Hydro

I haven't written for a while because our Hydro has been very scarse. Did you know that 'Hydro' is a Canadian term and that Americans call it 'Electricity' and never say Hydro? In Haiti they call it current. Just thought I'd share those useless facts with you.
Well, it's been quiet lately. I haven't heard of any kidnapings recently (at least not of people we know). The police are out in full force so maybe that's helping but you never really know around here. The election is the topic of discussion most days. The election day has been postponed AGAIN!! (I think that's the 4th time they've posponed it) There are still currently 35 candidates to choose from and most people are not very interested in taking part. They don't trust the government and feel that no matter who gets voted in won't be any better than it is right now. Many countries are contributing money to help make the elections fair and honest which is great but until Haitians are convinced they need to vote and take an interest in politics the money won't solve the problems that exist. There is a very low percentage of people in Haiti who actually vote.
Last weekend was a very nice for me. A couple that I met on the retreat in Jacmel called on Sat. morning and invited me to go with them to Petionville to check out the sights. It was great to get out of the house and see something other than Coram Deo. After this I went to Jenny's house and slept over. On Sunday Ysmaille and myself went for a hike and then I just hung out at Coram Deo at night time. Overall I good relaxing weekend.
Karen has been providing food for a clinic at a hospital so every day at 4:00 - 5:30 Cadeau and Samuel must accompany her. So my regular "bodygaurds" are busy every day and it's very difficult for me to leave the house which makes me feel very claustrophobic. Also Cadeau is my gym buddy so I haven't been able to go to the gym for almost 3 weeks now which is also very frustrating. Such is life in Haiti...
Okay that's all for now. Until next time we get Hydro...

Weekend in Jacmel

I've just come back from an amazing weekend in Jacmel. When I get a chance to put some pictures on my blog you will understand why I had a such a great time, it is absolutely beautiful there. So I went with a bunch of people from my church (45 to be exact). A variety of people came, families, people my age and a couple of older couples without their children. We had a GREAT time of fellowship. The chaplain of Calvin College was flown in for the weekend to be our speaker. He spoke about trumpets (blesings), ashes (difficulties), tears (sadness) and finally Hope. He had a ton of really great stories that really caught my attention and gave me a lot to think about it.
After the morning sessions we had the afternoons off to do whatever we wanted. One afternoon we went for a hike and swam in a sort of lake in the rocks. The other times, I read a book, swam in the ocean and the pool and spent time meeting some really neat people. Everyone who has ended up in Haiti has a cool story and many of them have been here for a long time. Most of the people came from Port-au-prince but there was a bunch of people from a small northern village. It's crazy that although they live in the same country they have a totally different experience.
The weekend was very relaxing and I'm really glad I had the opportunity to go. We spent a lot of time in prayer for Haiti (for the upcoming elections) and each other as we work here. We took turns during devotions and it was neat to hear everyone share their thoughts at one point. Now it's back to work.

Mail

Today I got 3 pieces of mail, talk about a good day:) I received an invitation to my neices b-day party and a thank you card for the gift I gave her. Two wonderful ladies from my church also wrote me nice long letters. It seems that my sweetheart of a friend Amy S. has been passing out envelopes at church with my address and a stamp already on it:)
My weekend was quiet. We had parent/teacher interviews on Sunday. They are very different here than in Canada. It's more like a ceremony. The teachers formally hand out the report cards in front of all the parents and make comments about the students work habits. After if there is any concerns the parents talk with the teachers individually. We also gave out awards for the highest mark in every class, for the student who puts in the most effort and for any students who were never late and never absent (only 5 in the whole school). These awards were a first for Coram Deo and I'm very curious how many students will never be absent or late next term now that they know there's a prize:)
I plan on going to Jacmel (southern part of Haiti) this weekend with a bunch of people from church. We don't have school on Friday so I'm only missing one day of work. We leave EARLY thurs. morning, it's not that far but we want to beat the crazy traffic. I'm really looking forward to this mini vacation, it'll be a nice treat.

The Last Supper and Sad Farewells

The last night before the second group of visitors left was quite the night!!! They prepared a feast of cabbage rolls, mashed potatoes and smores for dessert. They set the table nice and we all sat together like one BIG family. One of the visitors wrote a special poem and Samuel translated it for everyone. When we were finished eating Jn Eddy stood up and said a special prayer for them. Overall it was quite the touching night.
The next day they left and there were lots of tears (even some of the guys cried). The last few days the guys and kids have been moping around the house wishing the visitors were still here.
Things are sort of back to normal. I was expecting things to be REALLY quiet but I guess I forgot where I lived. Things are NEVER quiet at Coram Deo. There are just more Haitians around these days and less "blancs".
Tonight my friend Jenny is sleeping over. Every time I go to her house for the weekend Manu complains that I'm always leaving. I told Jenny this so she decided to come and hang out with 'us' for the night. It'll be neat for her to see my life and maybe she'll really understand why I love going to her house so much:)
The only bad news I have to report is that I'm getting fat!!! The visitors came with so MUCH good food and a LOT of junk food. Also I haven't been to the gym in 2 whole weeks. I hope I can lose all my fat before I come home for Christmas so I can pig out on Christmas food without any guilt:)

All's quiet on the Haitian front

It sure it different around here with our numbers diminished drastically. Half of the visitors left on Sat. afternoon and successfully arrived home late that night. The celebration/dedication ceremony of the playground was a HUGE success. The kids LOVED the pinata and the candy bags and the cake. We took a picture with all the kids holding Canadian flags in front of the playground. Overall it was a great day.
The weekend was quiet. Several of us visited Ysmaille's sister's house on Sunday. It was a nice relaxing day and a nice break from the humity of Port-au-Prince. It has been extremely hot these days and it hasn't rained for almost 2 weeks. Last night it finally rained and things cooled down considerably.
I forgot to mention a story that happened last week. After we visited Double Harvest we stopped at a little village to show the visitors some aquaducts. Karen's sister had brought a lot of candy with her to share with the kids of the village. When she started to pass out the candy she was practially mobbed and the adults were worse than the kids. People were putting their hands in her back pack and grabbing at her quite roughly. We quickly left town and went back to our car. But we still had all this candy we wanted to give out. So on the drive home we decided to throw the candy out the window at kids we saw playing on the side of the road. The first time we threw candy it hit a kid on the head and he seemed quite surprised. But after this they seemed to get the hang of it. At one point we drove by a soccer field. When we threw the first hand full all the kids playing soccer noticed and came running. It was crazy!!! We were worried that the car might break down and we'd get mobbed again, but all went well. Everytime the kids dived for the candy we laughed so hard. Some kids ran behind us for a while hoping for more but couldn't keep up with us. It was great fun.
This week looks like a quiet one. The visitors are finishing up some odd jobs. I'm focussing on getting the report cards ready and preparing for the parent/teacher interview/information night. Apparently they do things very different here so I'll be learning a lot the first meeting.

Candy, Pinata and Cake

I didn't know this but the visitors came up with the idea to build a playground because they wanted to dedicate it to a girl who used to live at Coram Deo and just recently passed away. The had a very nice plaque made to put on the playground. The kids have barely been able to contain themselves as they watched the playground take shape over the last week and today will be the first time they can actually play on it!!! We are going to have a celebration/dedication ceremony this afternoon. The visitors made a HUGE pinata and several cakes for all the kids. We also put together 120 goody bags to send the kids home with. I think it will be absolute chaos, but a good chaos for sure. The visitors also painted a wonderful mural on one of the outside buildings. I will include several pictures in my photo album.
Yesterday we visited an organization called Double Harvest. This place is amazing. It has a church, school, vocational school, greenhouses, farm and amazing apartments for work teams that come to visit. It was great to walk around and see what can be accomplished with a lot of big thinking, hard work and the blessing of God. It was really inspirational to me.
Half of the visitors are leaving tomorrow to go back home but the other half are staying until next Thurs. It will be nice to slowly get back to normal. If they all left at once I think it would be too much of a shock:)
I have already put a few pictures in my photo album of the playground and will try to put a few more on today.

Good news

In case you haven't already heard the 3 kids that were kidnapped are back safe and sound. Also, it was discovered that Haitian police (both past and present) were involved with this kidnapping and possibly others. We had already heard from the 'street' that police were most likely invovled. I've heard some very negative things about the police in Haiti and I have to admit that when I see them I'm usually more alarmed then calmed. I think if I was in trouble I would run away from the police before I would run towards them. Anyway, praise the Lord that the kids were found safe. Hopefully things will calm down for a bit now that there are less kidnappers in the area. (my earlier information was wrong, 7 kidnappers were arrested not 12)
On another note. I joined the visitors this morning on a trip to the downtown general hospital. We visited the childrens ward and more specifically the ward for children with mental and physical disabilities. When we walked in, I had the immediate urge to do two things; turn around and leave or cry. It was really sad and Karen said that it's improved a lot from how it used to be. The kids were laying in cribs and several were laying in their own urine. The kids outside didn't have underwear or diapers on and they peed where ever they pleased. It smelled bad (although it could have been worse). The kids are fed and washed and that's it. They aren't held or interacted with at all. What's even worse is that these are the lucky ones... if they were left on the streets they'd be dead within days. Hospitals are interesting in Haiti. They provide you with a bed and medicine. If you have a family member in the hospital you have to visit them everyday to bath them and give them food and take care of all their needs. How strange. If you don't have family then no one takes care of you.
On a happier note, the playground is almost finished and it really changes the look of Coram Deo. It's really big and super nice. It has a rock wall, monkey bars, a slide and swings. It looks great!!! The kids can't wait until it's finished and they can play on it.
As far as school goes, we finished the first quater. Exams are finsihed and teachers are writing report cards. We are having parent teacher interviews next weekend and the teachers seem quite content with how things are going this year. We are having a staff meeting tomorrow morning (no one thought it was strange when I asked them to come in on a holiday for a staff meeting. ) I bought lots of treats to reward them for coming on their day off. It'll be good to talk about some of my concerns and here their ideas and suggestions.
Until next time.