Double wedding

On Saturday, two of our teachers got married in a double ceremony. Chichi and Dudu are sisters and decided that they couldn't leave the other first, so got married at the same time, pastored by their father, in the church in Villa Asencion. The reception was at the school, and the cafeteria was converted into a beautiful hall.

Most of the teachers from school were bridesmaids or groomsmen, all dressed up and looking so different than the everday uniforms
Rachel is one of Dudu's best friends, and got to be the madrina for the wedding, which meant she had a big role in preparing and being by Dudu's side, as well as walking in with the groom. She did a very good job and smiled the whole time!The wedding lasted almost three hours, with endless songs and preaching, but in the end, the couples were happily married amongst tons of cheers and support. They then all headed to the school for the party and dinner.

It was a fun day, albeit long! We didn't leave the village until almost 10:00, the lastest I have ever left the village before! Both couples are now living in Montellano and we are excited to have been able to celebrate with them and be with them on this important day!

Welcome to the world, Frayme

Francis and Milka became proud parents to little Frayme on Friday the 12th. She was born by c/s safe and sound and is pretty much amazing. It has been so fun cuddling her and helping Milka, I love it so much. They are such happy and glowing parents, it's been neat watching them in these days.

An email from Haiti

I got this email today from the pastor of the church where our church delivered the food bags bought with YOUR donations. Thank you again, amazing stuff!


Thank you so much for writing. I was going to send you a report about the food bags yesterday, but I had internet problems. We were able to hand out all the food bags. We gave bags to 210 needy persons. We still have some of the stuffs your team brought for our people, and we will give them out by next week. Unfortunately, we did not take any pictures. Sorry for that. On behalf of all the recipients, Hope Baptist Church and I are very grateful for you. May God richly bless you as you continue to serve Him and His people

Saint-Ange Monstesime
Senior Pastor of Hope Baptist Church

Television.

So our friends Jennie and Miguel just moved to the US and gave us their television. I've been with out a TV here for 3.5 years and, well, things have gone along fine. I know, some think it impossible, but I have my computer and watch movies and check news, so I still feel pretty in touch.

Well, we got cable last week as there were no channels at all, and it's only $9/month, and let me tell you, life is good. I stayed up until 1:30 last night watching the girls ice skate, and I'm currently watching Oprah and drinking tea. All of the sudden, I'm that much closer to the States. As the news is set up to be local to NY, I'm hearing about the winter storm, and even enjoying a cloudy cold day here.

My favorite part of the day was when the Cadbury egg commercial just came on. I smiled, I fully smiled. All alone in the apartment and here I am smiling. It's the one where the lion and other animals are dressed like a bunny, you know. It's just that I've seen that commercial so much growing up and here it is again, little unexpected pieces of America. I haven't had an Easter at home in ages so I forget the little things.

So I'm enjoying my TV. Even the commercial. No, especially the commercials.

Time to vaccinate

Another round of vaccines and I am proud to say we nearly have all our kids fully vaccinated!!! It has been a long time coming, but worth it all. This time we vaccinated against Tetanus, Polio, Diptheria, Measles, Rubella, and Hepatitis B. We still have a few to catch up on, and the new kids who just started will continue to catch up as well, but the majority of our kids are now at CDC standard for vaccines!

Vaccine days are strangely kind of funny. The kids get so worked up about their shots, some go running to hide, others arrive to me drenched in sweat from fear, and we even had one little guy escape from the school to his house! Don't worry, I'll get him eventually. I try and tell them it's because I love them so much I don't want them to get sick, but then again, they're young and that kind of reasoning doesn't work. So we hold them and give them stickers and Tylenol and continue vaccinating!

Easter project

One thing about helping Emily with sponsorship projects is that we begin to celebrate a bit soon for the holidays. So we are in full swing of Easter, and in the last week, nearly finished all the cards to send to the home office where they'll then be sent to the sponsors. It was funny to see how each kids understands instructions and how they find their own special way to do each project. Happy Easter...a bit early!!

Mud. And a walk to school

It's been raining off and on in these days, which I love. The downside of all the lovely rain though, is the mud. To get to school, we go through the cane fields where the road is mostly dirt and rock. Of course, when the rain comes, we get mud and puddles and...a mess. The other day on the way to school, Junior-a teacher and the driver, was trying to miss a mud/water hole and went too far to the right, throwing us into the ditch where we got stuck. Alberto was still doing the food buy about 30 mins away, so we decided to walk. It was quite a distance, but we made it after crossing little rivers along the way and mud everywhere. The van did eventually get pulled out and all was well.

Back from Haiti again

The team made it home from Haiti Saturday night and had endless stories to tell. The group headed to Haiti at 3 am Sat morning, getting to the border town of Dajabon about 9 am. They ran into problems because immigration said they couldn't take the rental truck loaded with all the donations, into the country. That didn't stop them though. One of the guys hopped on a motorcycle taxi into Haiti and rented another truck. They quickly transferred the donation bags and headed out! It was incredible how it all came together so fast and they were soon on their way.

They made it to the church in Cap Haitien, where earthquake refugees are staying with families, but the families were already poor and hungry before accepting more family into their homes. The pastor was ecstatic to receive so much support and help and Ariel said he was forever smiling. They were shown the church, the construction to expand it, and the children who were in Bible classes at the time. The pastor was meant to hand out the bags to the earthquake victims yesterday after the church service, and we hope to hear about that soon.

Thank you for all your donations and support in this time. It has been such a great blessing to be able to be this link between you and the Haitian people. We don't have another trip planned at the moment, but if you are interested in continuing to donate, you can be in touch with me and we'll see if we can do another trip.

I'd just like to say that the whole trip was run off of donations. 225 food bags, 50 baby bags, items for women, and extra items to hand out along the way, along with van rental and gas...all because of YOU! Thank you. Thank you for caring about the Haitians, for donating from your hearts, and for trusting us to make it happen.

Packing it up for Haiti

Last night we packed the bags for the Haiti trip on Saturday. It was amazing to see how much was actually in the bag by the end of it all. It was a fantastic group that came together to help pack each bag and we couldn't have done it without them. Each of the 225 food bag contains: 5 lbs rice, 2 lbs sugar, 1 carton milk, 1 salt, 2 powder seasonings, 2 liquid seasonings, 5 juices, 2 corn meals, 2 packs spaghetti, 1 can beans, 3 bouillons, 1 bottle oil, 2 packs of matches, 2 packs crackers, 2 packs cookies, 1 toilet paper, 1 tomato paste, 5 bottles of water, 1 salami, 1 can of tuna, and 2 packs of powdered milk.


We were also able to prepare 50 baby bags which contain 1 can of formula, 1 pack of diapers, and 1 bottle. We have sanitary pads that will be given separately to the women, which they're really asking for.

So we are officially ready for this trip now and they should be leaving about 3 am on Sat morning. Can't wait!!

Food buy for Haiti

With your continued donations, we are in the final preparations to send supplies over on Saturday!

A group will be leaving at 3am Saturday morning to head to Haiti to take 225 food bags and 50 baby bags to the people.

When I was in Haiti, I was able to connect with the pastor of their church, a very large and excellent church, in the northern town of Cap Haitien. We found out that the church members from the community are now receiving family members who have fled from Port au Prince to look for help. The problem is that the families were already poor, hungry, and needy...and now there are more people in their small house and more mouths to feed.

What we decided is that it would be best to support these newly arrived refugees by being able to help 225 families with these food bags! It was an amazing connection to make and we are excited to be able to help those who were hurt and touched physically by the earthquake.

We continue to finish the buy today and then start packing tonight! It is exciting and we are looking forward to this!

Tents are ready

All the tents are ready to receive kids! After the video, the bunkbeds were made and put in place.

Kids Alive, Haiti

This is the Kids Alive site where we were for the week

Streets of Cap Haitien

Driving through the city to get to the Kids Alive site

Markets, Cap Haitien

Entering Haiti

Just across the border, this is normally where a market fills the area on market day.

Border crossing into Haiti

This video was filmed going over the bridge into Haiti. Both sides of the river were filled with women washing clothes and children bathing

A job well done

I don't know how to properly say thank you to these men. I learned a lot, I saw a lot. Yah, I did a lot of cooking, but that seemed so trivial to all that they were doing. I loved getting to know them, to hear their stories, to share in this week of building and learning together. I loved seeing the other side of "manly men" during their devotional sharing time in the evenings, when they were real and open and vulnerable. To hear personal stories of struggle and victory, to hear them encourage one another, to see the trust and openness...it was incredible. So, thank you. To each one of you who gave of your time, your money, your heart, your passion, your skills, your dedication. It has been an amazing week working alongside you.

Obama is Haitian?

This sign never fails to make me smile. Yes, Obama, Haiti loves you. I asked one of the Haitians about it and he said that the Haitians LOVE Obama and some feel that he is actually Haitian!

Fishing

Down on the waterfront, the men were working hard to bring in some fish. They cast their nets wide, with the help of a little boat, and then 4-5 men pull in the nets. They then bring them in closer and closer until they are able to pull out the fish and place them in a basket. As we watched from the shore, it seemed as if they caught more garbage than fish, and even the fish were quite small. It's hard to believe fish can even live in the water, and I worry for those that will be eating them.

Around town

I wish I had the words to describe what it was like to drive around town. The sights, smells, feels, it's hard to process all that I took in. There is such a contrast in Haiti, between the natrual beauty of the ocean and mountains to the mud/sewer filled streets and people packed alleys and houses. Although Cap Haitien was not harmed by the earthquake, the needs are just the same. They need food, water, adequate housing. All the needs that we see now were there before the earthquake. It is just that the earthquake amplified and brought greater attention to the poverty and needs of this country. It is poor. Poor like I have never seen before. Houses made of sticks, no water or electricity in the best of places, words do no justice to what it is.