Final thoughts

Well, we've been home for 2 days now.

Our trip home was eventful with Mariah, then Tevan getting the same flu bug that my mom had. Mariah was up all night sick in Miami and Tevan was really sick all the way home from Miami to Calgary. He was a real trooper, using his bag on the plane and never once complaining. Plus Ariane was still suffering with her bad ear and fever. I was so happy when we finally made it here. The kids have all turned a corner and are on the mend, although Tevan is still pretty green. I think he'll be back to normal by tomorrow.

Unfortunately, with me taking care of three sick kids on the plane, my camera was got lost on the plane from Miami to Dallas. I called yesterday but the Lost and Found was closed, so will be calling again today and sure hope someone turned it in.

I've been thinking about our time in Haiti and what it meant to me and to our family. Haiti is a beautiful, crazy, upside down, magical, terrible place. It's a place where children die every day from malnutrition, water-borne diseases, and preventable illnesses. It's a place where labourers line up every morning at 4:30 am on a bridge near the orphanage, hoping to be hired for a day's work in the fields so that they can provide for their family. Where women can't read or write, but can do complicated math calculations in the marketplace. It's a place of corruption and distrust. But also a place of laughter and unending hope where people find reasons to celebrate, to laugh and to make connections with others.

Haiti can seem lawless and chaotic, but when you observe the culture, there are complicated social and cultural rules that govern everything that goes on. People live according to age-old rituals and culture, with both harsh aspects and beautiful and gracious ones. It's a reminder that our way of doing things and of living life isn't the only way or even the right way. Being a part of another culture helps keep things in perspective here and helps me to be more open to the myriad of differences in the people I meet every day.

I had time in Haiti to reflect, to slow down the hectic pace of my life, and to spend time with my children. I had a chance to welcome more people into my family as Mariah and I visited with her father again and had the chance to meet Mariah's siblings. I enjoyed the beauty of the country right outside the gate of the orphanage and I got in touch with nature in a way that just doesn't happen in a big city (cows mooing, goats sqealing, roosters crowing - oh joy!).

My two oldest kids had a chance to reconnect with their roots and heritage, while they all had an opportunity to learn about different ways of seeing the world and different ways of living. They saw what their efforts could do to help others, forged friendships, and worked alongside people who live in very different circumstances. I know their lives are richer for the experience.

Haiti reminds me that it is possible to make a life count for something more than commercial success and material gain. I can use my gifts, my education and my blessings to help others. In Haiti, if you are hoping to change a country, you will be sorely disappointed. But if you do what you can to touch one life, you can make a difference. That applies not only to Haiti, but everywhere. We're here for a bigger reason than just finding success as defined by our culture. We're here because God made us and our lives have a purpose. We can be fueled by our passion to make this world a better place, one individual, one person at a time.

It has been a joy sharing my experiences with you!

For those of you who are reading and want to know more about Hands Across the Sea, directed by my mom, Karen Huxter, you can post a message here for me, email me, or email hats.haiti@starband.net. You can also visit hats-haiti.com.

There is a team travelling from Nova Scotia in a few days to spend 2 weeks in Deschapelles, Haiti and they will be posting their photos and blogging about their experiences on this same site. I hope you'll turn in to read about their adventures.

Liette

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