Going to school...

This is the face of a girl who EXTREMELY excited to be going to school. Salvacienne along with 7 other girls weren't going to school because they didn't have socks, shoes, and hair ties. In Haiti these things are required. There were 12 or so total girls who weren't in school for various parts missing. For some it was simply barrettes. I wish I had a video tape of the joy Salvacienne had when we gave her her shoes, socks, go-go's, & barettes. She literally screeched & was jumping up & down with joy! That moment made anything I have ever done in Haiti feel worth it. I really felt like I accomplished something :) It was pure magic!

Let me give you a little glimpse into finding everything we needed for the girls. The hair things were the easy part. We got those immediately with no problem. For the shoes & socks though we had to put in some serious work. We didn't have access to the car so we rode the tap tap. The tap tap stops at the edge of Leogane so we had to walk to the middle of town for the Market. Here is a great point to tell you that the Kreyol word for walk is mache and the kreyol word for market is mache. So we mached to the mache. Before going we traced all the girls feet. We found a shoe store just outside the mache. That was good for us because we had to come back twice to exchange sizes. If we had bought them in the Mache the vendor might not be there again. It took a long time and a lot of searching but we found shoes for everyone. Thanks to Pam Roberts & Chris Codelli who sent money for the kids we could pay for the shoes!(The other half of the money they sent payed for the beach day!) Then the real work began. In Haiti they have these crazy ruffely socks. They were actually pretty hard to find. We only got 4 of those then 8 smaller ruffle socks.

(You'll notice these socks are on white legs...more explanation of that later!)

White girls

If you're white, and you are in Haiti its kind of like you are a celebrity. I didn't really recognize this till this trip. It was made quite apparent to me when my lovely skinny tall white friend Rebecca came. Before she came my interactions were limited to the orphanage and the people in the area. I really just thought they were friendly & could tell I wasn't at home. Then we got out a little more. We had to go to doctors in Carrefour and all through Leogane to find socks & shoes for the little girls. Men were falling in love left & right. It was funny at first. At a car wash we went to a man asked for Beccas number and our translator gave the man his number. About 10 minutes after leaving he called and professed his love through our translator. Hillarious. Then we went to the market & like I wrote before some man told me he loved me & asked me to kiss him. Others said I love you baby. On a different trip to the market one guy kept telling becca he loved her. It was crazy. Then this past week we met a fellow named Pooshon. He spoke a little english and was chatting Becca up. Becca informed me that this guy was an attractive guy. SO my mischievous self decided I needed a picture of them together. He seemed really nice. We got his phone number. Now don't think for one minute that we were really setting anything up. We aren't that dumb :) Anyway we talked to him a little on the phone. The conversations consisted of hi, how are you and thats about it. Then! Pooshon really fell hard and sent Becca txts that started with Darling and Baby and told of his burning love for her. I told him "too much too soon. Girls don't like when you just meet them then send txts like that" He replied he did not understand. I said, "You don't know Becca. You aren't in love with her" to which he replied word for word "I feel love her. Don't thinks the negativity about me amy"

Anywho! The point of me telling you all this is that Becca & I came to realize a sad thing. We white girls don't know if anyone really likes us for us. They just like the color of our skin and/or whatever they think that means. I'm not just talking about boy girl relationships. I'm married so I hope I'm not having any of those :) haha. Anyway its saddening. You want people to like you for you. Not what you can give them.

I'm just going to keep trucking. Show the people I interact with as much of me as I can and try to build real relationships. I know as long as I am in Haiti I will have interactions like this. I know that I will get charged extra, be loved by some, and hated by others all because of what I look like. I love Haiti/ Ayiti for everything it is and for everything it is not. I take the bad and the good.

Bodies

I don't really know how to approach this post. While Becca and I were driving back from church last Sunday we saw a large group of people gathered around the road. As we got closer I saw a strange something in the middle of the road. I started saying, "What is that? What is that?" Because I was driving I was lucky I didn't see to much. There was a dead man laying in the road with no arms and no legs. Apparently there had been a car accident. We drove a little farther and then there was a pile of 4 or so more. As soon as I caught a tiny glimpse I put up my hand so I wouldn't see anymore. Becca was sitting in the front seat with Rodriguez on her lap. She thought very quickly & covered his eyes before he saw anything. Unfortunately because I said "What is that?" both times Becca got a really good look at everything. She described what she saw as "Human roadkill" I'm so happy I didn't see all of that, and so sad Becca had to. She was very upset & cried for a long time after. We also had 4 older boys Tou Tou, Emmanuel, Kenzy, and Enel with us. The didn't react at all. Neither did the people in the streets. They all had blank faces. I wonder if they are desensitized after all the death they saw last year. It would make sense as a defense mechanism for them. Then yesterday when we were leaving Haiti driving through Carrefour we saw a large group of people a UN truck unloading soldiers, then we looked out our window and saw another body. We aren't sure what happened there, but there was a lot of blood...and the same blank faces all around.

I'm not sharing this with you to be gruesome. I'm sharing so you know what is happening in other places. Maybe some of those people could have lived had they gotten care quickly. Those people were someones family. Can you imagine if your father or brother was killed and was laying on a street bleeding with no care? No one to even cover their body after they had passed? Those two events gave me a huge reality check. Haiti needs so much help. The earthquake wasn't the beginning of the need and it certainly isn't the end. We live in the overly developed, overly everything world. We need to share our resources. We are sooo close to Haiti but its like we live a world away...

Becca and i landed safely in the united states. We keep speaking creole to everyone. Ill update more when i get home

Bla Hatienne(White Haitian)

Thats what Becca and I are. We walked to school with the older girls today. On the way many Haitians referred to us as such. We learned A LOT about the Dezman Fleury Organization and all the buildings they had today. We saw the old Orphanage for the 1st time, the church, and the school. Its crazy to see how much they had prior to the earthquake. They even had an internet cafe! So anyway Becca & I walked back from school ourselves, wandered about, got some mangoes, and rode a tap tap alone back to the orphanage. Yay we rock. We won't be wandering about alone ever again. Nothing even remotely bad happened, but we are just smarter now :) Plus Sherm told us not to :)

Tomorrow we will get shoes for 8 of the girls. To go to school in Haiti you have to have the proper attire. If you do not you cannot attend. For many of the kids they only need the right socks, or some hair ties...very sad. Hopefully we can fix the problem tomorrow.

Goodnight

While riding in the box truck from evening church we went over a HUGE bump & i fell and hurt my butt & leg really bad. Gonna have a big ol bruise

More random stories

I'm a bigtime driver these days! I have driven to Carrefour 2 times now. Its pretty scary stuff. Very stressful. So crazy in fact that it makes me want to go to sleep immediatly when I retun to the container.

As I said previously we got some test results for Charley & Rodriguez(they tell me a different spelling EVERYday). Vanessa has gotten tired & overwhelmed by caring for Charley so Becca & I have set up some different care for our special little man. He & the 2 piti piti girls Wichmie & Kimberlie will be taken care of by the loving, caring, responsible Yveline. None of you probably know her. She is semi new. I first met her in September & could instantly tell she was special. Jean shared a story about her with us. She has been wanting to go to nursing school & was looking for an opportunity to do so. She had grown weary of waiting & wanted to leave Dezman Fleury. Jean & Gil convinced her an opportunity would arise & to be patient. Ta da! Opportunity! For her care Extollo will assist with her education. God doesnt make mistakes! On the note of care for little people...we have spent a lot of money on hospital visits & medications. I would really like everyone to take a minute to consider donating to Extollo International to help cover these costs. Not only for medical care but for extra food for the kids & better care.

Last night we had hot dogs for dinner. Becca & I saw a big package on the street & thought it would be a good idea. We foolishly didnt count & after I got the kids cheering "tout moun youn" which is like everybody gets 1...we discover everybody gets 2/3 which doesnt translate well. LOL. Here to cook hot dogs you boil oil & throw them in...after washing them in an old dirty wipes container :) One fell on the ground so we washed it in the rain. It didnt work to well but we put it back in the oil anyway. So because we promised 1 to all we went to Leogane today to buy more.

Emmanuel, Becca, & I rode the tap tap to Leogane. Becca had to sit on my lap. Because Becca is so "sexy"(the Haitians word for skinny) her "sexy " butt was digging in my leg. Anywho we survive the ride. The tough part was walking through the market. It was super muddy & slippery. Some man grabbed Beccas arm & another told me to kiss him & kept walking towards me. CRazy Crazy. After our market adventure we headed to my favorite breadstore where they sell the coldest drinks in Leogane. 1 freezing cold bottle of coke 25 gourdes- a little more than .50! We then walked by a salon & asked how much it would cost to get our hair in rollers..it would be 500 gourdes! Not too bad I guess. We then rode a tap tap back to the boys orphanage and wandered to the lovely air conditioned internet cafe!

Like I said before we only have a short time left. I'm actually getting pretty sad about leaving. As I type this I'm getting all teary eyed. Mwen renmen Ayiti....mwen renmen fanmi m'yo ki an Ayiti.

PS...everyone now says I speak GWO Kreyol!!! That means BIG! yaya. I have spent 2 months in Haiti now I gotta pick something up right?

OK love you all for reading...bye bye

We leave in 5 days! My time has actually gone by really fast.Theres still so much i want & need 2 do.today we are going to try to get all the kids handprints :)

Lots of news today i wish i had a computer 2post it all :(roseline went 2 live with parents today,charley is anemic,wodriguez has worms,we all ate hot dogs 2day

Random happenings

Yesterday was the 1 yr anniversary of the devastating earthquake that happened in Haiti last year. In rememberance of that day we went to a church service at the boys orphanage in the morning. We had Haiti power all day long for the first time. However we didnt have any power at night.

Becca & I spent our day drawing maps for future teams & organizing some things for care of the littlest ones. Charley stayed with us last night. He is such a BIG boy now. He slept the whole night. We love to have him stay with us but we dont want the girls to come to rely on us to care for the little man.

In spider news..haha. There was a HUMUNGOUS spider on the empty boys side. Becca yelled come help me in kreyol to the security guard. I think he thought there was a real emergency and came running. Then he killed the spider with his bare hands! It popped like a giant whit head(good visual right) Then last night there was a big but not giant...but really big spider in our half of the container. Emmanuel had to come help us kill it. Becca & I were screaming like little girls. He finally killed it...on Beccas bed! All the boys make fun of us but its NASTY.

On to today...we are going to doctors without borders to get their contact info, to the clinic for some test results, to probably 20+ pharmacys to find a silver "pencil" for Charleys still unhealed bellybutton, and then back here to love all our Haiti kids. They are beautiful & wonderful & LOVE LOVE LOVE to be held.

Thats all for now! Orevwa

My US phone broke so updates will be rare.i put my card in beccas phone but she didnt bring her charger.Please pray 4 haiti on the 1yr anniversary today

Please pray 4 my friend Joshs 19yr old sister Joselin.She has a big non cancerous tumor being removed from between her heart & lungs.Pray 4 everything 2 go well

Rough day.Vanessa's telling us how its 2 hard 4 her 2care for charley & how none of the girls want 2help her.He is such a burden 2 them but could be joy 4 some1

Bon fet

Yesterday we were in Port Au Prince and bought 2 cakes for my birthday today. Luckily they survived until today. We had one at the boys orphanage & 1 at the girls. It was very fun. My husband Rodrigo left me a present with Josh who lives next door(as in the other half of the container we call home). Rebecca(my roommate/other half that I share all things with) made me balloons with words written on them about things she likes about me. For example "You are strong willed because you gave up tv for Haiti even though you love tv" and "you let us keep 1,000,000,000 wet & dirty bins of clothes in your house for a week" and "I love you but not in a romantic way" fun stuff.

The whole birthday thing was crazy for me because I am such a present person...so I was worried that I would be a little sad. I wasn't at all. All the great YWAM people were very cheery & wishing me well. The kids told me Happy Birthday all day. Great day! I wanted to post pictures but they won't load.

I will try to briefly update everything.

Sunday-I don’t remember what if anything I said about Sunday, but it was a great day so I want to fill in more info. We started out on our own with Junior in Leogane & met Bob in Carrfour(sp?) we then headed to “Port Au Prince Fellowship” which is an English speaking church in the Delmas area. On my previous trip I had also come here. It was so needed. We sang A LOT of songs which I loved but I think the boys were not all that excited by them. Except choir boy Josh. I was very excited to see the Livesays there. If you don’t know who they are be sure to google Livesay Blog & read all about them. I hope to get to see their ministry while I am in Haiti. After church we headed to the hotspot my favorite Epidor & enjoyed pizza, French fries, coke that had a hint of grape Fanta, and ICE CREAM. It was MAGIC! After that we made a quick stop at Bobs house to pick up his swim shorts then we headed to the “famous” Wahoo Beach. It took FOREVER to get there. When we arrived we learned it was $10 US per person. We did not want to pay that much. So we went next door where we were charged $1 US instead of 25g which is like $0.65 because we were white. I inappropriately asked if we got a discount for the 2 haitians. We didn’t lol. I borrowed Corine & Rivers goggles & found a green starfish.

Older Girls- The older girls who were mad at me wrote me a letter. In Kreyol. No compren. So our translator Jean had a sit down with all of us. He read the letter to me first. I thought I could hold it together, but they said I treat them like dogs. So I cried. I literally told them no one time & they freaked out on me. I think they just don’t like to be told no. So I explained to them that I love them very very much. I just don’t want them to hurt themselves or others so I tell them no. I explained that it is hard because I only know “piti piti” kreyol that I can only say no, and can offer no explanation. An older girl Nadine told me she didn’t feel that I loved her…which made me cry a lot because I do love her. When they saw me cry some of them started to cry. At that point Jesula offered some words to me. I was very touched as she rarely speaks & when she does it is very short. She talked at great length about how the kids do need discipline & that she herself has received letters like I had. She also told me she knows that the kids love me because they tell her. That really touched my heart. Anyway all is back to normal now. We’ve been playing uno together, and today I braided Roberlines hair into a mowhawk. They were impressed that this “blan” can braid 

Yesterday- Started slow….dragged on in fact. Then some exciting things happened. We got another container. This one is red so we have some Haiti colors going on! After that we along with the AWESOME YWAM(Youth With A Mission) people who are staying across the street took the kids to the beach. It was actually quite a process with preparation. We had to go to the store to get bread, ham, & spread. Then to another store to get dlo(water) for all the kids along with ice. Then we headed to the beach in Gressier. The beach owner wanted to charge us $10 US per person. We had about 100 people. Luckily Jean is a fantastic negotiator and got us all in for 2000gds or $50 US. We had an AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME day. Sooo much fun. I impressed the kids with my underwater somersault skills. Haha. I could do 3 in 1 breath. 1 boy Jacky did 2 in 1 breath.

Plan for the days ahead....we will pick up Becca & 2 other people from the airport, site see, and return home. Saturday is my bday! I will try to get cake for everyone. Sunday we will return to the English church. Also sadly Saturday our YWAM friends leave us. Thats all for now.

Roberline, Ketiane, Carline, Yolande, Yveline, & Charley are here with me & say BONSWA!!!!

Older girls are raging mad at me right now. All because I had Gil tell them not 2 touch Extollos supplies/equipment. We'll figure things out 2moro. Pray please

We will be working w/ YWAM 2moro! Super exited! Hopefully the boys will get the foundation 4 a building done & we girls will sing, color,& do some bible stories

Took Rodrigo, River,& Corine 2 the airport today. Missing my hubby already:( After that we went to a supermarket! It was just like the US!I got a twix & soymilk

Awesome day! English church in Port au prince, met Tara Livesay, ate pizza & ice cream & went 2 the beach! All with the lovely bob & junior :D

We celebrated New Years by eating the traditional pumpkin soup today! We passed it out successfully w/no translation! Kids were very happy 4 the meal :)

2day was hot! Believe it or not we have had some chilly mornings & evenings. Im laying in bed & I can hear rats scurring outside :( English church 2moro w/Bob!