Dear friends of VOH:
Greetings from dusty and windy PAP. It is quite a contrast to the Artibonite Valley from where I just returned after an overnight visit with Wilner. They have had rain practically everyday for the last two weeks...needless to say there is not dust flying around there. Our backyard looks like a garden of Eden as the plants are thriving with all of the rain. It shows off all of Wilner's hard work keeping it going the rest of the year.

We are having a bit of "down time" as we are having a bit of a break between teams....the Enrichment team is due the 17th of July. Mind you this does not mean we are sitting twiddling our thumbs. Bert and our yard man are at the moment cleaning up the work area at the end of the guest rooms......sorting through a myriad of bits and pieces of electrical/plumbing/carpentry materials. Roberta is out checking for our mail at Agape and I am doing office work.

School as you are aware closed on June 30. The Grade 6's and 9's have finished their National Exams and the Rheto (grade 12) students go for their exams on Monday to Wed this coming week. We/they will get their results sometime near the end of August.

The Health Center continues to rise. It is so heartwarming to see that the blocks are now going in and the walls for the various rooms are beginning to appear. Everyone is pleased with the quality of work and thus far it looks rock solid! That was particularly on everyone's minds as we had a tremor that was easily felt last a week ago Friday. I was sitting in the same spot as I was during the earthquake and I have to say my heart was beating a little faster and harder during those few seconds. No damage occurred from the tremor,but some people were hurt as they rushed out of buildings. It was not felt as far away as the school, so there were no incidences there.


Our down note of the week was getting a call from the School Director informing us that the newly installed water pump was not working. Jean and Bert dropped what they were doing and headed to the school to investigate. The saga continues as we now figure out what went wrong and await a well driller to come and clean out the well. The positive side of it is that at least school is out so the need for having camions of water delivered every couple of days is not a worry. However the men at the work site are back to hauling water up by bucket full from the canal to make their cement.


On the political front, the negotiations and manoeuverings for the Prime Ministerial position still go on. Martelly has formed a special commission to meet with the two house leaders and has put forward three other candidates as well as resubmitting that of Daniel Rouzier. Many figure that after all of the back door negotiations are completed that Rouzier will in the long run been named Prime Minister. Time will tell!


As I close this message to you, I will also bid you adieu for a period of time. As many of you are aware I will begin an extended leave of absence from my duties here in Haiti, in order to return to Canada to attend to my mother, who has end stage cancer. As of Monday July 4 Bert and Roberta Anderson will be responsible for the Haiti Operations and they will begin to provide you with the updates from Haiti. I know that you will show them the same support and concern that you have provided me over the past months and that you will join me in prayers for their work as they continue to guide and advance the work here in Haiti.

I leave with both feelings of joy and sadness....happy to be returning to family and friends in Canada, sad at leaving leaving family, friends and my work here in Haiti. The sadness is lightened somewhat knowing that I will continue on a part time basis for the Village of Hope Lazarus Project helping with some administrative work and also assisting with the fund raising effort. Thus I look forward to continued contact with many of you. I will be maintaining my same email address: dlberquist@gmail.com (note the "l" between the d and b) and would love to hear from you. Thank you SO MUCH for all of the support, care, concern and many prayers that you have extended to me and to my family (especially my mom) over the past months. I have indeed been Blessed!

May God be with each and everyone of you and may he keep you in his loving care each and every day.

A bientot,
Debbie

Hi Folks: I am going to give you this next update with pictures:

Kindergarten 3 boys.....boys wil be boys everywhere.....notice how all heads are going in different directions

Kindergarten 1 class performing for the Recital

The walls at the heath center start to go up....it looks good and sturdy, which pleases us all.

Last week I had the pleasure to attend anniversary celebrations as FFTP-Haiti celebrated its 25th year of operation in Haiti. The day started off with a mass, then speeches and distribution of service awards to staff followed with a buffet. The parking lot usually filled with containers was miraculously cleared and turned into a reception area.

Little "Angels of Hope" led the procession for the Mass

The Monseigneur who let the mass, also serves as a member of the FFTP Board

The team from Bethel LC, Green Bay WI out and about in PAP

The singing at church was extra lively due to the talents of Pastor Amy on the guitar

The week ended with the year end Kindergarten recital enjoyed by the student's parents as well as the team members.

The closing piece danced with much vigor and enthusiasm by the star performers

Even the school Director got into the act, showing off his style!

Everyone looks forward to the slower days of summer and be able to recharge in preparation for the new year. Thank you to everyone for your continued interest and support of the Lazarus Project. It is through your good works that we were able to finalize another successful year at VOH school.

Other news of the day: As I typed this, I felt a little shaking for a brief few seconds and realized it was another little "shaking" we were having. Out at the school they felt nothing, so their was no disruption but on Delmas and some other areas, people scurried outside as fast as they could. You can imagine how many people had their hearts in their throats after that....I was one of them!
The majority vote in the cabinet was to refuse the candidacy of Gerald Rouzier as the Prime Minister and asked Martelly to select another candidate. So back to the drawing Board !

Good evening...one and all....hope you are doing well! After a year of planning and emailing back and forth what a pleasure it was to greet Pastor Amy and her group from Green Bay, WI, when they rolled into Hope House this AM. Depsite their early wake up call they were bright eyed and bushy tailed and it didn't take long for them to get down to work. While I type away I hear the electrical saw going as they work to put two picnic tables together, for the school.

Since last writing we have had a visit from the Fonds du Lac team. Despite their limited stay they still managed to pack a lot into the 5 days they were here. They made real headway in getting some garden beds ready for planting which the summer enrichment classes will do. Their team leader Perry, gifted us with posters announcing his Guiness Book of Records feat accomplished last September and he is preparing for another "24 hrs for Haiti" event to take place in Sept of this year.

Other good news is that the new pump and motor arrived and after a couple of days of testing, getting the technicians together etc., the new equipment was installed and once again we have a good water supply at the school.......it is indeed like liquid gold!! The project engineer and his staff are also excited to have a more constant source of water....now they will have to make less trips to the canal to haul buckets of water up to the cement mixer. .....ah the little things we take for granted...where is the big cement truck when you need it?!

School is coming to a close for this year. The grade 6 students write their National exams next Tues and Wed, the grade 9 students the week after and the grade 12 /rheto students the first week in July. The remaining classes will finish on June 30. This year, our school, Village of Hope is to be used for a exam center so next Tues it will be closed for our purposes and will instead be full of grade 6 students from various and sundry schools and localities as they gather to write their exams. Clovis and his staff are working diligently to prepare the students for their various exams, National or othewise. Please keep them and the others in your prayers as they sit for these important sets of exams.

The heavy rains seem to have caused a resurgence of cholera and many centers are once again facing a deluge of parents. Wilner was to come and visit this weekend but instead will be visiting several mountain villages providing education and prevention messages and distributing soap, chlorox and other water purification tablets.

Beside this topic, two of the other "hot" topics on the radio talk shows are the ratification of the Prime Ministeral candidate. According to rumor some of his papers were supposedly not in order but the last I heard that seems to have been cleared up and he is now to appear in front of the selection committee to present his plans and announce the cabinet ministers he will work with. The other topic is in regards to the $1.50 tax now being charged to all wire transfers coming into the country, which will be put towards Martelly's plans to provide free education for all. From the little I've heard on the radio, the reaction by those in the US sending the money has been pretty positive. It will be interesting to see how things progress as the months go by.

Now time has come to go and set the table for breakfast and get ready for a new day to come.

Until next time...have a good weekend and Peace be with you!

Greetings one and all:

The month of June is upon us and with it comes the Vacation Bible School team. It is a bit of a misnomer this year as vacation has not started just yet for the VOH kids. Never the less they are enjoying the week with the team which is featuring the story of the Good Samaritan. Day 1 was with Grade 1 &2, Day 2 with Grade 3&4. Today the Grade 5 & 6 classes were scheduled but a phone call from Clovis this AM at 5:45 to let me know school was closed for the day....it has been our "snow" day but instead of the white stuff we have the big fat rain drops falling.

We were not really prepared for a "day off" for the team and thus I have felt a bit like a mom trying to keep "the kids" amused when they have an unexpected day off of school. They are an adventursome crew and didn't let a little rain stop them from going out and about. So draped in various types of rain gear they headed downtown to visit an Artisan shop and then to the grocery store for Haitian goodies". They also got to see the various sites along the way. Unfortunately the Artisan shop was closed but they enjoyed the outing. According to some accounts, it seems the "crazy blancs" traveling in the back of an open truck on a rainy day, provided some amusement for our our Haitian friends.

Now they are doing a few other odd chores...bagging rice, counting toothbrushes, dusting......to while away the couple of hours remaining before dinner time.

The kids at the school are preparing for their exams and the teachers working hard at review with them to ensure they do well...especially those writing their National exams. Clovis has been kept busy completing all of the necessary details to get them registered. The Grade 6 write June 22, Grade 9 the 28th or so and the Philo kids at the beginning of July. Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare for these important exams.

We are still awaiting the arrival of the new pump and motor for the well. In the meantime we have the big water truck making deliveries of water to the school. It is not convenient that is for sure, but I am so grateful that we have this alternative...many others would not be so fortunate....we are Blessed!

So until next time from a rainy and overcast Haiti, I wish a good evening..

Debbie

Good Morning ..and a fine one it is! The plants and shrubs are glistening in the morning sunshine from last night's rainfall...what a beautiful site to greet us as we gathered at the picnic table for breakfast this AM.

Yesterday afternoon our Internet problem was fixed..what a great relief it is, despite the pain it caused to the pocketbook. It is amazing how fast one quickly acclimatizes to the instant news and messaging and "feels" the inconvenience when it is not available. I kept reminding myself that in my early days in Haiti, I was thrilled to have mail delivery once a week!!

On another positive note, Jean and crew were finally able to fish the motor out of the well. The fellows deserve a medal as far as I am concerned, for their ingenuity in rigging up the "fishing pole" and their persistance it resolving the problem. The down side is that we have discovered the problem and it means we have to order a new pump and motor in order to get the well up and running again. So it looks like we will be having a few more tanks of water delivered to the school in the meantime. ......at least we have that option so we feel fortunate for that.

Jean has been returning to Hope House late each day as a result of the work he has been doing. One evening he joined us for a few minutes after dinner and graced us by playing the guitar and singing several songs in French and Creole and then a few Christian songs in English. It was a special moment for the team members.


Today is flag day, a National Day in Haiti as we salute their flag, which was first made in Archaie, a town about an hour north of Port au Prince. This will be one of the new President's first official engagements as he attends mass at the St Pierre Catholic Church in Archaie and then joins the Mayor in saying a few words to the public afterwards. If tradition holds they will also enjoy watching a number of youth groups performing their precision marching and chanting. Yesterday was hot dog day at school in recongnition of the special holiday. The visiting team members who were at the school painting the rafters in the chapel, enjoyed seeing the kids march out of the school waving their flags and singing with much gusto and enthusiasm.


Saturday past, was the inauguration of President Martelly. I was able to watch a bit of the ceremony on TV in between my various chores and activities. Two great stands had been built on the grounds in front of the ruined palace for the Presidential contigent and all of the honoured guests and special invitees. It was quite a site and it hit home once again the amount of work that still needs to be done and the many challenges the new President is facing. Many people on the street interviews seem to indicate that in general they are pretty hopeful that Martelly will be able to bring about positive change for them. Please continue to pray that it will be thus.

and that my friends is it for this time around. Wishing you all a great day. .....Debbie

Catching you up to date with a few photos.......

The Joyful Spirit team enjoying Jean's evening serenade

The "Rock n Block" team leader, or in his words (definately not mine) "The Blockhead".....getting a little road repair accomplished

Flag Day celebrations getting underway at the school.

Health Center retaining wall....as Bert puts it "a real work of art"..and much greater endeavor than we imagined.

Good morning:
It is a refreshing morning after another night of rain. It has been falling regularly in the evening the last three nights. At the same time we are also discovering more work for the current and future teams as we have felt rain drops falling on our heads....inside instead of outside. Poor Bert and Roberta even had to get out of their comfy bed last night to get out of the way of the drips and I know where not to stand in the kitchen if I want to stay dry. There is always something to attend to. Water seems to be our issue this month. We are still dealing with the problem of the well pump at the school. Yesterday the technicians came to pull the pump so we could look to see what the problem and horror of horrors as they were pulling it out one of the couplings came loose and sepated the pump and down it fell into the well. This definately was not good news! .....and we thought we had problems with our leaky roofs. Today they will try and fish out the pump with some sort of device that Jean and the technicians will be concocting.

The construction side of the Joyful Spirit team have been hard at it constructing the small incinerator and putting the roof over the latrines at the back of the school. They now really know the meaning of "hot" having been laboring away under the Haitian sun. It doesn't take them long to get through the 5 gallons of water we send out and the last two days we have doubled that and more to make sure they don't "dry" out in the course of their day.

The other half of the group has been attending to things at Little Children of Jesus. The kids are enjoying their company.

Construction carries on with the health center. Wouldn't you know it though,, they are at a point where they need a lot of water to be preparing the concrete to pour the footings. Definately not a timely moment for the well pump to go on the fritz. Such are the vagaries of life though and our engineer is used to dealing with such challenges. So he is going to start digging the foundation for the latrines and will use that excavation as a reservoir for water and he will have a tanker or two delivered to hold the water so they can attend to the other part of the project. .....as the saying goes.."if their is a will, there is a way!"

Hi folks.....It's May 5 today as I type away at this note. We awoke to clear and fresh skies, after a night of rain...good for the farmers and keeping the dust at bay but still a challenge for those living under less than ideal conditions.
We have had a quiet couple of weeks, as you have probably gathered from the dirth of updates on the blog. It's just been taking care of daily business. The construction at the health center continues..more holes are dug and one of the retaining walls is even on its way up. We are quite pleased with the progress and are on schedule according to our engineer....even better!
It just stands to reason that since everything was going along so smoothly that something was bound to come along to upset the apple cart..and so it is thus. The last several days we have been dealing with a water problem at the school since the pump in the well gave up the ghost. Bert and Jean have earned their keep tracking down well drillers who can pull the pump, purchasing a new pump, organizing a delivery of water to the school and purchasing a new holding tank for said water. All I have had to do is hand over the money......well we did have several pow-wows together over the situation so I wasn't completely out of the picture. At any rate I was thankful that the two gents took on the problem which left me free to do banking, budget and university student disbursement duties. Clovis as well has had his hand in helping to sort out the situation...especially keeping and eye on the reserve of water. So keep us in your prayers with the hope that everything can be changed over on the weekend as planned.
Now we are gearing up for the May/June teams, one of which arrives this Saturday. They arrive just in time to greet the new President Martelly as the inauguration takes place on Saturday. I haven't heard too many of the details but I know there is a big ceremony planned. It will be interesting to follow his course of action over the months to come.
The last time I wrote I had trouble uploading pictures to the report but today I am having more luck so here are several to get you up to date.
1. The blushing bride is one of our grade 4 teachers. She was beautiful...just as all brides are.
2. Two of our "Wedding March" team as they braved the watery streets on our way back from the wedding.
3. Our kindergarten teachers presenting the eggs they decorated with the kids for their Easter baskets
4. Progress on the work site...chipping away at the hard rock. Just imagine doing it under the hot noontime sun!
In Haiti, Mother's Day is celebrated the last Sunday in May, but back home it is this Sunday coming up. So as I say goodbye for this time around, I leave you with this little Jewish proverb.
God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.- Jewish proverb
Wishing you a Sunday filled with the loving warmth of motherhood, happy gatherings with your Mother's and for those unable to be with their mother for whatever the reason, may cherished memories fill your cup.....mine runneth over!












Happy Mother's Day Mom....Debbie

Hi all: Another week has gone by and with it a few more experiences to add to the coffers of "life in Haiti". The most recent was yesterday afternoon. We had the pleasure of sharing some Haitian culture with our visting team from New York State / Ohio as we attended the church ceremony of the marriage of one of our primary school teachers. In order that our VOH chauffeur would not be home too late, our nearby friend, Marie, agreed to let us use her vehicle and chauffeur as they are so nearby. We arrived at the church just in time as just after we were seated the bridesmaid's started dancing their way down the aisle. It is always to beautiful to see how they sway and move to the music as they make their way to the alter. The bride was beautiful (aren't all brides) and the groom handsome in his dark suit, maroon coloured shirt (to match the colour of the bridesmaid's dresses) and his white gloves. We enjoyed hearing the hooting and hollering of the congregation as the happy couple gave each other a chaste little kiss on each other's cheek after they were presented as a couple.

We snuck out before the end of the service to start our way back home. Heading up to the service, we had a little car problem when smoke and a very toxic smell started coming from the front of the truck. After a short stop and investigation the driver assured us it was just some oil burning off (burning off what???...I don't know ) and all was okay. So back in we hopped and off to the church we arrived without further incident. Due to this little incident we headed back hoping it would go well. We got about halfway back, when trouble began as the vehicle kept stalling out.....this in the middle of rush hour traffic. You can imagine the vehicles behind us were not too happy to be stuck behind a stalled vehicle. After about 3 or 4 times of this halting action, the one fellow who accompanied me came to the back to tell me he thought we were out of gas. What next I wondered! So I told him to head to a gas station. Two stall later we arrived at a pump and gave the car a "drink". Then thinking our problem was resolved we headed off once again.....then horror of horrors we stalled again. By this time we were very close to a major intersection that was now totally gridlocked due to the going home traffice and now worsened with the pouring rain that began to fall. I was fortunate to be sitting in the back with folks that had a good sense of humor because before too long we were totally soaked to the skin. Meanwhile I am thinking of what to do because by this time the battery had totally died on the car and the drive couldn't even get it to turn over ...even one little whine. Luckily we were not too far from Jean Dimanche who agreed to don his rain coat and come up to get us. Knowing that the route he would have to take would also be backed up, I told the gang it would be best for us to get down, cross the road between all of the stalled vehicles and then start walking down the road to meet up with Jean and some further point. ...and yet another adventure awaited. We got to the corner and ended up in water rushing past us, up to our knees as we slogged our way across the intersection and started our march down the road. Although we all looked a bit like drowned rats...especially those of us who had been in the back, we were lucky in that it had stopped raining as we were walking along. It was interesting hearing the comments of the Haitian folks as they saw this little line of "blancs" making their way through the water and down the road. ....what fellow said....."this is Haiti for you" and another asked Bert "what are you doing out in this".. Not too far down the road I heard this voice saying Mme Debbie here I am . Soon we were all piled in Jean's vehicle ...all 9 of us. Yes, we were crammed in but we were so thankful to be thus.! I did feel badly leaving the two fellows in a middle of the mess to take care of the car situation, but I was happy to be having the team on its way back to Hope House.
I learned this AM that their was a problem with the fuel pump and the fellows got back to Marie's around 10:30......Althought it was late I was relieved that they got home never the less.

Once back at Hope House, we all disinfected ourselves and our shoes with chlorinated water......it was dark so we didn't see the water through which we slogged but we could just imagine all of the garbage and other materials that would be floating around in it.

As we sat down to a warm bowl of soup we had reason to give thanks for it, the dry clothes we had on and that we were safe and sound at Hope House. These blessings were especially appreciated as we know so many others around the city were not so fortunate.

Another highlight of the week was helping out at the Easter lunch provided to the kids.....chicken and juice being added to the usual rice and bean menu. The team were also ambassadors for a church school in Florida as they handed out home made Easter cards to the pre school classes.
The Kindergarden teachers had been busy decorating eggs for their kids to take home along with other Easter decorations and goodies in their paper Easter baskets.

While we enjoyed these activities we could hear the jackhammer in the background as the fellows on the work site chipped away at the hard rock they have encountered as they prepared the holes and trenches for the footings and retaining wall. I give them credit as they go about their bone jarring work under the hot noon time sun.

Port au Prince remains calm after the announcement of the election results for the President but according to the news this AM it is not the same in some of the smaller areas around the country as they announce the results of elections for the senators and deputies, who are the departmental (state) representatives in the legislature.

So I leave you today, it is with thoughts of spring and rebirth and the beauty that it brings to us all....wishing you many Easter Blessings as we celebrate this Easter weekend.

Debbie

Hello everyone: Yes we are alive and kicking here in Port au Prince. I just returned from a 16 day trip in the US and Canada while Bert and Roberta held the fort in Haiti. Five days were spent in the Washington/Virginia area, 5 days in Boca Raton/Kissimmee area and the rest in Hamilton with my mom.

The Washington/Florida legs were to attend Regional meetings for supporters of Village of Hope ..new and old. I was able to greet many former Mission team members and got to know some new faces as well. It was such a pleasure to be able to give everyone an update regarding our activities in Haiti and to also say our "thanks" in person for all of the support and efforts that so many go to which ensure that we can keep things "ticking in Haiti" .

Beside the pleasures of the Regional Meetings and being spoiled by my hosts/hostesses, I was able to finally see the infamous Cherry Blossoms in Washington as the Cherry Blossome festival began the weekend I was there.

Another highlight was the time I spent with the school children at Trinity Lutheran church in Kissimmee. Their questions about Haiti and the Village of Hope sure kept me on my toes and it was amazing to hear the breadth and depth of them.

While I was flitting about Bert and Roberta kept things going in Haiti.....taking care of everyday business, overseeing the construction work and welcoming and working with the team from Prince of Peace.

Finally the work of moving the earth around for the clinic has been completed and today when I was at the school a number of young men were beginning to dig trenches and holes for the footings.

a..a..a..h...the beautiful Washington Cherry blossoms

Presentation by Grade 8 kids at Trinity Lutheran Church in Kissimmee..with a promise to have the box filled and more, with school and medical supplies to be sent for the new School year.

Pastor Andy Hagen giving a Board update to the participants at the Advent LC Regional meeting in Boca Raton.

Enjoying special church music presented by the Haitian church band and singers that worship in the Friendship Hall at Advent church each week.

These fellows deserve medals as they chip away at the hard rocky earth, under the hot haiti sunshine, to prepare the ground for the footings.

Many say that rocks grow in Haiti and you may now believe it too as you see the pile of rocks that have been saved to be reused for the retaining walls.......we are glad our engineer has a "waste not want not attitude to his work"

Hi folks: Not a whole lot to report on today. In PAP it is business as usual since Sunday. Some other areas of the country are not so and in one area of the Artibonite two of the parties have been exchanging gunfire and I heard just now on the radio that 14 arrests had been made by the PNH. But that is the rare case. On the whole everyone is quite pleased with how this round of voting went and many compliments are being given to the PNH (nat'l police ) and the MINUSTAH troops who were charged with keeping order.

The preliminary results are to be announced no later than March 31 and the final results on March 16. The CEP has been pretty insistent that news folks and others do not publish any preliminary results, not wanting to incite any rumors and actions on the part of the various partisans of the candidates. However rumors still go around that Martelly is ahead although in the North Mme Manigat had a stronger showing. We'll see how it all unravels.

I really just wanted to share a couple of photos taken of the work site for the Clinic at the school. Already the sky line is changing and it is quite remarkable to see how much ground they have dug up already. ......it was pretty exciting to me to see this when we drove up the roadway today.

Maybe you will feel that way too!.....a pita! Debbie

Sunday March 20......Election Day once again in Haiti!

I have been listening to the radio on and off today and on the whole it appears that the elections are coming off in a much better fashion than the first time around. Mind you that doesn't mean there haven't been incidences here and there around the country. One of the stories running about is Wyclef Jean showing up a the polling station with a gunshot wound to his hand. I haven't heard enough details to give you further information. The polling stations in PAP proper are being kept open until 7 PM tonight, a three hour extension accorded by the CEP due to many polling stations starting late this AM. They were supposed to be ready and open from 6:00 AM but at 8:30 I was hearing reports that some of them did not even have the materials on hand to conduct the elections.

Several of the voting offices have started to send back preliminary results and what I have heard thus far has Martelly being ahead by a mile......we'll see how that changes or not as the other offices report in and the official results are announced in April.

Schools were scheduled closed on Friday and again on Monday. One reason being that many schools are used as polling stations. The other reason they were closed on Friday because no one wa sure what may happen as Arisitide returned to Haiti from his exile in South Africa. Even Wilner was on the road by 6:30 to head back to the Artibonite, not wanting to take a chance that he would get stuck in Port. Happily his return came without incident and it does not seem to have affected the election process today.

It has been a quiet weekend with Bert and Roberta at Hope House. Yesterday Bert did odd jobs while Roberta and I worked on organizing the medical supplies we have in the depot and moving some items from my office to the depot. My back was complaining by the end of the day but it was with a feeling of satisfaction that I was moaning and groaning! It was just a gorgeous Saturday morning...cool with a balmy breeze, so before getting down to work, Roberta and I enjoyed a morning coffee at the picnic table while playing a game of Scrabble.......what better way could one start the day!! This afternoon we had another match and Bert joined us for this one. Opie always wanting to be right in the "thick of things" also got into the spirit of the game.

That's it for this time around. I will leave you with the weekly reflection taken from the FFTP Lenten Calendar ........." Take time to truly listen to God. Allow his WORD to guide you and strenghten you.

May the week ahead be a good one for you.

Hi folks: the pictures may be a bit out of order from my latest writings but one has to take advantage of the fact that the Internet is now working and willing to upload my pictures. So here is a little selection for your from the last week or so.


Monday saw the engineers at the school, doing some last minute surveying on the health center site, before they started digging Tues. Mr Maxi Charles, the former Mayor of Ganthier who worked so closely with Carole Herget as she got her school up and running stopped by to share in the special moment as we started work on the clinic. . He supported Carole's dream of providing Health Care and is delighted as we are that at long last we are beginning the construction. Here is introduced to the engineers, who plan to use as many local resources as possible throughout the construction of the clinic.

Last minute surveying

What do you get when you mix Haitian children with soccer balls.....utter enthuiasm with little order ...the well laid plans of the team members were for naught once the kids saw the soccer balls. At one point I think they all threw their arms up in the air.....but not with despair...instead they just joined in the free for all with the kids and EVERYONE had a great time.

Odney did double duty as a translator and here he is with Bob leading the kids in a little warm up exercise before kicking the ball about.

The "New Beginnings" team from Bethany Lutheran Church, Alexandria VA with one adopted member from Hamilton, Ontario

Who can ever resist capturing such beauty....a few of the reasons for our existance.

and finally.....all the chatter is about the election on Sunday.....here is a sample of the many billboards around the country encouraging people to vote on Sunday. It is going to be a tight race I think. On top of it all, added to the talk is news of Aristide's immiment return...at one point rumored to be tomorrow but some latest news has him arriving Sunday the day of the election.... more interesting times for Haiti.

Greetings: the last day I wrote the Bethany team was just arriving and today as I write to you again they have bade us farewell and are at this time safe and sound at home again with their families. I think it is safe to stay that it was a very touching and life alterating visit for each of these first time visitors. What a pleasure it was to introduce them to the delights and challenges of Haiti.

Today is a BANNER DAY for the Village of Hope....WHY you ask? The much dreamed of and long awaited Heath Center is finally underway! YAHOO!. The engineers have been at the site the last two days and today the bulldozer started moving the earth around to clear and level the land for the building. Bert was out their recording this momentous occassion while Roberta and I attended to affairs in town. I still felt a big THRILL even though I was not here to witness this special moment myself! The builders estimate 7 months for the project so please keep your prayers coming that elections run smoothly, the hurricane season passes over us without big distruption etc. to keep us on schedule.

March 16 ECSA begins excavating the ground for the Village of Hope Health Center.

that's it for today folks..I had hoped to get more pictures posted but it is a no go....will try again next time.

Cheers,

Debbie

The team from Bethany church arrived safe and sound and are adapting quickly to their many new experiences. All are first time visitors to Village of Hope and Haiti. Yesterday was a day of work around Hope House..some painting, others building benches while others cleaned and re-organized the "red door depot". I told everyone when it was done I just wanted to take a chair inside the room and sit there and admire how it looked...there is even space to spare now.

Today the team is out and about with Roberta to visit Food for the Poor and Little Children of Jesus. Bert and I stayed behind to meet with the Eng for the Health Center. What excitement as they will begin working at the site on Monday....yahoo!

Pictures to follow as right now they refuse to be uploaded.

Have a good day............Debbie

Hello folks: In my last report I mentioned that I couldn't believe how the week with the medical team had whizzed by.....now I am really scratching my head when I look and see that it has been three weeks since I last touched base with all of you. In the meantime we have had another team, I have spent a week in Canada, our Board met in Haiti and a photo team took pictures of all of the school kids. I think in order to catch up, I will "say it with photos" as I am sure you will find them more interesting than a long written diatribe.

Coming from Texas, Minnesota and Virginia the team led by Greer Putnam from St John's Lutheran Church in Alexandria worked as if they had known each other for years. Here they are getting supplies ready to repair a depot wall that was damaged during the earthquake.

Board members that were able to come to Haiti for the meetings, standing outside the Administration window at the school in Ganthier.
Fr Row: Pastor Ron (blue shirt) and Pastor Andy

Back Row (Lto R) : Tom (photo team member) , Dr Randy, Pastor Cheryl, Mme Marni, Darrell and special guest Rick.

Pastor's Andy and Ron, sharing a moment with Mr Robert Acra long time supporter and friend of Village of Hope. He is also President of the Haiti based board for the school. He worked closely with the School founders Carole and Jim Herget in the early days of the Project.

A thrilling moment as the dream starts to become a reality.....Engineer Delva signing the constrution contract for the Health Center with Pastor Ron while Pastor Andy and Engineer Moise look on. We expect to be digging up the ground within 2 weeks or so.

Lively discussion and debate took place as the Board members deliberated over the various agenda items. The Village of Hope is Blessed to have a group with such heart for the work they have volunteered to do. All enjoyed meeting outdoors....that is until dusk rolled around and the mosquitoes came out looking for dinner.......and what a smorgasboard they had!

What a photo team!....all of the kids at school that day (600+) had their photo taken before 2:00. They went home feeling a great sense of accomplishment....and a well deserved one too.

Visitors are always greeted by a very enthusiasitc group of student's and it was no different for Board members Pastor Cheryl and Pastor Andy.

Now Bert, Roberta and I enjoy several "quiet" days to catch up on various and sundry chores. Today and tomorrow many businesses are closed as Mardi Gras celebrations take place in various towns across the country. The festivities have caused a lot of chatter on the radio talk shows as people debated the pros and cons of continuing with the celebrations when so many are still living in temporary shelters and recovering from the Cholera epidemic. The powers that be have decided " the show must go on" and so the actities have begun. Normally the biggest celebrations have been in Jacmel and downtown PAP but this year they are trying to de-centralize them a bit more so other towns are also engaged.

Churches will be filled on Wednesday as the faithful attend Ash Wednesday services and then it will be back to "business as usual"....even for us as we prepare to greet a group from Bethany Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Virginia.

The two Presidential candidates Mme Manigat and Michel Martelly continue on the campaign trail. M Martelly visited the DR to meet with their President with the thought of improving the relations between the two countries if he is elected President. Mme Manigat reportedly travelled ot the US and Canada to attend fund raising activities for her campaign. Many Haitians "lot bo dlo" (across the ocean) are still very interested and active in Haitian politics and carry a loud voice.

Last week I made a quick trip to the Artibonite Valley to be with Wilner as he buried his father, who passed on unexpectedly. It was most interesting to see the changes taking place along the routes as we made the trip their and back. More and more temporary houses are popping up here and there and several new schools and training centers are underway...one of them just outside of St Marc in the Artibonite Valley. It is encouranging to see that in the future kids will have the chance to study in their home department (state) without everyone having to come to PAP for further education.

In the weeks and months ahead you may look forward to receiving news regarding changes being made as we implement decisions taken during the Board meetings. It is an exciting time for us as we look forward to our growth as an organization.

We thank you, our faithful supporters, new and old to the Village of Hope - Lazarus project for your prayers and generous contributions (that come in many different forms) to our success.

Until next time.....peace be with you.

The week has whizzed by...its amazing to me how the time flies. We have said a fond farewell to the "Happy Hearts" team from Sarasota and are now preparing for the arrival of a group from St John's LC in Alexandria Va. We are so thankful for the calm days we are having that permit these groups to travel as planned. The medical team saw over 400 people in the few days that they were here. Thanks to Dr Chris and his "have dental chair will travel", 78 people recieved care for their dental woes. The week was quite varied as we had clinics at the school, one for the Ganthier community, another for a small community in Croix des Bouquets and then we passed by Little Children of Jesus and Marie's to attend to folks there.....even Marie had her turn in the dental chair. I was pleased with the clinic Croix des Bouquets...Cotard 54 to be exact as I was not so certain that the health commity had done all it could to be prepared for us. It was a slow start but word quickly got out and before too long there was a good size line of folks waiting for the Dr and Nurse Practitioner. One of the highlights of the week was seeing some of the gals on the team singing "Jesus Loves Me" to a little baby upon whom Dr Steve performed a small surgical procedure. Being cradled by one of the staff members and hearing their singing settled her cries and soon she was sleeping away.

It rained a couple of evenings this past week and one night several of us decided to take advantage of the grand gush of water coming from the down spout to wash our hair. Even though it had rained for a bit of time before we undertook this activity and there had been plenty of time for the debris to be washed off the roof, just as we went to rinse our hair it was like a plug was pulled above us and the next thing you know we were covered in bits of leaves, sticks etc.. Each of us had to go to our rooms to have another shower to get all of the gunk off of us.....so much for our refreshing shower thanks to mother nature......at least our hair felt soft from the rain water!

Valentine's day took place during the team's visit. I took advantage of the team's presence to deliver some valentine cards that had been made by a preschool church class in Florida. They graced us with a song or two before we left them to their celebration of a little chocolate milk and goodies.

The election campaign for the second round of elections kicked off officially this week. It of course has caused a lot of chatter, especially as related to the planning for the elections to correct the imperfections of the round last November. Both candidates Mme Manigat, and Michel Martelly are very confident in their chances and are in the process of preparing list of names for the gov't officials they will put in place upon their "win" as president.

Wishing you all a pleasant weekend.

Debbie

Happy Sunday Evening:

The end of a busy and productive week. Thankfully things have stayed quiet enough that the Medical team from Sarasota area was able to come as planned last Thurs. They have hit the ground running and thus far have had two very good clinic days out at the school. This time around we have a dentist on the team and he has had a good work out pulling teeth. He trained three team members and they then went around giving the kids from Grade 1 to 6 a flouride treatment (thanks to Dr Laura). We fashioned this clinic after the one done by the Georgia group and it went so well, I even had time to do re file student charts and start the statitistical work before the clinic was even finished for the day. There are three more clinic days lined up for the week but each day will see us at a different location. We are keeping them on their toes!

Today Bert and I met with the Engineers for the Health Center and we are so thrilled that the end is in site as far as the planning goes and that we will be able to start digging in the very near future....yahoo!!

Of course as usual it doesn't rain but it pours....so just as we were getting ready for a busy week with this team, we got a call that a long awaited container of donated items had finally been delivered and could we pick it up as soon as possible because the folks recieving the goods for us had very little depot space. Bert handled that while Roberta and I were at the school. It took 2 days and three trips each day with two pick up trucks but he got it all delivered. Much of it is now under tarps in our yard until the next team arrives when we can start delivering some of it to the school. Thanks to the folks from Pennsylvania for making the donation possible. Everything arrived in pretty good shape...which is a miracle in itself.

I know it has been a bit of a "dry" spell without any photos, so here are one or two for your interest.

Dr Chris - Fluoride treatment for the grade 1 class














Dr Jouberth Helias (Clovis's niece) assisting at the clinic.














Mary and Lexie...our pharmacy technicians.

Beaux-arts at the Hope House compound. We call it "furniture under blue tarp"