Friday, December 17, 2010

Hello again: I tried to send this messge below last night but for some reason or other I couldn't upload..so here it is today for your reading pleasure (!?). Debbie

Christmas greetings one and all.....what a day it was as we enjoyed Christmas festivities at the school today. The celebration was down scaled a bit due to the fact school was closed for nearly a week due to the hoopla after the election results, but never the less the kids did a fine job of their poetry recitals and songs they sang. I just wish there could have been more of an audience beside myself, Clovis and the teachers. But alas, such was the case, but I don't think it made us enjoy it any less.















As per tradition the kids were served chicken with their rice and beans and a glass of juice and then each recieved a Christmas package with
various goodies inside.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I got through each class and not missing anyone..that was my worse fear...especially since I was organizing all of this on my own.....instead of dreaming of sugar plums, I was dreaming of Christmas packages.

I smiled to myself when I heard several of the teachers telling the kids not to open their packages in the chapel and also when I saw the older kids quickly checking out what was in their package as soon as they got outside the chapel...just like kids anywhere else in the world!












I am just so thankful that the week was quiet which permitted me to get all of the supplies we needed for the party and just as important getting the banking done so Christmas bonuses and Dec pay could also be distributed today as per tradition. Tomorrow morning, I play Mrs Claus to some of the neighbourhood kids and families then I will be ready to enjoy the weekend with Wilner.

Monday is the day that the final election results will be announced. There is a lot of speculation and question about exactly what will follow as none of the issues from the Nov 28 vote have really been resolved. All I know is there are lots of various sundry groups of people...politicians, religious leaders, International supporters and others meeting trying to come up with a solution that the majority will find acceptable. Everyone is just hoping and praying that we will not see the same sort of violent reaction as we did after the 28th. I heard a report on the radio yesterday of a British journal article stating that after Somalia, Haiti was the most politically unstable country in the world. I don't know on what they based their point of view but it was an interesting revelation to me.

In the meantime folks, enjoy the peace and calm to go about their daily business. However as if all of the other goings on were not enough, today news is going around that the gas stations do not have any gasoline! Finally there is calm to go out and about and now no gas for the tap-taps..you can imagine everyone's frustrations! Hopefully the news of a tanker arriving in a day or two is true.

So that is the state of affiairs this side of the ocean. Wishing you a joyful 4th Advent weekend.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Greetings.one and all:
Sunday Dec 11 finds things pretty calm and a bit of normal life on the streets as people went to church or went out and about doing other chores. Yesterday the streets were busy and line ups formed in the grocery stores and gas stations as people took advantage of the calm to stock shelves, Christmas shop and fill up the vehicles. I had no real reason to go out so stayed at Hope House although I do have a little bit of "house fever" having been holed up here all week. No one knows what to expect tomorrow, but I won't be surprised if we have more demonstrations although I pray that the calm we have had over the past several days continues. Everyone seems to be taking a break from the to do of last week...even the radio stations ...as I have been hearing more music than news throughout the day.

Unfortunately the Christmas elves will be not be to make their planned trip to Haiti to help with the Christmas gifts, so I took advantage of the quiet to get all of them organized and to make sure there were enough for each group of students. It worked out just right and now again I pray for calm so that we can hand them out at the end of the week as scheduled. Joel has been a good right hand man lugging the big boxes here and there for me.

I called Marie to check in with her and all was going well with her. While chatting we arranged for her to come with her driver to pick up the Christmas gifts for her kids and a few other items assigned to her .....one of them was some cans of span and Vienna sausage. She was so amazed and was remarking how the Lord provides at just the right time. She gave her last can of meet to a neighbour this AM, whom she invited to her house for an egg as he was feeling weak from hunger and Marie offered to feed him. She gave that last can of meet to him to take home and he was so grateful that he would have something to be able to feed his whole family....to him it was like a feast she was providing him. It once again just gives one pause to say THANKS for the bounty in our lives and I say thanks to those of you who continue to suppor the Lazarus Project through gifts of funds, gifts in kind and your gifts of time....we would not be able to help those we do withour your continued support.

Hope you are enjoying this Advent Sunday.....Debbie

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Hello all: Here I am holed up at Hope House due to the "hot climate" in town today (and elsewhere in Haiti) as a result of the announcements made regarding the election results. Tires are burning, roads blocked and in some towns buildings ransacked and burned. Other areas where partisans are more or less satisfied with the results in there neck of the woods, remain relatively calm.

Below is a note I recieved from a friend for those who are interested in a bit more detail regarding the elections.


....................As if an earthquake, a hurricane, and Cholera were not enough, now we're in the throes of major upheaval over the preliminary results of the 28 November presidential elections that were announced last evening. I can't say we haven't been anticipating this, but when it comes it is always uncomfortable. Most people are remaining in their homes while the turmoil boils.
Below is an article that gives a good overview of what the protests are about. I'm sure there was a large dose of disorganization and inadequate planning in the electoral process, but they do not account for all of these irregularities.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/04/v-fullstory/1958005/count-every-ballot-or-else-haiti.html
One of the main objections is that the results announced last night do not match what the National Election Observation Council had reported a couple days ago. Their observers polled voters at 15% of the voting centers on election day; and when asked who they voted for, 30% cited Mme Mannigat, 25% Mr Martelly (aka, Sweet Micky), and 20% Jude Célestin (the 'dauphin', heir apparent of Président Préval). Last night's preliminary official results gave Mme Mannigat 31.37%, Jude Célestin at 22.48%, and Michel Martelly at 21.84%---a mere 6,845 of the over 1million votes separate Martelly from Célestin. The next closest candidate, Jean-Henry Céant, received 8.18% of the vote.
The question is how much of the vote for Jude Célestin is real vs rigged? The 18 candidates (one declined to run for election the week before) have the right to protest the results within the next 3 days. Final results are due 20 December. Only two of the multitude of legislative seats were decided, so the rest will again be up for vote in the 2nd phase 16 January 2011.
Among the likely decisions the CEP (Haitian Electoral Council overseeing the elections) could make at this point, which one will it make:
Activate its option and place a third candidate on the ballot (Martelly)?Hold its line and keep only Mme Mannigat and M Célestin on the docket for January 2011? Boy, will Haïti be hot for a long time if they choose this one!
Suddenly find during the final verification process that Martelly did indeed receive more legitimate votes than Célestin and the revote becomes Mannigat vs Martelly instead? That, too, will cause a political furor.
Scrap the whole election and start over (not likely!)
I've lived through many of the elections the last 23 years here, but this, of all of them, may be the most crucial. Much of what will happen in rebuilding, which in itself will create a forward motion we've not seen for a long time, hinges on the election of a good and true leader for Haïti. All the previous elections have been troubled and many patently corrupt; but the 2005 election stood out as the best run and most representative and fair. If somehow the CEP could return to the 2005 process in the second round, it would have a much better chance for success.
Prayer requests...
Personal safety for the Haitian people. A few will spark a great deal of turmoil and innocent bystanders can get caught in the middle.That calm will restore quickly. Haitian people cannot afford this disruption, it causes enormous economic upheaval for persons who already have extremely marginal resources.
Our staff that are on the road and caught in the midst of the manifestations. Our SCMS staff and our sister work, LMS, are out delivering the US Government's donated Cholera supplies that we just received and have been caught amidst the demonstrations in different outlying towns. Most areas of the country already do have supplies, however, these are more for backup.Wise choices by the CEP.
That the candidates truly favored by the Haitian people will have an opportunity to be fairly voted upon and the most favored fairly selected. It is critical for the future of Haïti. And one more...
Continued decrease and eventual containment of the Cholera outbreak. Thankfully, although all areas of the country are affected, the number of persons falling sick seems to be stable and the number of deaths is decreasing.


Hope you found it to be interesting and informative reading.....until next time......
Debbie

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Good Sunday afternoon: Another week has gone by..it is hard to believe that only four remain before we close out 2010 and welcome 2011. Many in Haiti are more than happy to say goodbye to this year, with hope that next year has only got to be better! ....let's pray that it may be so!!! My bank tellar was one of the ones expressing such sentiments.

We saw off the three team members of the "Braveheart team" from Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon. They enjoyed a morning of "life in Haiti" as we attended the Christmas Bazaar at Quisqueya School ( a private Christian school at Delmas 75), visited a local grocery store for purchases of last minute items for their suitcases, lunch at Epi Dor a fast food restaurant and just enjoying the street life as we rolled along to the airport. We all managed to drop a few gourdes at the Bazaar, which was really getting lively when we left.
Nativity Scene at Quisqueya School for the Christmas Bazaar



















Fran,Nany Joy and Phillipa...the "Braveheart team"



















The day before, Friday, was another outstanding day for them (their words) as we visited the school and Little Children of Jesus. After the general assembly the kindegarten children has a special probram of singing and dancing and what an enjoyable time it was watching their antics.



















From there we joined Gladys and her staff for their annual Christmas party and "fete" day to honour International Day of the Handicapped. We go to help Gladys set up the buffet table...(and what a spread it was of Haitian treats) and before we ate, we were able to help the staff to feed some of the children needing assistance with their meal. The staff put on a skit about Cholera, a men's group sang several songs and other activities took place to liven up the day. It was so touching/heartwarming to see how much the staff and especially the residents enjoyed all that was going on..it was simple and basic but oh what fun they had! One of the members of the team pointed out to me again the specialness of Haiti...that a people so burdened with hardships and tragedy one after the other, still take time to celebrate the affirmative things in their lives.


Gladys (in purple pants) and staff singing a song..."down with Cholera"













The daughter of one of Glady's staff enjoys her "crown" and the Christmas festivities.


Today was supposed to be the preliminary announcements of the election results but I have been told it has now been put off to Tuesday. Friday and today there were announced demonstrations but I have not had any word as to what occurred. One good sign was that the university students arrived without problem for their monthly meeting with me this afternoon.

Public opinion is high for Mme Manigat or Michelle Martelly, a singer otherwise known as Sweet Micky for president. Some others are still calling for the election to be annulled but that cry seems to be waning a bit....we will just have to wait and see what the next days hold.

This morning Roberta, who is staying til Tues, and I attended church service at Marie's new church. We sat behind a lot of the girls and I was thinking how nice they all looked and what care that Oxane, their house mother and the older girls take with the little ones....each and everyone of them had ribbons in their hair colour coordinated with their dresses. The attendance was not as numerous as I have seen on other Sundays but the singing was no less exuberant...it surely does lift you up!
The girls have moved from their temporary lodgings into their new room..which is gaily painted with a variety of pastel colours. ....pictures of that next time as I had left my camera back at the house.
..and that my friends brings you a bit up to day...more or less.
Have a good week ...Debbie