Hello one and all: A quick entry to let you know that I am "back in the saddle" once again having enjoyed my two weeks vacation to the utmost. I was spoiled by family and friends in Hamilton for a week and then came back to join Wilner for your trip to the DR for a week. I am thrilled to report he had his Cdn Visa renewed for 5 years (yahoo), all of which occurred on Monday so we had the rest of the week to just rest and relax..and that we did!

I have just been going through my email messages, doing laundry and the usual end of vacation activities...tomorrow I will head out to the school and check on things there. Otherwise, I gather all is the status quo in Haiti...still lots of talk about the election and the selection of the candidates. ..many disgruntled because Wycliffe was disqualified while others who did not meet all of the requirements either, were allowed to let their names stand.

Hope this finds everyone doing okay as well. More news to come as the week progresses.

Cheerio,
Debbie

Hello all: My oh my..hasn't the time just flown by, since my last time with you.

Let me back track a bit. Friday I bade farewell to the Iowa team...AKA "the Prestige-ous" team. It was an earlier start than usual as "they"...whoever "they" are of political persuasion were calling for a national transport strike and threatening damage to banks,, gas stations and other publice services that would remain open. Not knowing how the streets would be we left earlier than necessary and had extra eyes in the back of the truck with us.....Populaire with his trusty baton......Luckily all was calm, no road blocks, no burning tires, banks and gas stations functioning as usual so the team got to the airport in plenty of time. I don't think they minded too much being glad to have everyone checked in and settled before it got really busy.

Here is a picture of that Prestigous group and please note the handywork of Buzz who worked all day Thursday getting that little canopy ready....it is a perfect deterent to that hot sun.....at least for those who don't with to do their tannying time while sitting in the back of the truck.

Front row: Abby, Liza, Bob, Darryl, Dave, Dave aka Buzz

Back Row: Judy, Mary Anne, Katie and Pastor Keith

Once back at Hope House, I got busy straightening up my room or at least a part of it and hauled out the suitcases to see if all of my iron work will fit...it won't so I will now be wrapping a few pieces in cardboard....sound familiar to anyone?!

Saturday Wilner came with Bob and Thia and Mimim came from across town...it was family weekend at Hope House. Bob is home for vacation from his medical studies in Santiago and it was my only chance to see him as well as Mimim too. We enjoyed the afternoon by the pool at the Visa Lodge as well as the buffet lunch. It was a real treat for all. In the evening with "pizza buns" made we squished into our room (Joel included) and watched the muscial Mama Mia. I never tire of that music and enjoyed it as ever. The "kids" liked it too. Sunday mid morning saw everyone heading home. I admit to having a little siesta once everyone was gone, before I sat down at the computer. Below is a picture to introduce you to Thia, Bob and Mimim

The last couple of days have been taking care of various and sundry bits of business. I won't bore you with those details. One story though that may interest you. My last chore before heading home yesterday was to pick up some cheque books at the bank. I was about the 20th or so in line outside, just standing there watching the sites while I waited to get in. There was lots of traffic and one of the vehicles that passed by was a huge steam roller rumbling along. It has just passed by the bank when the next thing you know, everyone came fleeing out of the bank. In my mind, I was thinking there must be a bank hold up and I was waiting to start hearing gun fire or some such thing related to a hold up. Within a very short period of time, we realized that in actuality it was everyone panicking at the trembling inside the bank ,caused by the steam roller as it passed by. Earthquakes and its impact are still very much in the psyche of a lot of people. Many of the folks outside who saw the steam roller were laughing and joking at the reaction of the othes and yet they were very understanding of them as well.

The school is pretty quiet these days, now that most of the kids and staff are on vacation. The kids in rheto and philo finish their state exams this week. The admin staff will take a few days vacation at the end of the month and then all to soon we will be preparing for the new school year...set to begin Oct 4.

I too will take a little time away so please do not be surprised not to find anything on this site over the next two weeks.

Until next time...enjoy the summer, stay safe and Peace be with you!

Debbie

Greetings from Hope House! The gang is still hard at work trying to get in their last bit of work before "calling it a day". We have finished with the depot...it is in such good shape now...I am THRILLED!!! see the picture below...isnt' that a grand site!!

Now they are whipping together some more school desks. Carpenter Bob has a lot of pieces cut, so they have quite a little assembly line going. What a Blessing they are.....as are all of the teams that visit Hope House! There are now words to truly convey my appreciation for all of the work that is done and the spirit in which they work together.

Katie (with the drill) and Mary Anne even get their hand in at the desks.

Before donning our sweat rags, we did take time out this AM to absorb a little Haiti culture as we drove to downt0wn and visited a cooperative Haitian craft store. The streets were humming with life...people everywhere attending to various and sundry tasks.

Yesterday was also a full day. The morning was spent at the school, painting the bathrooms. What an improvement! It has been a chore I have been wanting to see done for a long time. Bob got the termite eaten door jamb fixed in the kitchen..another plus! On the way back to Santo 3 we passed by the Metal workers and most of the gang came away with at least one article in hand..me included (as usual).

Judy and Darryl..putting on the finishing touches...the team got 7 out of 10....I kidded them that they lost marks due to the amt of paint droppings on the floors!...they said that was the style in Bettendorf...I found that a little hard to believe so the score did not change!

I will say tira for now so that I can attend to dinner and to make a final "inspection" of all of the work done.

Cheerio,
Debbie

Hello all: I last left you as the team arrived in the pouring rain. Since then it has rained another couple of nights but the days have been sunny and warm...to say the least. Many things have been accomplished since Friday evening, one of which has been eradicating tarantula spiders and other creepy crawlers. Some folks don't appreciate the gifts of Mother Nature quite like some others.

The team has enjoyed the Sunday church service with the kids but the real highlight was attending the closing recital presented by the three kindergarden classes. What a delight it was.....I can honestly say that attending these events always brings a tear to my eye. It brings home to me how important our Mission is, in providing these kids the opportunity of an education. Monday was definately "kids" day. We proceeded from the school to Little Children of Jesus, arriving in time to help feed some of the children. Gladys was preparing for a staff meeting (before she heads out on holidays next week) so we didn't stay too long after meal time was over. We did take advantage of the visit to deliver more of the donated goods we had for her. The day ended with our visit to Marie's kids....also taking advantage of the visit there to delivery yet more donated goods....this time it was school binders to be given to the kids when school opens. Marie "escaped" for several days of R&R, so we didn't get to see her. However Gina and Fresnel took good care of the visitors.

Today was our visit to Food for the Poor. The traffic getting there was unbelievable!! We got in a traffic jam like I have never seen before. Finally some police officers with support of UN security took charge of straightening out the mess. After about 20 minutes we were finally able to make our turn up the road where we were headed. It sure was an eye opener for my guests.

In between time we have been organizing and moving boxes around in the various depots. Bob and his helper got cutting wood for desks and even better, shelving for the depot! What a blessing that is going to be. We opened up space for the shelves with our shuffling of boxes, plus another delivery of chairs, desks etc to Gladys helped out a lot.

Its time to go and join the other folks for their devotional period. I will leave you with a couple of pictures to enjoy.

Choir Practice -preparing to sing at the Sunday church service



Opening the Kindergarden recital. The K3 graduates led the way....they will move up to Primary school when school opens in Oct.
Chief carpenter Bob (with the hat), and his asst. Darryl measuring up wood to be cut for shelves and desks.

Darryl and Pastor Keith, putting the finishing touches on the depot shelves....aren't they great! (the shelves that is...and yes the two guys are great too)

Good Morning: another fine day has commenced. The gang from Bettendorf are still snoozing away....a bit "jet lagged" from their 2:45 AM departure from their church yesterday. There "adventure" began as soon as they arrived. As I awaited them the skies got blacker blacker. I had hoped we would make it back to HH in time but it was not to be. As soon as the truck was loaded and pulling out of the parking lot, the skies opened up, bolts of lightening lit up the clouds and claps of thunder rattled overhead. Those of us in the car behind felt fortunate to be inside. Some put on their rain capes but others just soaked up the rain. We were just around the corner from the house when I saw Odney pulling over, only to look and see that there was a flat tire on the truck. Not a pleasant thing at the best of times but when it is dark and in the pouring rain that is a whole other matter. We squished another person in the car with a few more bags and we headed to the house. Those guys worked fast as once we arrived at the house, I called Odney to see if I should come back for any reason and he was already heading down our road to the gate. It just goes to prove the Haiti proverb...anpil men, chay pa lou......(many hands make light work).

Soon everyone was dried off and we then enjoyed dinner and good fellowship time together before everyone turned in.

a la prochaine......Debbie

Hi folks: This will be a quick report as it is payroll time and I have to go and sign a few more cheques before I call it a day. It has been a full one. I started by doing paper work, then a quick trip to the school to drop off ice for the juice the kids were having today (along with chicken). Tomorrow is the last official day of school for them. I have a staff meeting so we decided to have the treat for lunch today. Only the kids writing their official exams will come to school over the next week or so until they write the exams. The teachers are there to coach them and give them practice questions.

After that I headed to Food for the Poor for the distribution that I was told to get this week, only to learn when I got there that they decided to do an inventory of the depot and everything was closed up. .....rats! But not to waste the entire trip I dropped in at Eko Depot to look for a small metal plate to shore up some desk legs. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, but I did manage to get paint, varnish and paint thinner so I am all set for the team coming tomorrow.

Then it was back to Hope House and more computer and paper work. Late in the afternoon I went and did some work in the depots.....had to get outside to see the light of day for a bit. Then it was into the kitchen to bake a couple of cakes, lemon square and heat up dinner for Joel and myself......and Jean as he worked late getting the big truck tuned up. After dinner I was doing several other chores in the kitchen when all of a sudden it started to rain....a nice tropical down pour. I just couldn't resist the call of the that wonderful cool water, so I quickly got my beach wrapper on, grabbed a towel and headed outside to the big water spout and ducked my head in...............ah..ah...ah what a heavenly treat....so cool and invigorating. I am sure some will think I am crazy when I have a nice shower inside.....but never the less it was a wonderful little break.

Once dried off I finished the items in the kitchen, got the cakes in the freezer and now here I am.

The news of the day in town is that Wycliffe Jean is supposed to be jumping into the political arean in Haiti by running for President. Jean told me there was a talk show today on the subject and people from all over the country were giving him their support. Whether it is true or not is another thing time will tell.

there I will leave you for the day.....cheerio
Debbie

Good morning one and all: A new week begins. It will be filled with routine paper / computer work, bank affairs, payroll etc until I go to the airport Friday to pick up the group coming from Bettendorf, Iowa. Before all of that though I must put last week to a close.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to get the Enrichment team off to the airport at 6:00 AM....or just shortly thereafter. It was rather an overcast morning and I had a few goose bumps as we breezed along to the airport. I could have used a jacket that is for sure. Everyone else found it to be quite refreshing after the heat they had been experiencing.

As Marni said they came as two groups but left as one. It was such a pleasure seeing how the gang all melded together. There was never a lack of conversation and that is how they got their nickname of the "Mme Sarah Magpies plus two". The plus two is for Tom and Patrick who were the "bookends" to all of the gals on the trip. The ladies who sell goods at the local markets are nicknamed Mme Sarah's, after a bird in Haiti called Mme Sarah ( a yellow and black weaver type bird). The characteristic of these birds is that they are always chittering and chatting away. I had just told them I was nicknaming them the Magpies plus two, when I went to help Joel with something in the kitchen. He quietly asked me if I knew what Mme Sarah's were. Immediately I knew what he was intimating and said "yes, I do, why.....do you think this group are like the Mme Sarah's". He chuckled and said yes. I definately got a big kick out of this and knew for sure they had been nicknamed appropriately but I did adjust the name to the "Mme Sarah" Magpies......thanks to Joel's astute observation as well. They too got a chuckle out of the story when I shared his comments with them. Mind you Tom and Patrick were not wallflowers and kept up their bit to add to the conversations.

The kids were very proud to take their crafts home on Friday. Many of them were already wearing the various pieces of jewellry they had made. Several of the girls had their paper mache bowls pinned to their heads, acting as a little cap.

Marie, Patty and Renee (accompanying Patty) dropped by Thursday evening for a little visit. It is a small world indeed as several of the team members from Bollingbrook/Naperville area, realized they only live several blocks away from Renee and Patty.

Although tiring, I have to say that the last two weeks with VBS and Enrichment week have been very rewarding. The kids really enjoy having the opportunity to experience both events, which do enrich their lives in many different ways. They are already talking about what they will do next year.!

..and now folks, I will leave to get and get my first cup of coffee for the day and enjoy a few sips in peace and solitude.

Have a good week
Debbie

PS. Hopie is recuperating very well from her operation. Her little girl Peanut (the Felon) kept tugging at the strings to get the protective hood Hopie had to wear off of her. Yesterday I gave up the "fight" of keeping it on as long as I didn't see Hopie irritating her operative sites. Luckily she seems to be healed up well enough and she didn't do anything against the doctors advice. I know I sure would't have wanted to be walking around with a big plastic bottle tied to my neck either. As much as the energetic Peanut has tested my patience this past week, I will be a little sorry to see her go to Fleury's home today, as she was promised to him. I know he wants her to have puppies for him, so maybe we'll have one of them in the future.