Ups and Downs

I've been meaning to write for a while now but I just haven't had the right words.  Things are moving right along and I can't believe we've already been here almost three weeks.  Craig and I have been noticing quite a pattern. It seems that for about three days, we are doing really well - getting things accomplished, emotionally stable, etc. Then, we crash. It feels like we are emotionally drained, and we have no energy left to see anyone, talk to anyone or do anything.  So we don't. It's strange to feel that way. It's hard to describe, but as we were talking through this, we realized that it is a LOT of work to simply have what should be a basic conversation. What should take 30 seconds literally takes 5-10 minutes and a lot of energy and patience.  Everything takes longer. That's not always a bad thing...just takes getting used to. We walk everywhere. There are a lot of hills and the heat is intense. It's exhausting. Our bodies aren't used to it.  It is so dry. There is dust everywhere. You can wipe your counters off and in the next minute they are covered with dust again.

One of the hardest things for me has been the cooking. Not because I don't cook often at home, but because when I go to the cupboard, I have to make sure I de-ant our food before I serve it. When we first got here and I found that ants had gotten into the Vanilla Waffer snacks, I tossed them out and said, Oh well! The kids won't have that snack anymore! Well, if I threw away everything that was infested with ants, we wouldn't be eating. I got out some noodles and had to rinse off a TON of ants before boiling them. I still found a few in my water and a few on the plate, but they were dead...just a little protein, right?! It really is just a mind change, but it's hard.

Last week, we had a team from our home town here. It was nice to have people here from home, but it also made me miss home.  Jaron woke up one morning last week and came to our bed and snuggled and out of the blue started listing restaurants he missed! :)  He must have been dreaming - "Bdubs...Applebees...Welcome to Moes!...Culvers...!  Then it came time to say goodbye to our friends. It was really hard seeing them fly off the island. Morgan had a really tough time and it was hard to see her so sad.  Jaron on the other had said, Can we stay here forever and ever?!  Love him.

Morgan saying goodbye to Mrs. Sneed                Jaron and some boys found some shade!

However, with the downs, we have had some ups!  On what could have been our most awful day - saying goodbye to our friends - we also found an amazing semi-private spot of paradise on the beach! It was our little piece of comfort that afternoon.  An American lady owns the place and gave us an open invitation for any time we want to come back.  And we did. Already. We spent both Saturday and Sunday afternoon enjoying the peaceful waves and shade and sunshine.  There is sand for the kids, and amazing snorkeling for the guys :)

A swing, and even a pavilion/picnic area behind me - we have plans to have a family picnic there SOON!

Our family the day our friends left for home.

Another "up" is that we are definitely making great strides in creating strong relationships with some of the workers at the orphanage.  Friday, Joanne asked us to join her at a soccer match that afternoon.  We were already planning to go, but we were super excited that she wanted to spend that time with us!  We also invited Faby. Faby just moved to Anse a Galets from Port au Prince a couple months ago. She told me that she doesn't have any family. Both of her parents are dead and she doesn't have siblings. She lives at the orphanage to help care for the kids. She told me that she is very lonely.  We traded phone numbers at the soccer game and that evening, she texted me, "I don't know what to say but thanks cause you're my friend. Now I'm not alone. God bless you. Everything is okay my friend. I'm happy cause you gave me the answer."

Ann, Joanne (secretary at the orphanage), Faby, Renee, Morgan - at the soccer game

Today, I will be attending a funeral. One of the long time cooks at the guest house died pretty unexpectedly on Friday.  The women here have worked together daily for almost 20 years and they are like sisters.  I know this is a very hard time for them. I'm thankful that their load is a bit lighter right now since we don't have any teams here at the moment.  God knew ahead of time that they'd need this week for a break! Haitian funerals are very emotional. It is cultural to wail for your lost loved one. There will be a service followed by a processional to the cemetery.  A lot of the missionaries have taken their summer leave already and so I will be going to the funeral just as a "white face" to give support to the family.  Mme Gelles meant a lot to the people who live here. I hope that just by being there, we will be able to give some sort of peace to them. Just praying that God will use us today.

Thank you for your continued prayers.  We really do need them.  Morgan woke up one morning last week and asked if Craig and I were going to the orphanage again. I told her that that was what we were here for. She was pretty sad and was missing spending quality time with us.  So - we cancelled our plans and had some family time. Pray that we are sensitive to our kids. They are doing so well, but Morgan more than Jaron goes through that same pattern of highs and lows.  Pray that we are open with each other and attentive to each other's needs.  This week is a big week. We will be meeting with Mme Solliette tomorrow to start looking through her books and records.  Pray that communication would go smoothly with our new translator Bee.  Pray that Mme Solliette would be open and sense our hearts to help her.

Love you all!!

English Classes

Today  we had the chance to teach some English classes at the orphanage.  This morning, we were supposed to go to Pikmi with the team from Marion, but our plans were changed, so we headed to the orphanage.  When we arrived, some of the older girls who normally go out to secondary school were still at the orphanage.  They didn't have water to wash with, so they couldn't go to school. So we took the opportunity to teach the girls some English since they couldn't be at their school. Some of the house moms and the school secretary also joined in the mini class.  

This afternoon, we went back and did three 20 minute lessons with the kids. The kids stayed in their room and Chrissy, Ann and I rotated after 20 minutes.  We were surprised with how much the children already knew. They were eager to learn new things.  I think it was a good first attempt.  Now we know better how to prepare and teach in future classes.  

Chrissy teaching parts of the body. The kids were laughing at her drawings ;-)

Renee teaching common phrases. 

Ann (and Morgan) teaching the alphabet and phonics.

Freneau

This is Freneau. He is the 4th grade teacher at the orphanage and has been there for three years.  This week we have started to develop a relationship with Freneau in hopes that we can earn his friendship and trust and then start investing into him as a teacher.  We were talking with him a few days ago and he told us that it was his dream to be a teacher. He also hopes that someday he can take college classes to learn how to be a better teacher. Freneau actually speaks pretty good English in comparison to others here.  He, however does not think that he speaks well and has asked us if we would help him with his pronunciation.  So we've agreed to help him with English and he is going to help us with Creole.  Looking forward to investing in this man and also to giving him his book soon!! He will be SO excited!

I've also just recently been informed of another opportunity to teach an English class (or two or three) at the National School in Anse a Galets.  Edison, a teacher at the school and friend of Matt who we're here with through Okipe, has asked if I would come and teach his class of 100 STUDENTS! He has been teaching them English, but he wants someone who's native language is English to come and "test" them. I'm looking forward to seeing how a class of 100 students works.  More on that later!

Thank You!!

In less than 24 hours, we reached our goal for the Translation Books!! Thank you so much to everyone who helped out! We REALLY appreciate it. We have a contact in Port au Prince who will buy the books tomorrow and hopefully we'll receive them by boat on Saturday with the team coming from Marion. Stay tuned next week for pictures of us giving the teachers their books!! Thanks again, your generosity will make a huge impact on these teachers' lives!!

Donate Translation Books!

As we have been able to speak with the teacher's at the orphanage here in Haiti, they have all asked for a Creole/English translation books. We did some digging and found an organization over in Port au Prince that distributes a good book we would like to provide to the teacher's.

We are told each book costs $25.00 an we need approximately 10 copies. We will try to negotiate a better price but need help funding this expense. We are looking for a total of $250.00 to supply this need.

If you are able to help please use the Paypal link below to donate! 

Thank-you!!!

Orphanage

Craig and I have started spending our mornings up at the orphanage. Our main task at this point is to observe the daily schedule, school, operations, and build relationships with the staff.  We also like to help when we can. The orphanage is a two story building. The boys sleep downstairs and their bedrooms are also transformed into the school rooms during the day.  The girls sleep upstairs and that is also where the office and kitchen area are as well.  While the children are in school downstairs, the women are very busy cleaning all the bedding, mopping the floors, doing the laundry and cooking meals for over 70 children.  The children's morning starts very early with breakfast around 6:30 and then school at 7:00. The preschool children start at 8:00.  They have two preschool classes and then 6 different classes for 1st-6th grade.

We have been able to start making relationships with the workers there. It is neat because most of them are really anxious to learn English. The kids are starting to not be quite so aware of our presence. Our hope is that we won't be a distraction soon and that we'll just "blend in" as much as possible.

Part way through the morning, the kids have a break from school and all come upstairs for a meal.  The women work non stop to feed all 70+ children in about 20-30 minutes.  When I came upstairs, this little guy in the picture above was laying on one of the benches where the children eat. His mom, Madame Phillipe, is one of the cooks.  He was taking up space for about three children, so I volunteered to hold him :) As soon as the children are done eating, they move back downstairs for more school and the women immediately begin mopping and cleaning the mess from the meal.  I was impressed with all they do every day.

We are learning a lot, but we are still finding that language is such a huge barrier. We have a translator, but it seems that he isn't understanding our questions well enough to translate them to Madame Solliette.  Then she doesn't understand what he's asking and can't quite anwer the real question we're trying to ask.  Then, even when she does give an answer, we only get part of that back because I don't think he knows enough English to really translate what she is trying to say back to us.  Long story short - this is a huge prayer request.  I really want this to work with our translator, Webster. We are forming a good relationship with him, and Mme Solliette has a trust with him as well which is important in the future as we'll be discussing more financial issues, etc.

When we got back from the orphanage this morning, we sat down with Webster and he gave us a lesson in Creole as we drank some Coke. I'm hoping the more we talk with him, the more he'll understand us and us him.

Here's a picture of Craig helping one of the younger children eat their breakfast this morning.

Slack Line Pictures

Tightening the slack line

Jaron

Morgan

Craig

Renee

And a gang of pirates!