Two, Two Days In One (Blog)

Monday had a great start. I had a nice walk around the neighborhood with Ada. Followed by a tour of the new water purification facility at the orphanage. This water purification not only provides clean water for the kids at the orphanage (and us), but they are selling water to the neighborhood as a source of income (including flavored water drinks).

We left of a couple of our group at the orphanage, one to lead some teacher training the other to help with physical therapy, and headed for the Concorde Baptist Church, which also houses a school, where we were going to building an out lying building to house a water purification facility. The church seems to supply the surrounding community with water today and so clean water will help improve the health of community.

We spent the bulk of our day moving cinderblocks, 94lbs bags of concrete, mixing concrete on the ground (which is harder than it sounds) and moving it all again as the day progressed. It was a hot, dirty, and hard working day. But there is something about doing this type of work that is just amazing.

There were some setbacks, such as the Haitian masons forgetting to leave a space for the door and forgetting to remove the several large rocks before laying down the foundation; but it is Haiti and that is simply expected. (By the way, we removed that big rock in the picture after the foundation was poured. It took about 3 or 4 of us, but it was removed.)

In between spurts of manual labor we were able to interact with the kids and even spent some time on the street out in front of the church just talking with people. All the Haitians I have met while walking around have been extremely friendly and most are just looking to say hello or practice their english.

Speaking of english, the last thing we did before leaving for the guest house was to attend about an hour of the "Easy English Club" meeting. This club meets two times a week with each meeting lasting about 3 hours. This was a club started by some of the translators that we have worked with; the aim being to, well, teach conversational english. Tonight's meeting including a song, I Can Only Imagine, as well as a solo by a member who sang Italian opera ... you don't get that in many English clubs in Haiti.

Tuesday started off with a walk as well. This time Maureen, who came with us to Haiti to help provide some teacher training joined us. Then it was off to the construction site to continue work on the water purification building. We had some down time as the local builders put some scaffolding together to support the concrete roof that is required to support the water tank. We used this time to do some general trash clean up at the school. There is still a lot of trash in Haiti and the culture is such that most people toss food wrappers, etc. on the ground. Lots of children saw us cleaning up today so we are hoping that at least one of them catches on.

After the work day we spent some more time with the children at the orphanage. There were some parachute games, board games, and reading. The children really do enjoy being read to, but it rarely happens. I delivered the donated laptops to the school while we visited the children. My plan is to visit the classroom tomorrow while they are teaching typing to the children.

Jenna's entry #2

At first I was very intimidated to write on this blog at all, I read a few of the other entries and they were so eloquent , so beautifully written. My voice is not like that. And to share my faith and prayers so openly felt naked. It was fine to write on it when I hadn't shared it's existence with anyone I knew, but to push the button to share it on Facebook was hard. Now that I have, however, the words don't want to stop. BTW, it's the middle of the night and I can't sleep because the rooster has decided it is morning and tough patooties to anyone who does not agree. So blog it is.
 It's hard to want to be here when you are uncomfortable, like now. It does help to some extent to remember that just next door, or even maybe down the hall, other children of God who happen to live here are much more uncomfortable. They don't have an air conditioner or maybe even something soft to lie on when they are trying to sleep. Or I think the ladies who cook and clean for us are getting here and starting breakfast right now. But it doesn't take away the crankiness. It does affirm that I am different from lots of Americans who don't care, or who do care but not enough to get their butts on the plane, feet in the rubble, hands busy. So good for me. Yeah, right. I miss my own bed and my snuggly husband. Oh well.
The therapy clinic has my mind spinning. I don't know where to begin describing it. Before I came I didn't have any idea what to expect so I bought this amazing book called Disabled Village Children. It is a great book, describes the kind of disabilities one might see in a third world country, and a good overview of occupational therapy with children in general, which I sorely needed, having only worked with adults for 24 years. It is written in layman's language but does not skip the medical terms, just explains them clearly and simply. It is meant to empower anyone who cares about these children who are often marginalized, ignored, maybe even given less food than their healthy brothers and sisters, not hugged and sung to and read to and given special attention in school. More likely they don't go to school at all. It teaches everything you need to know to keep these children safe and healthy and involved in the life of the community, employed in whatever way they can be, seen for their abilities and not their disabilities. It's a good lesson for us in the US as well because although we have the latest equipment, wheelchairs, special transportation, ramps, PCA's, organizations and support groups, we still see people with disabilities as less than ourselves rather than differently abled. I know I am guilty of it myself in my own life and job when I prefer to do thingsFOR my patients rather than give them the time and encouragement to do it themselves. The truth is I get tired or frustrated or rushed because I have so many patients to see in this amount of hours and if I don't make a certain productivity quota I get in trouble. It's no excuse and I will try to remember the days when I was a new OT and was more in tune with the basic tenets of my profession: people who are differently abled need a coach and problem solver to be there for them, present with them in the physical sense and spiritual sense, as they struggle to put their socks on. Because they deserve to feel the kind of self respect that only taking care of yourself can bring. It makes you a real person to be able to dress yourself, take yourself to the bathroom when you need to go, get up and move around and communicate with the people around you, find ways to laugh and love and have a purpose in your community and be respected for what you can do. Whoops, kinda forgot in the hubbub of the nursing home and Medicare and my own needs. Thanks God for reminding me. And thank you, thank you God for giving me the gift of this profession that I am uniquely suited for and that feeds my spirit when I allow myself to get caught up in loving people with disabilities. And BTW, thanks Mom who knew me well enough at a very young age to insist I choose a direction when going to college and even to guide me towards this profession. She knew my talents and what would make me happy and I'm so thankful for that. Everyone should have a mom like that. And thanks Dad for coughing up the bucks so I could go to school, writing me letters while I was there, and believing so strongly in the value of education and in me that I could do it. But I digress.
So when I got here I was delighted to find a modern therapy clinic, in all the ways that matter. So they don't have air conditioning, a working bathroom, a wide selection of Tumble Forms, wheelchairs, walkers, easy access to braces and splints, whatever, but they do have floor mats, therapy balls, more toys and puzzles than they can use. They have very carefully selected toys that can be used to achieve lots of different goals, standing, reaching, cognitive and speech and ADL goals. I learned more about pediatric occupational therapy in one day than I ever learned in school. And they use modern, sophisticated therapy approaches, they are these 4 Haitian therapy aides who have amazing NDT handling skills and they know another different therapy genre/system that I have never even heard of called FLAME and for Pete's sake I need to google that. So these two aides carry out amazing treatments. It was hard for me to think of any suggestions for them to improve their treatment. I wish they could read this blog because they don't believe me when I tell them that I am sure there are lots of therapists in the US with advanced degrees who don't understand and carry out the theories as well as they do. What a gift from God these therapists are. They do not have letters after their name or a diploma on the wall but they ARE therapists.The clinic is called A Touch of Hope and that is really what it is for these children, and for these employees who have a steady, pleasant, and mostly fulfilling job in a country with 90% unemployment.
The clinic was founded by a woman named Deliris. I am not sure of all the details but I know she was an occupational therapist for 17 years and worked in an NDT clinic. Then somehow she was called to be one a minister and missionary. I am not sure exactly where she is from or how long she has been in Haiti. She is leaving Haiti tomorrow to go home for a while. I think she is a Baptist missionary and there is some rule that you have to go home after 4 years and have a period of 'discernment' to see what God is calling you to do next. I won't give my thoughts on that but suffice it to say that I am concerned about how the clinic will run without her. Right now she is the evaluating therapist. She sees all the new referrals and sets up the program and teaches it to the aides and they carry it out. So when she goes I don't know how that will happen. Shantia assures me that the clinic will continue without her because there is a Hungarian mission that is also very involved in this orphanage and clinic and has agreed to keep funding the aides' salaries. But I am sure they will feel lost without Deliris the same as any therapists who lose their supervisor and mentor and I don't know how I can possibly help them through that in a week. I have no idea of their assessment and treatment planning skills but I am not sure it is the right thing to go there, to assess that and try to teach them that in 4 more days. I pray about it a lot, God, please tell me what is the most important thing I can do for them and help me do it. They don't have any kind of documentation system for evaluation or treatments or measuring progress. So they have to remember each patients program and they do, it seems, exactly as Deliris has taught it to them. I wonder if I should try to get them to keep notes, at least for themselves, and to show some objective progress, not that anyone would ever see them or read them or certainly not send them to the insurance company (therapists wouldn't that be a dream come true? No notes. I know of a job opening. No salary, benefits, food, or place to sleep but very rewarding.).
The last thing I want to do is make these aides (OMG I have GOT to learn their names today!!) feel discouraged or that they are not doing it right. So much of what they are doing is absolutely perfect and way ahead of  (I'm sure) the rest of the whole country. (PS they don't believe me when I tell them that and they don't believe Deliris either). But I know and trust that God has sent me here for a reason and please, please God tell me what it is quick QUICK so I can get it done in a week! I am so willing. Please help me. I know You have brought me here for myself, to help me rebuild my own confidence after a tough year, and to give me an invitation to work with children at home, but please God there must be a way I can serve here, NOW, these wonderful people who are so faithful to You. I'll do whatever You ask. Even though it means I have to be up in the middle of the night listening to the stupid rooster. Note to self: do you REALLY want to live in the country? Lol.
Sending love to all from Haiti,
Jenna

Update From Brian

i am in haiti enjoying getting my hands dirty in rock and concrete and dirt and building something that the church can use.   i am blessed to be able to help these happy lovely people who don't want seconds on their water and smile at you when you give them eye contact.   i thank pilgrim and its members for supporting my travel to haiti and thank god for showing me how to help in any way i can.   i hope to not get sick this time and gonna try to not ask Pastor Jonathan Wright Gray for a Prestige (beer) tomorrow and just having fun.   i am loving life and believe my second trip to Haiti is more fun than the first.   best regards to all my friends at pilgrim```~~brian

Monday, March 24

Thankful.

Thankful for the opportunity to be here in Haiti.

Thankful for God's call and the fact that He knew exactly what I needed right now, and brought me to a place where I could receive it and help someone else at the same time.

Thankful for new friends to work alongside.

Thankful for our bounty at home: hot running water that is safe to drink right out of the faucet, more clothes and food than I know what to do with, my comfy clean house and bed, all my loved ones, that the children I love most are healthy and happy and warm and clean and well fed all the time.

Thankful for the small luxuries here: ice in my drink, a shower even if it is cold, (surprisingly delightful after a hot day), flowers, yummy food, a comfortable place to sleep, the fact that all my luggage made it here so I am not required to spend a week without what I think I really need.

Thankful for the beautiful orphanage that was built here, despite its limitations those children get 2 meals a day, clean clothes, clean water, to go to school, and loving caregivers. So maybe they don't leave the orphanage and live their lives within those four walls; but they are not hungry, dirty, begging, and sick on the street. Praise God for a safe place for at least those 28.

Thankful for a wonderful church service.

Thankful that the church was so full, that our hosts had to kick people out of seats of honor for us. Thankful for beautiful expressive music during the service.

Thankful for the amazing man who sat in front of me. He was so filled with faith. I don't know what he was praying about but at one point during the service he got down on his knees on the concrete floor and leaned on the folding chair and opened his heart to God. I had to be careful that my tears didn't fall on his head. All I could do was join my prayers with his.

The Haitian people have so little but are so faithful. The church was packed. There were people standing outside in the courtyard to listen. Everyone was so dressed up, and who knows how these people do their laundry. I am sure they do not have the nice new modern washer and dryer I have and I go to church wrinkled and they do not. They praised God so loudly and fervently and sang with all their hearts. I've never seen anything like it. The preachers sang and there were these beautiful young people playing a keyboard, saxophone and bass guitar. Anytime someone would start singing something, seemingly without any planning or organization, the instrumentalists would join in and be in the correct key. The Spirit was in that place.

I knew when I came here that it would make me more thankful for what I have, but I didn't know how much. My heart overflows with how good God has been to me.

My prayer is, Dear God, I offer myself to you in service. Use my hands and my heart to do your work in this day and place and always. For I owe all that I am and all that I have to Your grace, made clear by the gift of Your son, Jesus. Amen.

Sunday In Haiti

It was a good day.

The day began at church, it was a short service and only lasted 2.5 hours. It is inspiring to participate in their worship service. It was a service of hellos and goodbyes. Our group was welcomed by the community, but the community was also saying good bye to some people that will be missed.

Deliris, a missionary from Porto Rico, who has been serving in Haiti since shortly after the earthquake. Her first night in Haiti was spent in the church sanctuary as when she arrived there was no other place to sleep because of the damage. She has been providing physical therapy to children with physical disabilities. She will be missed. She is, however, not leaving empty handed, as while here she met and married her Haitian husband Mois. I have seen and worked with Deliris almost every time I have been to Haiti, Haiti won't be the same without her.

Also saying goodbye is Lorianna. She is a 22 year old Swiss-French student and has been in Haiti doing research for her masters thesis about kids in orphanages and how best to meet their needs. She has been in Haiti for about two months and has had quite an influence on the kids and their care. 

She is staying at the orphanage while in Haiti so I suspect her days are quite full of activity, but it is clear the kids are quite taken with her.

Lastly, is [young] Jonathan, a 22 your old from Virginia. He has been to Haiti a couple of times and has been in country on this last trip since January. He is teaching the kids English as well as teaching them to type. He will be one of those using the laptops we brought down to help in his work until he leaves later this month.

After he returns home, Jonathan will be starting officer training as part of the marine corps reserve. A very impressive resume for 22 years.

I am deeply honored to have met each of these individuals, if some only for a brief while. They are amazing people.

In the evening today we walk down to the orphanage to spend some time with the kids. Sidewalk chalk, crayons, flying disks, books, and balls all were brought in to action. [old] Jonathan even found a stick and started some batting practices. 

I was able to see old friends like Edna and Christina and Jenna (a first time traveler to Haiti) made some new friends. 

A good day indeed.

A Dream Fulfilled!

Here is an excerpt from an email from Pastor Ronel:







Hi Shantia and team

Thanks a lot for your work in haiti. We don t buy eggs anymore and we start to sell eggs.  It s a blessings for us.  We are very grateful for that.  I remember when we were at ormiso guest house you asked to share with you my dreams  and the chicken was something we was talking about.  Today this is a reality.

Thanks a lot and may God bless you!

We love you  all

Ronel

The Chickens are Here!!!!

Photos from Pastor Ronel!
Our Chickens - "are makin' eggs now"
May they "push down all they can"  :-)
So Very Exciting!
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!
blessings, shantia