Heartbreak in Haiti

Well, I have put this off for a couple of days because I wasn't sure how to write this blog. I will be leaving for Texas on December 10th on what was supposed to be my holiday break. Due to some unexpected and unfortunate circumstances, both here and back home in Texas, I will not be returning to Haiti. We received the final decision this past Sunday but it has taken me a couple of days to really process this new information. I am very, very sad and especially for the children. They have not been officially told by me but they were already upset about my leaving for the holidays. I plan to meet with them sometime tomorrow, so please keep them in your prayers. It is going to be extremely difficult for us all.
It was my plan to stay for two years, however, I was blessed to have almost eight months. The time passed very quickly, and it seems so short, but it is longer than most people stay. I am thankful that I had this opportunity and perhaps one day I will be able to return to Bayonnais. In my time here, I can see that my presence was useful and appreciated but more than that, I learned firsthand about the hardships of living here and have witnessed the faith and courage that the Haitians demonstrate each and every single day. It really is a hard life.
My sponsors will continue to seek ways to continue supporting the children and will try to find others who can assist MMM in providing the quality care that the children need.
I know that God has a reason and a better plan than I could ever come up with. If anyone would like to help in any way, please send me an email VJPierce@gmail.com and I can put you in touch with my sponsors. Thanks to everyone who stayed tuned and followed my adventures. This will not be my last posting as I intend to keep sharing until the end. My love to all.

Happy Thanksgiving From Haiti

Hello my dear family and friends. Today is Thursday. It is Thanksgiving Day. It is the 22nd of November. It is also my son, Dylan's , 22nd Birthday. I have so much to be thankful for and I am.
I woke up feeling a little sad and homesick because I am missing Dylan's birthday for the first time and also not with any of my family members in the States. However, I still have my wonderful kids to share this day with.
My day was brightened first thing this morning when I received an email from Actionnel inviting me to have a non-traditional dinner with them at OFCB this evening. Peter also sent an email with an invitation and said I just need to bring the Cranberry Sauce and they are good to go. Right! I wish I had a can of sauce to surprise him with.
As for here, we are going to have a special lunch that the cook is preparing for us. I have purposely stayed out of the kitchen so I will be surprised. It already smells pretty good. I will need to enjoy just enough so I can save room for the dinner as well. One thing for sure, we won't be watching football on television. The kids will have to offer their own live version out in the yard. Since Haiti does not celebrate Thanksgiving, I am very fortunate to be able to celebrate twice! There's another blessing!
Today I would like to remind everyone to express your love and appreciation with the ones that you are sharing this special day with. Hugs are good if you go for that kind of thing. Be sure and count your blessings with every bite that you take and if you lose track, well then, just go for seconds and start again. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and a very special Happy Birthday to my amazing son! I love you, Dylan. Please send more pictures!!! :)
Here is a link to a cute video. Out of respect to my Mama and her friends, this video has closed caption for the hearing impaired. Gobble-gobble!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CndP1fYC0M

More Stuff to Look At......(and even more stuff, still)

What a relief!! Last night I completed this posting and hit the button to publish when the generator ran out of gas again! I panicked but there was nothing I could do. When we were able to get more gas this morning, I checked my blog and my posting was GONE!!!! NOOOOO! I said, to myself. Then I logged in and found it was still there! Whew!
That would have been a lot of work lost. So, now my adrenaline is back to normal and my pulse has slowed down. Now I am very happy to share it with you. Please view it again to see the added pictures and read all the captions.
Today I had the great pleasure of walking to OFCB once again. Our replacement generator ran out of gas so that meant we were without the Internet. Apparently the generator is also leaking gas. Okay, God, we are ready for our miracle now. Thank you, in advance, for your blessings.
It was a fantastic and beautiful day to be out. Sun shining, cool breeze and smiling faces to greet. The only problem was that the road conditions are still pretty bad. I know I say that a lot but you have to see for yourself. Below are some pictures of just a small portion of what the path to OFCB and the road out of Bayonnais looks like after all these months of rain.

This is the road directly in front of our house. (House is on the right side) Notice the narrow path on the left? Even the donkeys have to walk on that. The mud is thick and deep.

This is down the road a bit, looking back towards the house. If you look closely, you can see the silhouette of a person at the far end of the photo. They are walking on the narrow path (now on the right) shown in the picture above.

A little bit further, heading towards OFCB. There is another dead sandal stuck in the mud. Hard to see; I know. (lower left corner, for those who really feel a need to see it) :)

More of the same. Someone tried to make a difference by putting some large rocks in the thickest part. Still have a ways to go.
Here is an example of the many piles of rocks stacked on the side of the road waiting to be purchased by anyone who wants to make improvements. They are carried on the tops of the heads, of mostly women and children, from the river. They are stacked, measured and sold by the cubic foot. Those are some pretty heavy rocks!
This is the area near the market by the river before the bridge. In the lower right hand corner you can see the beginning of a new path that was created by the pedestrians to avoid the road hazards. Hundreds of children have to take this path to get to the schools in our area. It is about a four foot drop back down to the road. A steep jump for the little ones.
A closer look at the same area. To the left of the road, near the center of the photo is a public water fountain. It runs continuously which only adds to the mess that the rains created. Just in front of that are some rocks that were once stacked, but now scattered around by an earlier flood.

Another area that also has a public water fountain. The canopy of trees shields the sun from drying the ground. In the near seven months I have been here, this little stretch has always been a mess.

This is Mapou. One of the oldest trees in Haiti. I posted a different picture of this tree in June. (Click here on A Wonderful Weekend to see the base of the tree. Click on the <-Back button to return here). Notice the size of the lowest limb.

Here is another view of the lowest limb from a distance. There is a nice clump of moss growing on the side.

This is what happen to Mapou after Hurricane Noel came through. I was so sad for him. (I have decided it is a male tree)

He really is old. Guess he just couldn't hold up any longer. The rest of him is still standing strong.

Some fancy braid work done by the little sister of our housekeeper. She is only 13, but very creative.

A couple of kids pounding some grain for their supper.

The job is almost finished.
Someone parked their pig while they went to visit a friend.

Four cute little girls heading to the river to wash some clothes.

Someone already finished with their laundry. I should note here that these clothes are hanging on a line of cactus that serves as a fence. I don't think I would want to hang my clothes there. They say it's the best place because the wind won't carry them away. Okay, so never mind all the holes in the apparel or the stickers that may be found later. Ouch!

A typical day at the market in Bayonnais. I'm always wondering who is doing the shopping if most of them are working? Many of the vendors sell the same thing. This is a place where it's good to have friends or a really large family. Another wonderful view to get lost in. :) I'm glad that I finally got this posting finished. I hope you enjoyed the tour. It was a nice trip for me as well. I appreciate those who took the time to visit. <this is a hug!>

Things you don't normally see...unless you live here.

Hi there! It's been a strange week and a busy week but a slow news week. Our generator died again. We had to borrow another (it also has some problems) and take ours to the shop. Personally, I think it's history. It will probably cost as much to repair as getting a new one. The problem seems to be that gas and oil are leaking everywhere. Any guesses as to why? Not around here. There is a saying here in Haiti: A man who can fix things is called Boss. Unfortunately, there aren't many to chose from. The other problem is finding an honest one. That's rare just about anywhere, even in the good old US of A. For now we just have to hope that our borrowed one holds up. This is the generator that died. It only holds three gallons of gas and one gallon will last two hours. The borrowed one will hold five but the oil leaks and has to be checked often. This is our source of power to have lights and use the Internet. It is our hope to one day have two generators so that the school/church can also have lights and electrical outlets. The best idea is to also have solar power, but that will be much later. This is our nifty Satellite dish that sits on the hill behind the house. Sorry, no Disney Channel here. This is for our Wireless and Cable Internet service. The large cable runs across the yard, through the rafters of the new school addition, across the pathway, into the top of the supply room, down the hall, around a ceiling beam and down into my room. It's lovely and we are happy to have it. (I know you've seen a satellite dish, but not this one) This is the view I have from my bed every morning. I hope to have a ceiling put in before the weather gets colder. A Haitian taxi headed for Gonaives. This photo was taken last June when these students were going to the city to take their National Exams. This is a common sight, several times a day, when the weather is good. Lining up at the pumps in Gonaives. Notice that it is mostly motorbikes. One man pumps the gas and takes the money from the customers. Most only buy one gallon at a time. Here is another station getting re-fueled. I was recently told that the current price for regular unleaded is about $3.11 US per gallon. However, I have just finished working on the books for the month and the receipts show that the price is now around $4.80 US per gallon. Talk about raising prices! That's outrageous! A funeral procession coming down our road and heading for the cemetery in the mountains. The hearse. Notice the sign says: Boss Boyd. While working in the OFCB office, a hummingbird would fly in from time to time. I finally caught him on camera. He is barely visible at the top right corner of the window. He had such beautiful colors that could only be appreciated in person. (or is it in birdson?)Here is the OFCB church/school. The room above the patio entrance is where the office is located and where I spent my wonderful days on the Internet. Photo taken from the OFCB website: http://www.ofcbministries.org/ They have a lot of things going on these days so take some time to look at their website. Peter Daniel has also added some videos to this site as well as his own at: http://www.peterbdaniel.wordpress.com/ A beautiful shot of the inside of the church at OFCB. I believe this was taken on their opening day celebration. Photo also taken from website. Many have been blessed and have accepted Christ in this wonderful place. During the week, this room serves as a classroom to a large number of students in several different grades.
Well, I had a few more pictures that I wanted to add but the blogger uploader is not functioning as it should. So, I guess I will save them for another time. By the way, for those who are wondering, Haiti does not recognize daylight savings time so we are now on Eastern Standard Time. We were on Central before.
I also wanted to point out that I added a link to Meet the Kids (on the left side of my blog page, near the top) for those of you who are just now reading my blog and would like to know more about them. Enjoy the weekend. One month from today I will be in Texas. Yeeha! My love to all.

Celebrating and Remembering

Yesterday we celebrated Smith's eleventh Birthday. It was the first time he ever celebrated his special day. He wasn't even sure how old he was. I baked a chocolate cake but we did not have any icing. The kids didn't care, it was cake !!! It was enough for everyone to have one slice and a couple of bites. I think next time I will have to make two. We only have one pan. Jeemy-Ska will be six in January (while I am in Texas) and in March, there will be seven of us having birthdays with five in the same week. Wow! Forget the cake pan, we're going to need another oven!! :)

Smith received a box of colored pencils and a Multiple use Art book that had drawing paper, construction paper, painting paper, writing paper, and stickers. He was so happy with his new gifts.

The birthday celebration was rather low key because it was a Monday and the first day back to school after being off for nine days. The kids were a little tired. So was I. Later in the evening, Angeline came to me and kept trying to tell me something. She seemed very concerned and I could not understand what she wanted. I took her to Lucner and asked him to translate. Angeline said, "Ms. Vicki Jean, you forgot to play the donkey game." Oh, bless her heart. She thought it was part of the plan. I told her I was sorry, I forgot. We would do it another time. That bothered me for a while. I guess I really need to pay more attention and plan ahead.

Today is my Grandmother's birthday. She would have been 90 or 91. I can't remember which. I do remember her, though. I miss her very much. When she died, so did a part of me. It took me a long time to get over the sadness of losing her. She was one of the most significant people in my life. She meant a lot to our entire family. Everyone loved her dearly. I would like to honor her with this link to a special song that she liked very much. I know she is happy in heaven and smiling down on us who will one day see her again. I love you Grandmother. Happy Birthday!

I was going to add a video but could not get it to upload properly. So, here is the link to the song by Mercy Me called I Can Only Imagine.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2FS5GYvg6uU

The music is beautiful, the words are powerful, and the concept is worth considering. It keeps me humble. (after viewing, click the <- Back button on your browser to return to Blog). Have a blessed day!

On A Mission

First let me say that we survived Hurricane Noel without much damage here in Bayonnais. The majority of the disaster affected the Dominican Republic and the western part of Haiti which included Port Au Prince. The last time I checked the news, there were 81 reported deaths due to mudslides and heavy flood waters. There were also 14,000 people who had lost their homes. Some cities were still recovering from the floods in early October so the constant heavy rains only added to their grief. There are still many areas that cannot be reached at this time so the number of deaths may rise over the next few days. We were very blessed to get through the storm untouched. Our roads were even worse than before and the schools were closed, but other than that, all was well. If you would like to keep up with what is happening, just check with the website for the Haitian Times and get the local news updates. http://www.haitiantimes.com/
Okay, so here was the plan: I would get up earlier than usual and try to tackle the fun job of cleaning my room after the rodent fiasco. This is what one half of my room looked like before I started:

I decided it was best (and easiest) to start with the empty water bottles that spilled out of the plastic trash bag after I flung it across the room when I found my first surprise. As I neared the corner of the room I noticed that the spiders had started weaving another web so I went to get the broom. While looking for the broom which was being used by the housekeeper, I was side-tracked by Jina who needed to find her other sandal. We went on a hunt and finally found it outside on the step of the front porch. Jeemy-Ska was on his way to take a shower but his towel was still wet from the night before. I went to get him a fresh clean towel which was in a bag, under the bed, of the guest/office/supply room. Off to the showers he went. I found the broom and continued to work. Sweeping, dusting, sorting, organizing, lifting, sweating, sneezing, wheezing, coughing, and more sweeping. Then it was time for breakfast.
After breakfast I did more of the same, with more distractions, (Smith fell and cut his lip, Marc had a stomach ache, Angeline had a fever, Aquel needed nail clippers, Ismalene needed the tweezers, Jeemy's button fell off, Noula wanted to read aloud from her book; all of which required my attention or assistance), with more determination, and continued to try and see my plan through. Then it was lunch time. I was not quite making the progress I had hoped for so I ate rather quickly and resumed again. I found things under the beds, behind other boxes, in the wrong boxes, trash mixed with toiletries and other misplaced items. Soiled clothes mixed with the clean clothes and clean clothes in the laundry box. I stripped all the sheets off, discovered that the slats on the bed were loose, then got my hammer and hunted for the nails. Finally found them and made the repairs. I saw that there were some things that would be better to hang on the wall so I hunted for the concrete nails (which was a job in itself) and proceeded to find a place for each one of them. More cleaning, organizing and so forth until I got the call for dinner. Again, I ate quickly, and tried to get back to my plan. I worked until I no longer had the energy to stand up. At the end of the day, this is how my room looked: Yep, not one thing changed. The kids, however were very happy. Their rooms were so clean and organized. They had a place for everything and now know where things should go. They were very happy to have fresh clean sheets on their beds. (It was a difficult task to get them all washed and dried with all the rain we've had but we finally had a day of enough sun to make it happen) They even kept walking in and out of their rooms just to look at it once more. Just so you know I was not making this up, here are a few pictures of their rooms: The girls room. They were so happy to have a place to hang their kilots (underwear) rather than the middle of the school yard where 500 other kids could see them. They also have a place for their backpacks and their own clothes bin.Uniforms in one place, church clothes in the wardrobe closet and scarves on the wall rack. Laundry buckets in the corner for wash day. Wonder how long that's going to last?

The boys room. Uniforms and bins in place. Beds neatly made. Each one has their own laundry bag so they are happy because they don't like their clothes to touch the other ones that are more soiled than theirs. Who would have guessed?

The boys really like their wardrobe closet. They had never seen anything like it and it makes them feel very important when they are retrieving their Sunday best for church.

I know, some of you may be wondering; where was the housekeeper? Well, because of all the rain (again, blame it on the rain) she was way behind on the laundry. It was more important for her to catch up then to assist me in my efforts.

So, this was not the mission I had planned, but it is just as well. The kids are the main (eleven) reasons why I came to Haiti. I also have a place in my heart for the many others I have met in the past six months. I can always try again tomorrow. If not, I'm sure there will be eleven more reasons why it didn't happen. I am very blessed today.

Today and tomorrow are school holidays. The kids have been out of school all week because of...yes, the rain. Here are the kids with the Watchman's wife and their children getting ready for movie night. Tonight's special feature is E.T. for the fifth time. Since the beginning, they have watched every movie, by choice, in English with English subtitles trying to learn the language. This time they have decided to watch and listen to it in French. Some of them are picking up some of the words and the movie is making more sense to them. It actually sounds almost normal to me. I still miss the popcorn. :-)