The heat is on...

I think winter is over. Yesterday during church I had to use my fan during the service to keep myself cool. It's been a fairly cool winter here - compared to last year for me. By cool I mean, walking to/from the clinic during the day doesn't cause me to break out in a sweat and I can sleep in my flannel pajamas!

This weekend I had a "mini-vacation" house-sitting at the James' while they were in the DR. It's always a treat. This time I didn't even have to take care of the parrots! Someone else came to feed and water them!

This coming month is going to fly by I think - it's less than a month until the wedding! I'll be spending the next few weeks getting our basement apartment ready - buying appliances and household items. On the 11th of April, I'll go over to the DR to pick up my friend coming for the wedding and make a shopping trip to IKEA in Santo Domingo! Then, we we return to Haiti, my other friend comes and a few days later my family arrives for the wedding!

Yesterday i finished "addressing" the wedding invitations that will be hand delivered in the next week or so. We'll meet again with the caterers and make some deposits for the flowers and venue this weekend.

I forgot to announce this before, but Cal's sister Briza had a baby boy by C-section on March 15. Baby and mom are doing well!

Clinic Needs

People often ask how they can help Ebenezer Clinic. Here are some ways:

Medical Supplies/Medication - We have a whole depot full of gloves, bandages, syringes, etc so we don't need supplies like that. But on a monthly basis we need insulin, One Touch or Reli-On glucometers and test strips. We have a program for diabetics in which they come and receive an insulin shot once a week. Most of the patients cannot afford it, so donations of insulin are very helpful.


Medical Professionals - Doctors and nurses who are willing to volunteer are always helpful. It is usually best if you can commit to at lease 3 weeks of service as it takes awhile to get the hang of medicine in Haiti, so the longer you stay, the more beneficial it is. Volunteers must be flexible to work in conditions different than North America and be willing to learn about Haitian culture and medical practices. We are also always looking for people who are willing to give training to our medical staff to help develop their skills

Financial - The nature of Ebenezer Clinic means that we do not make a profit and therefore are very thankful for financial donations given from individuals and churches. To make a financial donation through The Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada, please check out the link at the right of this page.


Prayer - Anyone can pray. Pray for the Clinic Committee, the doctors, nurses and the rest of the staff. Pray for the patients that come from all over the north of Haiti for care.

If you have any questions, please email me.

He's back...

Another exiled former president has returned to Haiti. Aristide landed in Port au Prince from South Africa yesterday morning. I heard the news just as Ben and I were driving away from the airport to drop off the group of Canadians for their Miami flight. Ben had called a friend in Port and while he was talking I could hear the noise of the crowds in the street in Port through the phone.

As far as I know things stayed calm in Cap yesterday - Ben and I were anxious to get home as soon as possible. Nobody knows what this means - how will it affect tomorrow's runoff elections. The Haitian people are very divided in their support for Aristide - even in this community. Please be praying for Haiti in the coming days and weeks.

An interesting read

The following blog references a book I recently read - "When Helping Hurts - How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself". It's a challenging read, but I recommend it to anyone interested in or involved in missions/development work.

http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/2011/03/thinking-through-stm.html

Fighting a cold

Sunday afternoon I started to come down with a cold – boo! Monday morning, I woke up early, started my day by having breakfast and going to the office, but a half an hour later my sneezing, runny nose and stuffy head convinced me that I needed to go home and rest. So that’s where I’ve been for the past few days, save making a couple trips during the day to check/send emails. I need to get well soon as I have a group arriving on Friday morning and groups take a lot of energy when your healthy, never mind being sick!

Thankfully we’ve had a lot of EDH lately so I’ve been able to watch a gazillion episodes of House on my computer (thanks Ardis)! I suspect the generous amount of EDH is for Kanaval or Carnival. There hasn’t been school Monday, Tuesday or today. I think it starts again tomorrow. There isn’t much for celebrations in Haut Limbe, but some of the biggest bands in Haiti have been playing in Cap Haitian this week. Last year there were no Kanaval celebrations at all because of the earthquake, so this is my first experience (which hasn’t been much).

Well, back to resting I go. I’ll try to give an update once the group arrives!

A philosphy of mission teams/mission work

One of the essay questions on one of my senior economic development courses at university was to write my philosophy of development. What a great question! I think I remember most of what I wrote, and I think I would still mostly agree with what I wrote at the time. I believed in grassroots development that was more than just a transfer of money or resources and included the participation of local peoples. I was leery of large INGOs that had a band aid approach to development believing they did more harm than good, all of the time. However, life experience and field experience adds new questions to my idealistic philosophy that I held. After working 6 years at a large Canadian food aid and food security organization, I quickly learned that there are many instances where food aid is the only response that is appropriate so that people do not starve. I learned that there are many organizations working on the ground with local partners to develop sustainable methods of development. I also learned that there are many organizations that choose not to work with local partners in a healthy way and this results in much damage.

Being in Haiti for the past year, I've seen both of these cases. Development and relief work is big business in Haiti. There are over 15,000 registered NGOs in Haiti! With that many organizations, one would think things would have changed here. But to look around, you see that is not the case. It makes me wonder why and what can be done to make lasting change. There are definitely systemic changes that need to be made in government and business - getting rid of corruption. There are also cultural beliefs and practices that inhibit lasting change. I'm not saying that this culture is bad - I believe that there is good and bad in every culture (including Canadian culture), but there are some historical and spiritual beliefs that do not encourage change.

I often wonder why I am here - I'm sure lots of you wonder that too! Although I guess I am technically a "missionary" I don't really feel like one in the traditional sense of the word, especially for Haiti. I didn't come to start a church or school, I don't lead Bible studies, I don't have any converts (nor have I tried to have any), I usually wear pants instead of skirts or dresses, I ride motorcycle taxis, etc.

So what do I do here? I do a lot of listening and learning. I'm learning to listen even more that talk or give advice. I've already made many mistakes by not doing that. The North American value of efficiency isn't always effective, especially in Haiti.

On a practical day to day level - I do work. I help Manno with his email communications. I coordinate volunteers and teams that want to help at the clinic. I give advice (when asked) for administrative matters at the clinic. I interact with my Haitian friends and neighbours everyday establishing relationships and building trust.

So what's my philosophy of mission teams and mission work? I'm not a fan of traditional mission teams. Gasp! Nope, I don't like them. I've seen too many teams of people in matching T-shirts at the airport arrivals ready to save Haiti. Sorry folks, you and your 9 teammates are not going to save Haiti in the next 7 days of your trip. Many of these teams come to Haiti ready to "fix" Haiti with no cultural or historical understanding of this country. They believe that North American models of development can be transplanted here and will be fruitful. They come to build churches, schools or medical clinics while Haitians stand around watching them wishing they could have a job. Or, they want to evangelize Haiti. Good intentions - but there are already churches here with many pastors who are doing this. Many pastors work in Haiti without pay - it's a calling for them. Is it not more effective for a Haitian to hear the Gospel from a fellow Haitian then a visiting missionary? What North American missionaries can bring is training and resources for the workers already here.

So what do I think mission teams should do?

• First of all there needs to be a partnership between the team and the local partner. Both parties need to be in agreement for the purpose of the trip. 
• Teams need to come with an attitude of learning and listening, realizing that they do not have all the answers (if any) and that they can learn a lot from their Haitian brothers and sisters. 
• The team should not be the primary workers. When we do construction at the clinic, we always hire the local tradespeople to direct the work. The team usually spends their time doing grunt work, or sitting around building relationships with Haitians.
• Teams should never give out food, clothes, candy, toys or other gifts in their own. Doing this is just asking for problems and reinforces the stereotypes of the "rich, white people" to the locals.
• Teams should engage with the local culture and people making an effort to communicate and speak Creole.
• Teams should understand that there is much more to Haiti than what meets the eye. People often say "everyone looks so happy even though they have so little". Which is a true statement. However, many people have been struggling to survive their whole life, they choose to have joy and hope rather than bitterness and anger. Even though people look happy, they are still struggling inside.

These are some of my thoughts, sorry for the rambling. I hope that you will join me in the struggle of understanding this beautiful country and come along and support those who are doing their best to make a difference.

Praise Items and Prayer Requests

I realize that I do not share with you nearly enough praise items and prayer requests. Here is my attempt to do that and please remind me to continue to do it!

Praise

• The solar/inverter system that was donated and installed by the ECCC a couple of weeks ago is working great! We now only need to run the generator for a couple of hours in the evening to run the water pump for the town! This will result in significant savings in buying fuel for the generator.
• The number of cholera patients has decreased dramatically! We still have a few, but it is much more manageable and the word about prevention has spread.

Prayer

• Run off Presidential elections are set for March 20. Prayer that things remain peaceful and that Haiti is given the chance for a free and democratic election.
• A group of 9 from the Covenant Church in Sarnia arrive next Friday. Pray for them as they travel and for their time here that they would build significant relationships with those they come in contact with here.
• Pray for Cal's family. His brother, Placide, has been diagnosed with anemia (it's very hard to have a high iron diet here) and has a reoccurring infection in his foot due to poor circulation. Also, his older sister, Briza, is pregnant and will be having a C-section in the coming month. Surgery is always a risk in North America, and even more of a risk here so please pray for her and her family.
• Pray for our housing situation after the wedding - we have a couple of options, but nothing is for sure yet. Pray that it will all work out for the best and that I won't get too stressed about it in the meantime!
• Pray for my friends and family that will be traveling here for the wedding in April that they would remain safe and healthy!
• Pray for Cal and I as we prepare to apply for a Canadian Tourist Visa for him to visit Canada this summer.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouragement!