Group of 8 from Saskatchewan arrive tomorrow am and are here until Monday. Please pray for safe travels, good health and meaningful experiences.
Please pray for health, strength, patience, wisdom and energy for me and Cal while we host them.
This is the beginning of the crazy season - after they leave, another group of 8 arrive a week later and 4 days after that another group of 8 arrive! Then we have a little break until the 2nd week of May when a group comes and then finally a group the last week of May!
Thank you for praying!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Just throwing it out there...
I've been going back and forth in my head as to whether I should write this blog. Why? Because it's an uncomfortable subject for me. It puts me in a vulnerable position. In my head, it opens me up to criticism and judgement and that is scary. All to often I do not put my faith and trust in God to meet our needs and that creates fear and is destructive. What subject can do this? Money!
One of my greatest personal challenges about serving in Haiti has been fundraising for my personal needs. I hate asking for money for myself. I'll gladly ask for money to support others or organizations I know that are doing good work (I used to work in the fundraising department of a non-profit). But asking for myself - so hard, and so humbling!
Cal and I live on what I consider a modest budget here in Haiti for a missionary, about $900/month. I don't put that number out there to be comparative or prideful, just as a reality. We have chosen to live a simple life here and because of our circumstances (location and surroundings) we are able to do that. That amount is enough for all our expenses with the exception of my health insurance, travel to/from Canada and ministry tools (i.e. repairs to computer, books, etc).
We have been blessed with some committed individual and church supporters and we are so thankful for them. However, we still do not raise the amount needed monthly to cover our needs. That being said, the ECCC (my sending organization) always forwards our monthly support, even if the money has not been raised, trusting that the money will come in.
So why am I writing this? Would you consider helping filling in the gap by giving a one-time gift or even better by becoming a monthly giver? It doesn't take much and every gift helps.
For example:
$20/month pays for cellphone minutes.
$25/month will buy propane for our stove.
$30/month can help pay for our motorcycle repairs.
$40/month pays for our internet costs
If you feel led to help, you can look over at the right of this page under "Support me financially" or at the top under "Support" to learn how to make a tax-deductible gift via cheque or online.
Thanks for reading and thanks for the support you give - financial and otherwise.
Bondye beni nou!
God bless you!
One of my greatest personal challenges about serving in Haiti has been fundraising for my personal needs. I hate asking for money for myself. I'll gladly ask for money to support others or organizations I know that are doing good work (I used to work in the fundraising department of a non-profit). But asking for myself - so hard, and so humbling!
Cal and I live on what I consider a modest budget here in Haiti for a missionary, about $900/month. I don't put that number out there to be comparative or prideful, just as a reality. We have chosen to live a simple life here and because of our circumstances (location and surroundings) we are able to do that. That amount is enough for all our expenses with the exception of my health insurance, travel to/from Canada and ministry tools (i.e. repairs to computer, books, etc).
We have been blessed with some committed individual and church supporters and we are so thankful for them. However, we still do not raise the amount needed monthly to cover our needs. That being said, the ECCC (my sending organization) always forwards our monthly support, even if the money has not been raised, trusting that the money will come in.
So why am I writing this? Would you consider helping filling in the gap by giving a one-time gift or even better by becoming a monthly giver? It doesn't take much and every gift helps.
For example:
$20/month pays for cellphone minutes.
$25/month will buy propane for our stove.
$30/month can help pay for our motorcycle repairs.
$40/month pays for our internet costs
If you feel led to help, you can look over at the right of this page under "Support me financially" or at the top under "Support" to learn how to make a tax-deductible gift via cheque or online.
Thanks for reading and thanks for the support you give - financial and otherwise.
Bondye beni nou!
God bless you!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The times are a changin'
Daylight savings time, that is.
New president, new time! Under Preval, Haiti did not observe daylight savings, just like the Dominican Republic. But now, Martelly decided that we will. The public awareness campaign apparently wasn't very strong as I only learned about the time change on Sunday night - whoops! Church still started at it's regular time too.
Being a Saskatchewan girl, I'm quite fond of the non-observance of daylight savings. It just makes sense to me. Why torture yourself with getting up an hour earlier, especially when you are so close to the equator that it doesn't really make a difference!
But anyways, the time has changed. There is nothing we can do about it, at least until there is another election and the president decides to change it again! Now I just have to drag myself out of bed every morning...
New president, new time! Under Preval, Haiti did not observe daylight savings, just like the Dominican Republic. But now, Martelly decided that we will. The public awareness campaign apparently wasn't very strong as I only learned about the time change on Sunday night - whoops! Church still started at it's regular time too.
Being a Saskatchewan girl, I'm quite fond of the non-observance of daylight savings. It just makes sense to me. Why torture yourself with getting up an hour earlier, especially when you are so close to the equator that it doesn't really make a difference!
But anyways, the time has changed. There is nothing we can do about it, at least until there is another election and the president decides to change it again! Now I just have to drag myself out of bed every morning...
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Sunday
Sunday morning, I woke up way too early. My tummy was rumbling in a way that insisted I spend more time than usually necessary in the bathroom. This started at 4 or 5 am and I was not able to go back to sleep. I decided that it probably wasn't a good idea to go sit in a hot church for 2 or 3 hours later that morning, so elected to stay home. Cal and I made some breakfast - hoping it would all stay in me, and then Cal got ready for church while I rested and watched tv shows on my laptop.
By the time he came home, close to noon, I hadn't made any more trips to the bathroom and thought it might be nice to go outside at least once during the day. Before lunch, we decided to go for a moto ride to his father's garden in Acul Jeannot to see the baby calf our (by our I mean the family's) cow gave birth to last week. This is a big deal. In Haiti, a cow is called a "Kane Bank" or bank account. You can gain more "interest" by raising a cow and it's even better when you get a calf! A big asset for most Haitians.
Acul Jeannot is a section of Haut Limbe which is probably a 30 or 40 minute walk from our house. Every morning, Cal's dad walks to his garden to work and to check on the cow. By moto, the trip is 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the amount of rain we have had.
Before we went to the garden, we drove a bit further so that Cal could show me the house where his dad grew up. His grandparents are no longer living, but the house is still there unoccupied. Along the way, we passed many people making the 40 minute walk home from church in the midday sun. I'm so thankful we have a moto!
After looking at the house, we backtracked to the garden, and saw the cow and calf! He was pretty cute.
We started on our way back home and along the way we met 2 young boys walking with machetes. I immediately saw blood dripping from one of the boys knees that was wrapped with a dirty cloth bandage. The boys had been in their garden cutting wood for charcoal and were walking home. The boy had cut his knee with the machete. Cal asked if they would be going to the hospital and the boy replied that his mom did not have the money. We decided to drive him with us to the clinic and sent someone else to get his mom.
We called one of the nurses to meet us at the clinic and they were able to stitch up the boy and clean the wound. I can't imagine what kind of infection he would have gotten had we had not passed by him. As Cal says, "God sent us there today". I kinda have to agree.
By the time he came home, close to noon, I hadn't made any more trips to the bathroom and thought it might be nice to go outside at least once during the day. Before lunch, we decided to go for a moto ride to his father's garden in Acul Jeannot to see the baby calf our (by our I mean the family's) cow gave birth to last week. This is a big deal. In Haiti, a cow is called a "Kane Bank" or bank account. You can gain more "interest" by raising a cow and it's even better when you get a calf! A big asset for most Haitians.
Acul Jeannot is a section of Haut Limbe which is probably a 30 or 40 minute walk from our house. Every morning, Cal's dad walks to his garden to work and to check on the cow. By moto, the trip is 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the amount of rain we have had.
 |
| The house Cal's dad grew up in. |
 | |
| it's a boy! |
We started on our way back home and along the way we met 2 young boys walking with machetes. I immediately saw blood dripping from one of the boys knees that was wrapped with a dirty cloth bandage. The boys had been in their garden cutting wood for charcoal and were walking home. The boy had cut his knee with the machete. Cal asked if they would be going to the hospital and the boy replied that his mom did not have the money. We decided to drive him with us to the clinic and sent someone else to get his mom.
We called one of the nurses to meet us at the clinic and they were able to stitch up the boy and clean the wound. I can't imagine what kind of infection he would have gotten had we had not passed by him. As Cal says, "God sent us there today". I kinda have to agree.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Pause and a rest
Sorry for my absence! it's been busy around here. On Wednesday we finished hosting a group from the Breton church for 10 days and I'm working on catching up on all the stuff I neglected while they were here!
It was a good group and we did a lot (even if they may not think that!). The biggest accomplishment was doing a huge chunk of sorting, organizing and pitching a bunch of medical supplies in the depot! Thanks to the rubbermaid bins they brought, we now have the majority of the supplies safely stored in containers that prevent any rat or mouse from entering!! The cockroaches may still squeeze their way in, but oh well! This is a huge burden lifted and we even have a written inventory of all the supplies we have now! Thanks everyone for your help!
After dropping of the group, I've taken it pretty easy for a few days, catching up on sleep and taking some time to relax. Yesterday we took of to the beach by motorcycle with our friends the Hamiltons. 4 on one moto, 3 on the other! We were quite the attraction on the trip. It's normal to see 3 + Haitians on a motorcycle here - not so normal to 3 + Canadians. We enjoyed the beautiful ocean, ate some great fish with plantain and all got nice and rosy from the sun!
In just over 2 weeks, the next group arrives, with 4 more coming after that before the first week of June! Please pray for good health for Cal and I. We both were fighting colds when the last group was here which takes a lot of energy out of us. We want to be able to give our best when we are hosting!
It was a good group and we did a lot (even if they may not think that!). The biggest accomplishment was doing a huge chunk of sorting, organizing and pitching a bunch of medical supplies in the depot! Thanks to the rubbermaid bins they brought, we now have the majority of the supplies safely stored in containers that prevent any rat or mouse from entering!! The cockroaches may still squeeze their way in, but oh well! This is a huge burden lifted and we even have a written inventory of all the supplies we have now! Thanks everyone for your help!
In just over 2 weeks, the next group arrives, with 4 more coming after that before the first week of June! Please pray for good health for Cal and I. We both were fighting colds when the last group was here which takes a lot of energy out of us. We want to be able to give our best when we are hosting!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
That kinda day
Today is a good day. Yesterday was not.
Yesterday just didn't have a hope. You know it's not going to be good when it starts raining the night before, continues all night and all day. If it was just the rain, I probably would have been ok. I decided to stay home and work instead of slopping through mud and tiny rivers to get to the university. That was going well, until we learned that we had no running water. Turns out, some hooligans in the community decided to break a bunch of the water pipes for the community water system. There are deeper issues at play with this, but in the mean time, the majority of the community does not have access to running water. Turns out the ridiculous amount of rain was a good thing as we were able to fill every bucket, basin and bowl we own with rain water to get us through the next couple of days.
I kept working at home, but eventually the batteries died and we were left without power. There has been a shortage of gas and diesel for the past week so we only had enough to run the generator for a little bit in the evening. Suddenly being. home, sitting in the dark without power or running water didn't sound so appealing. I decided to get out and take refuge over at some Canadian friends' house at the university. A cup of tea, a funny movie and friends can do wonders. By supper time, I was ready to come home.
Today I woke up to sunshine, EDH (electricity) and the news that gas and diesel were available again! Funny what these simple things can do to change your attitude. I got up, ate, showered (which approximately 10 cupfuls of water) and went to work! I feel great! Nice that it lines up with Valentines Day.
Life in Haiti has a lot of bad days and a lot of good days. Somehow the bad days have much more power over my attitude. It's easy to fall into a trap of frustration, anger, self-pity and sadness. When those days come too close together, it's not good and its easy to lose perspective of the big picture. If you focus too much on details in Haiti - you will go crazy!
So today, I'm choosing to be joyful and celebrate Valentines Day with those I love. Cal and I will go "out" to dinner at the little resto down the street for your choice of spaghetti with chicken or hotdogs (I know you are jealous) and after if its not raining, to a party where Cal's brothers are playing.
Yep, today is a good day.
Yesterday just didn't have a hope. You know it's not going to be good when it starts raining the night before, continues all night and all day. If it was just the rain, I probably would have been ok. I decided to stay home and work instead of slopping through mud and tiny rivers to get to the university. That was going well, until we learned that we had no running water. Turns out, some hooligans in the community decided to break a bunch of the water pipes for the community water system. There are deeper issues at play with this, but in the mean time, the majority of the community does not have access to running water. Turns out the ridiculous amount of rain was a good thing as we were able to fill every bucket, basin and bowl we own with rain water to get us through the next couple of days.
I kept working at home, but eventually the batteries died and we were left without power. There has been a shortage of gas and diesel for the past week so we only had enough to run the generator for a little bit in the evening. Suddenly being. home, sitting in the dark without power or running water didn't sound so appealing. I decided to get out and take refuge over at some Canadian friends' house at the university. A cup of tea, a funny movie and friends can do wonders. By supper time, I was ready to come home.
Today I woke up to sunshine, EDH (electricity) and the news that gas and diesel were available again! Funny what these simple things can do to change your attitude. I got up, ate, showered (which approximately 10 cupfuls of water) and went to work! I feel great! Nice that it lines up with Valentines Day.
Life in Haiti has a lot of bad days and a lot of good days. Somehow the bad days have much more power over my attitude. It's easy to fall into a trap of frustration, anger, self-pity and sadness. When those days come too close together, it's not good and its easy to lose perspective of the big picture. If you focus too much on details in Haiti - you will go crazy!
So today, I'm choosing to be joyful and celebrate Valentines Day with those I love. Cal and I will go "out" to dinner at the little resto down the street for your choice of spaghetti with chicken or hotdogs (I know you are jealous) and after if its not raining, to a party where Cal's brothers are playing.
Yep, today is a good day.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
We're Back!
Back in Haiti! This past Saturday we returned from the DR after a lovely holiday in which we spent a couple of days in Santiago with good friend Tammi and then a week in Puerto Plata at a resort with my parents. It was great to see my parents and enjoy a week relaxing and eating way too much! We had a number of cloudy/rainy days, but the last few days were glorious. While my parents and I enjoyed the sun, Cal got his fill of soccer on the 5 or 6 dedicated soccer channels on tv - his heaven!
I always look forward to getting away from Haiti for awhile - to enjoy some of the conveniences of life that I used to take for granted - electricity, hot water, cheese, smooth roads, reliable transportation, reliable internet, ice cream (the list could go on). But I also find by the end of my breaks, I'm ready to come back to Haut Limbe - to speak Creole, to see my family and friends here, to climb the mountain behind our house (much needed now so I can fit back into my pants!) and enjoy the slow paced life again. I know that in no time the cultural frustrations will come back again, but after a little break, I'm ready to face them again. I've come back with more energy (even though Cal and I both didn't sleep well in the DR) and a drive to get back to work and ready for the groups that are coming.
I also got my computer back! It had crashed in December, so I sent it back to Canada to get it repaired. Turns out I needed a new hard drive and nothing could be recovered - boo! But, it's repaired now and I also was smart enough to get an external hard drive as well for back up!
Cal's mom just had cataract surgery yesterday in Cap Haitian. Everything went well, and she'll be going for a check up today again. Please pray that the surgery helps with her vision which has been deteriorating a lot in the past year, keeping her from her favourite pass time - sewing! She had a cataract removed from her other eye a year ago, but the recovery was very slow.
I'll try to be more regular at posting again now with my computer back!
I always look forward to getting away from Haiti for awhile - to enjoy some of the conveniences of life that I used to take for granted - electricity, hot water, cheese, smooth roads, reliable transportation, reliable internet, ice cream (the list could go on). But I also find by the end of my breaks, I'm ready to come back to Haut Limbe - to speak Creole, to see my family and friends here, to climb the mountain behind our house (much needed now so I can fit back into my pants!) and enjoy the slow paced life again. I know that in no time the cultural frustrations will come back again, but after a little break, I'm ready to face them again. I've come back with more energy (even though Cal and I both didn't sleep well in the DR) and a drive to get back to work and ready for the groups that are coming.
I also got my computer back! It had crashed in December, so I sent it back to Canada to get it repaired. Turns out I needed a new hard drive and nothing could be recovered - boo! But, it's repaired now and I also was smart enough to get an external hard drive as well for back up!
Cal's mom just had cataract surgery yesterday in Cap Haitian. Everything went well, and she'll be going for a check up today again. Please pray that the surgery helps with her vision which has been deteriorating a lot in the past year, keeping her from her favourite pass time - sewing! She had a cataract removed from her other eye a year ago, but the recovery was very slow.
I'll try to be more regular at posting again now with my computer back!
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