Busy week

Things have been VERY busy here.  On top of my four friends (Deana, Tina, Jeanne, and Emily) staying here at the house, Lala is still here caring for Youvendji.  So, we have had five extra American's around the house helping out.  Yesterday, Dorothy left Haiti.  She is going to be in the states for roughly two weeks.  So, that means I am in charge (scary, right?).  A year ago, I never would have imagined that I would be in charge of 26 Haitian children and a staff of over 20 people.  It is crazy what God plans.

Yesterday, Jeanne started doing some teeth cleanings on the kids.  They did really well, and they were very excited to get a matchbox car after they were finished.  After lunch, I had to drive Dorothy to the airport.  My friends rode along just for the fun of it.  On the drive home from the airport, we have to drive through a notoriously busy roundabout with insane traffic.  I ended up fighting against a Mack truck to get the space out of the roundabout and onto the other road.  We were both blaring our horns at each other (his was much more intimidating).  As each car would inch forward, he and I would fight for the open space.  I wouldn't have been so "aggressive" except for the fact that my friends were all saying, "Don't let him bully you!  Keep going!"  So, I stood my ground.  Deana claims that at one point his fender was practically rattling against her window.  Finally, I made it through the open space and he gave up.  Everyone in my truck cheered when I got us out, hahaha!  I'll admit, it was an adrenaline rush.  I think that was the highlight of Deana's week.

Today, we made a special trip out to Mich's village again.  It was partially so that Mich could see his mama and partially so that my friends could see a Haitian village.  I warned everyone in advance that as "blancs" we would be swarmed as soon as we got there.  The village is pretty rural and has NO white people.  Deana carried a backpack with some toothbrushes and toothpaste for Mich's mama.  We made sure to keep it hidden until we were inside her mud house.  She was thankful for the things, and she quickly hid them away in her house so that they would not get taken.

By the time we walked out of her tiny house, a crowd of people had gathered (mostly children).  Last time we went, our friend Karen was along.  Everyone in the village knows her and her Creole is better than mine.   But, I think it went really well without her today.  As we were walking around the village, the local kids saw a snake in the brush.  When I told them that I didn't like snakes, they thought it was so funny.  So, the entire time we were there, they kept tickling my legs with sticks and telling me it was a snake.  They really loved when I pretended to be scared.

Two girls in the group were very sweet and kept trying to talk to me.  As we were walking, something smeared on my leg.  Thinking it was mud, I wiped it with my hand.  Then, I realized it was some type of feces (animal I hope)...gross, I know.  I wasn't quite sure what to do so I grabbed a leaf from a shrub to try and wipe my hand.  Then, I felt a tug on my arm.  It was one of the young girls.  She told me that I could wipe my hand on her shirt.  I explained that I didn't want to make it dirty, but she took my hand and cleaned it for me.  My heart broke right there.  I sure don't think any of my American friends would offer to let me wipe feces on their clothing.  Wanting to do something in return, I whispered in her ear that if she walked back to our truck with us, I would give her some bonbons (cookies) before we left.

When we got back to the truck, we all got in and I cracked the windows open to hand out some packs of cookies.  The kids were going crazy as I expected, and I almost couldn't get any to my little girl.  But she was feisty and was able to snatch a pack.  I saw her quickly shove it under her shirt and run off.  Mich said that he was happy to see his mama, but I can tell that it is emotional/overwhelming for him to go back to his village.

Seeing the difference between "Port au Prince poverty" and "mud hut village poverty" is such a huge eye opener.  Everyone really enjoyed our little side trip.

The following photos are from the past few days.  I took them from Deana's camera.  She said she knows they are good, but she's not for hire, haha.

lots of popcorn

a trip to the church playground

Jeanne doing teeth cleanings

we saw a tap-tap wreck

Deana got a picture of me buying some mangos for us off the street.  They were SO GOOD and the woman I bought them from was so sweet.

On the way to Mich's village, I got stuck driving behind a donkey, hahaha.

Mich leading the way through his village

You can't really see, but I am in the middle of that crowd of people.  This is Mich's sister's house.

A little girl smacking beans to knock the beans out of the pods.

The outhouse near Mich's house

A man knocking beans out of the bean pods

Me walking through Mich's village.  I had quite the herd of kids following me.

Deana loves Johnny!

The kids and I washing my clothes.

Vaccinations and a very sick boy

Today, Dorothy was able to get some of the needed vaccinations for our kids from one of the hospitals.  We spend $900 to get enough for each child.  Since Lala is staying here until Monday to care for Youvendji, she and Keziah gave all the vaccines while the rest of us took turns holding the kids still for them.  After each child was finished getting their vaccines, we gave them a lollipop to smooth things over.  After about the fifth child, the kids actually started begging to be next for their shots (they wanted the lollipop).  Frantzo cried a little while he got his shots, but the second that they were done, he said, "Siret!"  Which means, "Candy!"  The kids did really well and they all got lollipops afterwards.

In the evening, the power went out.  On top of that, Youvendji started having a lot of pain again.  His fever is still under control, but he is not doing well.  He has been having sickle cell crisis.  Lala decided that it would help to put in an IV.  However, Youvendji is small, his skin is dark, AND we were working by the light of a kerosene lantern and a few flashlights.  He was crying and in a lot of pain.  After several tries, it was too difficult to find a vein so we gave up.  We ended up giving him some meds for the pain and he finally fell asleep.  As always, it was an eventful/chaotic day.

Downpour

Today, my friends (Deana, Jeanne, Emily, and Tina) got used to our morning routine with the kids. Deana and her mom, Jeanne, walked the kids to school with me. After we got back, we ate breakfast and then headed out to pick up rice at another missionary's house. We picked up an entire pickup truck load of boxes of rice. Then, we immediate had to go pick up the kids at school. Since we had 11 people in one pick up truck, four of us ended up sitting on top of the boxes of rice in the bed of the truck. By the time we got home, we were all sunburned and covered in grit and dirt from the roads.

After we got home, we all wiped ourselves clean, ate lunch, and then started unpacking all of the containers of supplies and toys that they brought. That took the better part of the day, largely because we had 4+ kids in the room helping/playing with all the toys we were unpacking. After we finished unpacking, we spent some time playing jump rope outside with the kids. It was their first experience with jump ropes so it was pretty hilarious.

After the kids went down for bed, we were ready to relax and enjoy our dinner. However, as things usually go here, that was not going to happen. Instead, a huge thunderstorm came out of nowhere. It was a torrential downpour. Deana came into the kitchen and said, “Uhh, Kate. There is water coming in.” I assumed she meant on our porch which often gets wet in storms. When I looked, sure enough there was a small river running in our back door. In a matter of seconds it started running in pretty heavily. We quickly grabbed a dozen towels and some mops and started making a barrier to keep the water from running any farther. Then, we took brooms and started trying to push the water out the porch door and away from the house. There were two people mopping inside and soaking up water with towels, and four of us using brooms to sweep water out. We put out four 5 gallon buckets to catch the water that was coming off the roof, but there was so much water coming down that the buckets filled in about a minute. I went up onto the roof to see if our drains were clogged. I was soaked to the bone and the water on our roof was about a foot deep (our roof isn't very slanted and there is an edge around it). The drains on the roof were not clogged. The water was just coming down so fast and so hard that our pipe was not large enough to drain the water off the roof. So, we just kept sweeping water and mopping as fast as we could. After about 20 minutes, the rain slowed enough for our pipes to start draining properly.

As crazy as it all was, I think we all had a lot of fun in the midst of everything. I'm so glad that everyone was here to help, otherwise, it would have just been Dorothy and I. The best part about the whole thing is that a lot of the water went straight into our cistern! Thank you God for FREE water! It has been so great having my friends here. By the end of the day today, the kids were all coming out of their shells and having lots of fun. Today was just day one for Deana and everyone, and we have already had so many laughs. I just cannot wait to see what else is in store for the rest of their trip!

Crazy day

I'm exhausted and my head is pounding but I can't fall asleep..so I'm going to attempt to write about today. Today was a CRAZY day. Youvendji had a fever for 24 hours and it topped out at 104 degrees. Today, it was down to 100.6 in the morning. However, by noon it was back up again. He had the chills, he was having trouble breathing, and he was in lots of pain. We called our pediatrician and he just told us to give him Tylenol and compresses. Nothing seemed to help him much, and we wanted to take him to the hospital ASAP. We called our doctor again, and he said not to take him to the hospital...just wait for him to get there.

On top of all that going on, we had 2 kids at the HIV clinic with a nanny, three kids at school in Tabarre that needed picked up, and I needed to pick up my four friends at the airport. Currently, we have one vehicle. It is days like today that we REALLY need a second vehicle (it's in the works).

After our driver picked up the kids at school, I drove to the airport and picked up my friends. On the way home, I went to the HIV clinic and picked up the nanny and two kids, too. As always, our truck was packed. Then, we headed for home. At this point, the stress of the day was catching up to me and I had a headache, but I was SO HAPPY to see my friends.

We got home and found out that Youvendji's fever had gone down some and he was doing better. While I was gone, Dorothy went ahead and gave him a big shot of antibiotics. Our friend, Lala, is driving here from Gonaives first thing in the morning to care for him until he's back on his feet (she's a nurse and was the one that rescued him last year).

The rest of the day is somewhat a blur. I was running around giving tours, introducing the kids/ nannies, and teaching them the ropes of what is safe drinking water, where lights are, etc. After we unloaded their EIGHT rubbermaid boxes plus carry on bags, we headed straight to the grocery store to pick up food for dinner (easier said than done).

By the time that we got back from the store and cooked our dinner, we were all ready to crash. My description probably doesn't do it justice, but it was seriously a CRAZY day.

New diapers and beautiful babies

We received a box full of beautiful handmade cloth diapers.  They were made by women in 49 different states and 5 different countries!  After the babies had their bathes, I took some pictures of them sporting their fancy new diapers.  They are just too cute...I admit, I got a little carried away with the photos, haha.

Frances (almost 4 months old)

She just learned how to roll over!

Tamara and Frances

Rose Mitchel is finally looking healthy and "chunky"

Twin sisters Frances and Francesca

L-R: Emanuella, Rose Mitchel, Tamara, Frances, Francesca

Our nanny, Rose, with baby Rose Mitchel