Cholera...

Well, we're trying to stay calm about the cholera epidemic around here.  I've read a lot of literature about the disease and passed along information to our staff and students, about prevention and treatment.  The difficulty is that so many people can't afford to buy soap and bleach and treated drinking water, which is why it is spreading so quickly.  I don't worry about myself, first of all I am able to take precautions and secondly, if I do get sick I have access to medical care and rehydration solutions.  What I do worry about is one of our students or one of their family members getting sick. 
Please pray for those in the medical fields, that they will be able to treat those who are sick, and that needed supplies will get into the hands of those who need them.  We'll try our best to stay upbeat and work in our school community to educate and provide for their needs.

First Day of School

Morning program

Breakfast time!

Molina and Manman Manise distributing breakfast



Getting new books

Here's a few pictures to keep my readers happy.
Also I special thank you to all our sponsors.  We really truly couldn't do all that we do without you!

And we're back!!

Due to a maintenance issue on Blogspot I'm not able to upload any pictures tonight but I'll try again tomorrow.

But the good news, is that we've finished our first three days of the 2010-2011 school year! So far it's been a success. The building we found to rent is a huge blessing, we do not yet have electricity, running water, or keys to the doors but we're thriving nonetheless. We hired two new teachers this year and they are fitting in well with our team. Randy and his many assistants are still working hard on getting the building set up and functioning. Benches are being built, dividers made and invertors and batteries hooked up.
There is a slight change in my job this year. I will be working alongside Alix, one of the teachers, this year as he learns the role of School Director in order to take on this role by himself next year. It's been wonderful collaborating with him and working together as a team. As the year progresses, I will step back more and more as he steps forward and takes on more responsibilty. Alix is a great fit for this job and has already taken a leadership role in many areas.
As for our Adoration team, we will be seperated for a time. Randy and Karen are expecting another child and have decided to return to Canada for his/her birth. Karen has already returned with Maia and Randy will be leaving next week. Therefore I'm flying solo again for a bit.... please pray that all goes well in their absence as it is quite overwhelming keeping everything running on my own and there is potential for unrest in the near future due to the upcoming election.

Back in Business (almost)

We have some good news to share!  We have a school building.  It is actually an office building, but for the next two years it will be converted into a school, clinic, church and community centre.  The teachers and students are relieved that we will be opening our doors soon and I couldn't be happier.  The teachers, Randy, Karen and myself have been busy all week organizing books, setting up classrooms and making plans.  The classrooms won't be painted and we don't have electricity but we have tables, benches, blackboards (once the paint dries), a few books, some GREAT teachers and some really enthusiastic students, so we're all set! 

Our first staff meeting of the year

One of the classrooms almost ready for the first day of School

The front of the building, lots of space for morning program and recess time!

The back of the building, Grades 4 -6 are downstairs

Happy Thanksgiving!

Unbeknown by most Americans, we Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving the first weekend in October, and this year my first item of thanks is that I am in Canada celebrating with my family, breathing in the sweet crisp air and watching the trees change to red, orange and yellow.


The reason I'm back in the great north is not actually to celebrate Thanksgiving but to witness my baby sister get married. It was a beautiful location, gorgeous weather and a wonderful time of celebration. Welcome to the family Andre!!

As per tradition, this weekend I reflect on all the blessing in my life. This year I realized that what I am most thankful for is the adversity and hardship of this past year. It has been a difficult year for our organization; the earthquake, being evacuated, losing loved ones, starting over, losing our temporary location... I also had some really low times personally. However, God has used these hard times and turned them into blessings. When we re-opened the school after the earthquake, I saw that our staff was more dedicated and we were a stronger team, working together, encouraging each other and united in purpose. Every morning after devotions we had a time of sharing, laughter and simply enjoying each others company. I was not personally in Haiti in July when we were refused entry into our temporary location, but the teachers told me about the experience. What stood out for me, was the respect and admiration our staff expressed towards our organization's response to the situation. We never pray for adversity or hardship in our lives, in fact we usually pray for the opposite. We pray for good health, safety, and success and I'm not saying we shouldn't pray for these things. But this thanksgiving, it really struck me that we often grow the most and reap the most rewards from the difficult times in our lives; when we and our faith are tested and we have a chance to see first hand ,God working things out for His good.

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Visiting a one room house with thirteen children

This woman lost her leg in the earthquake and yet agreed to take care of a child who is not her own

For the first time ever I was involved in the process of “inscription”.   In Canada I guess we’d call it “registration” but here it's just not that simple.  Every year we have a few spaces for new students to attend our school program.   Because our school is free, and many parents are not able to pay the monthly school  fees due to financial restrictions, you can imagine how difficult a task it is to choose new students for our school.   Every year, the process changes and every year it is just as difficult to say “no” to the many families we must turn away.  This year we formed a committee (sounds impressive but really I was just hoping to share the work with othersJ ) Each person had to visit ten homes and several days later we reconvened to make some difficult decisions.  I took along some of our visitors on my visits so they would be able to see a typical home/tent/tarp that our families live in.  I don’t visit students’ homes all that often and so this is interesting for me as well.  It’s also very hard, emotional and amazing.  It’s hard to see the dire situations that so many people in Haiti are living in (pre and post earthquake).  It’s emotional to see mothers and fathers with so little proudly showing you their home and inviting you to sit and chat.  It’s amazing that families with so little have agreed to take in children of friends and/or family and agree to care for them although they have no little of their own.  It is a truly humbling experience.  Today I met with the rest of the committee.  We managed to whittle one list of 21 down to 6!  But of course, now we have the task of calling parents and telling them that their child/children did not find a place in our school.  We would love to help every family in Haiti, but we have to recognize and respect our limits.