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"