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"

Feb 7, 2011....the day President Preval was to step down as President but didn't. It seems his plan to stay until May 15 to see a new elected President take his place, may come to pass. There were demonstrations in downtown PAP, Cap Haitian and in the Artibonite Valley (between St Marc and Gonaives) but that didn't amount to as much as some people had hoped. Comments on the radio queried where were all the political leaders who had been calling for the annulation of the election and for Preval to leave today......their absence and lack of comment today was very apparent today. Some said they seem to have lost steam since the final election results were announced.....even though less than half of the CEP officers have agreed to sign off on the results. So things are still a little cloudy and will continue to curry our interest over the weeks to come, before March 20. Now the next big question is how to organize the next round of elections, to correct the faults of the first round and to ensure a more honest and correct election on the 20th.

The VOH school functioned today as normal but a number of schools in the city were closed as many were being cautious not knowing how big and/or unruly the demonstrations would be and not wanting to take any chances on student's being caught in the middle of things. It is amazing that the kids learn anything what with all of the disruptions to their school year and the stressful situations and challenges, that face each day.

We will see how things open tomorrow but it seems hopeful that we will be able to welcome, as planned, the medical team scheduled to arrive on Thurs. They are as anxious to come as we are to have them here with us for the week.

Keep your prayers coming for peace and calm to reign over Haiti and for safe travels for those who are planning to join us this week.

until next time.....Peace be with you.

Good Evening: Like many Haitians I stayed up late last night waiting to hear the final results of the Nov elections as the CEP was to make the announcement some time before midnight. Well that time came and went as did 1:30 AM without any news...that is when I said that was enough and headed to bed. Finally the results came at 7:30 AM. As many of you are probably aware the two candidates or the March 20 run off are Mme Manigat and Michelle Martelely (Sweet Mickey). Preval's favoured candidate from his party, Jude Celestin is no longer in the picture. Silence reigns from him, but both Mme Manigat and Martely gave press conferences today.

Thus far the reaction has been quiet with no demonstrations. In Aux Cayes where there was major violence in Nov, was a town celebrating today as Martely won the second place. Hopefully this is a good sign and the calls for maintaining order will be heeded by the various partisans.
Even though there have been no demonstrations there is great concern in the city as a number of police officers have been wounded or killed in actions carried out by unknown attackers over the past week or so. Despite their collective concern they have been out patroling and manning various strategic areas around town. Please keep the officers and their families in your prayers.

We are hoping that the calm we saw today bodes well for next week as well. I am starting to get a LITTLE hopeful that the medical team scheduled for next week will be able to come as scheduled. We will just have ot wait and see what happens on Feb 7 when President Preval is to step down as President. Monday will be an interesting day as well.

The Anderson's and I have taken advantage of the open days we had (since the Jan team did not come) to do other chores. For all of you construction types that will be coming on future Mission trips, you will be so pleasantly surprised at the order in which you will find the "hardware" section of the depot. Bert and Roberta did a GREAT job of sorting and organizing everything in that corner. You will want to give them a good pat on the back when you are here. I on the other hand have spent most of the time in front of my computer writing reports, doing payroll and various other admin type tasks.

We are also pleased as discussions with the construction firm and engineers are going well thus far and we are hoping that by end of Feb. we will actually be able to start clearing the ground to start the work. Clovis, the school director met with us last week and we sorted out a few issues to ensure security of the site and that kids are not having to cross the site to attend classes. We will move the card making class to the secondary building.

and there you have if for this day..the 2 of February.

Peace be with you............Debbie

Hello faithful readers: Yes.....I am still alive and kicking! I know it has been some days since I have written but it has been more or less the status quo since I last wrote. Still lots of chatter about Duvalier's return and of course the elections results, involvement of the International community, the OAS results and Aristide's desire to return to Haiti are also right up there. The FINAL election results are to be announced somewhere between Jan 29 and Feb 2...I am guessing closer to the 2nd...it's a bet I have with myself. Rumor also has it that Celestin has withdrawn which clears the way for Martelly. But there has been no publice announcement of that by Celestin himself nor has the Electoral Committe recieved any official declaration. ..so the beat goes on!

The one big change since last writing is that I am no longer alone at Hope House. The Andersons, Bert and Roberta have joined me to help with the operations. They were a very good birthday gift as they arrived the day I was celebrating "my day". What a welcome addition they are and having three years full time experience in Haiti under their belt is definately a bonus! See the website for a bit more information about them if you are interested. It has only been a little over a week since they have been here but they are picking up things so quickly that it seems like they have been here much longer. I know they look forward to meeting many of you who are planning trips to Haiti and Hope House this year.

Everyone else at Hope House is fine....Jean is back from an extended visit to his family and he is busy now getting our vehicles into top running order...they are showing their age and appreciate his "tender loving care" of them.....me too as without those vehicles I really would be stymied.

I finally made it out to the Artibonite Valley to visit Wilner this past weekend. It has been awhile and it was interesting to see various building projects going on along the road going North. It was a much smoother ride too as even more of the highway has been repaved..that is definately a sign of things improving!

With that I bid you fond farewell....until next time..peace be with you......Debbie
Click here to read about the ANDERSONS!

Good Evening:

The news of the day has definately been the return of Jean Claude Duvalier and his wife to Haiti after his years of exile in France. What a surprise (to say the least) to see the news reel last night about his arrival at the airport. Even the French ambassador to Haiti was taken unaware. What is all means, is anyone's guess! His return has deplaced for the moment all of the other conversations about where we are with the election results and what the next steps are to be, as there has been no official announcement to indicate what direction we are headed in. The report of the OAS (org'n of American States) indicated that the two leading parties were those of Mme Manigat and Michelle Martelly (Sweet Mickey) and that Jude Celestin (Preval's party) was not in second place as had been formally declared. Everyone is just taking things a day at a time and grateful for each day that we can go about our normal routines instead of being hampered due to demonstrations and office closures.

School re-opened Jan 10 and the staff handed out report cards this past weekend to the parents. The kids are back at it as they have a lot to catch up with due to the extra days that the school was closed at the end of the year.

that's it for today......until next time....take care and Peace be with you.
Debbie

JANUARY 12....Who ever will forget this date?! Not the people of Hait that is for sure. It is a National Memorial Day today and people turned out in droves at churches all over the country and at special ceremonies at the PAP Cathedral and the in Champs Mars..near to the Palace. It was not only a day for remembering those lost in the earthquake and those still suffering the ill effects of the fateful day but also a day of celebrating life and one of Hope for a brighter and modern Haiti for the future.


I am sure many of you have even participated in memorial events or witnessed them on the TV news. I have heard reports from Haitian press people in Paris, Montreal, Florida and New York of the activities being carried out in these cities.


At Hope House we are hosting a TV journalist and his photographer from my hometown. They are the same two fellows who were with me shortly after the earthquake last year. They are encourage by some of the progress they have witnessed but also a saddened to see so much still to be done. We just hope and pray that in the weeks/months progress will come more quickly with improved collaboration and coordination between the gov't and private sectors and all of the NGO's working in Haiti.

My thoughts took many different directions today as I thought of Jan 12, 2010 and the months that followed. It was a very eventuful year. One of the things I recalled were the messages of support and concern that I recieved from so many of you during the hours, days, weeks and even months after the 12th. I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to send those notes and prayers of care for me, the folks we work with, the children we care for and for Haiti and its people in general....you will never now they encouraged me to keep putting one step in front of the other.

Throughout my years here I have continually said "there is always Hope for Haiti". As I close today I leave you with this quote from Ian Rawson at Hopital Albert Schweitzer......."Haiti is poor in material terms, but Haitians are rich in their spirit and their courage. In the past year alone, they have endured a horrendous earthquake, floods in our region and a deadly cholera epidemic. Despite this, they never give up. Therefore never can we. We draw strength from their forbearance and resilience. Every day we learn again about the reservoirs of strength which come from hope."

Amen......Debbie