share with three different small groups this week. I look forward to seeing some friends from Creekside (one of RMI’s Sister Churches) and connecting with some new folks.

It was a long awaited and desperately needed visit to Jacksonville and its been a great (and emotionally and spiritually) uplifting time here in Jax. It was SO awesome to see so many of my friends and supporters at church on Sunday. Over the past few days I had a chance to spend some time with some really special friends (there are still friends I have yet to see and I look forward to sharing some time with you in a couple weeks, next time I am in Jax!) and have had some really encouraging(and sometimes hard) conversations. Other than about 20 hours I spent in Jax in December for a couple doctors appointments I haven’t spent any time here and hadn’t even yet had the chance to attend Crossroad until this weekend so it was definitely way passed time!

Here’s a snap shot of my time in the states thus far:

Visited the eye doctor and my endocrinologist and got good reports from both (A1C is 6,5 if you’re counting!)
Spent the holidays with family and rested up for the busy new year
Rented a car (for two months) in order to be able to get around locally, make appointments, and travel.
Shared with the Sweetwater Baptist Kingdom Praise Sunday morning children’s program and Sweetwater Baptist Women on Mission Tuesday Morning Bible Study about Haiti and my ministry within.
Attended a community meeting of local Haitians who gather monthly and do service projects, take trips, and have fundraising events to benefit Haiti. I was able to share briefly about the work of RMI in Haiti and I passed out my information.
Met with the Koinonia class at Crossroad Church and updated them on my ministry in Haiti and answered lots of great questions. Love that group of folks!
Spoke to Mrs. Hopkins 3rd grade class at Harvest Christian School. I talked about life as a missionary and answered a LOT of great questions. (They wanted to know if Haiti had electricity, a Walmart, McDonalds and Publix, and if any one in Haiti had blue eyes among other more thought provoking questions!) Lots of fun!
Shared with one small group in Gainesville and am now setting up appointments to meet individually with those who attended. (I meet with another group tonight and yet another one tomorrow night!)

Please continue to pray that I can make good, solid connections, and that God will continue to orchestrate divine appointments. Pray for safe travels and a good ‘soul refreshing’ time here in the States.

From the Silence…an Update

2011-12-08T12:16:00.001-05:00

Many people have asked if I am no longer using the blog or if I’m ever going to write again. I have been longing to write as so many things have happened, but life has just been so incredibly busy that at that at the end of a long busy day, I just didn’t have the inner reserve to sit down and process my day into words. But I am happy to ‘announce’ that there is finally an update available for your viewing pleasure.

In this update you will find information regarding:

my visit to the US
my home assignment
specific needs and prayer requests and
an update on RMI’s activities for 2011.

(click image below)

I will arrive in the States on December 16, 2011 and hope to be able return to Haiti in March 2012 or once my home assignment has been completed.

I’ll also be sending copies of the update in the mail. If you don’t think I have your address and you’re interested in a copy, send a message to amy.long@rminet.org with your full name and address.

P.S. You can also check out my new website www.amyruthimages.com.

I got dirty feet

2011-03-22T21:14:00.001-05:00

This is a repost from my Facebook page earlier today- so if you’ve seen it there, excuse the repeat…

I am "sacrificing" my pride (by showing how terrible my toenails are in need of 'pedicuring') to prove just how dusty it is around here. Its so dry that the roads just turn to clouds of dust anytime a car or truck passes over them, even motorcycles and 4wheelers can cause quite a stir. Today, I walked from my house to the Guest House (about 1/4 of a mile or so...) and when I started out my feet were perfectly clean and my shoes were spotless.....

And this is how they were when I got to where I was going....

Manicures and Pedicures

2011-02-20T22:19:00.001-05:00

Tessa, Rob and Becky’s four and a half year old daughter, saw the blue I had painted my toenails and on more than one occasion told me, “I wike yore nails”. Her mom said it would be OK if I painted her nails that color too so she and I set up a salon ‘nail polish’ date.

As most things are when there are multiple children in a family it became a family event.

You can’t see it too well here but I painted hearts, polka dots and butterflies on Tessa’s toes. Drew, 5 1/2 yrs old, painted my toenails (and toes). He had asked me what the clear coat was for and when I told him it was to help the color stay, he made sure to put a lot of the clear coat on my toenails so that it was last a long time.

Tessa decided she wanted to paint her own fingernails (she wanted the paint removed after only about 15 minutes) and Braden, 2 1/2 yrs old, wanted to paint my fingernails. All in all, he did a fabulous job and only got ‘out of the lines’ a couple times! ;o) Braden was actually upset that he couldn’t paint his nails and was devastated when both daddy and I told him that he couldn’t paint his nails because that was for girls.

So much fun! We’ll definitely have to have another salon date!

Educational Assignment

2011-02-11T17:59:00.001-05:00

I was given an assignment. I was to take a walk down into the area below and find some children who had no way to go to school and learn their story. Marie France, one of our National Staff was asked to go with me. She immediately said she had neighbors who would be great to talk with. We set a time for 10am the following day. We were going to meet with Jeff.

To get to his house, we took a partially paved path that led up between a building on one side and some trees on the other. We left the pavement and traveled another 20 feet or so on a dirt path. We arrived at this house, which was set back about 15 feet from the road on a small embankment. The foremost part of the yard was covered in thin grass, some small trees and, a few leaves. There were steps that had been carved out of the soft compacted mud and the roots that jutted out among them helped give us a place to put our feet. It had rained the night before so the mud was soft but we managed to climb without falling. Marie called out asking if anyone was home. Jeff’s mother responded and in a minute or so she emerged from the house carrying a baby and beside her was her three year old daughter. She explained that Jeff wasn’t there.

We were told he would be back just after 1 so we agreed to come back to talk to him at 1:30. We asked if we could sit and hear her story. We sat in white plastic chairs on the neighbor’s front porch under the shade and talked with his mom. The youngest child, a girl of 1 year old climbed into her lap, whining so she sat and fed the baby as we chatted. Emily is 37 years old and has six children, ranging from 1 year old to 16 years old; Jeff being the oldest. She was born in an area called Pestel but spent most of her life in Port au Prince. It’s the chance of a job and a better life that draws so many there. Six years ago she had trouble with rent. She couldn’t pay it. So she left Port au Prince for the quieter, less expensive Cayes. She has family here. When they moved from Port au Prince she had hoped the new place would give them a new start. She said in reality, it has only brought her more suffering. Her tone of voice was matter of fact and the look in her eyes was soft and resigned. A look that spoke of her obligation to accept her life as it was. She never once asked for anything and only politely answered any and all questions I had.

I don’t know whether the man she calls the children’s father really is the father of all six of them but that’s how she referred to him. He is in their lives but not a part of their lives. She has chosen to follow Christ and her husband has not. For a time he helped with the rent. They rent a room in the house; a space all eight of them share. He hasn’t helped her with rent in months. She said that they are behind on rent and if it isn’t paid up in 20 days they will be evicted. She is also solely responsible for providing food and clothing for all the children; and schooling when she can.

Jeff wasn’t there because that morning, like many other mornings, Jeff had gotten up, put on his uniform and headed off the school. He was hoping this would be a day he wouldn’t get sent home because he hasn’t yet paid. That’s not an unusual thing. Children, in hopes of being allowed to stay, will often get dressed in their uniforms and go to school like all the paying students, hoping to make it through the day without being sent home. When they are eventually sent home, that day or some other, they may wait several days or sometimes weeks and try again, hoping to learn something, hoping to catch a break, and in the meantime hoping to find a way to pay for school. Jeff had an exam the following day and was hoping he would be able to stay at school to learn the material. He had no assurance he would be allowed to take the test, just a desperate hope. That’s why we weren’t upset when he wasn’t there at 10am and agreed to come back later. It seemed that on this day, he hadn’t been asked to leave. In fact, all four of Emily’s kids that are old enough to go to school live in this cycle. Some of their school debt has been paid for, some by her and some by Jeff who goes fishing and tries to sell the fish to earn enough money to pay off some more of the debt. Other days he fishes and gives it to his family to eat. I didn’t see the two other schools aged children. I didn’t ask where they were. His thirteen year old brother was at home, on an off cycle. In a few days he will try and go back.

Marie France rents space in the building next to the family so she was already there when I arrived at 1:30. School usually lets out at one and Jeff comes straight home because there is a show on television he likes and the neighbors that share the house with Marie have a TV. I arrived and climbed a different set of stairs to get to Marie’s house. The houses are side by side. In her front yard stairs have actually been carved out of the stone and the compressed mud starts a little higher up. I walked beside and almost under the roof of the house that was built directly in front of her building. I greeted the neighbors who were outside and slid a bit in the moist mud that was their yard. I greeted Marie France, who had put out a white plastic chair where I could sit while we waited. Jeff had yet to arrive. Jeff’s mother had gone down into the village just below but his thirteen year old brother, and the two youngest were there. After a little scurrying and some conversation back and forth with Jeff’s brother and some of the other kids there watching TV, trying to figure out if anyone had seen Jeff he came running up to the door out of breath. “Sorry they kept us late at school today”.

His uniform is a bright pink and white gingham short sleeve button up paired with bright green pants. Before we started he asked if he could change out of it.

Jeff is sixteen. He is tall and slim and a serious kid. Sweat beads formed around his mouth and forehead as we started. He sat, leaning slightly forward with his hands clasped together and elbows resting on his knees which is how he stayed for most of the conversation, often shifting and then returning to that same position. I asked him a lot of questions. I asked him what his favorite things about school were. He loves math and wants to be an accountant. I asked him if there was anything he didn’t like about school; his response? He didn’t like when there was nothing to do. He prefers learning. I asked him if there had ever been a year when he had been able to finish a grade in a year. Once, he said, when he was in second grade. I wanted to know if it ever frustrated him that this was how it was, or if he had just learned to accept it. His answer was a definitive, “It doesn’t matter how long it takes or how old I am. I AM going finish.” But coupled with that determination is the fear that he is getting too old to find good work once he finishes. We talked a lot about his future and hopes for a better life. It was evident that his heart was heavy for his mother. He said he wanted to be able to get an education so that he could get a good job so that he could get his mom out of the place she is and into a better life where she didn’t have to suffer any more. I asked him if there was anything he wanted to share with me that I hadn’t asked. He sat thoughtfully for a minute and said not really. His brother had been sitting with the two youngest there in the hallway where we were, listening in. At this point, he jumped in and said he wanted to talk.

Jeff got up and Janel eagerly took his seat. Janel is thirteen but very small for his age. I would have given him nine or ten. He was dressed in a plain white tee and khaki shorts. He was a bit more playful than Jeff has been. I asked him many of the same questions. I found out he had also been able to finish a grade, once, in just a year, back in first grade. Even though he was now in second grade he had been trying for several years to finish that grade. As we sat and talked, the same baby that climbed into her mother’s lap earlier in the day now climbed into Janel’s lap, crying. As though it was second nature, Janel cradled her and rocked her just as her mother would have done. He often steps in as caregiver for his younger siblings. He also helps with the cooking. I asked him what he liked to do for fun and Marie France quickly laughed and said he was a trouble maker and that sometimes he torments the neighborhood dogs. He laughed and I teased him about it. I asked him what he liked to do in addition to tormenting the dogs. “Joking and cutting up with my friends”, he said, “and I like playing soccer”; left field is his best position. When asked what obstacles were keeping him from accomplishing his goal of becoming an engineer he said money and the fact that he misses so much school for lack thereof. Unlike Jeff, he does get frustrated because he says getting and education is much better than just sitting around doing nothing. His heart was also deeply burdened for his mother. His goal for the future echoed the sentiment of Jeff, to get an education, to get a job, to make money and to make a better life for themselves individually, for their brothers and sisters collectively, and especially their mother. I asked them both if they believed there was hope for their future and in reaching their goals. They both answered yes but both seemed to understand that unless they could find a way to get their education that was going to be difficult.

One of the things that struck me, that I noticed was missing from all three of the conversations I had was the word opportunity. I was hoping for someone to tell me that an education gave them an opportunity for a better life. I finally asked Janel what opportunities an education would give him but when Marie translated the question into Creole, she never used the word opportunity. It struck me to think that on so many levels maybe that word doesn’t really exist in a cultural context. Sure, there is a word for opportunity in Creole but perhaps on a much bigger level, it’s what the Haitian people are lacking. Opportunity.

At sixteen years of age, most teenage boys in the US are downloading their favorite tunes on to their IPod, texting the girl they have a crush on, or are dreaming about their first kiss or their first car. At sixteen years of age, Jeff has already decided what he wants to do when he grows up, is burdened by his mother’s incessant suffering, wishes to make a better life for himself so he can make a better life for her, and hopes that maybe this year will be the year he finishes 5th grade.

A Week and a Day of News

2011-02-02T09:09:00.001-05:00

Well,I’ve been back a week and a day. What I said last time still stands. Its good to be home.

I’ve been quiet these past few days. But not entirely because I had nothing to say, and for the first time in two years, not because I’ve been so busy I couldn’t find the time to write. My internet has been down.

It was working fine until Wednesday. On Thursday the entire system went down. Most of the missionaries on Cite Lumiere use what we refer to as “John’s system”. He’s an independent missionary who has lived in Haiti with his family for many years in many places with many different roles. He currently ‘does’ our internet. His system is a satellite based system, originating somewhere in California. Based on some prior to my arrival (as in many years prior) arrangement, the modems, boxes and wires are here at our house, in Beth’s office. We have a satellite dish on our roof. We get a small discount on the service, he has easy access to the boxes and equipment (his house is less than a minute and a half away on foot) and the missionaries have internet. It’s a win-win-win. Mostly. When John isn’t here, Tom, another technologically savvy missionary is his stand-in and if something needs to happen that is simple enough (like unplugging and replugging a cord or a wire)Beth or Suzanne or I can usually do it. Currently, John is out the country so Thursday when the internet hadn’t been working all day, I called Tom. He told me that last he heard it was a California based problem and there was nothing we could do but wait. Within a few minutes, Rob called me and said he was talking with John on IM and they needed me to go into the office and try and reset the system- by unplugging some wires. Forty-five minutes, three phone calls with Rob, several minutes of me telling Rob what I did and him relaying the info to John who in turn would relay the next step for me to do through Rob on IM, and an actual conversation with John later, John said, “Hmm. So that didn’t do it, huh? I’ve got to head out and go pick up Diane (his wife) so give me about an hour and I’ll call Tom and have him come over and try something else.”

I had a Welcome Home Dance Party to attend that afternoon(another story for another day)so I wasn’t home when Tom came the house, but word on the street later that afternoon was that we had internet again.

Correction: Everyone else had internet.

I came home from the dance party, sat down at my desk, booted up my computer and sat. And waited. No matter how many times I tried, even by unplugging and reattaching the cable, it was to no avail. The system at our house is not wireless. I plug in using an F5 cable, something that resembles a telephone jack, only larger. The three of us here each have our own dedicated line. My guess is that the rats who have made a nest in the roof space above my closet have probably chewed the cable, as it comes into my room through a very small hole on the ceiling in the corner of my room, only a few feet away from where the rats are rumored to be staying. John can replace the wire. When he returns. In ten days. Looks like I’ll be waiting for intent a little while longer. I do have access the internet at the office or at Rob and Becky’s, or Gary and Marilyn’s. But its not the same sitting at someone else’s house, late at night (they’re all in bed as I type this to be posted later post- I’m sure) surfing the web, catching up on Facebook, and staying in touch. At the end of a long busy day, most days I really just want to be at home. Unless the new season of Deadliest Catch is on, then you can find me down the hill. But that’s not until April, so for a few more days, I’m degaje-ing it. I’m making it work. But I may be kind of quiet. But its not you, its me. I promise.

On cold showers, roosters and being home.

2011-01-25T21:13:00.001-05:00

I stood in the bathroom this morning for a while, just listening. My bathroom is at the front of the house and faces the direction of the small road leading to other missionary houses below, as well as in the direction of town farther out in the distance. If I strain my eyes and the weather is clear I can see Ile La Vache and the ocean out the window. Standing there, I was reminded of my first day in Haiti. While I am much more familiar with the sounds of Haiti now than on my first day, it has been awhile since I’ve heard them. In the states we live in houses with locked wooden doors and closed windows. In Haiti we lives in houses with open windows and screened front doors which means we hear most everything. Haiti, or at least the places I frequent, has a very distinct soundtrack. Roosters, cows, barking dogs, diesel engines, motorcycles, and horns. Being in a place that's so open these sounds are a real and intricate part of every day life. As I stood there this morning, I heard the sound of water running from the hose and the voice of Rameau, the gardener, standing in the front yard talking to one of our house ladies in the kitchen. Hearing his voice made smile. Down in the valley, the cows mooed, and of course, an obligatory rooster crowed. You know, I actually don’t mind the roosters as long as they’re not in close proximity to where I am. It’s a very natural part of the acoustical landscape and can at times be almost charming.

I stood there in the bathroom for at least a minute. I was taking it all in sort of like taking in a deep breath, only, with my ears. I would like say that I was standing there enjoying that moment and all its delectable acoustic goodness. But truth be told, it was more like one of those moments when you know you have to jump feet first into ice cold water and you’re bracing yourself for the shock. I was indeed enjoying the sounds of the morning but it was really mostly that I was avoiding jumping into a cold shower. The first one is always the hardest.

Despite the shock of the cold shower this morning, all in all, it has been a fabulous first two days. Yesterday, I had great traveling companions, I got to see parts of Port au Prince I had never seen before, I was able to visit with one of my dear friends, Jenn, and share a really great meal with her, Gary and Benjamin on the way back to Cayes, and I arrived in Cayes to find my room clean and my sheets freshly changed and awaiting my arrival. Today was a beautiful day with a nice breeze and gorgeous skies. I caught up with our ladies and Rameau, saw some of the RMI staff, got gas in my four wheeler, had a delicious lunch, unpacked my bags (though arranging what came out of them will happen another day), chatted with lots of ladies at Ladies Tea, made a new friend, and got to talk on the phone with a couple of ‘already’ friends. Over a nice dinner of lentils, homemade German sour dough bread, cabbage salad, and fresh tomatoes, Suzanne and I caught up on our time out of the country and talked of computers and cellphones.

A church service down the hill just ended not too long ago and the preacher could be heard on the PA system all the way up here. The church is in the valley below. Dogs scuffle, a cow moos, and off in the distance the sound of traffic is a dull but steady hum, or maybe that’s the water pump. Or maybe a little of both. Sometimes its hard to tell. Right now the air is filled with the sound of crickets chirping. I love that I can sit in my room and hear all of that. Cold showers notwithstanding, I love the sounds of Haiti. I love being here.

I love being home.

Go There

2011-01-23T23:26:00.001-05:00

At 7am, Monday, January 24, 2011, I board the plane for my return flight to Haiti. Its been three months. For a few days now I’ve been thinking about the post I wanted to do upon my return to Haiti. I was going to reflect on my time here in the States, on how I have been assured in my heart that Haiti is the place God has called me, on how much I have been looking forward to my return and yet how conflicted I feel in my heart over the things here I am, once again, leaving behind. I am going to have to save that post for another day. What I will shared instead is a lovely poem. This poem comes from a collection of Haitian Poetry compiled into a volume called Open Gate*. One day, looking for an inspirational poem to share with someone I found this one. I believe its quite apropos to share upon my return.

Go there where you see your heart
Leading you keeping you from changing
Into a dry desert of sorrow
Worse than the skin of a drum.
Go there even when you’re discouraged
When you end up as salt meat
In banquets for bigwigs.
You have to go there, my brothers and sisters,
Where the people suffering
Never hear “Good Morning”
Where there’s no light
To enliven a day with hope.
Go there and bring the warmth of your love along
To make the people’s heart happy
To defy injustice and evil
Endured by the wretched of the earth
As if they had no right to be there,
There in the morning splendor of being alive.
You have to go there, live there, join us
If only with the little smiles of your mouths
O my sisters and brothers, we have to be there
Where together, without any dirty tricks,
We can grow corm, oranges, and friendship
For all of us on earth so in need of transformation.
-Tontongi, pg 227

*Open Gate: An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry

Looking Back. Moving forward.

2011-01-14T03:27:00.001-05:00

So glad that despite what we see, and what we know, and what we perceive, our current circumstances pale in comparison to what the future can hold when God is writing our story.

Moving Forward

2011-01-13T12:45:00.000-05:00

When I departed the country on October 20, 2010 in many ways Haiti still looked the same as it had on January 12, 2010 and even in too many cases, the same as it had on January 11, 2010; that’s both the irony and tragedy of Haiti. But in some ways, albeit small ways, life has moved on. And though there is still so far to go, there are small victories that we should celebrate.

Continue to pray for those who are mourning and grieving; that God would grant them peace and closure. Continue to pray for those who are rebuilding their lives; that he would grant them provision and prosperity. Continue to pray for those who are still in darkness; that He would grant them life and light.

This is an excerpt from February 1, 2010. It has also been given the label ‘earthquake’ should you wish to read the entire entry.

February 1, 2010
..Yet, in the midst of all the destruction, proof of life was all around. Cars passed, people came and went, children played. I have seen piles of cement blocks stacked in front of former buildings as people salvage building materials. I have seen families digging through the rubble to salvage what they can find to start life again. What can they do? What can anyone do? Life has to move on. You grieve what you’ve lost. You hurt and bleed. You question and even fear. And then slowly, one day at a time, one block at a time. one moment at a time you march forward. However slowly it may be, you march forward.

Here, in Christianville, life too goes on; a lawnmower hums, the washing machine runs, the house ladies chatter, birds chirp, and the baby of one of the missionary families coos. The smell of fresh baked bread wafts through the air.

Its still so hard to imagine what life in Haiti will look like in the future. While things here appear on the mend, there are still hundreds of thousands dead, missing and/or homeless. There are probably thousands and amputees that will now face life in a broken country with no provisions of that sort. Orphans roam the streets, the sick bleed, the hungry stand in line and everyone wonders what’s next. But the thing we have to hold to as Christians, as people who believe in the sovereignty and graciousness of a merciful God, is this; Haiti has not been forgotten. We have not been forgotten. The cries of God’s people have risen from the rubble and God has heard the prayers. It is God and God alone who can redeem and restore and I pray that as a community of believers, we will put our hope and our faith in that. It is not the UN, or the Haitian Government, or the US army, or any other army for that matter than can redeem and restore us. So let us hold fast to that. Let that breathe life back into a dying land, an impoverished people, a broken spirit.

Let that cast our gaze upward.

A Prayer for Haiti

2011-01-12T02:32:00.001-05:00

Today marks one year since the earthquake. One year since life as it was known would become a distant memory of times past when…things weren’t quite as difficult. Irony. Haitian Pastors and many others are calling for today to be a day of prayer and fasting in remembrance of the day the earth moved and changed the lives of 9 million people.

I’ve composed a fairly comprehensive list that includes organizations and individuals working in Haiti, National Haitian Staff, and personal friends or acquaintances of mine. I’ve tried to only use first names and have denoted families who have children with an asterisk. This list is long, as it is intended to be. These are only the people and organizations I am familiar with. There are hundreds, maybe thousands more. Let me encourage you to take the time to read over this list and as you read, pray for the organizations and individuals listed here. I can’t think of a better way to remember and honor the victims.

Personal Friends and Acquaintances:

Rita (both legs broken, hospitalized for seven months, lost 1 child)
Kattelyne (daughter of Rita)
Brunia (Rita’s daughter)
Regina (Rita’s daughter)
Germain (Rita’s husband- also sustained an injury to his torso)
Regine (Lost her leg as a result of the earthquake)
Mme Augstin (Regine’s mom)
Francois (Regine’s friend)
Claudia (Regine’s Cousin)
Frenel (lost his leg as a result of the earthquake)
Peterson (lost the use of his right arm)
Douglas(sustained hip and shoulder damage)
Jonathan- (broken leg, has since recovered )
Valson (broken leg, has since recovered)
Elda (Valson’s Aunt)
Rose Marie (lost leg due to diabetic complications)
Yves (Rose Marie’s God son)
Sandra (Rose Marie’s daughter)
Charlesmagne (Rose Marie’s son)
Jeremi (Rose Marie’s husband)
Nana (sister had a substantial wound on her back, hospitalized for months)
Roudy (His mother lost her leg as result of the earthquake)
Roudy’s Mother (lost her leg)
Amil (broken leg and severe ankle wound-has healed and resides in Port)
Molene (Amil’s wife)
Rosie (suffered a broken pelvis)
Yolette
Benita
Charline (Lost her house in the earthquake-received a Homes for Haiti home)
Eddy
Sonita (lost her older sister in the earthquake)
Lesly
Migline- (broken leg and severe ankle wound- hospitalized for months- home now)
Eli (Migline’s father)
Mode (Migline’s Mother)
Gina (broken shoulder- released from hospital after a short stay, lost her husband and children)
Ginette (severe wound on her shin, was released after a couple months)
Jocelyn (lost everything, left Port after the earthquake)
Herby (lost everything in the earthquake, relocated to Cayes)
Jertrude (broken shoulder- released after a few weeks)
Madline
Olivier (lost his leg as a result of the earthquake)
Yvans (lost his leg as a result of the earthquake. received a prosthetic leg and once he finished with the rehab program he return to volunteer…He comes to the clinic everyday and shadows the prosthetics fabricator. His plan is to go to school to be trained to become one himself.)
Rosleure (Yvan’s sister)
Linda (lost her leg as a result of the earthquake)
Valetine (broken femer- spent several months in the hospital before being released)
Pastor Bien-Aime (home damaged beyond repair- he and his family received one of the Homes for Haiti homes)

Missionaries and Mission Organizations Serving in Haiti:

Reciprocal Ministries International
Rob and Becky*
Gary and Marilyn
Amy
Harvest International
Rod and Debbie*
Loving Shepherd Ministries
Rich and Amber*
Medical Teams International
June
Carmen and Marvin
Free the Children
Father Mark
World Team
Johannes and Luise
Suzanne
Beth
Sean and Heather*
Volker and Annette*
Centre Lumiere- Domestic Center
Olga
Christianville/Haiti Health Ministries
Jim and Sandy
Ryan and Teresa*
Jenn
TLC Barefoot School
Dottie
Quisqueya School and Chapel
Marc
Kez
Agape Flights International
LJ and Ruth
Arise Haiti
James and Rachael*
Christian Light of Haiti
Sherrie
Harvest House Haiti
Judy
Cite Lumiere Christian School
Tom and Karen
Apostolic Christian Church
Jan and Val*
Tim and Joan*
Sheila
Shane
SEED International
Doris and Franz*
Heart for Home
Ricot and Mandy
Haiti’s Children
Gladys
Lumiere Ministries
Dirk and Karen
International Christian Development Ministry
Yvan
Gisel (Yvan’s daughter)
Jacques (Yvan’s nephew)
Christian Veterinary Mission
Kelly
Cite Lumiere Medical Clinic
Dr. William
Dr. Adule
Dr. Moise
Jetti
Frankel
Independent Missionaries
Reinhard and Ulrike
John and Diane*
Jean and Martina*
Joan
Paul and Maggie*
MEBSH (The Mission Evangelique Baptiste du Sud d'Haïti)- The National Organization under which many (but not all) of the above mentioned individuals serve.
Pastor Luders (President of MEBSH)
Pastor Pharnes (Vice President of MEBSH)
People in the process of raising support in order to come serve in Haiti:
Geri
Renee
Mark and Carol*

Reciprocal Ministries National Staff and their spouses:

Jules and Marthe
Jean Cherie and Elcy
Benjamin and Lucette
Benson and Denise
Ti Jean and Julie
Lise and Daniel
Pastor Osman and Lucienne
Merved and Rosita Lafleur
Serge and Marlene
Sam and Ismana
Wilfrid and Marie Francoise
Jean Duvil (Married, name of spouse unknown)
Varnel(Married, name of spouse unknown)
Jean Claude
Merry
Marie France
Pergeuns
Didine
Rameau (Married, name of spouse unknown)
Mme Gerard
Mme Lionel
Naga
Jilian
ToTo
Jean

Missionary House Staff
(this list is not inclusive- it only includes names of those I know):

Mme Moise
Annette
Crislom
Jacqueline
Carline
Meritha
Joset
Willy
Bonita
Cristof
Madame LuLu
Madame Osalom

Other Organizations, Government, and Military

President Preval
Local and National Government and Officials

Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Ministry of Finance and Economy
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cults
Ministry of Information and Coordination
Ministry of Interior and National Defense
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports
Ministry of Planning and Foreign Aid
Ministry of Public Health and Population
Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communications
Ministry of Social Affairs
Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development

Local and National Police

UN Forces- there are currently 11,797 total uniformed personnel

Countries represented:Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Columbia, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, United States, Uruguay and Yemen

Samaritan's Purse
Haiti One
Doctors without Borders
Haitian Red Cross
International Red Cross
Radio Lumiere
Presse Evangelique
Compassion International
Water Missions International
Partners in Health

Watch and Pray

2011-01-11T12:12:00.000-05:00

Here is a video that a friend of mine posted on her Facebook page. There are a few images that are raw and hard to watch and one blatant explicative so don’t watch it with your kids, but the video is extremely powerful and worth watching. I am pleading with you; We can’t let the suffering of the Haitian people and all they’ve endured be forgotten. So let me encourage you to watch. Let me encourage you not to turn it off or turn your heads away when it gets hard hold your gaze. Because while turning your head is a choice, there are hundreds of thousands of people who had no choice, many of whom lost their lives. So, in honor of those who have suffered and those who continue to suffer, let me encourage you to watch and pray.

Haiti: Aftermath from Benjamin Lowy/Marvi Lacar on Haiti: Aftermath from Benjamin Lowy/Marvi Lacar on Haiti: Aftermath from Benjamin Lowy/Marvi Lacar on Haiti: Aftermath from Benjamin Lowy/Marvi Lacar

(Sorry, that’s the best I could do with that link! No matter how many times I’ve corrected it, after I save it, it still reverts to looking like that! But it still works!)

This Week in History

2011-01-10T03:20:00.001-05:00

This week marks the one year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. I don’t measure my year from January 1st. I measure from January 12. I think a lot of people (at least those in Haiti) feel that way.

I am dedicating this week’s posts to Haiti. I am going to try to post things only related to remembering the tragedy that struck the country of Haiti and the moments and days that followed. Today’s entry is an excerpt which comes from the first blog entry I made following the quake. The entry in its entirety can found on January 14, 2010. You can use the label, ‘earthquake’ to locate it.

January 14…
Personally, I am numb. There are moments when I can't stop from crying and moments when I hear the stories and don't know where to start unraveling what I feel. We sit here in Cayes with steak kabobs, a beautiful breeze, the internet and Diet Coke. I'm struggling with that. I feel guilty. Guilty because for the moment, life is as it was. I feel guilty for feeling like I've lost something because in reality I have lost nothing, I have seen nothing, and I have felt nothing while there are those who have lost everything, those who are broken, and those who are dead. I feel guilty for being idle…I am praying… And I am ready. But while the truth is I am doing what I can, I feel like there is something more I should do. And yet, there is nothing more that I can do, for now. Again, only time will tell.

No one ever imagines a tragedy of this nature is about to occur. And no matter what you do to realign your thoughts when it does, it still isn't enough. Sometimes in the midst of something like this, even God feels a little small. But I know that the truth is, God is enough. I just have to walk daily in His shadow, and wait quietly by his side. And be ready when He calls me to action. That's what I can do.

…that's where I'm at. Pray for me. Pray for the people of Haiti. Pray for those who have lost everything and those who are suffering. Pray for the government. Pray for the other missionaries and humanitarians'. Pray for the families of those who have died. Pray for the President of Haiti, Renee Preval.

Pray that God would be gracious to us and heal us. I'd appreciate it.

Welcome to the World, Little Man

2011-01-04T23:02:00.001-05:00

This is my nephew. My sister and brother-in-law’s first baby. He was born November 17, 2010. His name is Colin. I call him Nugget.

My sis, my mom, my nephew, and myself.

Two Years…Really??

2011-01-04T22:34:00.001-05:00

Coming to a mailbox near you….

Happy 2011

2010-12-31T01:56:00.001-05:00

I Am Tax Deductible

2010-12-29T00:46:00.001-05:00

Well, its not ME who is actually tax deductible but any donations you make to RMI in my name are!

Would you consider a one time gift to help support RMI and my ministry in Haiti?

Remember, envelopes have to be post marked by December 31st or you can make a donation online anytime before midnight on the 31st.

Online donations can be made here.

Payments made by mail can be sent here:
Reciprocal Ministries International
5475 Lee St., Suite 301,
Lehigh Acres, FL 33971
A designation card can be found at the link above, which you can use to designate the gift to me.

Under Construction of Sorts

2010-12-28T01:23:00.001-05:00

The nice thing about blogger is that its really easy to make changes and update your look. The annoying thing is once you start making changes, there is no turning back. So, I am currently revamping a few things so bear with me as I do them. Hopefully in the next 24 hours all will be beautiful again in the land of amyrlong.blogspot.com.

Happy Holidays!!!

2010-12-24T03:34:00.001-05:00

Jesus. Light of the World.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Blessings to you and yours.
Love, Amy

Countin’ Down.

2010-12-21T18:42:00.001-05:00

Four days until Christmas!

That’s all.

The end.

The latest

2010-12-17T17:17:00.001-05:00

I keep thinking it hasn’t been too long since I’ve posted and then I look back at the date of my last post and realize…holy cow. it’s been a while.

I’ve got lots of ‘things’ going on in my head but for one reason or another I’ve lost the urge to write about them. I keep thinking of things to post and well, frankly I just don’t get around to it. I asked for blog ideas and ironically enough the three ideas I got were things I unfortunately don’t really know enough to write about them. So, if you submitted ideas, I greatly appreciate them and think they were great ideas. I’ll just have to learn more about them (some of which will just take a while to get enough experience and understanding to write anything interesting)…but keep the ideas coming. I love ideas!

On a less interesting note (although I’ve been told by a friend who is a former nurse that she likes the medical posts!) here is where my eye is at. And my diabetes.

My vision has improved to 20/50 as of last Tuesday. The eye continues to bleed just a little so the Doctor is still watching for that to clear up. I am still refraining from bending to the point where my head is below my heart and I am still sleeping on lots of pillows to keep my head elevated at night. My next appointment is January 4 and at that point I should find out what the future is like as far as timing to get back to Haiti. But still, only time will tell.

My diabetes is doing great. The Doctor ordered lots of tests on me. Including vitamin deficiencies and thyroid. I am now on thyroid medication (he said mine was extremely low), Vitamin B and Vitamin D; everyday. My A1C has continued to improve and at the appointment last week it was down to 7.2. I am on a new insulin program and it should make my diabetes completely manageable once back in Haiti.

If you’ve read this far down into this post, thanks for sticking with it. I hope to have some posts which have more mass appeal (I use that phrase with a grain of salt, as they say.) in the near future.

8 days til Christmas!

How We Roll

2010-12-04T13:42:00.001-05:00

Just looking through some of my pictures from Haiti and came across a couple that are kind of fun. The quality isn’t superb but they tell a great story.

Need to move a table?

Just strap it on the back of a motorcycle or two.

I Wanna Know What You Wanna Know.

2010-12-04T13:26:00.001-05:00

I'd love some ideas.

Its much easier to keep my blog interesting when I am in Haiti and things are going on, but sitting at the house waiting for my eye to heal doesn't make for stimulating content.

So, would you give me some ideas?

Are there things that you'd like to know about life in Haiti, about post earthquake Haiti, personal complexities of living in a foreign country?

I love to write, but sometimes just need a little idea stimulation. Can ya help?

20/80

2010-11-30T23:20:00.001-05:00

When I first went to the Eye Doctor in Haiti, the vision in my left eye tested at 20/100. At my last check up (two weeks post surgery) I don’t think it even registered as a number. The guy that did the vision test made a note in my chart that read something about that I could vaguely make out how many fingers he was holding up (couldn’t see the letters on the chart at all!) at maybe a foot away and he ended the statement with a set of question marks. Over the past couple weeks I felt like my vision had improved maybe one percent or so, but not much more than enough to increase the distance at which I could see my fingers. But today, I could actually see some of the numbers on the chart and my vision had improved to 20/80! Que bueno!

He said there is still bleeding, but it has subsided some and some of the blood has been absorbed back into the eye (which is a good thing). He even said he could see the retina this time where as last time he couldn’t even see that and I had to have a sonogram done on the eye. I am not out of the woods yet and there is still much need for improvement but we’re getting there, albeit slowly, but there none the less.

I’ve also seen the endocrinologist, and he’s changed my insulin and put me on a different kind that’s giving me much better control of my blood sugar. He also tested my A1C (a test that measures the level of blood sugars over an extended period of time). Its basically a way that the Doctor can tell if the blood sugars have been high, low, well- controlled, or up and down. My A1C wasn’t perfect but it was 7.9 which isn’t terrible. Granted, it could have been better, but I was expecting that it would have been much worse and I had been worried that that was the major cause of the eye problem. The endocrinologist even said it wasn’t that bad and that since I’ve been diabetic for 26 years, eye damage and other complications are just often part of the deal. So, that did put my mind at rest as to my ability to better maintain the blood sugars once I am back in Haiti. While I will most definitely work to be more intentional in the areas I can be, it gives me encouragement to know that isn’t going to be as hard as I had thought.

I think this might qualify as the most boring post I’ve ever written. But right now, I don’t have much that would qualify as exciting to write about. I did find a bag of shoes that I had left when I originally moved to Haiti. I found them in the bottom of the closet. I had been looking for a couple of the pairs (trying to locate where my mom might have stashed them when they moved last year) the last two times I have visited the States. I found the bag this evening. I had forgotten about some of the other pairs that were also in the bag. They’re pretty cute shoes. So that’s exciting, right?

Aside from that, I’ll stay on the look out for interesting things to share. Until then, I’ll sign off by saying thanks for all your love, support, and prayers. God has been so faithful and loving in the way He has surrounded me by such a great cloud of witnesses.

Love to you all!

back in the saddle

2010-11-24T23:46:00.001-05:00

I have had a busy few days.

A week ago yesterday was my two week post surgery check up. The Dr said overall, things looked good. There is still bleeding in my eye which is what is keeping me from regaining my vision but he also said that he is not yet concerned because as a diabetic, healing can take longer. He feels that once the bleeding stops I should regain full vision. I have my next appointment on November 30.

A week ago today my parents and I drove down to Orlando for the birth of my sister’s first baby. Colin Pierce Talbot was born just before 6pm on Wednesday evening and weighed 7lbs 11 ounces and was 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well and they are settling into a routine. That means I am an Aunt!

Sunday morning, I was given the opportunity to share a little bit of my story during the church service at Crossroad UMC. It was a great service, and I had a great time encouraging the church to embrace compassion for the Nations. The Access218 College and Career Group had come to Haiti in July and done a young adults conference at our sister church in Tiburon, Haiti. Sunday morning, the College Pastor was preaching and the Access218 Band was leading worship. In Haiti, the band led the whole worship service in Creole and on Sunday morning they led the congregation in singing the theme song from the conference, and they sang it in both English and Creole. I love being part of a community that celebrates what God is doing across the world.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It is an unexpected blessing for me to be here over the holidays. While my heart still longs to be in Haiti, because that’s where my life is, I am grateful to get the opportunity to spend the holidays with friends and family. Tomorrow our plans are very…..simple. My mom and dad and I are meeting my mom’s best friend (and my “Aunt”) in St Marys, GA and we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving by dining at…Cracker Barrel. Hey, that means no slaving away in the kitchen and especially important, no dishes!

I’ve to lots to be thankful for…

Enjoy your day. Hope its blessed! Don’t forget to thank God for all that He’s done!

t minus 12 hours

2010-10-31T20:13:00.001-05:00

In twelve hours, I will be in surgery.

I’ve been told I can’t read or use the computer (among other things) for two weeks after the surgery. So, I won’t be posting for a little while.

Thanks so much for all the thoughts and prayers and kind messages you have all sent my way. It’s been more of a blessing that I could have imagined.

Much love.

“See” you all on the flip side.

A Few More Details

2010-10-27T21:58:00.001-05:00

We talked to the Drs office today. They said my appointment is at 8:15 to get me signed in and ready for the operation and the operation should take place at 9:15am on Monday. The Dr isn’t sure whether he’ll do a laser procedure, a combination, or if it will be completely manual. I have been given a prescription for Lortab that I was told to fill before the surgery, so I am expecting to be in at least some pain.

I am still working on getting my blood sugars leveled out and I am still adjusting to being here but as I have already said, God’s hand of provision has been very evident thus far. Using funds I had in my account, RMI has been able to cover part of the large insurance deductible as well as my flight into the country. Crossroad Church is helping cover some of the deductible as well. There have already some additional gifts that RMI has received on my behalf that will help cover some of these costs. I am thankful for the way God has used so many family, friends, and loved ones to be part of His work.

Once I have had the surgery and begin the healing process I will be working with RMI to determine what I can be doing stateside until my return to the field. I am still hopeful that I will be able to return sometime around the beginning of the new year.

if you are interested and able to help with a financial gift, you can send it here:

Reciprocal Ministries International
5475 Lee St., Suite 301,
Lehigh Acres, FL 33971

You can also donate online at RMI's Website.

Friday 10-22-10

2010-10-22T11:13:00.001-05:00

The appointment yesterday morning wasn't actually for the surgery- it was a consult to see what the problem really was.

The surgery has been scheduled on November 1. I have to be at the surgery center at 8:15am.

Bottom line, there is more substantial damage than just the bleeding. There is scarring at the back of the retina and if not repaired, it could mean detachment of the retina and eventual complete blindness. the bleeding was actually a separate yet related problem. I consider it a blessing over all as the problem could have continued and become completely non=repairable.

It is a problem associated with diabetes and poorly controlled blood sugars (I guess Haiti has been harder on my system in that way than I realized but I am working on getting them under control and will just have to continue changing what I do when I return…) As of now, the laser surgery can help stop the bleeding and remove some of the scar tissue. The recovery process, he said in general is a two month process. If the process goes smoothly, then after two months he will sign off on the recovery and I, ideally, will be free to return to Haiti. As far as my vision, I am at 20/25 in my right (good eye) but at about 20/100 in the left eye. There is a 3 in 4 chance it will improve some and a 1 in 4 chance it will not. I am trusting and believing for the former.

I am working through what this all means and what life will look like over the next couple months. While things have turned out differently than I thought, I know that God’s hand is in this and I will trust Him to continue to guide me through.

I am missing Haiti very much today. I woke up to find news of a cholera outbreak in the North Western part of the Haiti. My heart breaks for a country whose people has already experienced enough grief and tragedy in the past ten months to last more than a lifetime. Keep Haiti on your mind, in your thoughts and in your prayers.

Wednesday 10-20-10

2010-10-20T21:00:00.001-05:00

I am stateside. I arrived with absolutely no problems. I left my house at 3am, was at the airport by 7am and on the plane about 9am. Both the flight from Port to Miami and from Miami to Jacksonville left right on time and I was safely in Jacksonville a little ahead of schedule.

I had an appointment made for 8am but was told it may be a long morning as I will have to be worked into the schedule. Just this morning, the Ladies from the Bible Study I attended before I left for Haiti prayed that God would give me a connection with a Doctor who had a heart for Haiti and a heart for the work I am doing there. My mom got a call today saying that the Dr who would be seeing me had changed. When she talked to that Dr. my mom found out that she has been to Haiti numerous times. God has definitely been working in the details!!

Thanks to everyone who has left messages on Facebook or sent e-mails. I truly appreciate your kind words, your thoughts, and your prayers.

I’m heading to bed pretty soon. It’s been a long day. Good night.

A Quick Note from Haiti

2010-10-20T20:20:00.001-05:00

I know what you're thinking...nothing Amy ever sends is quick- or short- or less than the equivalent of three printed pages. Well, maybe that’s true. But I am going to try my best to make it as brief as possible. You have my
word(s).

As you know, things have been BUSY around here- since my feet hit Haitian soil on September first I haven't stopped going. In fact, RMI has had five teams in Haiti since September third and another one coming in this Friday. We've made three sister church visits, put up three Homes for Haiti houses, moved offices, made lots of repairs at the Guest House, spent two days in Port au Prince, bought a washing machine (for the Guest House) and I've even found time to make curtains for my bathroom. Whew! It's been a busy yet very rewarding season.

But like so many things in Haiti (and I guess in life in general) things can change so fast. As of last Friday night I was to head out with the team Saturday morning. On Saturday morning, I had an appointment with an eye doctor for Monday morning and by Tuesday, I had a plane ticket to fly back to the US on Wednesday and on Thursday, I have an appointment to have laser surgery on my left eye. It really happened just like that; my mind is still spinning as I try and get my head around it all. Last Wednesday, I woke up with blurry vision in my left eye, but thought it was nothing major, that maybe I'd scratched my eye. By Friday, it still wasn't improving at all and I started getting concerned. After talking it over with Rob Thompson (Haiti Field Director) and my roommate Beth (who is a Registered Nurse Practitioner) I decided it'd be best to schedule an appointment. As a Type-1 Diabetic (have been for 26 years) eye problems are nothing to mess with. The Doctor determined that there is no permanent damage as of yet but that the retina is bleeding and needs to be repaired. There is only one retina specialist in Haiti, and the Dr I saw said that he doesn't trust the Specialist. So, after lots of phone calls and arrangements being made, I have a flight to the US tomorrow morning (I leave my house to drive to Port at 3am!) and should be in Jacksonville around 6:10pm. I have an appointment scheduled with a Retina Specialist and will hopefully have a quick and fairly painless (I really have no idea what to expect) procedure with a few days recovery and I HOPE to be back in Haiti after only a short stay. (Again, I have no idea what to expect!))

I have good stateside insurance but there is still a good bit of cost involved in taking care of the deductible and there is also the plane ticket as well as living expenses that I will incur while I am stateside. God has been faithful in how He is meeting those financial needs but there are still needs that are yet to be taken care of. If you are interested in helping me financially during this time, your help would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be sent to RMI and designated for me and it will credited to my account. As always your prayerful and financial support has always been an essential part of the ministry God has called me to and I am eternally grateful for each and every one of you.

Donations can be sent to:

Reciprocal Ministries International
5475 Lee St., Suite 301,
Lehigh Acres, FL 33971

You can also donate online at RMI's Website.

Ok, so, maybe it wasn't short, but I tried. I promise. Keep checking my blog for updates- I'm working on an entry about the actual visit to the eye Doctor. It was quite an interesting experienced!

Thank you again for all you do and in all the ways you love and support me!

(originally sent as an e-mail on 10-19-10)

Pics from the Road

2010-09-27T14:15:00.001-05:00

Here a few pics from the last couple months. The first two came from Leogane. I was there in July with a Homes for Haiti team. David Uttley (UH MAY ZING photographer) and I walked around the area of Leogane, ate kènèps with some of the kids, stopped and talked with some of the residents in the area, and snapped a few photos.

These last two came from Grand Goave,where we also had a Homes for Haiti team putting up a house. I tried walking around the area on my own but got frustrated with the number of times I was stopped and asked why I/we couldn’t build them (them being whoever it was I was talking to) a house. So I just stuck around the yard, talked to the family and neighbors, and snapped a few photos.

Missing Persons Report for Amy Long: She’s Been Found.

2010-09-04T00:10:00.001-05:00

Like so many of my recent posts, I’m once again apologizing for my absence. I just spent a month in the states and while, yes, I had to time to reflect and blog, to be honest, I was on vacation, and really, I just didn’t feel like it. Its my prerogative, or so they tell me.

I’m home now. I arrived in Haiti on Wednesday. I was in Port au Prince by 11am and at my house just after 4:30pm. I was greeted by what my neighbor referred to as a very lonely dog. The dog’s been staying at the house, being cared for by neighbors, friends, and staff. But apparently he was lonely. I can imagine. Simply being fed is different than being loved. I can’t really say that I LOVE the dog and couldn’t imagine my life if something happened to him. He’s not really my dog. He actually belongs to Susanne, one of my roommates, who has been in Germany since May (she’ll return in January) on furlough. Beth, my other roommate, and I decided that we’d care for him while she was gone rather than try and find a new home for him, or last resort, put him to sleep. While I’m not a dog ‘lover’, Bubba’s a good dog and its nice to have the idea of some kind of protection while I’m here alone (Beth’s still in the states until Thursday). I will admit though, that Bubba’s looking a little rough. I was going to try and give him a bath before i left on July 30 and I just didn’t have time. I imagine that one of my weekend activities will be washing the dog. I’ve never actually bathed a dog before, so that should be interesting.

Life’s going to be very busy over the next three months. The way the schedule looks now, we’ve got three teams every month until December. I was supposed to be out with the team who arrived yesterday. But late Wednesday night I was overwhelmed with the fact that it was just too complicated for me to go. The week night person we had taking care of Bubba told me Thursday that she wouldn’t be around next week so she wouldn’t be able to feed and care for Bubba. Since I was leaving early Friday morning, I really didn’t have time to make all kind of arrangements for the dog. And I couldn’t leave him here alone. Perhaps it sounds trite, and normally wouldn’t even be an issue because Beth and/or Susanne would be here, but just so happened this week, I’m solo. Being here will actually give me a chance to get caught up some photo editing and posting that is back logged, due the flurry of activity this past summer. I’ll also be able to start getting my head around some new things I’m going to be working on. So, while I’m not with the team, this coming week will still most certainly be busy.

I am taking a motorcycle taxi to town with Becky in the morning- just for some girl time, ie": shopping! Even if we don’t buy anything, there’s an abundance of things to browse. I suppose after I come home, I may be washing the dog.

Anyone heard if it’s supposed to rain? I wonder if I could just put some soap on him and leave him outside…?

Tiburon July 2010

2010-08-17T12:59:00.001-05:00

July Update 2010

2010-07-22T19:08:00.000-05:00

This letter is over two months overdue. April happened; I was working on a “one year anniversary” update; I was even planning on including some little bits and pieces of things to make it special. I was almost finished with the letter when a flurry of activity unfolded here on the field. May and June happened. RMI hosted 5 teams in just four weeks; one prospective church team, two sister churches, and two Homes for Haiti teams. On top of this full RMI team schedule, the guest house was also packed with up to twenty two guests at a time. Because the Guest House was full, the Homes for Haiti teams stayed at Zanglais, our Retreat Center location about 45 minutes from the Mission Center. That meant they would need lunch on location and all other meals at Zanglais. Being the Haiti Hospitality Coordinator that meant it was my job to make arrangements for all of this, much of which was happening simultaneously. Sometime during all of this, I lost track of time, lost some sleep, and lost everything on my computer when my hard drive crashed. That everything included that ‘one year anniversary’ update I was just about finished with. I try not to think about the other things that were lost, but I’m also hopeful that next time I’m in the states, I can take the hard drive somewhere and I can recover some of its contents. I’ve been told there are people who can do those sorts of things.

Speaking of the next time I’m in the states…I’ll be there for the month of August. The last seven months have been hectic beyond measurability. We’ve all been working overtime to fill in the gaps that January twelfth left us with. Not long ago, someone asked how I was doing and the answer I gave was ‘weary to my soul’. I think all of us are. The RMI Florida Office and the RMI Board have seen this, some of them first hand, and they are sending us to the States for the month of August for a time of rest and recuperation and to spend some time with family and friends. I am grateful and thankful to serve with an organization which has seen this and cares enough about us to provide this opportunity.

Since January 12, life has been in fast forward. The first few days following the quake were spent making arrangements to get our team out of the country. The days and weeks following their exodus brought with it a rush of activity for RMI; receiving and hosting medical personnel, reporters, and other relief workers, housing and delivering relief supplies, and coordinating relief efforts with other organizations here on the Mission Center. In my spare time, I also spent many hours visiting the hospital and spending time with those injured in the quake. I made many friends and to this day can’t visit the hospital without feeling a little bit nostalgic and in some ways a little bit sad. Most of the friends I made have gone their own ways and I may never see them again. But I am also encouraged because some of them I am still in touch with and it’s been a blessing to watch them walk through their recovery process. A couple months after the quake, life began to settle into a routine. It began to feel normal again, although I can’t be sure if things really returned to normal or if the new flurry of activity just became the new norm; or perhaps it was some of both. That routine brought with it an explosion of guests and the Guest House hasn’t been empty for more than about ten days total since January thirteenth. In May, our first Sister Church team since the earthquake arrived and we also began hosting teams coming to work with our Homes for Haiti program (a project to provide housing for those who lost their homes in the earthquake). It’s been a busy time, indeed. All of the staff are tired and in need of a break. Though, I can’t speak for the others but I can tell you that I can’t imagine having been anywhere else over these last seven months. There are many things I don’t know, but that I know for sure.

These next two weeks will also be busy and will bring with them two teams; a Homes for Haiti team, and a Sister Church team. The Sister Church team coming in is from my home church, Crossroad Church. I am looking forward to spending the week with them out in our Sister Church village of Tiburon. They are planning a large youth conference, and are preparing to encourage, instruct, and inspire the youth in the Tiburon district (they are planning for 500!) on to a life of service for Christ. The team will leave for Florida on July 30 and I will fly out the same day, just a little earlier. I’ll be driven into Port on Thursday and spent the night so I can catch my flight Friday morning. I am very much looking forward the break.

I don’t have a lot of plans yet. I’m trying to keep my schedule pretty simple. I’m trying to figure out how I can see everyone and do everything without packing my days to the max. I do intend for this to be a restful time However, having said that, I do look forward to seeing friends and family while I’m there.

Please continue to keep Haiti in your prayers; pray for those still rebuilding their lives, pray for those who lost family and loved ones, pray for the Haitian government and the President as they rebuild and restructure and pray for the souls of those who have yet to encounter Jesus on a personal level. Pray that in this and through this the light of Christ would shine. And that Haiti, a dark place with a dark past would become a light to the nations.

Please continue to keep the RMI Missionaries and National Staff in your prayers. Pray that this time in August (the National staff are also being given some time off) will be renewing and refreshing. Pray for Rob Thompson and his family as they are in Haiti, still learning a language and a new life. And pray for the RMI Florida Office and Board that God would continue to bless and provide for the needs of the ministry and that He would continue to give them wisdom to lead well.

Blessings and Peace to you and yours,

Amy

P.S.

2010-06-05T08:27:00.001-05:00

In case you miss me, I’m alive; just buried under a pile of menus, shopping lists, reservation requests, facility repairs and needs lists, photos to edit and post, phone calls, emails, a full guest house, a full house at Zanglais, four RMI teams in three weeks, and the endless pursuit of catching the elusive mice that prefer my room to the great outdoors.

Not much time to check in but I’ll try and post a bit when I come up for air.

Much love.

Baraderes (Bar- ah-dare)

2010-05-21T10:50:00.001-05:00

Haven’t had time to write anything in several days so I thought I’d post a few pics from my time in Baraderes. The team did two days of Medical clinics and saw over 200 patients! I didn’t get as much of a chance to take pics as I often do because I was busy translating in the pharmacy (which was fun!) but here are a few I snapped at one point or another during the week. The last one is a picture of Rob Thompson (the new RMI Haiti Director) and his daughter Tessa.

Following

2010-05-09T23:36:00.001-05:00

The sky is dark and sullen and the rumble of thunder is constant and the threat of rain is looming. I rather like Sunday afternoons like this, it makes for good napping. Although, I can’t sleep. The weather seems somewhat indicative of how I am feeling. Overcast. It will pass. There is sunshine in the forecast; both literally and figuratively, I am sure.

Between the hours of 8pm last night and 8am this morning I read a book. It was that good. I am a discriminating reader, or maybe I’m just picky. I love to read and am hard to please when it comes to books but I have been known to buy a book just because I liked its cover. I love the smell of libraries and the way I feel while meandering through a bookstore. When people ask me what I miss most about the states I always forget to mention this but its one of the things for which my heart most feels an absence. I go through spells when I read a lot and then times when books are almost forgotten, when life gets busy and I don’t make the time. I have read many books and even when I don’t particularly enjoy them I usually purpose to finish them, just for the sake of finishing them but there are few books have truly captured me. These are the books that devour my time, that I sit down and read in a night or two. These are the books I recommend to friends and even find cause to mention to strangers. That list is small. Until yesterday that list included only four: The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz, And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Today it includes five; Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle by Kent Annan.

It rings with similarities to the book, A Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, that seems made the Christian Circuit last year. Both of these books address in one way or another the pressing needs of the impoverished and the marginalized. I say what I’m about to say in the least self-righteous way possible, and though I may not have known all the statistics on poverty, I have been reaching out to the poor and needy in tangible ways for many years now. I don’t say that to mean I am better than anyone else, I simply say it to mean that I was just already aware and doing what little I could to “do something about it”. I live in Haiti. I have read A Hole in Our Gospel and it was an OK read but it didn’t change my life.

I already have little compared to what people in the US would consider ‘standard’. I don’t have high speed internet. I don’t have cable or satellite tv (there is a TV in the common area but mostly only good for watching movies and I have a small 13” in the corner of my room that’s never even been plugged in), or an Ipod. I don’t have a car, hot water, or air conditioning. And yet I have so much more than most people in this country can even begin to dream or imagine if ever having. I have internet, a laptop, a cell phone, indoor plumbing, a ‘modern’ toilet, electricity 24 hours a day, and a 4-wheeler. And I can go down the hill and watch Discovery Channel (almost) any time I want. In most ways, I’m living the dream; and there in lies a great divide. Yes, there are people in Haiti (more every day it seems) that have one or all of these things but still the gap is wide.

I think Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle very well may have changed my life. I don’t know how yet, and it may only be in the smallest of tangible ways or maybe it is in larger less tangible ways, but it has my heart longing for something; something more. I am not claiming that I will one day sell all that I have and go move to the remote mountains in Haiti. Mom, there’s not need to fear. I’m not that rash. However, it is causing my heart to pause and wonder what it is that I am doing with what I have and how I can do more or at least keep doing what I am already doing, just more effectively. Sometimes I still feel so disconnected from Haiti- from real life. I may have been without running water for a week but the nearest place to draw water is just outside my room, from a bucket where we catch the rain. I know nothing of back breaking work as the very source of my existence. I may have mice, and termites, and mold but I know nothing of the daily more formidable foes of giardia, typhoid fever, and worms.

I grow weary of the white elitist attitude that follows me most places and the expectation that enters a room the moment I do. I get tired of being “stared at”, gawked at, asked and would at times just like to blend in and fade away. But what if I did move to remote corner of the island and build a tiny cinder block house. What if I hauled my water from the river and planted a small garden and sold the vegetables at market. What if? The tradition that my skin color implies unlimited resources would most likely follow me there. In Haiti, it would most likely follow me to my grave. What do I do with that? Do I stop living a separate life? Do I rid myself of the few ‘luxuries” I have that most Americans would scoff at that thought of calling them luxuries? I don’t know that that's the answer either. But I do know God is stirring my heart. The result of that is always something big.

Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle. Its a story about a man and wife, both white, doing life in Haiti. I could see myself in some of the places they described. I could feel myself in the some of the emotions they expressed. I understood many of the questions and frustrations they had. Perhaps that why it has affected me so. Maybe because while not in every sense but in so many ways, they are describing the life that I am living. They too are trying to figure it out.

Its a good read. You should go to a library or a book store and browse the shelves for a copy. And when you find it, grab hold of it. And when you read it, let it grab hold of you. It’s that good.

I’ll tempt with you an excerpt; its a prayer. (Following Jesus Through the Eye of a Needle, pps 146-147)

God, our Father and Mother; Christ, my Savior and brother; Spirit, hidden presence.

I love you because you know and love me. But I know so little of you, glimpses through Christ and mixed messages through the world.

I don’t know if I hold you at a distance, or its you who hold yourself at a distance from me. I need your intimacy, and yet everything I experience keeps you a mystery.

I am grateful to you beyond measure, my Creator, my every breath, my grace and mercy. I don’t know how to worship you any more than this—with my proud and deceitful and broken heart.

I give you myself—a pittance, but all I have. All I ask is everything. All I ask is you in return.

Christ, I find hope and forgiveness in you—or if I won’t, I’m doomed. Forgive me for my selfishness and hypocrisy, for my lust after so much that isn't it love, for so many hours and years and opportunities that I piddle away, these gifts I’m supposed to cherish and share. Lead us. Forgive us. Maybe we’re supposed to trust you, but you shouldn’t have trusted us. How can it be worth it, God?

In you, Christ. I find my light, though its awfully dark.

I pray for my sisters and brothers who are hurting unbearably tonight—that you would suffer with them, that you would stop their suffering, thought I know you won’t stop it all or even very much right now. It’s more faith that I can muster, yet there’s something in me that trusts you—or wants to so desperately that it resembles trust—despite it all, in the midst of it all, because of it all. I call out for you in rage and desperation and hope and doubt and tender love.

Call back to me, I ask. Call us out of our graves, like Lazarus. Weep a tear for us all again, and let us weep with you. Let’s all weep together for this beauty and this mess. Then come Lord Jesus, come and save us somehow, anyhow. And meanwhile show us how to save each other…

Amen.

Anticlimactic I suppose

2010-05-07T12:10:00.001-05:00

So I guess I left things hanging here with a big lead up to my one year anniversary on April 29. And then nothing posted after April 28. Two things happened really…1) I ran out of interesting pictures and mostly 2) I ran out of time.

Literally.

We had a team coming in on April 30 and for the week before their arrival I was working non-stop, some days, almost around the clock, or at least into the wee hours of the morning. The day they arrived, April 30, I started working before 9am and didn’t stop going until 3:30am. Saturday, I was up by 8am and didn’t stop until I climbed into the truck around 1pm and left to spend a week in Baraderes.

The week was packed as we did two days of clinic and the usual women’s, children’s, deacon’s, and outreach events. I spent the week translating and snapping as many photos as I had time for and then Wednesday morning we took the 3 hour drive to Zanglais to spend the evening at the Retreat Center…although I was busy there with the ladies in the kitchen I did grab a little rest and was able to sleep all night without being woken up by a rooster on crack every morning before 4am. So that was nice. Yesterday as soon as we arrived at the Mission Center, it was ‘hit the decks running’ until last night when I crawled in bed just before 10:30pm. And I feel like I owe it to the rest of the RMI staff to point out that each of them has been just as busy…little sleep and lots of activity….we’re all exhausted and yet somehow through the miracle of God’s grace, we still get along and really all love each other dearly.

Today I was up by 6:30am and I haven’t stopped going much longer than to take the time to jot this down….

Our water in expected to be out for 24 hours…starting sometime today.

No complaints. Just stating facts.

I’ll try and post something a little more interesting sometime soon.

Peace and rest.

A Year in Pictures #28

2010-04-28T21:09:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is the big day….ONE YEAR IN HAITI.

Another ode to Port. A picture of the famous statue, Negre Marron, which stands near the Palace. Anyone know if its still standing?

A Year in Pictures #27

2010-04-27T22:36:00.001-05:00

After the first month or so post January 12, I took very few photos. I wasn’t out and about like I had been. Life had settled into a normal routine of….organized chaos and I just didn’t have time. This picture was taken in Port au Prince back in September. Cyber Cafe’s are big in these parts. You pay something like $10 Haitian dollars for something like and hour of time on a computer that crawls though I’ve seen at least one place advertise ‘wade-less’ internet. I think that means wireless. At this particular location looks as if you could make payments on a cell phone, receive money, get color copies,buy Viola phone cards, or use the internet.

I don’t remember exactly where in Port this was, or if it’s even still there.

A Year in Pictures #26

2010-04-26T23:22:00.001-05:00

My friend Lisa came down for a short visit and the friend who flew her in agreed to fly us to the Bahamas for an overnight stay. He was doing relief flights in and out of Haiti and the supplies were coming in through an incredible group called Bahamas Methodist Habitat. They were responsible for hundreds of flights and hundreds of thousands of pounds of relief supplies that were flown into the Cayes area. While in the Bahamas, Paul (the pilot), Lisa, and myself had the privilege of dining with Cameron, Abe, and Matt, some of the folks who have been making ‘it’ all happen. We ate at a great little local place where the music was jammin’, the food was great, and the company was amazing.

While at the hanger on Tuesday, waiting to load supplies onto our plane to fly back to Cayes, there were other planes loading and unloading as well. The Coast Guard was there too. Though, I’m not sure exactly what they were doing.

It was a quick visit so we didn’t get to see much other than the Hanger, the Restaurant and the Hotel. I’d love to go back and visit the backroads- local style. The thing I remember most about the Bahamas? Wishing I’d brought long pants. It was cold and I didn’t bring any long pants...

A Year in Pictures #25

2010-04-25T22:29:00.001-05:00

I made my first visit to the Cite Lumiere Clinic on January 19. That was one week after the earth quake. When I met Migline, her leg was in a cast and I watched the Dr. cutting a window into the cast revealing a large piece of skin missing from her foot. She was crying “Li fe mal” over and over again. “It hurts”. “It hurts”. “It hurts”. That started a very special chapter in my life; almost daily visits to the hospital where I met so many wonderful people and made so many friends. February 26, just a little over a month later, Migline was well on her way to recovery. When I arrived at the hospital she was sitting outside. It was the first day I noticed that she had both of her flip flops on. She’d come along way. Within a few short days, she was discharged.

I talked briefly with her dad late last week and he said she was doing well. I didn’t find out much more than that. He was in Port so I didn’t get to talk with Migline, who lives somewhere around Port Salut.

A Year in Pictures #24

2010-04-25T20:16:00.001-05:00

Sorry again for not posting yesterday. I was too exhausted to care to tell you the truth. I went to be around 10pm. Maybe this whole turning 33 thing is catching up with me.

This man was staying at Gabion, the tent city downtown. I met him on one of my visits. He must have assumed I was of Spanish descent because he started speaking to me in Spanish. He showed me his left shoulder. It appeared to be out of joint although I couldn’t understand everything he was telling me. He was a gentle old man. I wonder if he still down there. My friend Jocelyn, who is living there, told me the folks organizing the area will be closing it soon and the residents will have to find new places to live. Soccer Season is coming.

A Year in Pictures #23

2010-04-23T21:37:00.001-05:00

January 24, 2010. I went with Gary and a couple other missionaries to Port au Prince to bring back some of the Quake Refugees to a camp one of the missionary families, The Wray’s, was setting up just outside of Cayes. We took two pick ups, a large flat bed and a small flat bed set up with benches. We brought back about 80 people. Gary and I had 4 with us in the Ford. The rest of them preferred to ride on the flat beds. We piled luggage in the bed of the Ford and the back of the other pick up. Everything they owned was stuffed inside suitcases, bags, pillow cases and anything they had that could be used. Getting to the church where we were to meet them was also a challenge. The large flatbed Mercedes literally fit through some of the areas with maybe an inch of clearance on each side.What should have two turns off the mail road turned into about 20 minutes of turning around, backing up, and squeezing through streets jam packed with mattresses, belongings, and people sleeping outside.

A Year in Pictures #22

2010-04-23T00:06:00.001-05:00

January 12, 2010. No words. Only tears.

A Year in Pictures #21

2010-04-21T22:19:00.001-05:00

Port Salut, Haiti. January 10, 2010.

A Year in Pictures #20

2010-04-20T23:13:00.001-05:00

December 12, 2009. In a month the face of Haiti would forever change. But this day, Haiti was getting dressed up. It was Christmastime. This is the tree in front of the Presidential Palace. At the time I snapped this picture, there were people stringing the Palace balconies with holiday garland and hanging giant poinsettias and bright red bows.

A Year in Pictures #19

2010-04-19T19:55:00.001-05:00

In December I spent a day in Port au Prince being chauffeured around by a couple friends. I had to spend an extra day in Port before flying to the states for the holidays. It was actually quite enjoyable to have the chance to tour the city without an agenda. Usually when in Port, I’m there with our guys and we’re there for a purpose. This day, my friends took me to the Museum which had a great display of artifacts from Haiti’s history; including a crown, lots of old Haitian money, weapons, a large anchor and some of the chains used to imprison the slaves. They also had a hallway decorated by a large display of modern art. The art on display was done by a women and its theme was “Women’s Rights”.

The Museum wasn’t far from the Palace so when we left we took a walk around the area. These guys were found lounging under a large sign in the center of a square which reads “The Constitution of 1801”. I’m not sure what’s going on with that chain. It looks like it’s attached to the guy loosing his pants. Who knows. I didn’t ask and he didn’t oblige to tell.

An apology and its retraction. And some other things as well.

2010-04-19T08:46:00.001-05:00

It’s been days, maybe even weeks since I’ve really put anything of substance on here. Not that the pictures aren’t ‘substantial’. I suppose I just mean its been a while since I’ve put anything up that’s required much thought. I feel like I am often apologizing for absences in blogging. I have decided I am going to stop doing that. Instead I am just going to acknowledge to anyone reading this that I am busy. I am extremely busy. Everybody keeps asking me what I’m doing these days. I’m running the RMI Guest house. There has been a constant revolving door of guests; some here for a few days and some here for long periods of time. There’s been lots of nurses and more recently lots of physical therapists and prosthetists. There’ve been plenty of other sorts of people as well. But the flow of people hasn’t stopped. And an influx of people requires constant attention to every aspect of what happens at the Guest House. From scheduling guests, to preparing lists for market and grocery shopping to leaving whatever I’m in the middle of to go receive guests as they arrive. It’s been so busy that I’m making plans to turn the small apartment (two rooms, a bathroom and a partial kitchen) outback into more guests rooms. And I’ve got a new girl starting tomorrow to help the two ladies who’ve been pulling huge loads these last three months.

In recent weeks all the RMI staff has been preparing for the arrival of our new missionary family, the Thompson’s. Lots of preparations have been going into that; from getting their kitchen stocked with enough supplies to get them started, to planning a welcome party. They arrived Thursday, April 8 and since then I’ve spent a lot of time down at their house translating for them as they’re getting acclimated to their house staff and the guys who have been working on some repairs. I’m so happy to have them here.

In my spare time, I’ve also been trying to keep this blog updated, design a brochure for the Guest House, put together something special to send out as a 1 year anniversary update on life in Haiti and pass from 32 to 33 without much ado. I did get some really awesome packages from family and friends. (Thanks guys!!!!)

As life has returned to a more hectic state of busy, my visits at the hospital have all but come to an end. I miss those days terribly. Rita is still in the hospital. I have a couple other friends I have made more recently who are still there but she is the only original friend I have left there. But I just don’t have the same time to visit them as I had. I have seen many of my other friends briefly, in the last two weeks as they have been returning the hospital to receive their new legs and the physical therapy receiving a new leg requires. Many of them have been sleeping at the hospital again, so they haven’t had to come and go each day. Two weeks ago, when I walked in the physical therapy room (I had heard Frenel was there) I was so surprised to see Rose Marie, Regine, Olivier, Evans, and Roudy (with his mom).

(The succession of pictures- the smaller ones on the sides- was Frenel’s idea. He wanted to demonstrate the process of putting on his leg.)

(This is Olivier. The legs are in their first stages. Once the amputees are ready to begin wearing their prosthetics, they will be made to look like natural legs. Dr. June said almost every single one of the patients pulled her aside and asked her about this. Its an interesting process and she did share with me that once the legs are measured and finalized the patients cannot vary the height of heels they wear. They can change shoes but the heaes have to be the same height).

A day or two later I was back down for a short visit and saw Regine, standing on her new leg. I cried. She’s come so far. From what I hear from the therapists, she’s got a rough road ahead because she’s still struggling with depression and she’s having trouble adjusting to the new leg. The patients haven’t been giving their prosthetics yet. They work with them each day and leave them after each session. Most of the patients (my friends) are sent home each weekend and spend only the week in the hospital. Regine lives downtown so she is able to stay at home and comes and goes each day.

(Regine and me- in the Physical Therapy room at the Cite Lumiere Clinic)

Easter Sunday, Regine had a party at her house. And I was invited. I was a bit nervous about going because I didn’t know what to expect. Regine told me Dr. William was going and that I should call him to see if I could ride with him. I did. He was. And I did. Two of Rita’s daughters went as well. In the car on the way, Dr. William told me he wasn’t staying. As I was getting out of his truck he told me to call him when we were ready to come home. I felt 13. Although he didn’t stay, he sent three representatives; his three kids, and their ‘nanny’. The kids are 6, 4, and 3. There was lots of food at the party. And lots of people. I had met many of Regine’s friends and family at the hospital over the weeks and those I had never met, still greeted me by name. I wonder how they knew which one I was….It wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be and I was so pleased to see Regine just doing normal life. She looked beautiful with her hair pulled back and she was wearing a pretty sundress. The party started at 3, we arrived about 4 and we left at 6. And when we left, everyone else was already gone. I’ve heard that here, once you eat, you leave. It’s good to know that for the future. Regine is supposed to be up at the hospital tomorrow again so I am looking forward to seeing her.

I was supposed to start teaching English yesterday at the “Wonderful University”. It didn’t happen. I was supposed to take a motorcycle taxi and arrive at the school at 7:45am. Class would start at 8. It was pouring rain yesterday morning at 7:15am. I couldn’t get a hold of him by phone even though I tried multiple times because I wasn’t going in the rain. Of course by 8:15 the rain had stopped for the day. He called me about 8:20 and asked me where I was. I told him all of that and he said he suspected it was because of the rain. From what I understand, it isn’t culturally atypical for people not to show up because of the rain. A lot of people take public transportation so when it rains a lot of things just naturally don’t occur. So it' wasn’t taboo for me not to show up. We’ll try again for next week. But before we start there are a few things I need to talk to him about. I need to negotiate my salary a little better. What he is offering me is not acceptable. While I’m not in this for the money, it at least needs to be worth my time. Right now, it isn’t. Especially if I am having to spend part of the money I earn each week on a motorcycle taxi. We’ll see how that conversation goes.

The Thompson’s welcome party was also yesterday. I had the ladies at the Guest House prepare a Haitian feast for the party. Griot (fried pork), banan peze, pikliz, akra (like a haitian hushpuppy), sweet potatoes and yams (two different things-neither of them like what we serve in the US when you ask for those things), macaroni and cheese, diri kole (beans and rice), sauce, and grilled chicken. I hung out with the ladies all after noon as they cooked and I got my first experience making banan peze. I was pretty exited. I can’t wait for the opportunity to try it for myself. The party was a great success. Kudos to the ladies. And Kudos to Rob and Becky and the kids for working so hard to get here!

And today, we went to the beach. It started out as a terribly rainy day. But we got word that where we were going was nice. I wouldn’t say it was sunny but it was just a little overcast and it turned out to be a really lovely afternoon. It started raining again once we hit Cayes. That was around 6. It probably stopped raining about an hour ago. Rainy season has begun.

We’ll see what this season holds.

A Year in Pictures #18

2010-04-18T18:43:00.001-05:00

November 2009. A friend I made while with the team in Boyer took me on a little walk about the village. Boyer is a quant little fishing village about 30 minutes or so from the Mission Center. The roads through Boyer are all dirt and it winds along the coast line. Its a very primitive village in its layout and architecture but quite picturesque and beautiful as well. We took the walk right around dusk.

A Year in Pictures #17

2010-04-18T11:14:00.001-05:00

Oops. Missed one again. I thought about it, again, when I was laying in bed. But this time, I was too exhausted to get up and do anything about it.

Mmmm…Bananas. This was taken in Boyer, the beginning of November. Not much else to say about it other than that. Tasty!

A Year in Pictures #16

2010-04-16T18:35:00.001-05:00

This picture was taken in TIburon in the late fall. The sun was just taking the plunge below the horizon. To the left and right of where I was standing is the beach- or garbage dump- whichever you prefer to call it. Its hard to imagine such a juxtaposition with such a calm and serene image but trash and pigs dot the shore as a mixture of mud and who knows what else lies just beneath your feet.

A Year in Pictures #15

2010-04-15T23:59:00.001-05:00

Phew. Almost missed the deadline.

Not taxes. But posting a pic for April 15….Was laying in bed and realized…I never posted a pic today. So, here it is….

Flowers. Not very exciting? Well, I think its pretty amazing to have beautiful flowers all year round. And I did actually finish my taxes. Yesterday. And I get a refund so I am celebrating by giving myself some flowers. Enjoy!

A Year in Pictures #14

2010-04-14T21:42:00.001-05:00

Not much special to say about this photo. Just a sweet face to make you smile.

A Year in Pictures #13

2010-04-14T18:50:00.000-05:00

Sorry I forgot to post yesterday. I think I was really busy. I feel like I was anyway. Yesterday was one of those days that you look back and think, ‘Huh, I don’t feel like I ever stopped going but I don’t feel like I got anything accomplished.” Se lavie.

I snapped this photo on a trip to Port au Prince last fall. It’s not terribly artistic but I was snapping from a moving vehicle so it’s a bit difficult to get great shots that way. Here is an example of public transportation; you can take a bus such as this from Port to Cayes (or beyond) and back. You’ll see them loaded down with almost anything you can imagine. People stack mattresses on top of them, tie sacks of charcoal, and even sit on top (often atop these others things). And these buses move fast. Sometimes it would seem they come around corners on 2 wheels. Before I realized what was happening with the earthquake, I thought one of these had rounded the corner and was passing the church. Seriously. I wouldn’t kid about something like that.

But, they’re fun and colorful and you’ll see any variety of decorations from rappers and singers, and bible verses, to scantily clad women (sometimes painted underneath the Bible verses) and I’ve even seen one with Sylvester Stalone, as Rambo, painted on the back.

Snail Mail

2010-04-12T21:45:00.001-05:00

I’ve already said it….but I’ll say it again. I can’t believe I’ve been here almost a year. C R A Z Y. While mostly, I’ve been posting my ministry updates on here (while they haven’t been monthly or even quarterly, they’ve at least been occasionally) I’ve determined in light on the big 0-1, I’d like to do something a little more special. So I’m working on a bonafide ,certified (ok maybe not certified), stampified, put on paper kind of update that only the Postal Service can deliver. There might even be a little something special inside. I’m just sayin’.

But I might need your address.

If I’ve sent you anything in the mail before (or if RMI has ever mailed you anything in regards to me), I have your address. Don’t worry, you’re on the list. But if you’re new to this thing, found me on the internet, or some through some other connection (ie” family, friends, or Facebook) and you’d be interested in receiving this special delivery, shoot me an e-mail with your mailing address and I’ll put you on the list. amy.long@rminet.org.

Keep praying for Haiti- there’s still a long way to go….

Blessings and Peace,

Amy

A Year in Pictures #12

2010-04-12T17:55:00.001-05:00

These kids are living in an orphanage in the area near Zanglais. We visited the orphanages with one of the teams who was here over the summer. If I remember correctly they feed about 180 kids a day (a few kids sneak in through the gate at meal time) but I’m not sure how many kids stay at the orphanage on a permanent basis. We toured some of their dorms where the kids sleep in bunk beds on foam mattresses that are aired out regularly to dry them out so they don’t smell so much like urine. There was very little, if anything, beside the bunks in the rooms; no toys, no games, nothing that would make it seem like children lived there. At least they have food in their bellies and clothes on their backs. I believe its at something like 14 years old that the kids are released from the orphanage and left to care for themselves.

A Year in Pictures #11

2010-04-11T23:27:00.001-05:00

I don’t see many opportunities to get a shot like this. While it may not seem like anything too special, its hard to get a shot of the women in a moment of stillness as most often its the women of the church who are off cooking and cleaning and making the teams feel at home. This was a lucky moment. We were headed back from Maniche and one of the team members was Haitian so we made a quick stop in his home town. We also visited his home church. This woman was sitting outside a small store the church runs. Every time I see this picture I’m struck by her dignity and poise. I am also struck by the beauty in her face and I can only imagine what stories her wrinkles and grey hairs tell.

A Year in Pictures #10

2010-04-10T22:43:00.001-05:00

I posted this one on Facebook, so it’ll be new to some and not new to others. This was taken in Les Irois (Lays E-wah). This was in July. One of the hottest months I remember. We were packed in our rooms and there was little airflow so each night was H-O-T; the kind of heat that makes it hard to sleep, and when you finally fall asleep you wake up b/c you’re hot. And there is no ‘cool’ side of the pillow.

A Year in Pictures #9

2010-04-09T21:07:00.001-05:00

This picture isn’t new, and if anyone’s been following my blog for any amount of time, you’ve probably seen this one already. But its one of my favorites.

For years I’d been wanting a DSLR camera and I’d finally been able to purchase one not long after moving to Haiti. The trip out to Chamballen was the first opportunity I’d had to play with the camera so I had so much fun taking pictures of everything and everyone. This picture is from the portrait session for the 14 couples who got married on this day. Some of the ladies didn’t have head pieces to go with their dresses so I love that the Pastors Wife got creative and cut up a petticoat and used it as head pieces. This bride happens to be wearing one of them. I also love that I was able to capture this groom with one eye on the bride and one eye on the camera. Priceless!

A Year in Pictures #8

2010-04-08T22:06:00.001-05:00

Not much to say about this one but that I’m surrounded by tropical flowers; and they’re beautiful. Bougainvillea are in bloom right now. White and Pink bougainvillea twist their ways around trees, fences, and anything else they can wrap around. I can finally enjoy beautiful flowers without spending money on them and then worrying that I am going to kill them.

A Year in Pictures #7

2010-04-07T21:47:00.001-05:00

This is Leila. She belongs to the Moses family, who served here in Haiti, with RMI, for about 7 years. Leila and I bonded when the Moses’ were in the states in May of ‘09 for a few weeks. They actually acquired Leila the same day I arrived in Haiti. They greeted me at the airport in Cayes with cat in tow. Her real name is Leila, but I preferred to call her Small Cat, and when she was in trouble, I called her by her full name, Small Cat with Big Ears. The Moses’ have been living back in the states since July and when they left, they took Small Cat, and their 3 dogs with them. They also had an iguana, which they left in Haiti, though I can’t imagine why…?

A Year in Pictures #6

2010-04-06T23:32:00.001-05:00

Each team wraps up their week’s visit with a stay at Zanglais, RMI’s Retreat Center which is about 45 minutes outside of Cayes. I went out with 14 teams last year, so I spent quite a bit of time at Zanglais. I’m not complaining. Greg (my home church’s Haiti Team Leader) jokingly always tells teams not to show anyone shots from Zanglais because we need people to think we’re suffering, not spending a week in Paradise! This is one of those pics (sorry Greg!) taken from the porch at Zanglais. Where the grass meets the ocean is a small cliff that drops down to the road. Cross the road and descend a few concrete stairs and you’re at the ocean. It’s amazing to sit out at the gazebo (just to the left of the tree) and enjoy the sights and sounds of God’s beautiful creation. And every morning, awaken to the sound of the ocean’s song.

Oh. Yeah.

A Year in Pictures #5

2010-04-05T17:04:00.001-05:00

While this doesn’t look very “Haitian”, in fact it is because Coca-Cola (tm) is bottled in Haiti and distributed through out the country (…and because I’ve been looking for an excuse to post this photo because I just happen to like it…). Being diabetic, I can’t drink coke. I don’t even like it. When I first arrived canned Diet Coke was only available in the large grocery stores in Port so when anyone would take a trip in, anyone else who drank Diet Coke would put in an order for a case (or cases) and hoped it would last until the next trip into Port. In a real life example of supply and demand, there were enough of us here in Cayes asking our local store (read: the larger “bourgeoisie grocery store”) owners when they were getting Diet Coke. By mid-summer, Diet Coke was a staple in two of the three stores we frequent. After the earthquake, it took a couple months but it seems Diet Coke is making its way back into the economy. My most recent purchase was made at another of our frequented stores, which has just made Diet Coke available for the first time. There is also a much smaller store in Simon (the village just below the Mission Center) and the owner’s wife told me just the other day she’s waiting on a delivery of Diet Coke from Miami.

A Year in Pictures #4

2010-04-04T13:07:00.001-05:00

People often ask me if I like Haitian food. My response is some of it. When I came back from the states in January, I was actually craving rice and beans, so Iguess that’s a good sign. I’ve had a lot of new foods to adjust to this year, including fruits and vegetables. Abriko is one of the locally grown fruits so when its in season we have it in abundance. A good one tastes like sweet dried apricots. A bad one tastes like sour dried apricots. I prefer the good ones.

A Year in Pictures #3

2010-04-03T14:44:00.001-05:00

There were lots of sights and sounds I would be getting used to…this included sharing space with cows. I’ve even seen them running down the beach. This one was tied up just outside the gate at the RMI Retreat Center in Zanglais.

A Year in Pictures #2

2010-04-03T11:52:00.001-05:00

I was out with the first team within two weeks after my arrival. We were in Picot. This waterfall is about an hour away so we took an afternoon to take the team. Most of them went swimming. It was a little too cold for me so I just enjoyed the view.

A Year in Pictures #1

2010-04-03T11:22:00.001-05:00

April 29, 2010 will mark my one year anniversary in Haiti. I can hardly believe it. Life has been full, to say the least, these last 11 months; from field staff changes, new job responsibilities, a tragedy on the mission field, to floods and even an earthquake, its been quite a year.

I’m a couple days late getting started on this ‘project’ but I’ve decided I’m going to post a picture a day this month. Some of them may be pics I’ve already posted but I’d like to honor the last twelve months by remembering them.

I will try and give them some sort of chronological order but I can’t promise there won’t be rogue pictures from time to time. I’m not that good.

The first Friday I was in Cayes, the Moses’ took me to town to change money and buy groceries. I remember it being quite an overwhelming experience and tried for weeks to blog about it. I eventually gave up, I was in sensory overload, and this normally observant processor was out of words.

This week in the news

2010-03-31T20:02:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I don’t actually have much in the way of interesting news to report. But here’s a brief rundown of the events of the last few days.

1) Of the original crew, Rita is officially the last one left at the hospital. There are a couple others who have been there about as long as she has but I don’t know them like I do Rita. Gary and I took Rose Marie and her family (2 adult kids and a close friend) home to Chantal today. It was hard to say good bye. I didn’t get to go visit Regine today but I sent her a text message and she called me. We talked for just a minute.

2) Diet Coke has re-entered circulation in Cayes. Gary was in town day before yesterday and found a stash. He picked up a case for me.

3) A little over a year ago, I began experiencing the phenomenon of carsickness. If you have any experience with Haitian roads, you might realize that these two things don’t mix well. I usually take Dramamine when I know I’ll be in for a rough ride. Today I forgot. The road wasn’t too bad but it was enough to make me sick to my stomach- I didn’t expel any of the contents of my stomach- just got really queasy. Still feeling it about 4 hours later.

4) Speaking of being on the road, I am going to Port au Prince tomorrow. There are some things I need to spruce up the little apartment behind the Guest House that are just much more easily found in Port than here in Cayes. I actually really love going into Port so I’m looking forward to the day. What I’m not looking forward to the 4:15am wake up call and the 5am arrival of my ride. Gary confirmed the trip with me on Instant Message earlier today. It went something like this: Gary: We’re on for going to Port tomorrow. Me: WHOO HOO! Gary: I’ll be at your house at 5am to pick you up. Me: Not whoo hoo.

5) I’ve been asked to teach a weekend class at the “Welcome University”. Its a language school and they want me to teach an English class. They’re willing to work with the fact that there will be times when I am not available, like when I am out with teams. Its not a ‘special honor’ or something unique and different that I’ve been offered the job. Over the years many missionaries have taught English classes at various schools around Cayes. But I’d think it’d be fun. It’d also be a great opportunity for me to get out and learn the community and the culture and make new friends. I went on Sunday afternoon, toured the school, met a couple of the professors, some of the staff and was introduced to the classes. I’d be teaching a class Saturday mornings or Saturday afternoons. That’s really all I could commit to. I haven’t told them yes or not yet, but I’m leaning towards yes.

6) In the Bible, I’ve read the first Chapter of First Peter a few times recently. I keep getting stuck on the words “living Hope”. I like the way it sounds and what it implies. I think I need to unpack it a little more.

friends

2010-03-30T23:44:00.001-05:00

People are going home. Every time I arrive at the hospital I see either someone has left or someone is leaving or someone will be leaving soon. Just when I re-adjust to the “new” scene, people up and leave.

Last Thursday, when I arrived, Regine was leaving. She had just received word earlier that morning. She didn’t have much to say. Just that she was leaving. I told her to keep in touch and she said OK. And that was it. It was especially hard to say good bye to her mom. She was going around to all the beds saying good bye to her friends and when she came back around to me all we could do was hug. We couldn’t even say good bye. I recently found out they are Catholic. That can mean a lot of things in this culture. I have a few other friends who are Catholic and I have had conversations with them and found that they believe in Jesus for their salvation, and have a deep faith and a sincere love for God. While the Catholic and Protestant church in general has some profound differences, one of the largest differences in this culture is the practice of Voodoo. While it is not a part of the Catholic church, there are a vast number of Catholics who take some part in the practices of Voodoo. That doesn’t mean that they paint their faces and dance around a fire. It could ‘simply’ mean that they might pay a witch doctor to put a curse on someone. And it might mean that they give lip service to God saying they believe he is supreme and yet in reality they fear the dark because of the presence of demons and spirits that will eat you. I saw a statistic which stated that 80% of all Haitians profess to be Catholic, 17% Protestant, 3% other and 50% Voodoo. Figure that one out. The friends I mentioned speaking to are in the percentage of those who don’t practice and don’t support it; and they don’t believe you’ll get eaten after dark. I asked. I am not sure where Regine and her family falls into that though. Although I spent much time with them, the setting was never appropriate to get into that discussion and because I really know nothing of that part of the Haitian culture (other than a few statistics) truthfully I never could figure out how engage in that discussion. The voice in my head keeps telling me ‘But you’re a missionary’….and I’m not so sure what to do with that. My prayer is that I can continue a relationship with Regine and her family and have that conversation in a setting that isn’t filled with the distractions of a hospital ward full of people.

I talked to her briefly on the phone Sunday. She sounded good and she said all was well.

Dr. William, one of the Haitian Doctors who took a lot of time with Regine to help her work through the depression told me Saturday that he hoped to pay a visit to Regine Wednesday. I told him I want to go and so I’m supposed to call him tomorrow and if he can break away and it fits into my afternoon we’re going to pay her a visit. I love Dr. William. He’s a great Doctor and you can tell he has great compassion for his patients. He’s unassuming sometimes in how he dresses sometimes coming to the hospital very casually dressed. A few days ago, he was wearing a soccer jersey, khaki pants, and was walking around with one of these on his head. That’s when I knew he was awesome. Since Dr. Bill’s in town, its surgery time so tonight he was walking around in his scrubs, a while lab coat, a scrub cap, and the headlamp. I told him he looked very important tonight.

I’d love to get a chance to chat with him in the car tomorrow more about Regine, and about talking to her about her faith. He’s a solid Christian man and he, being Haitian, would most definitely understand the cultural perspective. If I can’t do it tomorrow, I’ll try and visit soon. I really want to try and talk with him soon, too. Until then, keep praying for Regine and her family.

My boys left today. When I arrived, I was greeted by Jonathan who informed me they had both gone today. He said he’s supposed to leaving tomorrow. My friend Amil (I haven’t mentioned him on here) is supposed to leaving tomorrow. Vann, my friend Roudy’s mother told me she’s supposed to leave tomorrow too. And my sweet friend Rose Marie is supposed to be exited tomorrow too. Gary’s going to help me get her and her family to their house in one of our trucks.

But do you see what I mean? They’re all leaving. I should be happier for them; Really I am, because I know they need to move on with their lives. But that doesn’t mean I won’t miss them, terribly. With all my heart. What it does mean though, is that during the midst of a very difficult time in the history of this part of the world, God gave me a very precious gift; their friendships. That, I will always treasure.

special visitors

2010-03-30T09:33:00.001-05:00

Two of my boys from the Hospital, Peterson and Frenel came to visit me at my house yesterday. They were actually visiting another missionary, Connie, who lives across the street from me. I happened to see them en route, on my way to the Guest House for a quick visit, and Peterson asked me to come to Connie’s after I finished so I could help them talk to Connie. (They needed my translation services, thank you very much!) Frenel (the amputee) was quite proud that he took the crutches all the way from the hospital (I would say probably 3/4 of a mile) down a somewhat rocky dirt road. Connie was ecstatic to see them and she invited them to lunch with she and her husband. When I walked in the house a few minutes later, both boys were sitting at the table, grinning from ear to ear. It was quite an honor for them for them to be invited to lunch like that, with a foreign family of blans. It may have been a once in a lifetime chance for them. You could see how special it was to them as they just giggled and smiled. They were both told they would be leaving the hospital Monday so I told them they had to come see me before they left.

About twenty minutes later I was out in my front yard to run to another neighbors house when I looked out and saw Connie’s husband Dean coming up the small hill separating our houses and Peterson and Frenel, were close behind, still grinning. We had a short but sweet visit in the front yard and I’ve got pictures to prove it.

When I arrived at the hospital later in the evening, they were still there. The hospital director, Dr. Bill, is an American general surgeon, who spends a week each month in Haiti performing surgeries that are otherwise too complex for the Haitian Doctors, had just arrived late Sunday and before he discharged them, he wanted to do a consult with each of the patients that he had previously worked on (this is his third stay since the earthquake so he still knows a good many of the patients still around). He wanted a consult with both of them before discharging them. Frenel said he was hopeful to leave today and Peterson said probably tomorrow.

The hospital is emptying fast- at least of the quake victims. By the end of this week, my guess is that Rita will be the only one left of the friends I have known since the early days of my visits. I have made other friends since then but I imagine my days of visiting the hospital daily are coming to a close. That’s not to say the non-quake patients aren’t important, that’s just to say, that its a huge investment of time and as are daily activities return to normal (RMI has a LOT going on in the coming weeks, including a team arriving on April 30) I just won’t have the same amount of time to invest. I’ll be investing in other ways. If I can get around to it today or tomorrow, I’ll try to make a complete list of names of friends, both past and present, so that you can continue to pray for them by name.

Fet la a Kabann 2H ; Party at Bed 2H

2010-03-18T22:01:00.001-05:00

I keep saying this, but it really feels like life has resumed its ‘normal’ status. Though, part of me thinks that the new routine has just become the new normal. Either way, things have slowed down. Guests are still swarming the Guest House and we are so busy that I am looking to turn the back apartment into an overflow area. This is a good thing.

While the initial drama from the quake is over and the media has moved on to more important things, like Octomom’s new bikini, there are still things going on daily that indeed remind us of January 12. Before January 12, there wasn’t, according to some ladies I was talking to at the hospital the other day, a number that was considered more or less ‘lucky’ than the other but they informed me that 12 is now considered an unlucky number by many Haitians. I can’t believe its been over two months since the trenbelman de te a. (“the earth quake”).

I continue to visit the hospital most every day. I didn’t go today because I didn’t feel well. I’ve had a headache all day and my body was just exhausted. Its not from lack of sleep because I am sleeping fine. I don’t know what it is. I’ve just felt really sluggish the last couple weeks. Maybe its a change in weather. Its getting hot here. We skipped spring and went right to summer. Or maybe its because the rain was coming. It started raining around 6pm and almost immediately my head was relieved of some of the pressure. Or maybe my body is just finally letting down from so much non-stop activity over the past few months.

The hospital feels like a little community, a little village, if you will. There is always laundry hanging around on bushes and trees outside (a common practice you see all over Haiti), people are often sitting together outside talking, making juice, or just taking in some fresh air or down below cooking food. Patients and family members of patients that have come and gone often return to visit with the friends they made during their stay. Every evening between 5 and 7 seems to be prime bathing time. Patients and family members alike stream in and out of the bathroom (which has two toilets and one shower) showering and coming out in fresh clothes. It seems a little backwards to me, to get all clean and dressed up at the end of the day, but it works for them so it works for me. Most everyday someone asks me what I brought for them. A few are serious but most of them laugh when I place a kiss on their cheek and say “this”. For those who are serious, I cannot be angry with them. They live in a world full of needs and many of them lost what few things they did actually have.

Since Migline, Ginitte and Jertrude left the hospital there has only been one other person that I was close to that has left. Last Wednesday when I arrived, Gina was gone. She was dismissed earlier that day. I called Migline’s mom the other day and talked to Migline for a minute. She said she was doing well. I asked her what she had been doing all day and she told me she had been reading. I cant imagine that she’d been reading ALL day but I suppose its possible. I also talked to Jertrude for a moment. She actually called me. I had tried her earlier in the day on the number she had given me and then later that same day she called me from a different number. We got cut off and…I didn’t have enough minutes on my phone to call her back…but it was good to talk to her.

Even though many of the friends I’ve made are still considered “malad”, or sick, its hard to imagine them that way. Many of the amputees are up and around, the kids are ‘running’ around in wheelchairs or on crutches, and everyone is in what seems to be great spirits. Frenel continues to be a ham, and a wise crack. Once when I was talking to someone I said the phrase “M panse sa (m pahn-say sah) I think so, and another kid, Jonathan overheard me, so now every time I see him (and sometimes multiple times during a conversation), the first words out of his mouth are “m panse sa”. Now, others also do the same. They’ll walk behind and I’ll just hear, “M panse sa”. Oliver, one of the older (and by older I mean probably in his early to mid 20s) amputees has been practicing putting his stump behind his head. Yesterday he told me he loved the Physical Therapist (she been here for two weeks working with the patients) and he wanted me to tell her he loved her with all of his heart…He was joking but I don’t think he’d mind if she was in love with him. He wants to learn English and he has a copy of a lesson book for people learning Creole but because it has Creole and English he wants to try and use it to learn Creole. The other day I sat outside with him and some of his friends and we had an English lesson. It was amusing because I had no idea how to teach him English with a book intended to teach Creole. But we tried.

Another friend I’ve made, Roudy also wants to learn English so I gave him a book in English so he could try and read it. We’ve tried a few times to sit down and read it together so I can help him with pronunciation and translation. It usually ends up being a crowd-drawer and everyone wants to take a turn reading and I think it frustrates him because a lot of them are actually better at it than he is so I think he is embarrassed so he just lets them do it instead of taking his own turn. The other day, we were finally able to sit down and have a ‘ti lekti angle’, a little English lecture, without a big crowd. There is a row of tall bushes outside in the hospital yard that people often sit under because it provides shade so we sat out under the bushes and were finally able to get a few paragraphs done. There are always people scattered through out the yard but for some reason this day, they only trickled by instead of pouring by. Sometimes I feel like I’m starting to blend in, and other missionaries and ‘blans’ walk by and don’t even notice me at the hospital. I like that. There were even a couple missionaries who walked by who didn’t even notice this day, until I said hi to them. And even though being under a bush sounds like an obscure location, its not at all.

I’ve made friends with a group of girls, mostly daughters of Rita and Rose Marie and a few others, along with a couple girls who are in the hospital for themselves. Every day I am asked by someone if I have a boyfriend. When I tell them no, they want to know why not. The answer to that question is complex and not easily understood from a cultural standpoint so I usually just respond that I am waiting on God. They don’t really buy it and press me. Its quite cultural to believe that its my responsibility to find a good man and hold on to him. Waiting on God, even in some Christian circles, seems almost secondary to that. But I do the best I can to explain to them, I’m waiting on God. Somehow its become kind of a joke between the ladies, their daughters, and myself and when someone new asks me that question, I’ll ask my girls to explain it for me and in unison they’ll say, ‘she’s waiting on God’. Some how the conversation turned in a big joke one day and I asked all of the girls if they had boyfriends…NO. Well why not? You’re asking me, but you don’t have one yourself??? So we formed an association. I suggested calling it “N’ap tann Bondye”, “We’re waiting on God”. They prefer to call it, “Chache gason yo”, “Searching For Men”. Don’t judge, we’re just having a little fun! In the course of a conversation, and I have no idea, where it came from, they decided that we needed to have a party. So last night, we actually had a party at the hospital, in the middle of the ladies ward. The original party was supposed to happen day before yesterday. I wasn’t sure exactly how serious they were so for fun, I bought some cookies and hard candies and when I arrived at the hospital, they asked me if I brought stuff for the party. They were thrilled when I pulled that out of my bag. And, yes, they were serious about having a party. But they told me we would have to do it the next day because they were still searching for the food. Sandra and her brother, Yves, had actually gone to town that day to search for chicken and other things to make for the party. So the first night, we decided we would have the sweet foods and the next night, the salty foods. So, we shared the cookies and candy with all of the other patients, our group sang a song (the only song I completely know in Creole), “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” and then and we followed that up with the only logical thing, we ‘danced’, which mostly consisted of us standing in the middle of the room and dancing awkwardly for a few seconds and everyone breaking out in laughter and then we’d all scatter and sit down until we gathered the courage to stand back up and do it over again. People from the other ‘rooms’ in the hospital came to see what the fuss was all about and stood around and laughed at the hysterics as well.

For the party last night, I was asked to bring a case of Tampico, (fruit punch) and they would provide the rest. I was still unsure if it was really going to happen but just for fun, I brought the Tampico and sure enough they had the other fixins. They had each put $10 into the pot to buy the food and then the girls cooked everything. The party was supposed to start around 4 and in true Haitian style, it commenced right on time, around 6:30. They put two small bedside tables together between Regine and Rita’s bed, covered it with a couple pillow cases and set the food out. All the girls showered and changed into their cute party clothes and Valenteen and Regine, both who normally wear gowns all day, got dressed up, put on cute clothes, and did their hair and make up. Regine’s cousin even came out all dressed up, and took pictures for the event. Again, people from other rooms in the hospital, streamed in and out, checking out all the commotion. They wanted to know why they weren’t invited and I ask them if they were searching for men…the guys especially appreciated the question. I did tell them, if they wanted to coordinate a party in their ‘room’, I’d be happy to bring Tampico. We shared the food with the ‘malad’ in the room and as many others as we could. We danced and laughed and ate; and laughed some more. Rita told me it was a good moment for her, that it helped distract her and keep her mind off what she had lost. It was fun to hear all the laughter through out the hospital.

After the party, I went over to the guys wing and spent a little time with the guys and their families. Valson, one of my teenage buddies (he’s 14) is always telling me that all Haitians are mean; every single one of them, including himself. And he tells me that all blans are shish; or stingy. He’s kidding but he tries to be tough when he says it. Last night, he told me I was shish; and then he asked me if I would give him a radio. I asked him what he was going to give me and he said he was just a kid and he didn’t have a job. Ok, good point. But then he told me he’d give me a boyfriend. (See? It comes up everyday…) I asked him about all Haitians being mean and was he going to give me a mean boyfriend. So then he told me he’d give me an African boyfriend. I asked him who he knew that was African and he told me the rapper, 50Cent. I told him no thanks. Then he told me that God had told him that he was supposed to do this so if I didn’t accept his gift God would punish him for not doing what he was supposed to do. And then he told me that he'd find me a Haitian who wasn’t mean. One that was too young to have become mean yet. Really? A kid? For a boyfriend? Then he told me he really wanted an IPOD. But he’d be OK with any MP3 player. And that he’d give me his baby sister. Sounds fair, right?

Each day, my hope and prayer is that I can be of some encouragement to the sick, to my friends, and others I meet in the hospital. And they often tell me that they appreciate me and miss me when I’m not there. Regine’s mother even told me once, that when I didn’t come for two days, she was afraid that I had left them and had gone back to the states and that she would never see me again. But truly, they have also done so much for me. The days I can’t make it for whatever reason, I miss them all. I think about them and hope and pray for their healing. What they’ve given me is something special. Without even meaning to, they helped me improve my Creole. Immensely. And while I still can’t understand everything, and sometimes I have to ask them to repeat themselves two of three times, I can almost always get the jist of what they’re telling me. And they seem to understand me as well. But what they’ve also given me is friendship, they’ve given me a community. Something I was so desperately missing for so long. Today I had sent Roudy a text message telling him I couldn’t make it, because he had wanted to do another English lesson. I has asked him to greet the others for me and a little while later Regine called me just to check on me. Sandra just sent me a text message saying she hadn’t seen me today. I know they are all ready to go home. Most of them have been there for so long. Rita, for example, has been here (or at Bonnefin) since only a few days after the earth quake. But selfishly, I’m not ready for them to go home. They’ve become my family, too. And while its possible to keep in touch, its not the same as going everyday and seeing them, all at once, all in one place. But for now, I’ll enjoy the moments as I can. And I’ll attend as many parties to which I am invited.

the war on termites..and mice…and mold…

2010-03-15T11:42:00.001-05:00

Thursday, I made a mental list of things I had “wrong” in my life. It was a really short list and actually rather amusing. I had termites in the door frame around my bathroom and in one of the cabinets. I had mice that kept eating things in my room and in my closet- crackers and snacks that I had no other place for. I had mold growing on the ceiling of my closet that was caused by a leak that was growing with each rainstorm. My cell phone was dead and it had no minutes on it. AND I had a headache. These were all minor problems that were annoyances but nothing tragic or serious.

I made this ‘list’ Thursday afternoon. Friday, around 2:30am, I was greeted by the presence of a tarantula on the wall about a foot and a half from my face. I hadn’t fallen asleep yet and had been tossing and turning for awhile but had just closed my eyes and was drifting off when I heard a mosquito buzz by my ear. I swatted it away and opened my eyes for a moment and when I did, I saw a dark spot on the wall. It took a minute for it to register with me that there was something there but as soon as it did I flipped on the light to discover a tarantula. It quickly ran behind the curtain and then down behind the bed. I stood in the middle of the room wondering what to do, and where I was going to sleep because I wasn’t going to sleep on THAT bed with THAT thing back there. It took a minute but I gathered my courage and moved the bed and found it crouched along the wall. I didn’t want to kill it with a shoe because that meant getting awfully close to it before I was guaranteed a kill. And I couldn’t remember exactly where the broom is stored and I didn’t want to risk the tarantula escaping; at least this way I knew where it was. So I grabbed the only thing that made sense, a large rock that was holding my closet door open. I prayed. I aimed. I let go. And it died. Ta da. I killed a tarantula. Its actually the second one I’ve found in my room. The first one was a little one inside a suitcase that hadn’t been securely fastened. Friday it was a bigger one.

At this point, I was still amused by all the things happening at once. Its life. Problems like this are expected. Especially in Haiti.

Saturday, though, it wasn’t funny anymore. I had discovered towels in my bathroom cabinet that had been eaten by something. At first we thought the mice, but later realized it was the termites. I found extensive damage along the door frame to the bathroom and I as I searched I also found substantial damage along the door frame to my closet and in my closet. In my closet the mold was growing and it smelled horrible. In fact it was making my whole room smell moldy and clothes and other things in the closet were beginning to pick up the scent. I discovered a roll of toilet paper that was soaked- from the rains two weeks ago and then another roll and another roll. A total of 7. Three of which had also been chewed by mice and the paper shreds were all over a shelf in the closet; they were now nesting. I knew I had to do something. Saturday afternoon I put all of my clothes and anything else I could into plastic storage containers. I kept enough clothes out and put them in a suitcase- everything else was put in a plastic trunk. I got a cooler and put in all the food stuff (which was already mostly in plastic containers). While cleaning and clearing I continued to find evidence of mice. Everywhere. And water. Everywhere. The leak was even larger than expected and it had come down the wall and had soaked a pile of clothes and filled two open plastic storage containers which also had other things in them. The water had now been sitting for two weeks. And the clothes which were wet, were mildewing and smelled as though they had also been used as a restroom stop for the mice. I spent the whole day cleaning and packing and throwing away. By the end of Saturday I was thoroughly frustrated and thoroughly exhausted.

Yesterday I took it easy. I missed church because although Haiti doesn’t ‘celebrate’ daylight savings time, my phone does, and it changed the time automatically so I woke up and thought it was an hour later than it really was. Oops.

This morning started early, with guys coming to fix the roof, arriving just after 7am. They’ve been repairing and banging corrugated metal into place all morning. And then Wilfrid arrived shortly after 8:30am and he began drilling holes into the cement in which we can place the termite poison. He is off now looking for a smaller drill bit. Its been a noisy morning. Hopefully these things will at least begin to solve the problems. Now if I could just figure out a way to kill the mice. They’re not touching the traps. I’m hoping all the noise and banging on the roof scared them off- at least temporarily. Maybe I should get a cat. I wonder if Bubba would eat the cat…..

different today

2010-03-08T22:30:00.001-05:00

I visited the hospital this afternoon with a couple friends who met me up there. The hospital really is beginning to feel lonely and empty. There are plenty of people still there but something about it feels different. For a while, I’d become a welcomed visitor to everyone. I’d sit and chat and the whole section would joke and laugh and chat together. But now when I arrive, I often feel like a stranger; I feel looked upon as an outsider. I don’t know that I am, but I feel that way at times. And yet as I visit with my friends, I can’t help but meet the new patients moving in. They’re sweet and wonderful as well. I feel guilty at times because I don’t have the emotional energy to invest in them the same way I have been with the others for the last two months, though. There are times when literally, someone will come and find me in another part of the hospital and jokingly (in all seriousness) ask me why I haven’t yet visited them. I now make a point to at least walk up and down the aisles and at least say hello to everyone. Some of them, whom I have never even officially stopped and chatted with greet me by name. While I miss those who have left terribly, I haven’t called them. I feel guilty for that as well. Many of them, I have grown to love dearly and yet, I haven’t the time to call them. But really, the reality is I need to make some time and just do it. I know they would be happy to hear from me and I would be happy to talk with them as well. Hopefully I can make some time to do that soon.

Life continues to move forward and January 12 sometimes feels like the distant past. We haven’t forgotten the tragedy as we are in one way or another reminded of it daily. Yet, it still feels so long ago. It will have been two months ago on Friday.

…Shopping

2010-03-07T00:00:00.001-05:00

Well, it was a good day. And it too is almost over.

I took a motorcycle taxi to town today. I met Jenn and we walked tou pa tou. (Everywhere). All over downtown. I was searching for a purse I couldn’t find and she was looking for the same thing, only in a backpack. Accordingly, neither of us found what we were looking for. I did find one purse I was willing to consider, until I asked the merchant how much and she said $250 Haitian (or over $32 US). Its a used purse. The name of game is bargaining but that price was so ridiculously high that it wasn’t even worth the bargaining process. I put the bag back on the nail, said thanks and we walked away. I was later told by someone that there is a boutique where I can find new purses for less than that. Jenn and I tried to check it out but the shop wasn’t opened today. Yon lot fwa. Another time. The road to the shoe market (where you can also find lots of purses and bags- of course you can find them plenty of other places too but there's a large concentration of them in this particular area) is beyond definition. The area stretches maybe about 20 feet so its a rough road but at least it doesn’t last too long (or maybe I’m just concentrating on getting through so I don’t really even look). To say it was busy is not enough. To say it was crowded is insufficient. Its a narrow road anyway- there maybe enough room for a pick up truck; maybe. The street is lined with vendors with tables, vendors with tarps, and vendors with baskets spread out on the ground on tarps so that you can see their wares. Pedestrians, other vendors-some carrying multiple live chickens which have their feet bound and are being carried upside down, motorcycles. rickshaws, bicycles, and men with wheelbarrows full of anything you can imagine are coming and going in both directions and the road is muddy and covered in flattened trash. It sounds horrible, and really, it is. But its also part of living in Haiti and its just part of what you do…at least when you want to shop for shoes and purses.

We did both end up buying a few less important, less expensive things. For five dollars I got two bottles of nail polish, a pair of earrings and a bracelet. Yeah, keep your purse.

In Other News:

Rita is back at the clinic here on Cite Lumiere. She had two operations while in Bonnefin. She was there post operation for almost a week with no antibiotics (I have no idea why so don’t jump to any conclusions) so when she got back here she was still in a lot of pain and had a severe infection in her left shin. She' s now has a pin in her left shin and one in her right femer. But she is now on medication and hopefully finally on the road to full recovery.

Peterson and Frenel are now racing their wheelchairs around the hospital. They try and see how close they can come from running into things before they stop. When I arrived today, Peterson, Frenel and Oliver were outside on the front porch area. Peterson was standing behind Frenel and using his one good arm to push Frenel in the wheelchair, who was pushing Oliver (another amputee) in another wheelchair in front of him. They’re quite a riot to see. I will probably cry the day either or both of them leave the hospital. I am just warning you now.

Yesterday when I got the hospital, Regine was walking down the aisle using a walker. I believe (maybe other than to use the bathroom) this was the first time she’d been fully erect since her surgery. This afternoon, she was working on using crutches and when I arrived her mother started singing me a welcome song. Regine collapsed on the bed laughing. It was first truly joyful moment I’ve seen her enjoy in the time I’ve known her.

I talked to Migline’s father on the phone briefly last night. He said she is doing well.

My closet smells like mildew again. After last weekends storm and the new leaks that appeared, the ceiling is growing more mold. I’ve got to e-mail Tim to see if he can come and take a look to see if there is anything he can do. It seems like a new roof is in order b/c they’ve already tried to patch and repair the roof several times and unfortunately, it hasn’t permanently solved the problem.

I drank my last Diet Coke today. I can’t find any more in town. I don’t know how long it will be until they restock their shelves with them. C’est la vie.

A week already?

2010-03-05T23:43:00.001-05:00

I can hardly believe its just a few hours away from Saturday. Its been a whirlwind of a week.

Saturday. It rained for a few hours and flooded in Cayes and surrounding area. I heard there were people who died; about 20 or so from what I understand. In some places water was neck high. There are still low lying areas around Cayes and up further towards Port that are wet.

Sunday. While at church, my roommate’s car rolled down our hill and landed on its backside. I tried to get pictures several times but had battery problems and couldn’t get it with my camera. She had walked to church that morning so one was in in it. But its a strange thing to come home and find your car in a ditch, or a ravine, or not where you left it. It rolled down and then up a small incline, over a bush, and clipped a phone pole before landing on its back. Had it continued to flip backwards, it would have hit the house on the hill below us. Fortunately it stayed put and they chained it up to keep it from falling. Its in the shop now and seems repairable. It should be ready in about a week. Sunday afternoon my friend Lisa arrived in Cayes for a short visit. She brought me lots of lovely things like cheese , snacks, a chair cushion, flips flops, a cozy blanket and a white noise machine (thanks Alison!!!) We had Chinese food for dinner and made a plan to stay over night in the Bahamas on Monday night. She flew in with a friend who is a pilot, who has been doing relief supply flights to Cayes. The trip to the Bahamas was courtesy of him.

Monday. Benjamin took Lisa and me to the airport at 10am. Paul was supposed to arrive around 10:30am. Around 11:15, Lisa looked at me and said, “You have your passport, right?” I smiled and said, “nope”. She smiled and said, ‘You’re kidding right?” I smiled and said, “Nope”. And then I took a taxi back to the Mission Center- about a 15 minute drive on the oldest, most decrepit motorcycle in Haiti. I wasn’t afraid for my safety, only the comfort of my posterior. I retrieved my passport and took a 15 minute drive back on the oldest, most decrepit motorcycle in Haiti. I found out my driver is a farmer in the area who lost three of his cattle and many pigs and goats. He also lost some of his crops. Paul arrived and we left sometime after 1pm. We arrived in the Bahamas sometime after 4pm. It was windy and cold. We checked into the hotel, spent a little time there and then met some of the Methodist Habitat for Bahamas guys for dinner at this great little local restaurant full of mostly Bahamians and only a couple tourists other than ourselves. After a great meal, we took a taxi back to hotel and I went to bed.

Tuesday. I woke up still in the Bahamas. Its wasn’t cold but it was still chilly. We loaded up the plane at the Methodist Habitat hanger with some supplies for Cayes and took off around 11am. We arrived in Cayes around 1:30pm, Benson met us, took us to lunch at a local Haitian restaurant and then took them back to the airport where we said our goodbyes. I can’t even remember what I did Tuesday afternoon other than visit the hospital. But whatever I did, I was busy tying up the ends of things that were left on Monday. Oh, I remember; I got a call from Gary saying Dan Shoemaker and Kim Rose (the new VP of RMI) were in Haiti. He was in Port picking them up and would be back later that evening. I spent the afternoon making arrangements for their stay. And then after their arrival, we all went to the Chinese Restaurant, again. Often at the Chinese restaurant they don’t have what you want, so you have to come up with an alternate choice. I always order the same thing Schezwan Chicken, They’ve always had it however this night, the waitress told me they didn’t. I ordered my back up; honey garlic chicken. They didn’t have it either. I had take time to review the menu now, so I told her to come back to me. I can’t even remember what I ordered the third time, but whatever it was, it had chicken. A few minutes later she came back out and told Gary they didn’t have what he had ordered. So he reordered….honey garlic chicken. And miraculously, they had it. After everyone had gotten their food, except me (this wasn’t the first or the second time I’d been left til last) she came and told me they didn’t have what I ordered. In fact, they only had lobster. I could get whatever I wanted with lobster. Really? I don’t really even like lobster. But I was left with no choice. I ordered Schezwan lobster. And as everyone else was finishing their food, mine arrived.

Wednesday. The water pump went out on the other hill. My hill had water but the hill that the Guest House is on, didn’t. Well, they still had water but it was a slow trickle. It was enough to make do with but not to really cook and clean with. So, I had to get water carted over to the Guest House from the Depot where we store our trucks and other things. After the service on Wednesday I got a call from Dan. He asked if I had any cold cokes. He and Kim came up and we sat on dimly lit porch and discussed random things- the Haitian culture, ice cream machines and the iron work on the porch. After a nice chat, they headed home. I sent them away with toilet paper. Hey, what can I say, I am the Haiti Hospitality Coordinator, I do what I gotta do…know what I’m sayin’?

Thursday. I went to Baradares. We left Cayes at 7:30am. Its a small town about three hours away from Cayes. Its a rough ride on a good day. This wasn’t one of it’s better days. My neck and back are still sore. The route was up the mountains over some extremely rocky paths. This day, those paths were even rockier, slick with mud, and full of ruts and small ravines carved out by Saturday’s rain. I went because they were making a relief delivery of rice and beans and some other supplies and needed a staff representative. I was also going to take a few Hope for Kids pictures. I couldn’t get many school kids pics because school was still closed due to all the flooding. This was one of the places where water was neck high- in the school. They lost 10 church benches that the water washed out the door and down the road. It was rainy and foggy all the way up and most of the way back. I was hoping for a more creative way to describe the condition road rather than just say it was bad. Here is what I came up with. I held a pen to a piece of paper and let the road take the pen where ever it was going. Here’s what it looks like- this was over less than 5 minutes. Try doing it while driving around town and compare.

I visited the hospital after returning. I found Migline and Ginitte gone. And Gina was on her way out. I knew this day would come but wasn’t ready for it. The hospital seems a bit empty without them there. Others will be leaving soon. I’ll try and prepare myself better for their departure. Thursday night Dan, Kim, Gary, Marilyn, myself and a few of the Haitian staff went to a place called Gelee (Jehley) Beach for rice and beans, fried plantains, pikliz, conch, griot (fried pork) and fish. Its one of Dan’s favorite places and Kim needed to be introduced to good local cuisine. The food was great. We dined by candle light- small candles stuck in empty glass bottles, and stuck inside small plastic cups to protect the flame from the wind. Eventually the cups melt. But its a good idea while it lasts.

Friday. I received a message at 6:20am. Madame Ti Jean (one of the ladies who works at the Guest House) asked me to call her. That's not usually good. I called and found out the water was completely out. Sam was planning on taking over a couple more containers later in the morning but apparently whatever had been left in the pipes was now completely gone. They had no water and they needed it to prepare some of the food and to wash the dishes. I told her I’d figure something out. Benson came to the rescue again. They now have water; plenty of water. Sam took some more over later; in 2 large 10 gallon containers and buckets. I wonder how long it will take to get the pump working again. When the water was out on my hill, it took a week. The group staying there now is leaving in the morning but we have another visitor coming on Sunday. We’ll see what happens.

Saturday. It hasn’t happened yet. But Jenn is in town and we’re going shopping in the morning. By shopping I mean to the market in Cayes. I need a new purse. Did I mentioned the strap broke on mine this week? Yep, so I need a new one. And she needs a back pack. And I might try and find some cute shoes, really cheap…..

Sorry for such a long post. I should write a quick update each day, but as you may or may not be able to tell, by the end of each day, its been an exhausting adventure and I’m just too tired to sit down and process it all. Life in general has returned to ‘normal’ and the activities which fill our days may still be random but they’re less urgent than they had been. I haven’t heard much news out of Port either. I know there’s still lots going on there and lots of needs still exist, I just hope and pray that those needs will eventually be met and life can return to normal for those who lives have been turned upside; or at least maybe they can figure out a new standard for normal. I imagine that's probably more likely the scenario.

Rain Rain Go Away

2010-02-28T22:01:00.001-05:00

(This was written yesterday but I wasn’t able to post it last night because the internet was done. It hasn’t rained for over 24 hours and things seem quiet now…)

Wow.

It flooded in Cayes today. I was still in bed at 9am this morning but I wasn’t asleep. I had just decided I wasn’t ready to get up yet. It had rained during the night some but not like this: around 9am the downpour started. And it rained. And rained. And rained.

I love a good rain storm but this was the kind of rain that makes you feel restless. Something about it just didn’t feel right. The rain pounded on the tin, it streamed off the edges of the roof onto the ground below; in some places it collected in buckets, in other places is rushed like mad river from the pavement to the yard. The thunder boomed, the lightning crackled, and the wind blew. The internet went down before noon. By lunch time there were reports of flooding in the valley, lakes where cows usually graze and crops usually yield their harvests, and houses where water had dared to enter. There were yards full of several feet of water. Unpaved roads were corroding and flooded, as large pot holes appeared and mud thickened as the rain continued to fall. windows had to be closed as a spray of water was being forced inside by the wind. A new leak sprung up in my closet. I already have a mildewy ceiling with a permanent bulge in the right corner; a reminder of the great rain storm and subsequent flood that happened right after I arrived in Haiti. After only 4 or 5 hours of rain, the flooding resembled what it looked like in May after a day or two of rain. The rain finally subsided around 3. It promptly resumed around 3:30. It rained until 5pm. It drizzled until 7pm.

The man who works in our garden raises pigs. He was forced to bring the small pigs inside his house to save them. One of the mechanics who works for RMI asked to borrow a flash light so that he could enter his house and see what he could find. When he came to our house to get the flashlight, the water line on his shorts could be seen midway up his thigh. “It is higher than that now”, he said. Another staff member borrowed a cot for someone in his house who was sleeping on a mat on the floor.

People scrambled to rescue their belongings and to make arrangements for alternative places to sleep. I couldn’t help but ache for the people staying in Gabion. The tent city is set in a soccer field in a very low lying area. I looked at the area around my house and could only imagine what Gabion looked like. I later found out the field is unlivable but a church opened its doors and they have spend the day (and the night) in doors. Although some of them are afraid of sleeping inside the church because of the fear that things will still fall. I cried for them as I prayed for their safety and warmth. After all they just been through, after all they had just seen, after all they had just lost. This? It just didn’t seem right or fair.

My friend, Lisa, was supposed to be flying into today with a pilot making relief supply drop. She is going to be staying with me for a few days. Internet has been out and after a 9:30am report that she would arrive in Cayes between 2:30 and 3pm I have been able to find no other information. I assume they were turned back at some point. I am hopeful that she will be here tomorrow.

There was a group that was to stay at the Guest House tonight. They were driving from Port. In Port, from what we heard, there was no rain. The storm front sat further south. But on this side of Port, roads were flooded and impassible. The group was originally going to arrive shortly after lunch time. They arrived around 8. Information on whether they were going to be able to come or not, change at least 10 times. At one point, they had considered sleeping on the bus. but they eventually made it after probably 10 hours of travel. It is usually a 3 1/2 to 4 hour trip. As part of their caravan, a truck followed the bus with their luggage and 4 other team members. Since they were a good bit further behind we had offered to let them stay at our retreat at Zanglais. Zanglais was just before the trouble spot in the road. When they arrived, the gate was blocked by fallen gravel and debris. Along with the Zanglais security staff and another missionary who happened to be staying out at Zanglais already, they dug by hand.

Around 9:30pm, Joan called me. She and I had been working together to coordinate getting this team to the best place possible. They were hosting the team but the team was staying at our Guest House and it was her husband who was driving the truck with the luggage and 4 other people. When I answered the call, instead of a greeting she laughed. Apparently after some digging, they saw an excavator truck and some other of the same type which indicated that they were on route to clear the path. So the group decided to head on and follow the trucks. She asked me how flexible I was. I laughed and said, very. The 4 coming in with her husband would need a place to sleep. They were to have gone up to Bonnefin today and would have slept there. Could they stay at the Guest House? Their Guest House was full.

Sure. No problem. We had already discussed the possibility earlier and we had the space. She said they might not arrive until midnight. She had no way of knowing. I actually received a call before 10:30pm that they were almost here. When I drove over the meet them at the Guest House it was pitch black. There had been a power outage and the inverter hadn’t kicked on. I called Gary and he came to the rescue and in 10 minutes there was power. Lets just hope it stays on all night. He showed one of the ladies how to turn on the generator should the inverter run out of power. I hope that doesn’t happen because one of the ladies who works in the kitchen and her husband and their 4 kids are sleeping in the apartment beside the depot that houses the generator and the sound of the generator resembles a helicopter if your too close. The apartment could be considered “too close”. Their house had been one of the ones which had flooded.

I got home around 11:30pm.

Its been another one of “those” days…I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Its now 11:59pm. Its quiet. The only sounds I hear are the crow of a rooster, crickets singing their nightly tune, and the occasional drop of water falling from a leaf in the yard.

A Few More Pics for the Day

2010-02-27T00:42:00.001-05:00

Valson and Peterson hanging out in wheelchairs

Proof that Frenel is going to do just fine…..

He has named his monkey Ti Jorel (little Jorel)

Gina.

Jonathan and his dad. Are they related or what?!?

Frenel, Jonathan and their neighbor

And my sweet friend Migline. Remember her in a cast and bandage?

Peterson…I had trouble getting him to smile. He preferred the serious look. This was our happy medium.

But that “come hither” look has snagged him a girlfriend.

I don’t have an updated picture of RIta since she’s still in Bonnefin but here’s her husband and one of their daughters.

Valson and his mom, Elda.

This is Rosemarie and her son Ive. She didn’t loose her leg in the quake but came to the hospital several days after the quake. She lost her leg due to diabetic complications. She has such a beautiful smile and a joyful spirit.

It got dark too dark to take more photos. If I can get some of my other friends tomorrow, I’ll post them.

Downtown Cayes

2010-02-26T15:16:00.001-05:00

I’ve been using a lot of words lately. So, I’ve decided to post some pictures. In light of all that the media has shown of Haiti in the last few weeks. I thought I’d show some of what life is like in these parts. These were all taken in January, after the earthquake. The Mission Center is in a more rural setting but downtown Cayes is only about 10 minutes from where I live.

Here is the city I call home.

Downtown Cayes

How We Roll

Shopping

You can see the individual pictures here. I tried to post them on the blog but for some reason I they refused to upload.

Clinic Notes

2010-02-23T23:55:00.001-05:00

Tonight I spent about three hours at the Hospital. I enjoyed some long visits with some of my friends and short visits with others but it was a special time. I took some drawing paper, crayons, and pencils and started over at the boys section where Frenel and Peterson are staying. There are two other boys in the two beds across from them so I spent a good long time sitting in a wheel chair cutting up with all the boys and their families and anybody else who felt like joining in. If its possible to have “lots of fun” visiting people in the hospital, it happened tonight; we had lots of fun. I also enjoyed a lot of great conversation with my lady friends over on the ‘girls’ side.

Here’s what I know:

1) Rita. She is doing well post surgery in Bonnefin. She has yet to return to Cayes. Her husband and one of her daughters are still at the clinic here. The other daughter is with Rita. From what I understand, Rita wants to come back down b/c she said she was getting much better care down here! The Clinic at Cite Lumiere is definitely a much more comfortable facility.

2) Migline. No special news to report. Her foot is healing so well. She’s tried walking on crutches a little bit but after her fall the other day, I don’t know how much she is using them. Yesterday we sat and read the Bible together. She read Psalm 25 for me. I read Psalm 23 for her. Then she told me she knew it in French and proceeded to recite it for me. I know she’s got to be tired of being there but I’m not looking forward to the day she leaves. She’s one I’ll be keeping in touch with, but it’ll be much more difficult when they’re not right here in Cayes.

3) Douglas. My sweet little shadow went home Monday morning. Sunday afternoon he carried my purse around for me as I was visiting a few friends and he told me I should keep let him keep my purse at his bed because that would mean I’d have to come back later and see him. That was the last time I saw him. I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye or get any way to contact them in the future. While I’m so excited for him to be progressing well enough to go home, I have been in tears thinking I may never see his sweet little face again this side of heaven.

4) Peterson and Frenel. As mentioned before, they have become best of friends. They have taken to wheelchair races and soccer matches in the wheel chairs. Its great to see them just being kids. Tonight I sat in a wheelchair in the middle of the aisle and passed crayons back and forth as the kids were drawing. Peterson couldn’t figure out what to draw so I told him to draw Frenel, which he did. He made sure to draw him accurately, with only one full leg, which everyone including Frenel seemed to find amusing. Frenel decided to return the favor by drawing Peterson complete with everything that makes him…a boy. I am trying to find a way to make it appropriate for posting. If I come up with anything, I’ll let you know.

5) Gina. I sat and talked with her for a while today. I discovered that I misunderstood her the other day. I shared that both her children had been killed along with her husband but I found out today one of her children did survive; her 12 year old daughter. Her sister Bonita is staying with her at the hospital and I met her tonight. Gina seems to be healing slowly, but nonetheless, she’s healing. She had her full arm bandaged but now its just her wrist and hand. This evening she had it unwrapped and she was gently exercising her hand. She said it gave her a lot of pain but she knew it would help her heal. I have noticed that she always has a sweet smile on her face and asked her tonight how she was coping. She said when she has people to talk to, to keep her mind off everything she is doing OK, but it is when she was alone with her thoughts that she becomes sad and discouraged.

6) Regine. I talked extensively with her for the first time tonight. She isn’t very old, I believe maybe 20ish-give or take a year or two, and she lost her leg in the quake. The first two weeks she was at the hospital, she was outwardly depressed. Her mother kept vigil by her bed but most of the time Regine was just lying down with her face at least partially covered up or sleeping. I was always greet her mother and speak with her Regine and would only get a minimal response from her. She has made friends with one of the Haitian Doctors at the Clinic and I think he was concerned for her as well. A few days ago, he took her on a drive around the city, just so she could get out and get some air and see something besides the ceiling at the clinic. Since that time (I found out later that was the turning point) she’s been a different person. The past few days she has been sitting up, smiling a lot more, and even at times laughing. She was even sitting in a chair the other day getting her hair braided. Her mom lives here in Cayes but Regine’s house is still in Port. She said it wasn’t destroyed. She was injured because she was outside when the earthquake happened. But she doesn’t know what she will do when she is released, whether to return to Port and resume her life as best she can or to stay here in Cayes with her mom. I am so happy to see the improvement in her. Her mom's name is Madame Auguste.

Its late and although there are a few others I’ll have to try and give an update later. For now I’ll just leave some names of people to pray for: Gertrude, Jackson, Valson, Jonathan, Emil, and Rose Marie. They’re all patients at the clinic.

Tomorrow, I am going to Tiburon (my home church’s sister church). Its a good drive out- too far for a normal day trip- but we’re doing a food delivery out there with some relief supplies so I get to go! I was quite amused by what food is on the truck we’re taking. My three favorite things (based on amusement factor, not necessarily the desire to consume): Little Debbie Fudge Rounds, Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies, and Vienna Sausages. Lots and lots of Vienna Sauces.

Oh, and I forgot to mention this earlier but when Peterson was done drawing Frenel, Frenel was missing something. Pants. I don’t know why Peterson keeps forgetting to draw the pants…..

Case and Point!

2010-02-23T00:13:00.001-05:00

There are a few things I’ve been meaning to write. A couple of them might actually be worth reading about but I am going to forego the completion of said entries, at least momentarily, to bring you a wonderful example of just how random things are these days.

Although RMI isn’t currently hosting our own Sister Church teams, the Guest House has still been a revolving door of guests with medical groups and humanitarian aid personnel coming and going for the last five weeks. I am responsible for making sure the Guest House runs, and that it runs well. Right after the quake I made a vast list of supplies we’d need to make sure we’d have them on hand (flour, rice, sugar, noodles, etc.) and now as things are available (and fresh items like fruit and veggies are needed) I work with the ladies who do the cooking and cleaning to make a list and I send the guys after whatever we need. When I made the first grocery list I also created a master menu to help the flow of things and the ladies have been working off that list and making adjustments as needed. Its been a pretty efficient system so far. The hard part has been the constant change in the state of teams that are coming and then they aren’t and groups who have no place to stay who need last minute reservations. I can’t even count how many times I’ve had to tell Madame Ti Jean something like, “I think we have a group coming tomorrow, but I’m not sure. And if they come, I don’t know what time. So they might need lunch but I don’t know” only to follow it up an hour later with, “that groups not coming, but another group is coming at 4pm today so they’ll need dinner and then breakfast but they’re leaving in the morning” Now when I say, “I think so, but I don’t know. When I know, I’ll call you and let you know”, we just laugh.

Last week a request was made for two nurses to come and stay at the Guest House for three weeks- it was not made by the nurses themselves but someone helping them make arrangements. They would arrive on January 21. We knew nothing more than that (That’s just how its had to have been with so many relief flights coming and going.) We had no other information and could find out little else. Saturday morning I received an e-mail from one of the other missionaries who also helps run another Guest House on the Mission Center, saying she received a call from a Doctor and his wife flying in on Saturday and did we have room for them because their Guest House was full. She didn’t know details, she’d let me know when she knew more. We had room so we left it at “she’d get back to me”. I told the ladies to go ahead and prepare a meal and if we didn’t need it then, we’d use it Sunday for the two ladies coming. We hadn’t heard anything from the Dr and his wife yet and I was at the Guest House checking in with the staff ladies when about 4pm I stepped outside to take a phone call from Marilyn telling me that two other people had showed up (one had stayed at the Guest House before) and were hoping to stay there again. I walked back inside. “I still don’t know about the other two people. I doubt their coming at this point but we have two other people who will be staying here tonight.” The Dr and his wife didn’t come; the two who actually stayed there were only there for the night.

It was now Sunday, the day the nurses were scheduled to arrive. By that afternoon around 3:30pm we had assumed they weren’t coming. We made a couple calls and no one knew anything. Around 5, we heard from the group they were flying in with (one the agencies flying in relief supplies and personnel) that the ladies had arrived in Nassau too late to catch Sunday’s plane to Cayes but would now be flying in on Monday. No one knew what time.

About a week ago, a local man had come to look at the Guest House for a possible team of 9 people he was trying to organize to come from the US that would need a place to stay from the 20th to the 27th. He did not confirm reservations and I think I told him to call me to make reservations if he decided he wanted the group to stay there but there’s a good chance I thought I said it one way and in Creole it came out another! The 20th had come and gone and I had heard nothing . I had no reason to think anything else of it.

So here we were: the Dr and his wife never came, the two that came were gone, and the nurses who had been scheduled to come, weren’t coming until Monday. Sunday evening was officially “mine”.

It had been a long exhausting day and I was tired but I had things I needed to get done. I had tried taking a nice long nap but I couldn’t sleep. It was a rainy Sunday afternoon and I decided it would be a good time to reorganize my closet. While its a decent sized closet, its the only true storage I have, so its pretty full and it gets crowded and cluttered easily. I decided I’d reorganize. There is a section in the middle where the clothes are hung on on the shelves above that same section, I also keep additional clothes. There are floor to ceiling shelves on each side and this is where I keep all art supplies, electronic supplies (batteries, small fans, flashlights, etc.) extra toilet paper, light bulbs, a few other random things that I don’t know where else to put, snacks and my Diet Cokes since we don’t have a pantry. Its pretty packed. I decided I’d clear a section at a time.

I had just placed the contents of the entire left section of my closet onto my bed where I could sort and reorganize when my phone rang. It was a number I didn’t recognize and though I usually don’t answer those, something told me to get it. “Amy, Its Pastor…..We’re on the way, we’ll be there shortly”.

This is where you could insert one of those everything comes to a screeching halt, record needle skipping across a record, what?!?!?! kind of sound effects.

Fortunately. other than the two nurses, we didn’t have anyone scheduled at the Guest House and after I picked my jaw up off the floor and regrouped, I headed over to the Guest House to make it ready for 9 guests. The Ladies who work at the Guest House were in church and I couldn’t reach them to call then to come over, as were all the staff members I would have called to help me locate them. I finally left a message for one of them asking her to come up Monday morning to fix breakfast for the group. I’d take care of the other preparations for the evening. I had to clear towels from the previous nights guests, change a few beds, empty trash, and organize things to get the house ready for the group. I arrive around 7:30pm. They starting arriving around 10:15pm (They had gone to a church service in the area and had to be driven over in shifts since the vehicle wasn’t big enough for all of the stuff and the 9 of them.) They came in with boxes and bags and luggage, and all kinds of stuff so there was a furry of activity and then there was the stuff I had to go over with them as far as their schedule and meals, and…and…and….I got out of there at midnight.

And when I finally arrived home, I came home to this:

So I put stacked it on the floor in front of my bookshelf and decided I’d have to get to it another time. (Tuesday; 12am and its still there.)

Haiti: We will remember

2010-02-19T22:40:00.001-05:00

For you to pray

2010-02-19T00:15:00.001-05:00

Its midnight, and I was just in bed trying to sleep. Its sooo cold here (its hot enough here normally that when the temperature drops 5 degrees it resembles a cold front.) Weather.com is reporting that its 75 degrees outside now. It also reported earlier today that it was almost 90. I can tell you that neither of those things are true. Its cold and its windy. My dilemma this evening is this; I am wearing pants and a short sleeve t-shirt (b/c I can’t find the long sleeved one) and I was lying under my sheet, a comforter, a bath sheet doubling as a blanket (thanks mom!) and another light weight cover up, and it was still chilly. The problem is, I can’t sleep without a fan. I don’t always need it to keep me cool but I can’t sleep without the magic hum of a fan. But tonight its just to cold so I can’t sleep with a fan either. There’s a fan always running in my closet to keep the moisture and mildew down so I’m hoping once the silence settles in, it will make enough noise to do the trick. I am also hoping I’m tired enough that I’ll just fall asleep regardless. We’ll see.

The reason, though, that I was in bed trying to sleep and am now typing this is because there are a few people on my heart. And before dozing off to sleep, I was hoping I could implore others to lift them up in prayer as well. Most of them are people I have mentioned on here before.

1) Its not raining here but someone at the hospital told me earlier she’d heard reports (I think she may have talked with some of her family) that it was raining in Port. I can’t help but thing of the 100s of 1000s of people sleeping outside under tarps, and tents and makeshift shelters. I can’t imagine how miserable it must be to be cold and wet.

2) Rita and Valenteen were both moved to Bonnefin yesterday morning for surgery. I have no reports of their conditions and when their surgeries are/were.

3) They are moving people out quite rapidly now, which is good for the people. It means some of them who have been there a month now are finally able to go home (wherever home is now). When Peterson was moved downstairs a few days ago, he made friends with Frenel and since then they’ve been inseparable. Now all the patients who were downstairs have been moved upstairs and once upstairs, all the guys have been placed together in two sections and all the women are in the other two. It changes every day as patients leave and now “non-quake” patients are moving back into the system. Tonight when I went to visit Peterson and Frenel, Peterson was on his bed and Frenel was in the wheelchair right beside Frenel and they were looking at a book (it was an English/Creole picture dictionary) together. Frenel invited me to sit down as well. So I did, and we looked at the pictures together, I mostly just helped them pronounced words in English and because we were looking at the section with animals, I would explain animals to them that had no place in their frame of reference. The book has a picture of fish in a bowl. I asked them if that picture made any sense to them and they said no. In Haiti, people don’t fish for recreation and they certainly don’t keep fish as pets. Fish are for eating. A lot of the animals they were unfamiliar with, the first question was, can you eat it? Peterson is still in much pain. He grimaced often tonight and kept saying it hurt. His hand is still not working properly and it still doesn’t look right. The wounds on his head and mostly healed and the swelling in his head and arm are completely gone. The flesh wound he had on his upper arm is even now left uncovered and looks close to being completely healed; buts its still that hand. As I was getting ready to leave he was trying to get comfortable in his bed. He kept tossing and turning, trying to find a more comfortable way to lay. I wish there was something I could do for him. Frenel on the other hand is doing quite well. I think he still has some pain in his leg but his is becoming quite agile in the wheelchair and looks more and more at ease every day.

4) Gina is someone I don’t know too much about. I just happened to stop at another bed one night and she she was in the bed next to them. We briefly spoke and that's when I found out her name. The other day she was going into the bathroom (which in the other section, just in front of Migline’s bed) and she smiled and asked if I was going to come see her. Of course I was! What was I going to say?? And by that I mean, how on earth could I say no!? I talked to her a little bit more tonight. The last couple nights she’s been in a good bit of pain. I don’t believe her arm is broken because its not in a cast but its wrapped from shoulder down. And she keeps talking about the pain. I found out tonight, that Rose, the girl I mentioned the other night, is her sister. Rose has been released and is now staying with their other sister. Gina did not know how much longer she will be in the hospital. I found out tonight that she lost both of her children and her husband in the quake along with a cousin or two. I’ve not noticed too any visitors around her. Some beds are overflowing with friends and family, others, such as hers seem lonely at times. She always has a smile and a sweet spirit but I can’t imagine lying in pain in a hospital bed, far away from your home which was destroyed having just lost your entire family.

5) I talked briefly with a lady names Gertrude. I don’t know much of her story either but her shoulder is broken and she must have some kind of flesh wound on the lower portion of her arm as it is wrapped in gauze and bandages.

6) Migline is doing well. She continues to heal. She did fall today trying to use the crutches but I don’t think she was hurt to badly. Her foot is healing nicely and while it is still in some pain, it has been left unwrapped to continue with healing.

7) Ginitte. I didn’t get to speak much at all with her tonight because she was resting when I went by her bed. She had a headache this evening. I don’t know what was causing the headache but I am sure its just one more frustrating thing to have to deal with.

8) My roommate Beth said she heard on the radio today that people were only being encouraged to stay in Port IF they still had a job and to leave if they didn’t. I guess they meant find a new place or go move in with family or friends. Now that the immediate problems have been, or are being addressed, we are beginning to see what I imagine what will be the next set of problems, the next aftershock if you will. As the rainy season approaches, people can’t continue to live piled in tents. They’ll need to seek more permanent shelter. Even temporary shelters can be an issue because who will build them and where will you put them. And as people leave Port, they’ll need jobs. Thousands of people will need jobs in a country where jobs are already hard to come by. And once they find a more permanent place to stay, those children who were already in school will need to return to school (this is actually already happening in Cayes as many families have already moved out this way) but with thousands of teachers dead, schools demolished and records destroyed, whose going to be able to “vouch” for these students- what grade where they in and what classes were they had taken, and…and..and…. And whose going to pay for those who had already paid once and will now have to pay again, at a new school. Teachers are under contract for a year and whether or not they teach the full year the school is obligated to pay them their full salary. That means, money collected from schools where students can no longer attend can’t be transferred to a new school, they’ll need to use those funds to honor their contracts. While things are moving forward and all is NOT doom and gloom, these are real problems that real people are facing. And things about which people can pray.

A Special Valentines ‘Day’ Surprise

2010-02-18T16:04:00.001-05:00

A HUGE thank you to everyone who sent something in my Valentine’s Day Box. I got the boxes Monday afternoon and promptly tore open the packages to see just what it was that I had been given. Each and every gift, card, and note was so special to me. I feel so loved and blessed to have some many people thinking of and praying for me. God has truly blessed me beyond what I could think or imagine.

Here are the cards…..
and all the other goodies…

The Importance of Pants

2010-02-17T01:40:00.001-05:00

There isn’t a lot of information to report from the last couple days. Things, as I have said, are moving at a more normal pace (either that or I’ve just gotten used to it…) and there isn’t the furry of activity that was going on the first couple to three weeks.

This morning started off slow with a massive downpour early on(I can’t help but think of all the people still staying at the tent city) and a call from Gary about 10am to get over to the RMI Garage and snap some photos of a LARGE delivery of medical supplies (something like 7000 lbs!). While I was there I also got the guys to fill my 4wheeler’s tank and put air in a tire that had been punctured by a nail.

Back at home, I began preparing my area (room and bathroom) for guests. Tuesdays is Ladies Tea for the Missionary Ladies and today was our day to host it. Since my space is just off the kitchen and less tucked away than Beth and Susanne’s rooms, my bathroom is the community wash room and that means my bedroom becomes community space as well. I had to get things ready. As horrible as it sounds, I still haven’t had time to completely unpack from my return from the states on January 5 (give me a little slack as we had a team come in on the 8th, had an earthquake on the 12th and were in Port Salut until the 13th. I haven’t had time to stop going long enough!). So that's what I did this morning.

I had lunch and made a quick trip down the hill to purchase a small gift for someone at the hospital. I came home, finished a few last minute details in my room, laid down for 10 minutes and then begin preparing for Ladies Tea. Ladies began arriving at 4pm. We had good food and good conversation and then, everyone was gone around 6pm. After a quick clean up, I ran across the street to Tom and Karen’s house as they had been holding a couple packages for me that had been delivered by Agape on Saturday, while I was in Zanglais. It was a really special package full of lots of goodies and cards- thanks Mom and everyone else who sent me such wonderful surprises!!!!!!! I’ll try to post a picture of everything tomorrow!!!

Around 7, the roommates and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then I headed off the hospital to make my rounds. I wasn’t planning on staying long (as I never am) because it was getting late but I took my crayons and drawing pads just in case. I’m glad I did. I’ve got people I’m visiting upstairs and downstairs at the hospital so to try and be fair, some days I start downstairs and other days I start upstairs. Today was my day to start downstairs. I found Frenel watching a movie on a small DVD player along with about 10 other people crowded around his bed. I told him I’d come back when they’d finished. Peterson has now been relocated downstairs as well so I went and visited him. It was not even 8pm but he was already in bed under the covers. I poked my head in his room just to say hi but his mom insisted I stay for a little visit. So I did. I asked Peterson if he was tired from working all day and he laughed and said yes so I asked him what he’d been working on. He showed me a few pictures in a coloring book that he’d colored. He’s right handed and its his right hand that's shriveling up and useless so I imagine that would make him tired. I asked him if he’d feel like drawing some and he said yes but he told me his good hand was injured. I told him I was right handed too and asked what if we both drew with our left hands'; he liked that idea. As usual, it drew a crowd and within a couple minutes there were 4 or 5 other kids (and a couple adults) in the room wanting to draw. It was mostly me, drawing simple pictures from them to color but they seemed to enjoy it. Instead of keeping their drawings they gave them all back to me. I’ve got pics to prove it. One of the kids who came to the room was a little boy I hadn’t yet met. I’d heard his name lots of times before because he’s a joy to be around and everybody just loves him. His name is Douglas. If I understand it correctly, he’s actually 8 but looks like he’s maybe 4 or 5. He’s just really petite. He was under the rubble for 4 days and most of his injuries were sustained, as best as they can determine, not by the collapsing of the building but as he climbed and clawed his way through the rubble to get out. He’s damaged his leg and his right arm. He doesn’t have normal movement in either of them. When he walks, he throws his leg out slightly and he has no use of his bicep but instead utilizes his arm by the force of his shoulder. I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to color but once he got his arm up on the bed and could reach the paper and crayons, you would have never know he had a problem. When we were all done coloring, but before I moved upstairs, he insisted that I meet his mom. So he took my backpack from me, strapped it on his shoulders, took my hand and he led me to another room full of people, marched me over and introduced me to his mom. I keep determining that I’m not going to “make any more friends”, not because I don’t want to, but I could already spend my entire day at the hospital just spending equal amounts of times with all of those I have grown to love. But my plan of not making anymore friends really isn’t working and the number of people who continue to find a place in my heart is continuing to grow.

I made a quick round upstairs, stopping to talk to each of my friends only briefly and telling them that I am going to try and come to the hospital earlier tomorrow. I’m actually hoping to be able to make it first thing in the morning for a quick visit because two of my friends, Rita and Valenteen are both going to be going to BonneFin tomorrow to have surgery. There is a visiting orthopedic surgeon who is up there and they are currently better equipped to handle surgeries of this sort; both with supplies and with staff. They have both said they are going to be returning to the hospital here but aren’t sure when. Last night I talked briefly with Migline and her dad. She was having stomach issues and had been throwing up all day and her dad was sick as well with a cold. She seemed a little better today but I didn’t see either of her parents.

Here’s what we did tonight. Notice the biggest picture in the top row. That was one of Peterson’s drawings. I did the basic truck form and he added the details. At one point he drew the large steering wheel and a large chair inside the truck (hey, it happens) and I told him something was missing; he was. So he drew the little stick guy. He showed me again and I told him something else was missing. Pants. I told him it wasn’t a good idea to drive without pants. So he added pants.

Out of the Office, Love Letters, and Other Miscellaneous Things

2010-02-13T00:47:00.001-05:00

Consider this my out of the office automated response. If you send me any messages (just) today or tomorrow, I won’t be able to respond until probably late Sunday night or Monday. I’ll be in Zanglais with a couple missionary friends from here on the center. We’re going to the RMI Retreat Center for the weekend just to get away and relax. I’m looking forward to sleeping In mostly.

Here are some of the things that have been going on around here the last few days:

When I left for Christianville a couple weeks ago, I wrote two of my friends at the Clinic here on the center letters because I had heard they were close to being ready to leave and I wasn’t sure I’d see them again. Gary delivered the letters for me, and even called me from the Clinic so I could talk with them. When I returned I had two special surprises waiting for me; they had written me too. Rosie was gone before I returned so I’m glad I was able to encourage her one last time and remind that God cares for her deeply. Frenel hasn’t left the hospital yet but he’s making progress everyday. He is even up and around now in wheelchair.

Not sure if this has anything to do with relief efforts but its an interesting image nonetheless. A small vessel was docked a few hundred yards off the Port in Cayes on Tuesday. Incase you wonder how you’d unload something like that? Here’s your answer. One small boat load at a time. They’re actually doing a lot of construction on the pier, hopefully to make it usable again. Its been in disrepair for years, or so I’ve heard. If they can make it usable again, it’ll make the process a lot less time consuming, I would imagine. There is actually a ship docked just off port now, with 260,000 pounds of relief supplies. It (according to the people Gary spoke with) has some food, shoes and clothes, and more medical supplies. Incase anyone asks, I don’t think any more medical supplies are needed. We have stuff in storage here which is overflowing and the hospitals have no more room to store anything in their facilities. What we’ll be needing in the near future is (and I quote) “food, food, and more food.”

One of the ladies who works in one of the missionaries houses had the idea to prepare a meal for the families living down at Gabyon (the tent city in town). I was able to help her acquire some of the food and supplies and we used an RMI truck to deliver over 150 boxes of food. I’ve made several trips to Gabyon over the last few weeks and so I’ve made friends there as well. I met Herby, Jocelyn, and Dominic. I don’t know Dominic’s story but Herby and Jocelyn are both 25. They were students in Port au Prince. When the earthquake struck, they lost everything. Their houses and schools were destroyed and now they have no idea what their future looks like. Herby has basically told me that some days he feels very discouraged and right now he doesn’t know what he’s going to do. He is just searching for some stability in his life right now. I asked Jocelyn if there was a chance he could find another school to continue his studies and he said that in Port au Prince he had a job teaching English to some elementary school students and that was helping pay his way through school. Now he has no possibility of work and no way to pay for school.

The other day I met Marie Florence. She had been hit in the stomach by falling block and had a large gash about a foot long through her mid section. She had received stitches from a make shift clinic in Port au Prince not long after the injury occurred. When we talked with her the other day her stitches had been in almost a month. The nurses we were with were very concerned that the stitches should have been removed after about 2 weeks and that she was going to get an infection so we talked to the staff at the medical tent and they agreed they needed to be removed so we got her up to them and the removed them. I saw her again on Thursday and was able to sit and talk with her for a while. She has a five year old daughter, named Seraphina who is in Port right now, on her own. Marie Florence had to come to Cayes to seek better medical attention and couldn’t afford to pay for the vehicle for them both so she had to leave her child. She said someone is keeping an eye on her daughter but she has no official guardian. Marie Florence said she was currently looking for a way to find the money to pay for someone to go in and get her daughter and bring her out to Cayes. Before you judge me for not giving her the money she needed please understand that I have already done things for others and while each story breaks my heart, I can’t help every single person because they all have horrendous stories and a vast set of needs and it is beyond my ability to help everyone. Please pray for Herby, Jocelyn, Dominic, Marie Florence, and Seraphina.

And for a quick update on my friends at the Cite Lumiere Clinic:

1) Rita. She is still in a cast but doing better. She said she thinks often of the 12 year old child she lost in the quake. Her husband is making improvements and has actually been moved to the bed right beside Rita. Their daughters were splitting their time between parents, now in some small way, they have been reunited.

2)Peterson. The swelling in his arm, shoulder and head has gone down immensely, On visual inspection its looks almost normal. He was thought to have a fracture on his wrist and was given a brace. For some reason he stopped wearing it. I found out that he was under rubble for about 24 hours, with his head and shoulder receiving the brunt of the weight. While in most ways he is recovering well, his hand is useless. His wrist is limp and his hand is beginning to shrivel up. He’s still in immense pain to the touch. One of the Drs feels like its some kind of nerve damage. I went to the hospital the other night and we read together. I have a school reader I bought for my Creole lessons and its been fun to take in and read to the kids and have them read to me. It becomes quite the spectacle as many people are interested in hearing the blan read Creole and then want to take their turn reading to me. I was at the hospital for two hours the other night, reading and being read to. What fun!

3) Frenel. He is making great progress. As I said above he is up and around in a wheel-chair, adjusting to life with only one functioning leg. His smile is contagious. Anytime I go into his area, and he sees me, he clears out whoever is sitting in the wheelchair in front of his bed and tells me I can sit.

4) Migline. The cast has been removed from her leg and a skin graft has been taken from her thigh and placed on her foot. I went and read with her the other night. Today I went and we drew together. I took a drawing pad and some crayons and colored pencils and we made a deal. I would draw something for her and she would draw something for me. I drew and decorated her name. She did the same for me. Sometimes when someone can’t quite get the pronunciation of my name I tell them how you would spell it in Creole; its much more phonetic. Its E-M-I. (E=A, M, I=E). So today, she drew my name that way, EMI. Its beautiful. It became a group activity again with others coming over and wanting to play. Needless to say, I think I was at her bedside for about an hour and a half. I had others I had told I would come and draw with, and others I wanted to talk to, but I had to tell them I would have to come back another day because I was cooking dinner for the Guests at the Guest House and had to go get the food ready. I am hoping to be back early enough on Sunday to have some time with them.

(Sorry about the flash. Its midnight and I just now had time to take the picture so the lighting is terrible but you get the idea.)

5) I have recently made some new friends and while I don’t have their full stories, I have their names. You can begin praying for them. Valenteen. I’d guess she’s early 20’s. She has a broken leg and I’m guessing a broken pelvis as she’s in a leg cast which extends up mid torso. You can also pray for Ginitte (Jeanette), Gina, Rose Laure (La-rae).

days of prayer: update

2010-02-12T22:07:00.001-05:00

Dan Shoemaker sent an e-mail out earlier with some great information regarding these days of prayer I mentioned earlier. His e-mail was actually a portion of an e-mail from someone he knows here in Haiti but its got some excellent details that I want to pass along.

“Today, tomorrow, and Sunday have been declared a time of prayer and fasting. Carnival, which is scheduled for Tues has been cancelled. The first time ever as far as I know. This morning, I noticed most people not on the roads, but in churches (if they are still standing) or at home in prayer….Today will be a day of repentance, asking God to forgive, Saturday will be a day to pray for the country and the government, and Sunday will be a day of thanking God for His mercy and grace and love.”

days of prayer

2010-02-12T09:50:00.001-05:00

There a several other things I’ve been trying to get written to get on here- but they’ll have to wait til another post because something special is going on in Haiti that I don’t know if the International Media has reported on or not. You may already know this…so it may be a “duh”. But thought I’d share it anyway.

Today starts a three day period of mourning and prayer for the nation of Haiti. It seems as though private citizens, probably leaders of the local church, were calling for this. And the government thought it was a good idea. And declared it. And it is now so. Banks and other (but probably not all) business will be closed to honor the holiday. Churches are having special prayer services all through out the weekend. Madame Moise, our cook, is here today working but she is listening to the service on Radio Lumiere. They are singing and thanking God for his grace. I wish you could hear it.

There are also manifestations planned all over the country. In Haiti, a manifestation is a protest where large groups of people gather, mostly in major traffic thoroughfares, burn tires, block roads, etc. They are calling for the US to take over. I’m not sure if its the government or just officially over the relief effort. That’s not clear. I don’t believe its any reason to fear for our safety as much as its just the local way or getting there message across.

Interesting times, these are.

The missionary community has planned two specific times for us to gather as a community to prayer during this time as well; Saturday morning at 8:30am and Sunday at 7pm. I won’t be able to make the Saturday morning service, as I am going out of “town” for the day but hope to be back in time to meet Sunday night.

I know many churches and groups have already gathered for prayer but perhaps this would be another chance for you to join in raising a voice to Heaven for Haiti, for the present conditions and the future direction of this Nation.

Psalm 60:1-5
God, you have rejected us and scattered us. You have been angry, but please come back to us. You have made the earth shake and crack. Heal its breaks because it is shaking. You have given your people trouble. You made us unable to walk straight, like people drunk with wine.

You have raised a banner to gather those who fear you. Now they can stand up against the enemy.

Answer us and save us by your power so the people you love will be rescued.

Four Weeks

2010-02-09T23:56:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe its 10:27, Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Four weeks ago today the earth quake happened. Four weeks ago today life got turned upside down. Four weeks ago today became the day against which all natural disasters in this area very well may be measured for centuries to come. For weeks ago today became the day that people will refer to as “after that day, things were never the same”. Wow, four weeks, huh?

Its been a busy four weeks. A tiring four weeks. A productive four weeks.

Life in Haiti seems to be slowing back down to a normal pace. People are getting by, making due, and moving forward. Within the first few days after the earthquake everyone was afraid. We were afraid that we would run out of the things we needed to live. For most Haitians, it was food, water, and a future. For those of us on the Mission Center and others in the area it was food, fuel, cash, medical supplies, and ways to help. Medical staff was running short and people were injured and dying. Tap taps (local transportation), motorcycle taxis, and missionaries were making mad rushes to the gas stations to fill up tanks and drums. Grocery store lines were long and shelves were emptying out. Large checks were written and extra cash was in hand. Day by day, moment by moment, things changed, plans were revised and lists were rewritten. Medical teams were coming and then they couldn’t. Supplies were on their way and then they weren’t. But my how things have changed. Within a couple weeks of the rush, stores in our area were reopened and resumed their regular schedules. Merchants were back on the streets, gas was delivered, Dr's were a plenty (so many in fact some couldn’t find places to work) and medical and food supplies were being delivered multiple times daily.

News is coming in a lot less frequently than it was in the beginning days, but here is what I know from street level; I admit, I don’t have the bigger picture.

Apparently there are still places in port who aren’t receiving aid. But from what I also understand massive amounts of aid has been delivered and I also know many areas are being supported. I even heard of an organization who claimed that it was giving out 800,000 meals a day. I have no reason not to believe them. I just imagine there are so many people dispersed to so many areas, it has to be hard to know exactly where everyone is. I’ve also heard organizations mention that they’re not receiving aid. I don’t know this for a fact, but I would venture to guess this may have something to do with the proverbial squeaky wheel getting the oil. Those who are crying loudest get taken care of first. I’m not blaming anyone either. I’ve said it so many times, especially in the beginning when I heard so many people complaining about the amount of time it was taking to get relief efforts organized, this is a complex problem with a complex solution. I didn’t see any of those people volunteering to come in and oversee the distribution of relief in a city of over 2 million residents. Knowing as little as I know, I am grateful it wasn’t my job to organize how it got done. I wouldn’t be good at some thing like that. I’m better at handing out bowls of rice than figuring out where they need to go in the first place. While I do understand that when your suffering its not really reasonable to expect you to be OK when your neighbor is getting provisions while you look on. Its beyond my ability to even begin to understand how you facilitate something like this. I guess I’m just saying lets offer some grace. It wasn’t an easy task and the hardships aren’t over. For those who are trying to do their part, I am grateful.

Aid is coming to us with the help of missionaries and humanitarians working in this area. For many weeks, many planes each day have been bringing in food and medical supplies. Almost as fast as they have come in, it has gone out. There are so many people who have come to Cayes and are now living with relatives. So while the need doesn’t seem as immediate, it is still very real. These families, many of whom, were already struggling to find daily provisions for their immediate families are now being forced into finding food for many extra people now residing with them. RMI and other organizations in the area are working with the MEBSH churches to make deliveries to many of the MEBSH churches (many of which are also sister churches in the RMI program) and providing them with resources to distribute within their communities. Yes, there are those who don’t have what they need. But we are doing everything we can and working moment by moment to make it happen. One of the missionaries has spoken with a military relief organization and are trying to coordinate what could possibility be several tons of food coming into this area. We have no official news on this that I know of but we are hopeful as this will help supply so many with what they need.

Medical Teams are still coming into the area. Most of the teams who have been brought in by missionaries on the mission center are working at the Clinic on the mission center or at BonneFin. There have been at times so many Doctors and medical professionals, that people who were planning to come (or who came)weren’t needed. While it is frustrating for those who made the sacrifice to come, it is encouraging to see how God has abundantly blessed. The missionary family coming to work with RMI on the field in Haiti in March (Rob and Becky Thompson) has a house here on the mission center which is being used to house medical supplies that are delivered. The house has been full and empty multiple times. It was just emptied not many days ago and is already full again.

I was just in town yesterday. While shelves in grocery stores are not full, they are certainly not empty. And while certain items may be in short supply, most of the time what you are looking for has a substitute item readily available. One of the store owners was asked where she was receiving her stock from and she said Port au Prince. One of the main grocery stores is completely destroyed but there are others in Port that are still completely operational and if those aren’t available, there are shipments that can come in from the Dominican Republic. There are some items however that are impossible to find. Here, cokes are still bottled the old fashioned way; in 20oz glass bottles that are bought by the case and returned to the place of purchase once the bottles are emptied. There are also imported cases (mostly cans and some plastic bottles) of things like Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, etc. that are available and some local versions of sodas in plastic bottles as well. Yesterday Serge and I were trying to find coke to stock at the Guest House as well as for some of the other missionary families and it was impossible to find. The plant where they make the sodas (among other beverages) was damaged in the quake so it may be some time before it’s repaired and ready for production. Boxes of frozen (imported) chicken legs were almost impossible to find. Cases of Tampico are also almost impossible to find.

It also seems as though lines at the gas stations have returned to their normal state.

We still don’t know what the future looks like. Its too early to tell. There are many families who are still living at the hospital as loved ones are healing. There are still many families staying at Gabyon, the tent city downtown. People don’t know where they will go when they have to leave there. Elementary and High schools have reopened and students have returned. But in Port many are broken and students of all ages don’t know how or when they can, if ever, return. So there are many uncertainties that lie ahead and futures that can only be known by the revolution of time. But for now as we look around and see reminders of such I am encouraged to remember that God is sovereign even if we’ve forgotten so, and He loves us still even when we feel forgotten.

Amen.

Normal

2010-02-07T00:00:00.001-05:00

Today might be the first day that has felt normal since January 12. While the random days have been interesting and have crossed my path with many people I wouldn’t have otherwise crossed paths with, it was nice to have what felt like a ‘normal’ day.

There were a few projects at the Guest House that needed to be tended to; a few window screens to fix, a few shelves to add, a few pieces of furniture to rescue from falling apart. We didn’t have any guests there and didn’t expect any for several days (and the influx of random travelers seemed to be drawing to a close) so today was a good day to get some things done. I met Ti Louie, the carpenter, at 8am (read: 8:45am Haitian time) and needed to stay on site while he and his assistant worked. While they worked, I cleaned and reorganized. We have a food pantry that has two refrigerators and shelves for food. As pieces have been added over the years, the room, which is very small, has become quite crowded and disorganized. While the guys sawed, and sanded, and hammered and screwed, I emptied and scrubbed and reorganized, all morning long. As I pulled cans and bottles off shelves, and rearranged the room, the sound of a saw filled the air. It was a sound that most times would mean little more than a busy Saturday morning taking care of all the projects the week didn’t have time for. But today, it was the sound of that which is mundane, and trivial, and normal. And today the significance of normal was understood.

Jenn was in Cayes this weekend visiting some other friends and so she came over this afternoon and we sat on the couch and ate sandwiches and played with her new phone and caught up on this weeks news. One night last week, I asked Jenn, if she could have imagined that we’d ever be together laying on mattresses outside, under a tarp, after an earthquake, in Haiti? While that moment was poignant in one way, today was just as poignant in another way. It was poignant in the kind of way that reminds you that everything is moving towards being OK. Its the kind of moment that reminds you that even after everyone has moved back inside, and life returns to a slightly more normal pace there will always be moments like this. Afternoons on a couch, with a good friend, who just ‘get's’ you.

And the morning and afternoon were the first normal day.

Port

2010-02-05T00:25:00.001-05:00

I’ve been back from Port for two days now and these past two days have been jam packed. And random. But what day hasn’t been random sinc

e January 12th? Every day is unlike the day before and everything you think is going to happen one way, doesn’t. But aside from some of the expected stresses that go along with a crisis like this, I rather enjoy the randomness. When each day starts we have no idea what its going to look like and at the end of each day we realized it looked like nothing we expected. C’est la vie.

I’m not making a long post tonight. I’m just going to post some pics that I took while we were in Port on Tuesday. All of the photos I took can be found at the Reciprocal Ministries Picasa Website, here. And while there may be many tragic things still unfolding in Port, let me encourage you to see these pictures through eyes that catch a glimpse of life moving forward, life moving on; you can’t see it in all the pictures but in many of them, you see a glimpse into the future that shows that in the midst of tragedy, the Haitian people as a whole are resilient and strong. What pauses them for a day will eventually be what presses them forward for a lifetime.

Looking up

2010-02-01T12:35:00.002-05:00

It’s Monday morning. I’ve been in Christianville since early Friday morning. I really don’t have much to report. I didn’t sleep Thursday night since I had so much to do to try and get everything together to leave at 3am. I was beyond exhausted when I got here so when Jenn went to work I took a nap. I don’t exactly know what I expected before I arrived but whatever it was I’m not sure this is it. They were busy in the clinic on Friday but in general the area has been pretty quiet. Friday afternoon, I helped put together a few food kits, which where given out to senior citizens in the area, something they do here regularly, even before the quake. Beyond that, its been a pretty slow this weekend. One of the missionaries, Sandy, commented yesterday, this was the first chance since the quake, they’d had time to even think about slowing down.
Most of their buildings collapsed so most of the missionaries have rescued a few things from the former apartments and are now living out of their Guest House, just a few yards down the road. They each have their own room and bathroom but only one couple is actually sleeping indoors. Most of them sleep outside on mattresses on the front porch underneath a tarp, one sleeps in a small tent just outside the porch area, and one family sleeps outside, in their own front yard. They are still experiencing small aftershocks, sometimes several a day, and so most of them feel more comfortable sleeping outside at night. I’ve slept outside with them. Its actually been quite comfortable. Jenn said they’ll probably do it for another week or so and then will move to their individuals rooms inside. We’ve felt a number of small aftershocks since I’ve been here, little tremors that only last a few seconds. Its a little unnerving for me; I can only imagine how it must be wearing on their souls as this has become a way of life. Sleeping outside has to be getting exhausting too. Its been fine for me, but I’ve only done it for three nights now. Right now for them, it a choice. Once they feel more like things have settled, they will move back inside. I can’t help but think though of the hundreds of thousands of people who have no choice, who have no place to return to. In general, in Haiti, your house is your life’s savings. Any money you may have had was probably put into building your house. Even those with steady jobs have little to no cash reserve. Now many of those who had steady jobs no longer have them, so what does the future look like for them? I imagine it looks the same as it does for those who didn’t have money to start with. Sleeping on mattresses pulled out to the street under a tarp made of sheets, or in a tent in a field with others who may or may not be extended family.
I went to the Leogane market on Saturday with Jenn, Pat and Ed. They commented that it wasn’t as busy as usual but it was still busy. Fruits and veggies, and spices, and butchered animals abounded. Vendors with rice, and beans, and ground corn sold their wares at reasonable prices. On our way back we drove through more of the Leogane area. House after house, business after business was completely demolished. Building after building flattened building, the only words I could speak were “wow”, over and over again because, really, are no words adequate enough. Yet, in the midst of all the destruction, proof of life was all around. Cars passed, people came and went, children played. I have seen piles of cement blocks stacked in front of former buildings as people salvage building materials. I have seen families digging through the rubble to salvage what they can find to start life again. What can they do? What can anyone do? Life has to move on. You grieve what you’ve lost. You hurt and bleed. You question and even fear. And then slowly, one day at a time, one block at a time. one moment at a time you march forward. However slowly it may be, you march forward.
Here, in Christianville, life too goes on; a lawnmower hums, the washing machine runs, the house ladies chatter, birds chirp, and the baby of one of the missionary families coos. The smell of fresh baked bread wafts through the air.
Its still so hard to imagine what life in Haiti will look like in the future. While things here appear on the mend, there are still hundreds of thousands dead, missing and/or homeless. There are probably thousands and amputees that will now face life in a broken country with no provisions of that sort. Orphans roam the streets, the sick bleed, the hungry stand in line and everyone wonders what’s next. But the thing we have to hold to as Christians, as people who believe in the sovereignty and graciousness of a merciful God, is this; Haiti has not been forgotten. We have not been forgotten. The cries of God’s people have risen from the rubble and God has heard the prayers. It is God and God alone who can redeem and restore and I pray that as a community of believers, we will put our hope and our faith in that. It is not the UN, or the Haitian Government, or the US army, or any other army for that matter than can redeem and restore us. So let us hold fast to that. Let that breathe life back into a dying land, an impoverished people, a broken spirit.
Let that cast our gaze upward.

Last Minute Plans

2010-01-28T22:26:00.001-05:00

Today was another busy day. It was a day full of hurrying up to wait, and then rushing to make up the time. C’est la vie. That’s life; especially in these days.

And guess what? No update. Sorry. I had actually started it hours ago, and then……got busy…and now, I’m making last minute plans to go spend a few days with my friend Jenn in Christianville for a few days. I just felt like it was something I needed to do. She mentioned that she could really use family or close friends near to her. We’ve been friends for many years. Truth be told, while I’ve got friends here and people I love dearly (the McLaughlins, a couple of the staff guys are good friends, a couple others) at the end of the day, I come home alone. So I’ve been lonely too. I think it’ll do me some good to spend some time with her as well. I told her I could do whatever; take out trash, throw away stuff, whatever would help. Hopefully I’ll be a blessing and not a burden.

Right now, they’re still sleeping on mattresses outside under tarps. They do have food and drinking water and I’m taking some stuff for them too. I’m taking extra snacks and juice for me (I’m Type 1 diabetic) and extra diabetic supplies so I’ll be fine. I’m not really sure what to expect other than that.

I am so looking forward to seeing her but I’m not particularly looking forward to leaving again at 3am. But, sometimes you only get two choices. Do it when you can or don’t do it at all. Gary’s going into Port again tomorrow. That’s the reason this all came together so quickly- I just had the idea a couple nights ago and then Gary made plans to go in to Port tomorrow. I’ll be riding in with him. Not exactly sure when I’ll come back but looks like it’ll be Monday, maybe Tuesday at the latest. Enough people are now coming and going that I’ll be able to catch a ride with one of the missionaries if not one of our guys.

Our water here on my hill has been out for almost a week; well, we’ve had water but the water pump was broken so its been as good as useless. It came back on this afternoon but no one was here when I got back from today’s activities so I didn’t know until it was too late to do laundry. Since we have to line dry everything AND the washing machine is right outside Beth’s room (and the door and windows are only made of screen) so I can’t do it now. It’s been a while since I’ve done laundry so I might smell a little funny. But hey, whatever. Nothing a little Febreeze can’t tackle!

I should have internet access there. She’s been on fairly regularly. Hopefully I’ll be around to throw out a quick update. But if you don’t hear from me, don’t be afraid. I’ll get to the internet when I can.

I look forward to the next few days. They won’t be easy though, I imagine. Many things in life aren’t easy, but they’re the right thing to do. I feel like this is the right thing to do and where God leads, His provisions accompany.

A Night Off

2010-01-27T22:31:00.001-05:00

I keep promising a more comprehensive update. I shall fail to deliver yet once again. I realize I keep saying I am exhausted but the reality is, I am. Tonight is Wednesday night. The missionaries have a Wednesday night Bible Study. I normally go when I am in Cayes, but tonight I opted out. I’ve been exhausted since I returned to Haiti on January 5. The first two days I was back, I had major planning to do for events that would occur over the next three weeks. I was up way too late (sometimes 2 or 3am) and then up early the next morning. Then I was out with the team; one night I couldn’t sleep because of the goats, dogs, and roosters another night it was the dog, locked in the dining room, right next to my room. The walls were not finished and so only went up maybe 8 feet. There was lots of empty space between the top of the wall and the ceiling which meant plenty of opportunity to hear the dog screaming and yelping and crying at top volume. He finally got released around 12:30am. And then there was the night that we were awakened at midnight by the shaking and then at 3:30am by the Pastor.

The things that I lost sleep planning for never happened. Instead, we had an earthquake. Since then, days have been backwards, forwards, upside down and sideways. And I’m just tired. I have no reason to complain. I’m just stating the facts.

Things are OK here in the city for the moment. Nothing major to speak of that I know of, but sometimes I feel very sheltered here on the mission center and have to rely on what others in the area share. I have heard nothing note worthy.

I went and spent a little time at the hospital today. I saw Fernel he looks good and is holding up OK. I heard he may be going home soon. I am happy to hear that for his sake, but will miss his sweet face greeting me when I walk in his “room”. My roommate Beth works at the hospital and has befriended him as well. He asked her today if she would bring him home- to live. I also spent some time with my little friend. I have to admit and apologize, I suppose for, something. I had her name wrong. Sometimes it’s really hard to understand and remember what they say because the names are so different. I saw the name Molienne on her entrance papers but apparently someone had written her mother’s name where the patients name should go. Today, I asked her dad to write her name down for me, just to make sure I was spelling it right and he wrote "Migline” and I heard him call her mother, Molienne. I am glad God knows who we’ve been praying for. She was supposed to have surgery today but when I made it to her bed to visit this afternoon she had yet to have the operation and her mom and dad didn’t know when it would be. Her mom told me it was to help close up the wound so it could heal better. If she had the surgery this afternoon, I imagine she’s in a lot of pain. My friend Rita was there, too. She’s holding up OK but is also in a lot of pain. She’s in a partial body cast. I hadn’t seen the torso part until today. My friend Peterson was there as well. His head is still quite swollen and painful but his arm appears to be going down a little bit. The Dr. told his mom there was no internal head injury so there was nothing they could do but wait.

Lots of food and medicine is still coming into the area and its gone almost as quickly as it comes in. There’s so much need, its hard to comprehend and I’m sitting here somewhere in the middle of it all.

I was going to try and go to bed early tonight. Looks like that could still happen. Actually, I think I’ll make it happen. I’ll try again tomorrow with more news from the past few days activities.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. They are coveted beyond my ability to express that to you. God bless. Or as they say in creole; Bondye beni ou.

Prayer Requests 1-25-10

2010-01-26T23:09:00.001-05:00

The last few days have been extremely busy from sun up to sun down. I’m trying to find the time to write a more comprehensive update b/c the last few days have been random and busy but God has done some cool things and I’ve met some interesting people and made some new friends. But all the details of that will have to wait.

For this evening, I am leaving you with a few matters of prayer;

1) Please pray for Gary and Marilyn McLaughlin, the other missionaries serving here in Haiti with RMI. And please continue to pray for me. We are busy and exhausted with no real end in sight. While I am saying this, I will add, we will not complain. God has given us life and he has given us the opportunity to serve Him in a real and tangible way, as many of my friends have reminded me, for such a time as this. We are here to be Gods vessels and we trust Him to be everything that we need.

2) Pray for David. He is a young Haitian man who is doing what he can to help his own country in time of need. He, along with Pastor Malingo and a few of his friends have collected food, clothes, personal hygiene supplies and are distributing to those in need. A few days ago, the team, a long with a couple of the missionaries here went out to a local area and distributed the supplies. Along the way they shared the gospel with those they met and David and Pastor Sean (one of the Missionaries) were able to pray with a young man who prayed to receive Christ. They have done another round of collections and will be leaving tomorrow early in the morning to do some more distributions in Leogane, one of the hardest hit areas just outside of Port au Prince.

3) Pray for Molienne. I have visited her several times in the last couple days. Each time our eyes meet her eyes light up and she breaks into a beautiful smile. I do not say that to boast that I am the reason she smiles. I only say that because I am honored to know that God has placed me in her life for a special reason and I am blessed to know her. She is having an operation tomorrow morning. I am not sure why. I didn’t get to talk with the Dr. or her family. Only her. I would venture a guess it has to do with infection in her foot but it could also have something to do with her broken leg. I am hoping to get there in the morning. I told her I wanted her to read a Bible Story for me and she said she would. I hope the morning is free of interruptions.

4) Pray for Jenn Rogan. She is the friend I have mentioned several times on here. I spoke with her very briefly on Sunday night and I could hear her exhaustion in her voice. I spoke to her on IM this evening and she said she was tired…in so many ways. Her area is finally getting food aid and they have enough to feed the people in the area. She said they are still treating up to 15 new patients each day, many of them with complex fractures. She also said they are still experiencing tremors and aftershocks. Its is wearing on her soul.

5) Pray for Jeef and Peterson and their mother. Peterson is at the clinic here on the center. His arm is broken and he suffered a pretty severe injury to his ear. The right side of his body from his arm up to his ear, including is face is still swollen. He told me today he is still in pain.

6) Pray for Dumesle and Cianie. I met them on a visit to the Tent City set up in downtown Cayes. They are cousins. They are here from Port au Prince and they both lost family in Port. They are staying at the Tent City while they regroup and find a more temporary place to stay.

7) Pray for my friend Amber, her son Ty and her husband. They live in the states but I received word from another friend that they were in a bad boating accident this evening. Amber is OK. Ty was getting a scan on his head done and there was no word on her husband.

8) Pray for my friends Scott and Katy. And for the rest of Scott’s family; Ellen, Elizabeth, Shannon, and Jeff. Scott’s father passed away last week after a long bought with cancer. He is cancer free and rejoicing in God’s presence but the family is now working through the emotional process of loosing a loved one.

9) Pray that the medical, physical and spiritual needs that come alone with an influx of quake refugees will continue to be met. Food is needed, medical supplies are needed, and comfort and grief support is needed. Although the physical supplies are coming in (food and medicine), they are still in great need as many people have (and are still making) made their way from Port. The spiritual needs will be present for months and years to come.

10)Pray for the future of Haiti, the rebuilding of the government, and the infrastructure Haiti needs to move forward. Pray for the long term effects that no one can yet see, the sickness and disease that can stem from the unclean conditions, the hundreds of thousands of people who are homeless, jobless, and hopeless. Pray that after the media has forgotten Haiti, that people will not. Pray for spiritual awakening and revival.

its late and i’m tired

2010-01-24T22:18:00.001-05:00

I don’t have the energy to write anything of much substance today. I am leaving for Port au Prince in the morning at 2:45am. I am going with a caravan of other missionaries. We are going in to try and help bring some of the refugees into Cayes who can’t afford to get here. There will be our big F250, a bus, a couple other large pick-ups and perhaps a tap-tap. But today was a busy, busy day and I am exhausted. I’ll update you more tomorrow.

Pray for us and for our safety. I don’t say that because I am worried. From what we hear from some journalists who were there since the 14th, Port is safe and in the areas that weren’t destroyed life is slowly moving back in. There is gas in Port, banks have reopened, buses are coming and going. People are far from ‘moving on’ but life has to go on. People have to try and make a living and carve out an existence for themselves. I’m looking forward to the day.

-Signing out.

Rejoice and pray.

2010-01-24T01:15:00.001-05:00

I spent the most random afternoon I could have imagined. I was with a President, a GI Doctor, a Pilot, and a journalist from an ABC affiliate in Florida. A group in Pensacola, Florida had put together some health kits and they got connected with the reporter who wanted to come do some on location work in Cayes and follow the health kits through to delivery. Dan (President of RMI) got connected with him and he flew in today. There is also a GI Doctor who decided he wanted to come help out here because he’d so much need, and a Pilot who also just wanted to come and do whatever he could to help. And somehow, they all ended up with us. So we spent the afternoon together.

Today, we visited two Clinics in the area. One was the clinic here on the mission center. This was the same place I had spent last Tuesday night. It was the place I had met Molienne and Rita. I hadn’t had the chance to go back and visit with them. I was hoping to see them today. The first area we visited wasn’t crowded with people, but there were plenty of people there. Beds had been placed in random corners and hallways, where ever they could find a spot. I met a boy there. His name is Furenel. I don’t remember how old he said he was but I would guess 10 or 11. He and his family are here from Port au Prince. I didn’t understand all that they told me but I know they lost other family members in the quake. He was alive but his right leg had been crushed under a falling building. He had only remained there for an hour before being rescued. He now has only one leg. I don’t think it had been long since his surgery but he was in good spirits. He, like most patients, had been given very little painkiller- its something they just don’t have on hand. While he looks sad and forlorn in this picture and I am sure he was in pain, he was smiling just moments before. Its hard to get most Haitians to smile for the camera. While his story is heartbreaking, I asked him if he had any thing he wanted to say (the journalist was recording a little bit of his story) and his response was “Thank you God for keeping me alive and for not letting me die”. We have reason to rejoice. He IS alive. Pray for Furenel. Pray that he will quickly heal. Pray that he and his family will find a new life. Pray for the provisions a young boy will need in life with only one leg. Pray for his future and for opportunities. Pray that the purpose for which God saved him would be served in His life.

He was downstairs. When we went upstairs almost immediately I saw the girl I had mentioned before, the one with the broken hips. She smiled at me when we made eye contact. I asked her if she remembered me- she said she did. I got her name this time. Her name is Rosie. And she’s 22 years old. She said she is not out of pain yet but she’s feeling better. It seems as if her hips have been stabilized and hopefully the healing process has begun.

I also saw the other girl, the one who went into surgery, who had gangrene. I didn’t really get to talk to her. A lot of people were crowding around her bed. But she was still in a lot of pain. One foot and one ankle were wrapped and she was moaning. She’d probably been given the Tylenol they had on hand for pain but I imagine it just wasn’t enough. Her mother was there with her. She looked tired.

There were many patients at the hospital. Many of them had leg injuries. There were lots of casts, lots of bandages and lots of pins holding shin bones in place. I imagine the upstairs area hold 40-50 beds. All of them were full. The area is separated in to four areas with a central reception desk in the center. But the four sections aren’t private. 5 or so beds line each wall and only the outside walls are floor to ceiling. The inner walls are only partial walls. As we arrived upstairs the sound of singing could be heard all through out the upstairs ward. There was a man with a massive wound to his shin, with a set of pins holding it together. I’ve put a link to his picture because it might be a little disturbing. But its here if you want to see. It was he who was singing and as he sang, many others sang along. He too had been given minimal pain medication and yet, he found reason to rejoice. It was a beautiful sound. I didn’t have the opportunity to speak with him but I know he and his family could use your prayers.

We visited the back left corner of the upstairs ward last. I hadn’t seen Molienne or Rita. I was scanning for either one of them and about the same time I saw Rita, Moilenne saw me. AMY! She called up as her face lit up. I am sure mine did too. I ran over to her and gave her a hug. She looked like she was doing well. Her wound had been covered and she said she was feeling better. She told me she had seen Sarah everyday but she' hadn’t seen me. I told her if I am able to, I’ll come to see her again. I told her I had been praying for her and has asked my friends to pray for her as well. I heard from Sarah later and Molienne had reported my visit to her. Sarah said that Molienne told her she likes dolls so Sarah and I working on trying to find a doll for her. We don’t know how long she’ll be at the hospital so hopefully one of us can find one.

I am happy to report that Rita is doing well. She is in a full leg cast on her right leg and her left shin has pins. She has her two daughters here with herl. I did also confirm that she lost one child in the earthquake. I know she will be grieving for many months.

Here are the names of a few other people I met today. One I met at the Clinic here and the other two I met at another clinic we visited in town:

Emile G. He had a leg injury. Spoke very briefly with him so got not other information.
Dirozaire D. and his girlfriend, Gina. They have a 16 month old daughter who is also in Cayes. Gina and their daughter are fine. His leg was broken in two places when an office building collapsed.
Jean Bertran. He was a young boy with a broken wrist. His mother was with him. She had lost two other children in the quake.

Please keep praying for these and for others I have mentioned. While there stories are sad, and we mourn with the loses they have experienced, lets also remember to rejoice and celebrate the life they have. It it truly a gift from God.

today’s news

2010-01-22T18:31:00.001-05:00

Dan Shoemaker, President of RMI, forwarded this information in an e-mail Don’t know if the news media has gotten a hold of it or not but wanted to share. The people of Jacmel need our prayers.

Out today from the UN in Jacmel-- statistics ON Jacmel, which is a city of 34,000...
1,785 homes completely destroyed
4,410 homes partially destroyed
87 commercial businesses destroyed
54 schools destroyed
24 hotels destroyed
26 churches destroyed
5,730 families displaced
Death count approaching 3,000 (nearly 10%)

I have read though that in the last few days they have been inundated with Relief supplies so they have not been forgotten but from best I can understand much of this relief has been received because of the work of individuals running an orphanage in the Jacmel area (The Hands and Feet Project).

In Cayes, it seems like we are good for now; food shortage is not an issue, and fuel is available (if you’re willing to wait in lines for sometimes hours at a time). A number of medical teams are preparing to fly in. Medical supplies and deliveries of food also continue to be flown in. God continues to provide in the midst of impossible circumstances.

This morning we made two food deliveries; one to an old folks home run by a pastor and his wife and one to the Rotary Club as they are preparing and delivering two meals a day to the General Hospital in town because many of the patients there have no family and no one to care for them.

We also visited General Hospital in town. There are still a lot of needs there and a lot of patients who need care. There was people lined up in stretchers in the hallway and sometimes people lay on mattresses on the floor. There was a dead body covered on the floor. It seems as though they had only recently died. Pray for the family of that person. Much has already been lost. Although there is much work to be done, they have already done much and are working to continue to do everything they can.

I talked with two ladies there today. One, was name Christiene. She said she had a large wound on her leg that was still waiting on the right supplies to finish repairing the damage. I am not sure exactly what that means because I couldn’t understand everything but she is obviously in need of our prayers for healing and provision. Her spirit was sweet and she didn’t seem worried or frustrated. I told her that I am my friends would be praying for her. She was genuinely grateful. She was taking it far better than I would have. I also spoke briefly with Marieannete. Her daughter was in the hospital. Her daughter appeared to be physically and mentally disabled. I didn’t get much of her story as I only had a moment to approach her before we headed out. But she too had a sweet spirit. I told her I would be praying for her and that I would ask my friends to be praying for her as well. She said she was grateful for that and knew that God could help. So consider yourself asked.