The Last Haiti Pics ... for Now.

OK... this is it.  The last pics from our family's trip to Haiti in July.  (Technically speaking, anyway.  Because I still have some pics from our return to Indiana via Miami that I want to post since our hosts there, Twila and Gonzo, were so awesome.)  (And I still have some videos I'd like to post... those aren't pics.)
These days, I sometimes feel optomistic that we'll be able to raise support and get ourselves to Haiti next August and sometimes it seems thoroughly impossible.  Now I know that, ultimately, the timing is in God's hands and He'll put us there when He desires it.  I really do KNOW that, so I don't stress too much.  I just wish He'd give me a short peek at the official calendar.

Encouragement comes out of the blue at various times ... often, "coincidentally", when I need it most.  I got onto Facebook this evening and saw a posting by a dear long-time friend (notice I didn't say "old friend"!) from my days in Iowa - Connie.  She was encouraging mutual friends from Lake Okoboji United Methodist Camp to check out this blog.  AND she told me to put her on my support list!  Don't worry, Connie... I will!  You won't have to tell me twice.



Although some of the food served at mealtimes was not to every kid's liking, they all were more than willing to try various types of fruit from various trees around the grounds.  Here, Ida gets ready to sample a starfruit.  If I get the time, I should post some video of Ida and Dats sampling a quite odd substance given to them by some local Haitian kids that I dubbed "snot-fruit".  Around the compound we found bananas, grapefruit, lemons, and plenty of mangoes.



Dats up a tree house in front of one of the mission houses.

For two weeks, the kids were desperate to get their hands on a coconut, but the trees are quite tall and only the yellow coconuts are rip enough to eat.  On our last day, Jane arranged for a local man to climb the tree in the center of this picture and throw down a few coconuts...

Here the man shows the traditional Haitian method for getting into a coconut:  nut in one hand, machete in the other, and cell phone between the teeth...

Jane passes around a coconut so the kids can sample the milk.

The verdict?

Not so great!  (It's better cold...)

Dats taking one last turn at the rope swing.

One last dose of anti-itch cream for The Drama Queen.



Maury and David, out to say goodbye to us on Saturday, July 16.  They aren't really soccer players ... we brought the two balls with us - along with various other items - and we had never gotten around to finding them a proper home, so David said he would get them into the hands of some local kids.



Bud and Jane ready to drive us to the airport in Cap Haitien.

The Princess wasn't just tired ... she was quite attached to Jane and not ready to say goodbye.

On the road.





Looking stylish in her pink sunglasses.

Looking not-so-stylish in the pink sunglasses.

When we arrived at the airport, check-in went smoothly, except that one of Melissa's soapstone dishes was broken during the ride.  We were all sad to say goodbye to Bud and Jane, but at least we had "home" to look forward to.  The Princess (age 4.5) hugged Jane several times, then sprawled out on the seats in the waiting area.  When I walked up to her a few minutes later, she whimpered a bit and said, "I just love Haiti."  At that point, I was pretty sure our trip had been a "success".

One last thing.  As we were waiting to leave the Cap Haitien airport, a family was just arriving - a family we were really hoping to meet.  Jane managed to make it happen, even though we had already passed through security before they unloaded.  Matt and Stacey Ayars work down the road from the main OMS compound at the Emmaus Biblical Seminary (also an OMS ministry).  Melissa had met them briefly on her trip in June of 2010 and it was at EBS that she had first discerned God calling our family to Haiti. 

I am hoping to be of use at EBS once God gets us to Haiti.  I'm not exactly sure in what capacity, but I am open.  I mention the Ayars because chatting with them for a few minutes was our last experience in Haiti before boarding the plane and it gives me an excuse to point out Stacey's blog which is so well-written and entertaining and devotional.  You never know what you'll find there ... today she told about reaching for what she thought was a hot pad on her kitchen counter only to discover it was a tarantula!

Thing #225 - Metal Star (Give)

It's been a couple of months since I've given a possession away.  You would think that since we downsized, had several garage sales, and moved out of our house, that there would be little left to get rid of, but there's still plenty around that should be given away, thrown away, or sold.  I went looking in the garage for our winter clothes a few days ago and was clearly reminded how much stuff we still have to deal with.

My classroom is full too, so today when a student of mine asked where I got my metal star, I was quick to ask her why she wanted to know.  "My mom is looking for one."  Great!  She can have this one! 

I just happened to have my webcam with me, so I snapped a picture before the bell rang.  She was excited to have it.

And I was excited to get rid of it. 

Now that I think about it ... maybe I should have sold it.  We finished orientation with One Mission Society last week and in a few weeks we'll go through their online fundraising training.  Then we'll be officially ready to begin the process of raising support for our future in Haiti. 

Meanwhile, LIFE marches on.  Melissa and I attended my 25 Year High School Reunion last Saturday night and had a great time.  (But it did make me feel a bit old.)  Also, I accidentally agreed to teach 2nd grade Sunday School.  Dats started soccer a couple of weeks back with practices on Thursday evenings and games every Saturday morning, and The Drama Queen started American Heritage Girls, which meets every Friday night.  This week at school I had tryouts for the fall play - we're doing Woody Allen's "Don't Drink the Water".  Tonight I worked on creating my cast list ... the toughest part of the job.  Next week will see the start of play practices.  And those will get progressively more time-consuming and stressful until the middle of November, when my head will explode.

New School in Plaine du Nord

Just a few more pictures yet to post from our July trip to Haiti.  I get a little sad when I look at these and I have to force myself to post them, but it's not because they are sad pictures.  In fact, these are happy pictures of a brand new school for the children of Plaine du Nord, Haiti.  Pardon me because I've said it before: it's only sad to me because it feels so distant right now. 

When I went to Haiti about a year ago, my friend Beka had a chance to tour some of the "Starfish" schools - schools where One Mission Society maintains a sponsorship program which provides local kids with education and a daily lunch.  The old school was quite decrepit, to say the least.  (Maybe I can get Beka to send me a pic of the place and I will include it here as an update.)

This new school was constructed with $58,000 provided by a group in Canada.  It is amazing how far $58,000 can go.  (My school here just finished a building project costing $18 million...)

Jane took us out to see the new building.  It was almost finished. I am sure by now it is swarming with school kids.  That's a happy thought. 

The foundation was laid while Bud was out of the country and somehow they got it twice as long as needed.  Miraculously, the school still came in under budget.

The school bathrooms.

Jane shows the kids one of the classrooms.  They will have adjustable walls so that this larger room can be used for two classes.

Just a bit more painting to be done on the outside.

A view of The Citadel from the schoolyard.

The Citadel

The Brick Factory

It's been an exhausting week - Melissa and I have been tag-teaming OMS orientation this week.  Melissa went to Greenwood on Tuesday and Thursday and I went Monday and Wednesday and will go again tomorrow to catch the tail end.  So I only put in two days at the school, and that feels REALLY weird.  I simply do not like being out of the classroom.  And it's not just because you never know what kind of damage might occur under a substitute's watch ... I think I honestly miss those kids when I am not there.

So I am exhausted, and haven't had the chance to process orientation yet, but I still wanted to update things here, so I am just going to post the pictures from the brick factory I promised last time:

This place was quite the production.  The man up high shapes the clay on the wheel while the guy down low supplies the spin.  They had three partners like this going simultaneously. Their creations were functional and basic - mostly water jugs and bricks.  The jugs on the floor are starting the drying process before they can be fired.

Jane, Melissa and the kids listen attentively to the owner of the factory - who was quite happy to explain the process once Jane mentioned how regularly she might be able to bring paying customers from the mission.

This is the owner.  There's a lot of character on this man's face, isn't there?

These guys dig up the clay, stomp it (literally) into the right consistency, throw the pots, let them dry and then fire them in a huge furnace in the center of the grounds.  The fire burns for three weeks and then the pottery cools for another week before it can be removed and put up for sale.

I don't have the energy to do justice to this man's business tonight.  It was incredible.  When you come to Haiti to visit us in a year or two, we'll have to take you there ourselves.  ;-)

9/11/2011

Our orientation with One Mission Society begins tomorrow morning.  Melissa and I will be alternating days to drive to Greenwood.  I will be missing school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and she will miss Tuesday and Thursday.  This will be one of those weeks when we will be meeting each other coming and going.

I had hopes of having finished up my posting of pictures from our July Haiti trip before orientation began, but no chance now.  There are just a few left, but they are deserving of some thoughtful commentary and I'm too tired to do anything more tonight.  I spent the evening at school getting prepared for a substitute tomorrow and now the weekend is done.

But I didn't want this day to pass without stopping to reflect on the anniversary of 9/11.  To me, September 11th will always be first and foremost my Dad's birthday.  We didn't know it at the time, but that 9/11 would prove to be the last birthday of his life.  I've spent a lot of time in the past nine and a half years wishing my kids would be growing up knowing their Grandpa. 

Ten years ago today, Melissa and I were living in Pensacola, Florida and I was working as a youth pastor - which meant I was maintaining youth ministry working hours (afternoon and evening work and sleeping in during the morning).  For some reason, I was up first with our newborn Dats and Melissa was still in bed.  I put Dats in the baby swing and turned on the TV just after the first plane had crashed into the Towers.  They had live footage going and were speculating on what the cause was.  I ran in to tell Melissa what had happened and got back to the TV in time to see the second plane hit.  The image that is seared into my mind is the extreme juxtaposition of our 4 month old swinging, cooing and smiling as the TV carried images of death and destruction.  Innocence and evil.

I felt sick deep inside, not only for all the people directly affected, but also for Dats.  What kind of world had we brought him into?  How dark would his future be?  How much would the day's events alter our way of life as a nation and as a family?

Ten years later, Dats is a healthy, smart, energetic boy who had some questions today about the events of 9/11, but mainly just went about his business.  He's hitting the age where it's becoming harder and harder to shelter him from the evils of this world (big and small) and to preserve his innocence.  I just hope that as he becomes more and more aware of the darkness, his innocence is not replaced with despair but with a courage and a conviction to carry The Light into the darkness. 

That's my prayer for him, his three younger siblings, Melissa, myself and you...

A "Chance" Meeting with Enel

One of the last mornings my family and I were in Haiti, Aunt Jane offered to take us on a little sightseeing expedition to check out the local pottery industry.  We loaded up the van around 11:00 but various demands on Jane's time kept us from leaving immediately.  Once we got the van moving, it was to swing up toward the house so I could grab something I had forgotten.  On our way back down to the front gate, Jane noticed a young man standing in front of her house and asked if it would be OK to stop for just one more minute.  She knew he had come to pick up a book she had ordered for him and she wanted to get it in his hands without further delay.

A few minutes later, the young man was jumping into the van with us as he needed a lift into Cap Haitien.  Jane introduced him to us as Enel, a student of hers who was more like a son.  As we bumped down the road, we discovered that Enel and Dats (age 10) already had a connection...

In June 2010 as Melissa prepared for her first trip to Haiti, Dats came to her (with absolutely no prompting from either of his parents) and handed her $40.  He explained that he wanted his mom to give $20 each to two people in Haiti in need - whichever two she chose.  The money came from an iPod he had won at an Easter egg hunt several weeks earlier.  I had offered him $40 for it since I figured I would use it more often than he ever would and, after some deliberation, he took the money and gave me the iPod.  I figured that the money was destined to be spent on a Star Wars Lego set.

Now it's easy to think that just giving some money will solve a poor person's problems - or at least temporarily relieve them.  And it's even easier to believe that giving money WON'T solve a poor person's problems and they'll just waste the money anyway ... and thus excuse ourselves from even offering.  But I believe Dats' offering of $40 came from the purest of motives.  I believe he was simply responding to a prompt from the Holy Spirit and was being obedient.  (Before Dats was two years old - literally - when he led his first public prayer, I noticed he had a spiritual sensitivity that has often surprised and awed me as he has grown up.  See "The Rest of the Story - the iPod Miracle" below for just one example.)

So just a year later, Dats was stuffed into a steamy van with the rest of his family and Jane and a "complete stranger".  Melissa suddenly made the connection in her mind that she had met Enel before - that she had given Jane Dats' $20 bill during her previous trip to help Enel.  He had been experiencing some tough times - his phone had been stolen and he was out of work.  I doubt the $20 made a huge impact financially, but it probably lifted his spirits a bit.

When Enel realized who Dats was, he was so excited and so grateful.  Enel seems to have a really beautiful spirit.  Here are the two of them together:

Enel ended up sticking with us through the tour of the pottery factory - he helped us a lot by interpreting and explaining what the owner was trying to tell us.  I'll post a couple of pics from the factory in the next post because it was a really interesting process.

The Rest of the Story - the iPod Miracle

This is the "rest of the story" not in chronological order but rather in the sense that it demonstrates, I believe, the pleasure Dats' generosity brought to God the Father.

After I bought the iPod from Dats, he was in the habit, about once a week, of borrowing it, especially while he did chores around the house.  Several times I had to track it down when I wanted to use it while I ran.  I would find it on his bed or buried on his desk.  Each time he would borrow it, I'd say, "Make sure you put it back when you're done."  And each time, he'd forget.

So the week I was home with the kids alone while Melissa was in Haiti - just a week after Dats had given up the $40 - I was not completely surprised when I went to pull clean clothes out of the dryer, opened the dryer door and watched as that iPod dropped to my feet.  Not surprised ... but furious!  He had left the iPod in his pocket instead of putting it away and now it had gone through an entire hot water wash cycle followed by an entire high heat drying cycle. 

I stormed out to the pool where the kids were just getting ready to jump in for an afternoon swim and I held the iPod up for Dats to see and asked gruffly, "You didn't put MY iPod back when you finished with it the other day when you vacuumed the floors, did you?"

His eyes got wide and I scowled at him.  "It just fell out of the dryer.  It was in your pocket.  It's ruined.  It will never work now." 

He gave out an apology that was half words and half tears and ran inside the house.  I figured he was going in to pout and feel sorry for himself.  Then I softened a bit when I realized that I couldn't really make him pay to replace my iPod since he didn't have any money, having given it to the poor of Haiti!  But, I couldn't let him go unpunished either.  I decided I would make him pay for half of it, or work it off in unpaid chores.

Dats came back to swim a few minutes later and I decided not to say anything more about it for the time being.  Later he asked me if I had tried it to be sure it wasn't working.  I honestly didn't see any point in it, but I plugged my earphones in to see and ... nothing.  Then I plugged it in to the charger and let it sit for a few hours. 

Later, when I turned it on, the green light surprisingly glowed.  When I plugged in the earphones, the music played!  I was excited because it meant I wouldn't have to punish my son in any way.  I quickly found Dats and told him the good news:  "I charged it up and it works just fine.  It shouldn't be working, but it is."

His response?  "Oh, good!  That's what I prayed for when I went into the house."

Working on the Generators

I'm having trouble getting myself to start this entry and it has nothing to do with the subject matter.  It's just that I realize that this trip ended almost two months ago now and I am coming close to the end of my pictures.  Labor Day has passed and we're in our fourth week of school.  This morning was the first to call seriously for a jacket.  And it all makes Haiti seem very distant at the moment. 

But I need to push forward and finish up my posts about the trip so I can get back to present day and our progress towards moving our family to Haiti for the long term.  Next week Melissa and I will be attending orientation at OMS headquarters in Greenwood.  They would like us both to be there all week, but neither of us can afford to be out of the classroom that long, so I will go Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Melissa will go Tuesday and Thursday.  (Melissa is excited because she is planning to do a couple of sleepovers in Greenwood with our good friend Beka.) 

So here goes ...

Several days of my time in Haiti in July were spent working alongside Bud, the mission handyman.  Believe me, I did not contribute any mechanical expertise, just an extra set of hands.  And really, an extra set of hands was all Bud needed from me.  I learned a few things and, although I'm sure he didn't realize it, Bud helped me out by demystifying machines a bit for me.  (He would have been proud of me a couple of weeks ago when our renters, Rob and Jessica, called to say the dryer was on the fritz - with a hand from Rob, I was able to remove the heating element, find the problem in the sensors and get them replaced.  The dryer is back to work.)  I imagine that living in Haiti will require me to get a bit more knowledgeable about how things work and how to fix them on the fly, so it's all good practice for me.

With the exception of a day's work on the mission lawn mower (I now know how to replace a blown head gasket!), most of my days with Bud involved work on various diesel-powered generators.  There are four sets of generators (each with one main generator and one back-up) that Bud oversees:  at the mission compound, at the radio station/Cowman School, at the Emmaus Seminary and at the radio transmitter towers.  The generators run during the day whenever the local power company is not providing power.  (Local power kinda comes and goes - somewhat predictably most days.)  So the generators are often key to keeping the lights on, the computers and fans running, and (most importantly) a radio signal carrying the gospel to a million listeners.  Hundreds of things can go wrong with any one of the generators, and it's left to Bud to locate the problem and fix it (sometimes waiting weeks or months for a particular part or tool in order to do the job).

Below are a few pictures from my time with Bud.  I wish I had a way to capture on film how wise, personable, and godly Bud is as an individual, but there's no way to do that - you'll just have to take my word for it.  It was a great experience to work with him. 

There aren't many pictures here because typically my hands were way too greasy to hold a camera...

Bud checks up on the main generator at the radio towers.



The back-up generator at the radio towers had a leaky oil seal.  Bud shared with me the year-long saga of getting the proper tool for removing the old seal to Haiti.  Getting this generator back in good working condition was very satisfying for him!





We had to get the electrical half of the generator away from the motor part in order to get to the leaky seal, thus Bud rigged this scaffolding to swing the half out of the way.  It weighs hundreds of pounds.



It's out of the way and we can finally get to the faulty seal.

At the center of the picture is a homemade switch that Bud designed and installed to enable the automatic start of either generator whenever the city power dies away.  Otherwise, a worker has to be on hand to manually flip the switch quickly once he notices the power is down.

Dats came along with us on the day Bud worked on the switch.  Here he inspects the job.

A few minutes later, Dats pulled a tooth.  He was quite proud of it.

Each set of generators is housed in a cinderblock building and kept under lock and key.  This is the one at the radio station where I helped Bud with another generator job ...

This time there was a need to replace the entire electrical half of the generator.  We used a similar scaffolding rig to get it into place where it could be attached to the motor.

The finished project.

This photo is blurry, but I include it to prove to people - especially my brothers - that I did indeed get my hands dirty.

Cowman International School

At the tail end of my week in Haiti last October I had the chance to look around Cowman School.  I went because God was already impressing upon me the very real possibility that Melissa and I might be called to teach there and I wanted to see if first hand.

In July, our hostess, Jane, made sure the whole family got to see the Cowman campus.  God willing, this will be where the kids will be doing their learnin' and Melissa and I will be doing our teachin' next year.

Cowman is named after Charles and Lettie Cowman, the cofounders of the Oriental Mission Society in the early 1900s (which is now called One Mission Society).  Incidentally, Lettie was the author of the famous devotional, Streams in the Desert.  Last year, there were over 30 students enrolled here, many of them the children of missionaries.  But the school desires to be more available to Haitian children, especially the offspring of employees of the mission. 

There is no comprehensive public education system in Haiti.  Parents must pay each semester for each child  to attend class and, although the amount is not much more than we might spend on dinner and a movie, the price is too steep for too many Haitians.  (This is why the mission coordinates the "Starfish Kids" program where individuals around the world can sponsor a child to receive ongoing education and a nutritious daily lunch.  You can check out the details HERE.)

Cowman has plans to expand into the high school years - it has traditionally provided education only through the middle school years, so older students had to be homeschooled or go off to a boarding school far from home.  And this is where I personally hope to be of aid.  For now, I think Cowman hopes to approach the challenge by having one person on staff (me??) to coordinate various classes taught via internet or software.  It all sounds like a lot of fun to me!  My students here know that I can't keep out of discussions of history, current events, science and social studies in my English class anyway...

The kids were excited to ride in the back of the pick up when Jane took us for a tour of the school.  Cowman is just a quarter mile down the road, right beside the Radio 4VEH station.

Approaching the school for the first time.  The picnic tables are where the students have lunch each school day.

The playground...  It could use a little help.

Heading to the end of the building, where the library is.

The Cowman library - pretty impressive for a school of about 30 students.  I've got some books I'd like to add.  If the school is going to expand into high school years, we're going to need more books at a higher reading level.

The library has the only air conditioner on campus.  Thus, the library gets used for more than just reading books - it's a very popular place.

This is Dats' expression when I called him a "nerd" for immediately putting the library to good use.  I love my little nerds.



Cowman's computer lab!  Anybody aware of a technology grant that might apply to a school in Haiti?



One of the classrooms.  It won't look this barren once the new school year gets started.