Last day!

Well, our last day in Haiti wasn't spent exactly as we'd hoped or planned.

The day started out great. Mom and I had a nice long walk by the canal at 6 am with the german shepherd, Pal. Pal was awesome until he almost had a fit of excitement when a whole family of goats went by. We held his collar because he so much wants to play that he runs at them and barks and almost scares them half to death. The goat owners really don't like that!

When we got back from our walk, Ariane was crying because of a bad earache. Apparently she had been up in the night and Karen had given her pain medicine then too. Over the course of the morning, the pain got worse and worse and her fever kept climbing. Luckner got us some antibiotics and my friendly pharmacist buddy Christy gave me the dosage. She had a very rough day but seemed a little bit better by the time she went to bed, so I'm hoping the medicine is working so she'll be better again tomorrow.

Karen didn't feel great all morning (nor last night), but started to feel especially sick after lunch and spent the whole afternoon and evening unable to keep anything down. It's been 30 minutes now so I'm hopeful that I can soon give her a glass of water and maybe a cracker.

I managed to get some of the things done that I had planned, including packing up some of the donations that are set aside for kids in the church that are away visiting family right now, cleaning up and organizing mom's room after using it as a donation centre for 10 days, and taking down the Christmas decorations. That in between giving meds, hugs, and helping Ariane and mom make it through the day. Oh yeah, and I packed our bags and am almost ready to get the last of the laundry to pack to leave tomorrow morning.

Josiah is sleeping down at Luckner's place again tonight. Cabano and Ricardo just adore him and wanted him to come and spend the night again, so Luckner asked if he could keep him forever. When I said no, he asked if he could keep him just overnight. So he was excited to run off to another sleepover.

Tevan had a big moment today! He lost his first tooth. He was playing outside with JJ and Moise when he got bumped by a ball and pop - out comes his tooth. He's quite thrilled to have lost a tooth and has it under his pillow for the tooth fairy tonight. I wonder if she'll bring Haitian goudes, US currency, or Canadian money?

The kids were a big help today, moving boxes and helping Martha prepare food. Martha cooked a special goodbye meal for us of rice and congo peas, akra, and banane peze. Plus my favourite juice, passionfruit juice. It was a wonderful meal.

Mariah and Martha making passionfruit juice.

Josiah getting rice ready.

We leave tomorrow at 9 am and catch our flight at 5 pm. We'll spend the night in Miami and will be home late on Dec 31st. I'll post one last message when we are home safe and sound.

Liette

Construction

The construction of the storage for the kitchen at the HATS school is finished! The ladies will cook in the outside area so that the smoke does not accumulate inside the building and so that it's not too hot. The small gate will keep the children out of the cooking area and the hot dishes but still allow the ladies to pass easily with the food etc.

The larger area in behind where I am standing is for storage of the rice and soybean mix that is cooked for the children each day (a complete meal with added vitamins, minerals etc) and for the cooking pots, metal plates and spoons for the children, and the cooking pots etc.

Thank you, thank you to everyone who contributed to see this idea become a reality!

The construction of two additional classrooms and an office at the school is well underway. Any additional funds that came in for the storage area that were not needed are being directed towards the school construction that still requires more funds. The construction of the foundation took more rocks and cement that budgeted for because of all the water that they discovered when they dug down. The foundation is finished now and ready for the work team who comes in January to help the Haitian workers build the walls and put on the roof.

The laying of the cement floor of the foundation was really fascinating to watch. The men alternated carrying heavy buckets of cement, small rocks, sand and water which they added to the small cement mixer.

The cement mixer put the ingredients together and dumped it into the wheelbarrows that other men were standing waiting with.

The wheelbarrow men then pushed their VERY heavy loads across the wooden planks laid on the metal grillwork and dumped it where directed.

The two men in charge of levelling and smoothing the cement used a wooden plank to smooth the cement and a piece of string laid across the length of the floor to keep it even.

Everyone knew their job and worked together as a team and it got done. The finished foundation is below.

The Beach

We had two really relaxing and enjoyable days at the beach together. I think Karen needs a week there (without her cell phone, Uncle Dickie!) to rest and rejuvenate. She only talked on her phone twice - to check on the kids at the home and to see if the truck was fixed to pick us up. We encouraged her to eat lots, to take naps and to go to bed early.

This is the view we enjoyed from the patio restaurant.

Alex really enjoyed his time swimming. He gets SO excited in the water - it's like trying to hold onto a giant squirming squid! His favourite game was chasing Josiah in the pool. I held him while he swam like mad after Josiah. Those two guys spent a ton of time together, with Josiah being a big help with keeping him busy, taking him to the park and pushing him around.

It was a very nice family time and everyone enjoyed themselves. Below, Tevan is enjoying a hug with his grandma.

Ariane is happy about the fact that she got a nice tan and can't wait to show her dad that she is browner than him!

The kids were thrilled on the way home to ride in the back of the truck. They sang songs and laughed like crazy most of the way home.

As soon as we got home, we dropped off our bags and drove to Borel to have a short visit with Solange, a friend who got married today. She was a beautiful bride and we were happy to have a chance to congratulate her. Cecile was in the wedding party so all of the kids from the home were there too. The truck is gone to the mechanics for a few more touches to get it in working order, so we took 7 mototaxis back to HATS.

Tevan, Ariane and I on a mototaxi.

Karen says to tell everyone she had a wonderful time at the beach and is looking forward to another trip there soon.

Merry Christmas!

It was a different Christmas for our family. We started our day with opening our stockings, which were my sports socks since we had no stockings. The kids were excited to receive the small treats and candy inside.

After breakfast, a normal workday in Haiti began. Christmas is not a big holiday in Haiti, so the construction carried on at the school and Karen and Luckner continued working on several different ongoing projects. I typed some french letters, did laundry, and got ready for the afternoon's party.

I took the kids swimming this afternoon which was fun. We are getting to be experts at riding the motorcycles. I take Tevan and Ariane with me and Josiah and Mariah ride together, up the bumpy road known as Corridon which leads to the hospital.

At 5pm the children from the home came up, as well as Luckner and the children that live with him. We shared juice, popcorn, birthday cake for Jesus and gave them the gifts we had brought and that had been sent by another Canadian work team. We all had fun and the children enjoyed opening their gifts, although it was hard on Tevan to see everyone get a gift and he not get one because they are waiting for him back in Canada.

Mirlande at the party.

Alex helped Ariane and Josiah hand out gifts. They told him the name, he called the child and then handed them the gift with his feet. He was very happy to be helping out.

Alex handing Maladette her gift.

Josie enjoying juice

Ricardo and Cabano in their new hats, looking as cool as they can.

Tonight, Mariah and Josiah are having a sleepover at Luckner's house with Valerie, Ricardo and Cabano. They were pretty excited.

Tomorrow, we are off to the beach, my Christmas gift to my mom. We won't be back until Sunday evening so no updates until then!

Thank you to everyone who has wrote comments and wished us a Merry Christmas.

Love to you and I hope your day was a wonderful one.

Liette

Christmas Eve

Today started early with our alarms going off at 5:30 am. Why an alarm you ask? With all of the crows, goats, cows, trucks etc? Well, to tell the truth I'm getting used to it and have been sleeping until 7 every day.

Mariah, Karen, Odner and I headed out at 6:15 am, arriving in Lachappelle just before 7 am. Jean-Pierre was in his garden and came hurrying back at 7:05. By 7:15 we were on our way up the mountain. Odner came along for the hike, being very curious about everything. He wasn't expecting it to be quite so steep, nor quite so fast a pace. He made the comment that mountain people must be stronger than valley people because of all of the climbing. Jean-Pierre just walked along at a pretty good clip (I like to hike fast) and never once got out of breath. We hiked up the hill you see below and this picture was taken about halfway up. After 90 minutes of challenging hiking, we arrived. All the way we saw ladies coming down the mountain barefoot with huge baskets on their heads for market in the town of Lachapelle.

Once up in Belon (where Mariah was born and lived the first two years of her life, Jean-Pierre showed her where the house used to be and all of his land. He also showed us the place where he was attacked in a land dispute. We are very grateful that he is healthy and strong again now, except the very sad loss of his eye in the attack.

Mariah and Jean-Pierre standing where her house was.

The views on the hike down were beautiful as the mist was just clearing in the valley. Several times on the trip back to his house in Lachapelle, Jean-Pierre held Mariah's hand, seeming very proud of her. We stopped a dozen times or more for introductions, to meet aunts and cousins and for people to take a look at Mariah.

In Lachapelle, we had the opportunit to meet Mariah's three little half-siblings with Jean-Pierre's new wife. The little girl is 6, the two boys 4 and 1.

The four year old boy looks so much like Mariah did at about 2-3 years, that it is uncanny. He had lots of big smiles for her.

Jean-Pierre was so happy we had come, that he wanted to give us a present. He showed up at the tiny little Suzuki we were driving with a huge sac of oranges, sweet potatoes and manioc from his garden. Then he brought a turkey!

In all, it was a very good day and I am so grateful to Karen and to Luckner for making the arrangements to make it happen and for Karen for playing chauffeur for us.

The rest of the day was spent making cake and brownies for Christmas tomorrow, then spending some time at Luckner's Christmas party. I came home early, being exhausted from a long day and having two tired and hungry kids. Mom drove us home, put Alex to bed and is down now again for a little visit. We left Mariah and Josiah and some of the orphanage kids down there and they'll come back with mom.

We'll I'd better get ready for Santa's arrival! Love you all and Merry Christmas!

Liette

December 23, 2008

The Christmas pageant was a great success. Many people worked very hard to make it all happen. There was a large crowd and some kids started arriving as early as 4:30 for a show that started at 6 pm. The teenagers who were in the play did a pretty good job with the acting and the singing was beautiful. Ariane did a gymnastics routine which inspired awe! She even had the whole crowd chanting her name afterwards. Mariah had a chance to dance and Josiah helped to MC. All of the children got a sack of candy and balloons and the kids in the program and all of the employees and families got a meal of rice and beans, chicken and watercress salad. It was a ton of work and there will be lots of clean up tomorrow in the field and putting the benches back at the school etc, but it seemed like everyone had a great time.

Kids helping make the flag decorations



The manger scene under construction.

Pouring sauce over the rice and beans.

Some of the 80 boxed meals prepared

by Martha and Germaine.

Some of the crowd enjoying the show.

I'm up early tomorrow to drive to Lachapelle and hike a mountain with Mariah and her biological father, so it's time to get some rest.

Liette

The Show must go on!

Today is the big Christmas concert and everyone is running around like crazy.

Josiah and Vladimy have been making popcorn for 150 people in a tiny little popcorn maker for the past 90 minutes. Ariane and Tevan are making decorations. Mariah is helping the school kids decorate for the concert. Martha and Germaine are cooking food for 80 people so the concert kids and employees can take it home with them after the party. I've been measuring rice and beans, helping Timili and getting ready to go to Verrettes on motorbike to buy some last minute things.

So much for coming to Haiti to get away from the Christmas craziness!

December 22, 2008

The Christmas concert is tomorrow, so today was a day of preparation. In the morning, my mom went to St Marc with Mariah, TiMili, and and Valerie to stop at a ton of stores, according to Mariah. They were finding tissue paper for decorations, lights, etc etc.

A group of young people from the school came to make decorations. They made crowns out of cardboard that they painted and made tiny flag decorations. A fruitless hour of searching for the balloons bought in Port-au-Prince before we gave up, hoping that they'll come and find us tomorrow.

I spent 2 hours at the hospital doing a job that mom hasn't had time to do. The kids at the orphanage had all mistakenly been classified "Out-district", which means they are not from this region and thus have to pay $200 instead of the $12 for people who live In District. The crazy thing is, half of the kids in the orphange were either born in the hospital or abandoned at the hospital which then transfered guardianship to HATS. But no matter how much mom tried to explain that, the computer said something different so she was stuck in the bureaucracy. Today, I shook hands, visited with people and waited around .... finally the head of the department came, I explained the problem and we found the computer guy who is going to make the change. I've got my fingers crossed but he did promise.

Today we also had a visit from Jean-Pierre, Mariah's biological father. We had sent messages for him a few days ago and he finally came this afternoon, after not hearing from him for almost 4 years. We had a nice visit with him and we made plans to go out there on Wednesday (24th) to visit the area where Mariah was born and lived with her mom. We made the trek up the mountain when she was 3 years old and it was a real adventure. This time, we are leaving at 6 am from Deshapelles, and with the two hour hike (Mariah can hike a lot faster now than when she was 3), we'll make it up there by 10 am. A short visit and we'll come back down the mountain. Our plan is to make it back to Deschapelles by 3 pm. One of the security from HATS (and friend) is coming with us and is excited to hike the mountain with us. Luckner is working on finding a vehicle we can borrow as the HATS truck is still not working. Some guy is gone to the Dominican Republic to try and find a part that is needed. If anyone has an extra $30 000 US, a new vehicle for this mission is SOOOOO needed!

This evening we had some fun dancing in the Kay Devosyon (the building they use for morning signing and grade 3). But it's getting late and I must get my kids to bed before the roosters start crowing to wake us up.

Hugs!
Liette

December 21, 2008

I slept in today! With all of the roosters crowing at all hours of the night, church services until 11 pm, the restaurant/bar in Deschapelles blasting music, trucks honking like crazy as they pass the bridge, pigs grunting, cows mooing, dogs barking etc etc, I've not been sleeping well, waking several times in the night and getting up too early. Last night I slept like a log and didn't wake up until 7:15 am when the big "kamionn" came to drop rocks and sand off at the school construction site next door.

We had church this morning where we sang songs led by Cecile, then Luckner delivered a message about generosity and love being at the heart of Christmas. I had just had the almost identical discussion with Josiah and he was sure I had talked to Luckner and set the whole thing up. I told him that sometimes when there's a lesson to be learned, we get it from all sides.

We visited friends up in Deschapelles today. Our friend Rigaud and his wife welcomed us graciously, then offered us fresh coconut milk from coconuts that a little boy threw down from the SUPER TALL coconut tree in their yard. He shimmied up there in less than a minute!

There's a little boy at the top of this tree.

Rigaud cutting open coconuts for the milk.

The kids didn't love it but were very gracious and grateful.

All the kids tried climbing the tree after that. Ariane got the highest, no surprise there. Josiah barely made it off the ground! I guess basketball skills don't translate to tree climbing.

Go Jos go!

We stopped at the house of another friend who insisted on "diri, sos pwa avek fe" for us (rice, bean sauce, and a dish like spinach). It was delicious and much appreciated.

This evening, Mariah got her hair braided by Cecile and she looks lovely.

Grammy, Josiah, Ariane and I went up to the roof, lay down under the millions of stars and sang some Christmas carols. With my froggy voice I wasn't a very good singer that's for sure.

I decided to make a special dessert for my mom for Christmas and to try and put some meat on her bones. The recipe called for 3 eggs. The first one was rotten- yuck! The second one was ok, but far from fresh. The third, rotten. The fourth, rotten. In a dozen eggs, we found two that were not too bad and ten that were inedible! Eggs have been hard to come by for several months as the chickens here got some infectious disease that affected their ability to lay eggs. It seems the treatment and vaccination program is having an effect and they are starting to lay again, but there is still a scarcity.

These smelled so gross.

It's been a long day and I'm off to bed. Thanks for those who have left comments, it's so fun to hear from you.

I leave you with a photo of three beautiful little girls. The oldest one was pounding "pitimi" a grain that is eaten by those who can't afford rice. They were so sweet.

Liette

December 20, 2008

Today we took a tap-tap to Verrette to go to the market. It was so stuffy and crowded that you could barely breath. After that we went home and ate lunch. Then we took a motorcycle taxi to Deschapelles to go swiming. Grammy's friends came along as well. When we got home we went on a walk by the canal, with Alex of course. - Ariane

Mariah beside the pool

It was a really great day today - not too hot, but just right. I had a chance to catch up with more old friends, including a godson of Don's who I still stay in touch with and bring small gifts for. I had a chance to give skirts to all of the girls in the school Christmas concert - they were quite excited to try them on and find one they liked. We got Grammy out walking by the canal again today, but ended up going farther than we had hoped. As the sun began to set, the mosquitos and bugs came out in force - they were in our eyes, mouth and nose! We ran through the bug clouds all the way back to the mission.

The couple Ariane mentioned are an American doctor and his wife who were at the nearby hospital last year and are doing vacation relief this year. They saw Tifi when she was first abandoned at the school - she was like a bag of bones, completely unresponsive and unable to do anything. When they saw her today walking alone to them to give them a hug, they were astounded at how much progress she had made. She is just now beginning to say a few words, but she is craving attention and coming out of her shell. The woman called Karen "a miracle worker".

Liette

Cabano in his new clothes - notice the big smile!

Moise in his new clothes

Girls from the Christmas concert with their dresses

Kids from the school playing with

the new soccer ball

December 19, 2008

It's hot here inside tonight, but perfectly warm and beautiful outside. I had a chance to lie on the roof with my kids under a sky filled with stars. There were more stars than I ever get to see living in a big city. And the swooping bats just added to a beautiful end to the day.

We had a visit to the hospital today where we greeted old friends and passed on hellos from Canada. The kids and I had a nice refreshing dip in the pool before we took motorcycle-taxis back to the orphanage. Mariah and Ariane jumped on one, myself and Tevan on another and Josiah on the third.

This afternoon, Mariah helped cook food for the workers at the school, while Ariane and I sent ut more school photos of children to their sponsors.

We had the fun of riding in the back of the truck to go and fill up two big barrels of diesel to run the generator. We REALLY should not complain about the cost of gas compared to the cost here. The total bill for the two barrels - $3428.00 Haitian!

Another trip along the canal this afternoon and this time we were able to bring Pal, the german shepherd, and Karen. Pal had the kids in stitches running like crazy and jumping in the canal. He was like a puppy again. I was very happy to have dragged my mom away from the never-ending work for a short walk in nature.

Until tomorrow!

Marthe scraping the goat's head in preparation to make the Haitian energy drink "Red Goat"

December 18, 2008 Photos

Mariah with Tifi

Sabine in a new dress

Josie squealing for joy with her new dress

Sweet Mirlande with her new dress