Saturday Update

Last night, we finally had EDH, city electricity, for the first time in over a week. I woke up and was so excited because my fan was still on. Usually out inverter batteries run out during the night and I wake up sweating. I finally got a good night's rest!

In the morning, I drove six of the kids to our church where there is a playground. They had a blast climbing around, kicking soccer ball, and swinging. We couldn't stay more than an hour because we were all hot and sweaty.

After we got home, I spent the afternoon hanging around the house playing with the kids. We drew with sidewalk chalk outside on the driveway. At one point, we were walking out back and there was water running down the sidewalk from the laundry area. All of the sudden, Johnny plopped down on his belly in a puddle and started splashing. That boy LOVES water, haha! So, I went into the house and filled a five gallon bucket with water. Then, we all went outside and had a water fight. Johnny was sticking his whole head in the bucket. Naturally, all the kids went after me with the water. I think I was more wet than they were. Then, they all started stripping down to their undies right there in the drive way, ha! It was a hoot. Once again, the nannies laughed at me for walking into the house soaking wet. That seems to be happening a lot lately, ha!

Sometime in the afternoon, Mary and Emory stopped by the house with some guests they had just picked up at the airport. Mary and Emory are missionary friends of ours from Gonaives. That is where Aaron and Youvendjii are both from. So, they like to stop and visit them every couple of weeks or so to see how they are doing. They would still like me to go to Gonaives with them sometime soon and stay for a few days.

In the evening, I did a load of laundry. I don't know why (I guess its just because it involves so much water) but the kids LOVE to come play/watch me do laundry. I rarely get a moment to myself here, ha! Usually when I blog or need to use the computer, I have to tell them that I'm working and can't play.

Bigerson's dad came to check in on him in the evening. I thought it was really nice to see that he misses and cares for his son. I hope that he continues to come often to keep that relationship with his son.

Monday and Tuesday, the kids have off school for holiday and all the stores and public places will also be closed. It is the “Day of the Dead” and the Catholic “All Saints Day.” I don't know a lot about it, but it is the most popular Vodou holiday of the year. They honor the spirits of the dead and deceased, supposedly named Gede and Baron Samdi. Those who practice Vodou will congregate in cemetaries with Vodou priests and priestess to present offerings to the dead, burn Vodou candles, and dance. We heard from some parents at school, that they will pour coffee and alcohol on the graves for the dead. I read that the Vodou priests and priestess will often dance provocatively, sing, and perform rituals for the followers. I don't know how accurate this is, but I also read that certain Vodou followers are known for their sexual nature so their may even be fornication in the streets. If you ask me, it sounds like a hay day for Satan. Haiti could certainly use extra prayers on Monday and Tuesday.

What's so unusual about cows grazing on the playground?

I'm surprised there were no goats.

They loved the swings!

Johnny

Mackendy having fun!

Chacha and Claudine

Rosa

Richardson

Rosa loved spinning!

Mich and Chacha

Rosa and I on the swing

Rosa and I

Chacha, Mackendy, and Rosa

Rosa

Today we were planning on going to a training seminar about how to help people who have experienced trauma in their lives.  Those plans went down the drain when more quests unexpectedly showed up at our house again.  So, we ended up staying home, entertaining, playing with kids, and working around the house all day.  I'm exhausted again, and for the sake of time, I'm just going to write about Rosa.  I realize I've written about her a little before, but I'm going to some more, ha!

As I mentioned before, Rosa is five years old and has HIV.  She came here when she was four years old without Dorothy knowing much about her.  After being evaluated by a pediatrician, it was determined that she was sexually abused.  We do not know who did it or any details.

Fast forward one year.

When I arrived, it seemed like Rosa took to me pretty quickly even though she is usually quite shy around strangers.  Since I have been here, I've observed some things.  Any time that she is hurt (falls down, gets hit by another child, etc.) she goes into a "fit" as I've been calling them.  The typical behavior each time is that she cries for a long time until I can finally calm her down.  She usually does not want to leave my side.  She doesn't talk.  Any little noise or person talking to her may cause her to start crying again.  She prefers to be somewhere away from other children where it is quiet.  She walks as if she has pain in her genital area.  She has trouble falling asleep, and once, she even wet the bed multiple times after having a "fit".

Dorothy and I have talked about it several times trying to understand what is happening to her during these times.  The only theory I really have is that physical pain somehow makes her have some type of panic attack or flashback to her previous abuse.  I don't know how to help her through it besides give her TLC like I have been.  She does not speak English, and I speak limited Creole.  So, that can make it a little difficult, too.

We would love to be able to take her to a child physiologist for therapy, but because we are in Haiti, that is not available.  I have been laying hands on her and praying for a miraculous healing of her past abuse and her HIV.  In the meantime, if anyone has any advice, please feel free to email me!  Please keep her in your prayers often!

Rosa goofing around on my bed.

Rosa when her hair is not in its braids...CRAZY!

Rosa and I

This is Josue.  He is about a year and a half now.  When he came to Dorothy's, he was severely malnourished.  His parents are dead and his aunt was caring for him.  Just look at him now!  He has got SUCH a personality!

Look at Youvendjii pulling himself up onto one knee in his crib!  We are so excited he is started to get stronger!

He wants to walk so badly, and he should since he is 2.5 years old!

This is one of the 2 enormous roaches that have taken up residence in my bathroom.

Every time I do laundry, the kids come running so that I will spray them with the hose.  Johnny loves it!

Look at little Claudine (she's 4) standing on her tippy toes.  I walked into the kitchen and found her washing all the dishes for us.  SO SWEET!

Busy busy day

This week has been insane, and I'm feeling a little bit run down.  We have had guests stop by our house everyday this week.  Since Dorothy is so busy chauffeuring kids around, I have been the hostess.  It is really nice meeting and getting to know so many people from all over the US and other parts of the world, but it can also be exhausting.  Like yesterday, I spent today taking care of/playing with all the kids and babies and being hostess.  I haven't been getting much sleep this week because we haven't had electricity for the fans at night, and I think my body is still trying to recover from being so sick.  Needless to say, I'm exhausted!  Prayers for rest and energy  So, I will just share a little bit from the day.

One of the guests that was here today runs two daycare centers.  It was nice talking with her about childcare.  She was very impressed with how happy and well cared for our children are here.  That was really nice to hear!

The little boy, Bigerson, that we got yesterday is MUCH more sick that we realized when he came home with us.  He has HIV, and we just got an email from the doctor today about his counts.  I am still learning about all the HIV meds and counts.  Dorothy explained to me that his CD4 counts are around 150.  For a healthy child, it should be somewhere around 1500.  He has 1.4% of what he should have.  What that means is basically that he has almost no immune system.  We have an INCREDIBLY fragile child here.  He could die from a common cold.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray that we can keep him healthy!

This is Bigerson taking a nap with Brenda, the guest that is staying with us this week.

At one point in the morning, I was trying to get Richardson (6yrs old) to show one of the guests his loose tooth.  He was being difficult/bashful (which is VERY unlike him, ha) and tried to hide his face on my shoulder.  He put his head down so quickly that he bumped his mouth and shouted, "OUCH!"  I laughed and said, "Hey, maybe you knocked your tooth out."  I didn't actually think that he did until our guest noticed that he was bleeding.  I told him to open his mouth.  Sure enough, there was no tooth there anymore!  I found the tooth on my lap, ha!  It was the first tooth he has ever lost.  Dorothy had tried to explain to him recently what would happen whenever he lost his tooth, but he looked so startled and confused today when it finally happened.  It was quite comical!  Eventually he got over it and was excited about the new gap in his mouth.  He put his tooth in his pocket so he could show all his friends at school.

Chacha was not quite sure what to think about that tooth in his hand, ha!

Look at that toothless grin!

Josue is such a character!

This is Leika taking her first steps yesterday! 

Feeling better and dancing in the rain!

Today I am finally over my Haitian stomach virus and back to normal!  Thank you, Lord!  It was Dorothy's birthday.  I felt awful because she was gone from 7 AM to 1 PM driving kids to school, then to the TB clinic, then picking up a new child with HIV, bringing him home, going BACK to get the kids at school, and then finally home.  She forgot it was her birthday because she was so busy!  We were going to go to Epi Dor, a sandwich joint, for dinner to celebrate, but she was too tired.  Poor thing!  I made her brownies instead.  Epi dor will be another day.

While she was gone, I was playing hostess again.  A man from Kentucky, Bob, came today to make a storage shelf for the dinning room.  So, I was helping him find the tools he needed, etc.  He brought with him a woman and her daughter to visit and play with the babies.  I think they enjoyed holding kids and babies all day.  Who wouldn't??

So, the majority of my day was spent answering questions about Haiti and the kids and playing with children of course!  It was an exciting morning for the nannies and I.  Leika and Marvins both walked for the first time!  Marvens took about three steps and Leika took five or six!  It is a busy busy house!

As I mentioned earlier, Dorothy brought a new child, Bigerson, home from the HIV clinic today.  He is two years old will be with us permanently so that he can get the proper treatment for his AIDS.  While at the clinic, the social worker introduced her to two other children that will come to live with us soon.  Both are girls and have HIV.  One is nine months old, and the other five years old.  When they arrive, we will be up to 30 children at our house (most under the age of 4)!

In the late afternoon, I was running around, playing, and rough housing with the "big kids" when a thunderstorm came through.  It was nearly 95 degrees out today, so I was excited for the cool rain!  At the time, I had Rosa on one hip and Claudine on the other.  So, I carried them outside into the rain and starting running around.  They LOVED it!!  They were laughing and screaming so hard.  Obviously, it did not take long for Mich, Johnny, and Fred to hear us and come join in the fun.  Every time that I would carry them into the porch, they would yell, "Anko, anko, anko!"  Which means "again, again, again!"

When we finally all went into the house, soaking wet and full of smiles, the nannies looked at me like I was insane.  They just laughed and shook their heads at me.  Haitians don't like rain at all, in fact they are slightly afraid of it and will avoid it at all costs.  I'm sure they really think I'm a crazy blanc now, ha!  I think I enjoyed dancing in the rain as much as the kids did!

Prayer requests:
-The most obvious: for the spread of cholera to be stopped
-for us to be able to find a driver (and the funds to pay his salary) to help with the burden of driving kids to and from the clinic and school everyday (Dorothy usually spends 4 to 5 hours a day out running around)
-for the two girls with HIV that are currently in the hospital until they are healthy enough to be released and come live with us

Thank you all SO much for your love, prayers, and support!  I wouldn't be able to do this without it!  I hope to post some more photos soon, sorry!

Feeling better!

Hi all!  I am finally feeling better!  Thank you, God!

Last night, a guest, Brenda, arrived to stay with us for a week.  She is in "training" if Dorothy should ever need/want to go to the US for any reason.  She is sharing my room while she is here, and I felt awful that her first night here was while I was up sick all night.  EDH, city electricity, has been out again.  So, we had to sleep with no fans.  I still had a fever and upset stomach, so I did not get much sleep at all.  She ended up helping to take care of me.

In the morning, I was still feeling badly so I slept until around noon.  Then, I was finally able to keep some crackers down and get some of my energy back.  I was able to get up and moving enough to go to the grocery store with Kez, Brenda, and Dorothy.  I was very tired most of the day, but I was able to eat dinner with them.  Thank you, Lord.

I realized that I really missed my time with the kids the past two days since I had been in bed.  So, I held Rosa on my lap for a while.  The rest of the kids all went down for bed, but she was so content snuggled on my lap, that I held her until she fell asleep.  It was such a peaceful way to end the day.  I'm looking forward to a good night's rest, and I pray that tomorrow I will be good as new!

Stomach bug (NOT cholera)

Hey everyone!  I debated posting tonight for fear that everyone would worry.  PLEASE DO NOT WORRY. 

I don't have much to post tonight because I've been sick all day.  After eating some crackers for breakfast, I felt nauseous.  I thought perhaps it was a side effect of the anti malaria medication that I take every Monday, but, I ended up having diarrhea and vomiting for the majority of the day.  I repeat, PLEASE do not worry!  I am doing fine and starting to feel better already.  Kez (the nurse), Dorothy, and I all agree that it is not nearly severe enough to be cholera.  It is just the typical Haitian stomach bug that everyone gets at least once (if not multiple times) while living in Haiti.  I've been drinking Gatorade and resting all day.  Dorothy made sure that I took a large dose of antibiotics and Tylenol.  I know of several other people that have had the same thing this week, and they have gotten over it in about twenty four-hours. 

The kids have been sneaking into my room frequently hoping to play.  I keep telling them all, "Mwen malad.  I'm sick."  Claudine didn't believe me, and she and Johnny both insisted that they were sick, too.  Finally Dorothy intervened and kicked them all out of my room, ha! 

I expect to be back to my healthy self by tomorrow.  Prayers are appreciated!  :)

A perfect Sunday!

Today was such a great day!  This country is constantly surprising me with its hidden treasures and beauty.  After church, Kez came over and we all had lunch together.  Then, we loaded our bags with sunscreen and bottled water.  We were going on an adventure!

Kez, Mich, Chacha and I hopped in the truck and met up with a bunch of other "youngsters" aka people in their 20's and we headed off to the "oasis".  We drove about 9 miles and then parked along the side of the road.  Then, we followed a small riverbed/stream up the mountain.

After walking through the stream past men, women, and children bathing and doing laundry in it (and also the occasional cow), this is what we found...

Notice Chacha in his skivvies (which fell off and floated downstream later).

I think that we all felt like we were 5 years old again.  We all ran under the water splashing, laughing, and playing as much as Mich and Richardson.  It was the first time that I've actually been cold since I arrived in Haiti, ha!  It truly felt like an oasis in the desert, and it provided for a great outing!

The best part of the whole outing was that we got to minister at the same time.  While we were playing in the falls, a decent sized group of Haitian men, women, and children had started to gather to watch us.  Since Kez is fluent in French and Creole, she went over and talked to them.  It turns out, they were waiting for us to leave so they could bathe in the falls.  Before we left, we all laid hands (wet hands) on them and prayed for God's blessing and provision. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

When will Haiti ever catch a break???

Since it is Saturday, all the big kids were home from school today.  I decided to do something fun and different with them.  So, we used tempera paint to make hand and foot prints!  I brought the kids up two to make their footprints.  I made sure it was all well planned out because when it comes to paint on little hands and feet, it could potentially be disastrous!  Mich wanted to be my photographer, and Rosa and Claudine were my lovely assistants.  It was a blast and went smoothly!

Painting Johnny's 'lil foot

Fred washing the paint off his foot in the bucket of water.  We had the system down!

Helping Fred make his hand print.

Somehow, using the bucket of water to wash the paint off their hands and feet turned into a full out bath.  Notice Rosa washing Sonson's legs for him, HA!

Wilson had fun washing the paint off his feet in our bucket of water.

Around lunch time, Keziah and Marc stopped by.  Dorothy asked Kez to come and teach the nannies on proper preventative action for the cholera epidemic.  We got news that it has already spread to Port au Prince and several other areas in the country.  However, we have not heard whether or not it has gotten to any of the tent cities.  Dorothy read somewhere that the particular strain of cholera that is in Haiti is the worst.   It is spread through the feces of an infected person.  So, you could possibly get it just from a fly landing on your food depending on where that fly was before.  If the nannies were exposed before coming to work they could bring it into the house.  Because we have a house full of small children in diapers with weak immune systems, if anyone gets it at our house, all the kids will get it.  We have been stocking up on antibiotics, re hydration salts, Gatorade, and IV fluids.  Kez gave us the recipe for making our own re hydration fluids.  I've heard that the incubation period for the bacteria can be anywhere from 6 hours to 6 days.  To survive it, you MUST stay hydrated.

As I wrote before, we are not scared for ourselves.  We are educated enough to know what to do if we should get sick.  However, it is the rest of the country that I am terrified for.  Many places do not have good sanitation or drinking water.  Kez fears that if it should reach Gonaives (where we visited friends a couple weeks ago) it could easily wipe out all of Jubilee because of the lack of adequate drinking water and medical resources.  We believe that preventative action is the key.  Kez has been traveling all around PAP doing her best to teach and prepare everyone for it.  Dottie Diehl, who many of you know as the director of TLC Barefoot school, is considering shutting down school to prevent the cholera from spreading.  Dorothy and I have talked about keeping our kids home from school to protect them.  We think that it is only a matter of time until all the schools are shut down.

The thing that is sad is that we do not see large organizations using good planning.  Kez is just one young girl who graduated from nursing school two years ago, but she is out doing her best to educate schools and tent cities on what to do to prevent and treat cholera.  She said that she has not seen any of the large organizations out doing anything.  On top of that, Kez has a medical team of five doctors that are supposed to be coming in two weeks.  She called them to give a list of supplies that will be needed to treat the cholera, and they told her they are thinking about canceling their trip!  THEY ARE DOCTORS!  What is with everyone being too afraid for themselves to help others?!  When will Haiti ever get a break?  Lord, this country needs you desperately.

If this post makes you worry for us, please don't.  Just pray.  When you finish praying, pray again.

All that being said, I had an awesome time with the kids in the afternoon/evening.  I did some laundry, which as I explained before is done outside.  We have to fill the washer by hose so its best to stay nearby.  Mich and Chacha came out to see what I was doing.  Naturally, I sprayed them with the hose.  Suddenly, Johnny, Rosa, and Claudine showed up, too!  We had an epic water battle.  Mich was so proud of himself when he got a hold of the hose and soaked me.  I guess I did deserve it, ha!

When my laundry was finished washing, the kids all wanted to help hang it on the clothesline.  I believe I had six kids helping hang my laundry.  Meanwhile, Rosa decided to put on a pair of my freshly washed (still wet) shorts.  It didn't take long for everyone else to catch on.  Dorothy couldn't believe I let them wear my clean clothes.  I thought it was too comical to make them stop.  Besides, they were having so much fun!  How is it that I am fortunate enough to live with the coolest kids on the planet??

Look at all these helpers hanging my wet laundry!

The help didn't last too long, ha!  Rosa decided to try on my shorts 

So, Claudine tried on my tank top.

...Fred tried on my sports bra, hahah!

Johnny didn't want to be left out so Chacha helped him put on a T shirt.

I know that I haven't posted any pictures in a while because of the internet connection.  So, some of these are a little old.

Kez and I sitting on the rooftop in Gonaives during our visit a couple weeks ago.  Check out that view!

Rosa and I.  I love this little girl so much!

Claudine sporting my nice pink bandanna.

Sonson, Mackendy, and Frantzo on the first day of school.  They go to a special school for the handicapped.

Mackendy getting his baby lotion before school.

Mama Dorothy and Frantzo heading to school.

Frantzo getting a goodbye kiss from Mama Dorothy and Sonson sitting in his wheelchair.

Frantzo at school.

Mackendy loves school!

The lizard that I found on the wall of my bathroom.

Apparently mice like Dove dark chocolate, too!

An awesome dragonfly that was in the backyard.

This is the part of the wall that I finally finished!  I think it looks great!

This is the same wall BEFORE I scraped, sanded and painted it.

I still have to paint all the way down to the red gate on the right of the picture.  Luckily my mom is going to help when she comes to visit in two weeks, ha!

This is little Fred.  He is our newest addition.  He has HIV and is almost 3 years old.  HE IS PRECIOUS!

The lovely Rue Dalia, our street.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It is physically exhausting driving on these roads, ha!  This is really nice compared to some roads in PAP.

Richardson (Chacha) wearing my hat.

Precious little Aaron.

The little stinker, Guerdeline.  She's white from baby powder.

Kez showing off our tiny rolls at the French restaurant on my 23rd birthday this past week.

The French restaurant in Petionville.  See, there are some nice places in PAP!

Kez and I on my birthday.