Out with the team...

I was out with the team yesterday. They worked really hard up at the Lutheran School at Delmas 89. Seriously, taking a work team of 8 young adult males somewhere, definitely makes me feel like I have little to add to the manual labor end of things!

I got to see a ton of people yesterday that I know and love here in Haiti though, so THAT was awesome.

As far as the cholera goes...I saw a lot of efforts throughout the city to educate people. I haven't heard news of what the spread it like, but the death reports seem to be dropping...maybe they're slowing down, or maybe they're not being reported. I really can't say.

Things in PAP seem to be running as usual, except sometimes you see trucks with people with sound systems telling crowds what to do to protect themselves from cholera. It's nice to see these efforts. Everyone here can probably handle a little more medical information on what to do when they have illness caused by bateria/other stuff in their water. And they can definitely stand to know more about this illness Cholera because they haven't seen it on this island in a long long time.

I even had Haitians telling me to be careful yesterday and making sure I knew about Cholera! One man reprimanded me for biting my nail. Fantastic... (don't worry, i was probably hand sanitized!)

So we're off to the city today to see what we can find. Thanks for checking in...thanks for following along. Thanks for your care and concern for the people of Haiti.

Can't imagine...

I've been reading the news before bed. I just read a report from people in some tent cities here. People were quoted as saying that they didn't have money to buy the soap the aid workers were telling them they needed to wash their hands. Other people said they had no where to get drinking water. As Gertrude says, "can you imagine that."

Catching up...

I'm not sure how many people actually check into this blog...or why you read the stuff I write. But I'll try to catch you up on the last two days here...and hopefully it will be helpful!

I've been trying to keep an eye on the news as much as possible to have an idea of what's going on with the whole Cholera thing here. What I'm hearing/seeing online is that there are lots of cases of Cholera north of Port Au Prince. I've heard that cases of Cholera have been confirmed found in Port Au Prince, but they originated in the area north where the outbreak started. I have not seen confirmation that there have been any cases originating here. BUT it is hard for me to get my hands on news here. The only news I get here is what I read online, so I only get news when I'm at the house and we have internet and I don't have a bunch of other things going on.

I have a great group of guys that came yesterday with the Haiti Mission Project. It's a group of guys from Canada, and honestly, they're great! I'm so happy to have them here. I didn't know any of them before yesterday, but I think they're fun and they're willing to do just about anything, so that is super helpful. But it also gives me another thing to be busy with, leaving less time to read websites, blogs, and tweets. Feel free to fill me in if you have confirmed information that I don't have!

Yesterday after the team got in, we took some information to the streets. I also took almost all the bar soap I could find out of our store closet and handed it out on the streets, encouraging people to wash hands with soap and water, and to use sanitizer if they have it. We had sheets of paper with instructions in Creole of how to prevent cholera. We asked them if they knew how to read, if they said yes, they got paper. If they said no, myself and one of the nannies explained it to them, and we also shared information on what to do if they got cholera. I spoke a lot of creole. I have been trying to learn the language and it can sometimes be hard. But yesterday I went to the streets armed with the words I needed to know and was somehow able to communicate what needed to happen. It's always a bit humbling to see people get totally excited about having a bar of soap. A bar of soap. Huge smiles. I feel like a jerk for giving out a 50 cent bar of soap and they act like it's such a great gift, and for some people maybe it is.

Most everyone we talked to had heard of Cholera...but most of the time when I said, "if you get cholera..." they would immediately say, "I will die." It was a GREAT teaching moment to be able to tell them that they don't have to die from cholera, that it can be treated and they can treat it easily if they boil water and make their own Oral Rehydration Solution...I taught people how to do that and encouraged them to spread the word.

I told them we would be back when we had more supplies. I can't wait to get more soap and sanitizer later this week to give out. Even if the cholera doesn't spread to where we are, these are still great things for people to have on hand, and knowing how to fight dehydration from intestinal illnesses is always good information here!

It was good to feel helpful. Gertrude took a bunch of flyers I printed up to her church today...she came back empty handed. We're not a big organization, honestly Gertrude and I are only two people, but there are hundreds of people in Haiti who now have the information they need to prevent and treat Cholera. The hundreds we told seem small in comparison to the 9 million here...but we did what we could. And for that I am happy.

Today it was great to worship at the church at Delmas 89. I love it up there. There's something about feeling like you're a part of a church community...walking in, and just worshipping. Then we went to the beach. Having the team here gave a great excuse to head up to the beach for my first time since being here. I love the ocean here...the beauty, the fun, the crazy, the calm. I love it.

I came back tonight to find the work that awaits and the same worries that kept me awake the past couple nights. Trying to remember that I am one person...I don't have to save Haiti, or fix Haiti. I'm here to serve, and I can't serve everyone. I can serve those that I've been given the opportunity to serve. So I'll continue to do what I can, and strive to do just a bit more.

It's raining hard in Port Au Prince tonight. Every time it does this I think about the people living in tents...and tonight i think about the contaminated water in this country and praying that it miraculously stays put, and doesn't infect more people.

Big day of work tomorrow...

Quick Post...

I didn't get a chance to post last night, but if in case anyone is checking my blog I wanted them to know what we've been up to. The word is that there are a few isolated cases in Port Au Prince. I'm not sure those reports are confirmed or not. I haven't heard anything about widespread cholera in my neck of the woods.

I had team arrive yesterday. We past out well over 100 bars of soap and information tracks in our neighborhood about Cholera. We gave out everything we had. I'll write more about that later.

I've printed out tons more to hand out at Gertrude's church in our neighborhood and I'll carry some up to the Lutheran Church where I worship as well.

It's hard to get news here. I don't have TV and I don't understand the radio. I can check online news when I have internet, or the time to read all of the internet stories. I'll be gone most of the day today, but I'll try to write a more informed post later.

Thank you for your prayers, thanks to those who have donated to help us in our little corner of Port Au Prince.

Cholera: Education and Resources...

So this Cholera thing is pretty crazy. I want all of you to know that I am by NO MEANS an expert at infectious diseases. I know virtually nothing about tropical ailments. I really am not the person you need to be getting your NEWS from. I'm just a girl, living and working in Haiti, a country that happens to be experiencing a Cholera outbreack. If you're interested in following people who really know what they're talking about when it comes to the illness, I suggest you check in with the link that I blogged about in my latest entry. Also it would be good to check in with groups like the World Health Organization and Partners in Health. You can find more technical stuff from them.

Now...on with my "not-so-professional" take of the situation.

I live just outside of Port Au Prince. There are tent cities around the corner...we're not too far from Cite Soley (a big slum you've probably heard of) and we're on National #1...and huge road that goes from downtown PAP up north into the areas where the Cholera has broken out. There have been many fatalities and it seems that it started with contaminated water up in a river that many people live life out of...cleaning, drinking cooking. It won't take long for Cholera to spread that way. The hospitals were not equipped to handle this outbreak.

We've been hearing reports all day of cases being found closer and closer to Port Au Prince. There are unconfirmed reports of cases here already. Many people in this country are still living on top of each other in tent cities. Many people use the bathroom inches from where they find their water supply, and there aren't sewers, water treatment plants, or septic tanks. If the Cholera spreads here, it could be a pretty big (nasty) deal.

Cholera does NOT have to take lives. With proper rehydration and treatment it can be taken care of. And with proper education it can be prevented in a lot of cases. Sometimes it's hard to get good information Haiti. Someone can start a rumor and it can make it's way throught the country in no time. I heard Haitians today talking about how this started because someone in the Dominican dropped something in the river to make Haitians sick. Education is key!

Today I met with our staff here at the orphanage/guesthouse. At first it was difficult to convince people that this was a serious issue that they needed to be informed of, and to take precautions against. I told them what Cholera was, how it is spread, what it does to your body, how to prevent it, and what to do if they got it.

I was able to hand out kits to all of our workers (24 total) that had anti-bacterial soap, hand sanitizer, clothes, and salt and sugar to make rehydration solutions if anyone they knew got sick. We talked about "boiling the crap" out of their water...and only using clean water. I did a mini clinic on how the hands over everyone in our house should be washed. And we talked about cleanliness, cleanliness, cleanliness. By the end of the meeting the ladies were ready to listen to everything we had to say. They were especially excited when they got their own supplies for their homes and families.

Honestly...it wasn't much. Just some information and small amount of resources. We used what we already had. I wish it could have been more. I wish I could do more to help educate our area. Tomorrow I'll go into the streets with papers with instructions written in kreyol for prevention and treatment.

If you looking for ways to help you can give through the Haiti Mission Project. If you would like to donate money to go specifically towards medical care, we support Heartline Ministries that is equipped with doctors and staff that treat people in some of the poorest areas of PAP. If you want to send stuff...it's probaly easiest if you live in the MN area. A HMP board member is travelling down next week.

We need hand sanitizer (smaller bottles can be more widely distributed)
Antibacterial soap (pump and bars, foam soap for kids)

Rehydration salts

Gatorade packets

if anyone can get their hands on self contained water filtration bottles (like from REI) that would be great
Cholorine tablets for cleaning drinking water

Those are the things that are within our power to distribute and help. If you live in MN or if you would like to send things along, let me know, I can get you an address. If you'd rather donate money for these supplies, it can be done through the HMP as well. See our website at http://www.haitimissionproject.org/

Thanks so much for working with us in this, and for praying. Please pray that this illness does not spread to the sprawling tent cities. I'll try to update here as much as possible when I hear more information. I can let you know what we're doing and what things look like in our neck of the woods!

Cholera 2...

If anyone is interested here is a blog of a Doctor that we know who works ALOT in Haiti. She loves and respects the Haitian people and has genuine concern for them...AND she's way smarter than me. Read her information if you're interested in the particulars, or if you're in Haiti and are looking for ways to help.


http://sleepydoctor.blogspot.com/2010/10/cholera.html

Thanks...I'll keep you posted with what I know. Hoping it doesn't spread.

Cholera...

It's amazing the things I am learning about infectious diseases while I'm here. You may have heard by now that there is a Cholera outbreak in Haiti. I'm not sure how much is being covered on US news stations, but I thought I'd put up a quick entry.

If you're like me, you knew very little about cholera before today! I was hearing rumors of people being sick in Haiti and dying, but I also heard a rumor about a baby with four heads the other day too...you have to sometimes be selective in what information you believe. However, as the day went on more and more reports came out that people were indeed dying north of here, and it was a large amount of people.

Following the earthquake disease control was a huge issue. Honestly, many of us are suprised it took this long for this type of illness to break out. Here's what I know. There have been 135 reported deaths due to this string of illnesses and it has been confirmed as Cholera. There are approx 2000 more said to be sick with the illness.

Cholera is spread through human waste and contaminated water. In the living conditions in which many exist here, it would not take long for it to sweep through a camp. We're praying that it can be contained.

Right now the deaths that are closest to where I'm living are about 40 miles away. It's clear to see that it wouldn't take much for it to get to Port Au Prince and once here, it wouldn't take long for it to become a big problem.

Cholera can be deadly, as is proven in the past two days here in Haiti. But it doesn't have to be deadly. It can be treated and treated easily with immediate rehydration, replenishing of electrolytes, and antibiotics to shorten the course of the attack. We're trying to spread the word to people we know in the countryside how to handle this potential epidemic. Gertrude was on the phone with friends and family tonight with me in the background telling them if they got sick to drink tons of fluids, keep drinking and get to a doctor immediately, in case they need IVs or Meds.

This epidemic does not have to claim more lives.

Tomorrow we're meeting with the nannies here to take extra precautionsn to keep our little home safe. We have lots of little hands here that will be washed often with cleaned water. We're boiling all water before purifying with UV filtration, and we're sending nannies home with info for their families.

Mostly we're praying that it stops before it spreads...that it does not get worse before it gets better...and that lives will be spared, and the world will rise to the occasion to help provide a more livable existance for many people here who still live in tents on top of months worth of mud and filth.

Don't worry mom...I'm drinking clean water and have meds should I need them! And the phone number of good doctors! If only everyone in this country could say the same thing.

Better late than never...

Last week was the first week of school and I took a bunch of pictures to share with you all...of course a bajillion things got thrown in front of this blog, but today was a gloriously non-eventful Haiti day. Well, I think our cook for the kids quit. So that was drama, but Gertrude and Brinel cooked and I even helped chop some onions and carrots. No worries...we got this!

So school! School here is an interesting situation. As far as I know there are tenchically no public schools here in Haiti. Not the way those of you in America understand them to be. That means if you're going to school here, you're paying. It usually ends up costing between 300 and 600 US dollars a year for a child to go to school. It can be a HUGE price for most families and a lot of kids don't go to school all the time. They might start and not finish a year. They might go one year and not the next. Most of the times it's a toss up.

We have 10 kids here who are school age. My friend Joanna found sponsors for all of these kids through the Haiti Mission Project, and all 10 of our school age kids were ready for school. Backpacks and supplies were sent, uniforms were sewn and ribbons, belts, and shoes were bought.

The morning that school started there was a flurry of excitement...trying to find pants, and belts, and lunches, and bottles for water, and pencil sharpeners. It was a little insane, but the kids were SO excited to be getting ready for school. And some of the kids who weren't going, were sad. We have some kids here that would benefit from the Special Ed system in the US. My one little buddy looked so sad as he watched the other kids head off...he even had an old back pack on his back because he wanted to be caught up in the excitement too. Some of our kids with special needs are wicked smart...I wish we had resources for them here.

But there are ten young minds that are getting an education for a better future...and that's no small thing!

And there was much rejoicing!!!

So I came down with strep throat the other day. Crazy. I clearly do not have the immune system I need to live in a house with 38 children. Luckily I live in a country where antibiotics are not so hard to come by...I did have to wait two days and it was a little touch and go there for a while, but...I did get them!

The first day when I was feeling particularly horrible and not all that happy, Gertrude came in my room with the good news that we finally had the passport for this cute little munchkin! All it took was a month of fighting. Sometimes I had to make myself look like a complete and utter fool...speaking English that no one understood, and speaking kreyol that no one understood. I was talked about, ignored, laughed at, come on to, and even once told that if I had a baby for a guy at immigration he would give me the passport. Needless to say it has NOT been an easy process. Partly because I don't know what I'm doing, and partly becaues a lot of the sysyem is whack.

But we've got it. And now we can focus on obtaining the medical visa so this girl can have some work down on her legs and feet to see if she can become a little more mobile! I'm sure she is really confused and no idea what's going on. But I know there are people ready to receive her on the US side that will love her and take really good care of her! So...we're rejoicing in that!

Posting Pics: Party People...

If you want a more chronological view of these photos, start at the bottom and work to the top! Enjoy! We had a great time. A great way to start the next decade of life!

Fet Mwen...

For many people, turning 30 is a huge milestone. It's seems to be an age in the United States that some people have troubles accepting. I'm not sure...maybe it's the whole "being done with your 20s" thing and no longer have the excuse of youth on your side when you mess up and make mistakes in life. Maybe it's the fact that you feel like adulthood is here, and you're not so far from mid-life. I know a lot of people think, "By the time I'm 30, I will________." You can fill in the blank with anything; be married, have kids, pay off college, have a great car, own a home, make my first million.

As I closed in on my 30th birthday, I didn't have much to show for it on a worldy standpoint. I am officially unemployed, technically homeless, have little money to my name, unmarried, without children, and hoping to pay off my student loans sometime in this decade. Actually, listing all those things in one sentence makes me feel a little lame. BUT, then I look at my life, and I know there is a different story. I reached 30 without fear and without worry. Maybe it's because the year of 29 was a bit tumultuous for me. I saw the death of loved ones, endured stress and some significant emotional hurt, and watched as a place and people that I dearly loved sustained more than a month worth of earthquakes that devastated parts of the country and her people. Ok, it was tough, but the year wasn't without it's good points...I'll give it that. God has brought me to THIS stage of my life through the trials and hardships that I faced last year. And on my 30th birthday I looked back on my life and thought, "Rachel, your life has been anything but lame!"

If you know me, you know I love my Birthday...and you know I love to celebrate ANY birthday. (but especially mine!!!) I knew it would be a bit of an interesting experience trying to create the ridiculous birthday drama around myself here in Haiti. I've lived here a month. I don't have LOADS of close friends yet, and the ones that I do have live far away from me in this city. I don't have loads of money. And, maybe most importantly there are no restaurants to go to and get free things for your birthday. But we do live in a house with a bunch of kids that love a little excitement...and Gertrude is a great cake maker, so we threw a party!

I started my day at my church here in Port Au Prince, worshipping with people I haven't seen in a long time. I got to speak a lot of kreyol as I practiced with familiar faces after the service. Then I came home and decorated while Gertrude finished the cake and some of my favorite ladies spent most of the day in the kitched preparing a feast of some of my favorite Haitian foods and good old American pizza.

Then the party started. My friend Oriol, who drives for the guesthouse brought a musician who played a Pan Flute and they prepared some music for my birthday. Oriol played a song and Gertrude and I sang. The kids drew me a picture and sang a song and did some recitations. And I had many friends show up. We ate, we drank, and we were most definitely merry. And of course we finished the night with a birthday cake and candles. What more could a girl ask for.

So here's the truth...thanks to the generosity of those who give to support my time here, (thank you from the bottom of my heart! This is beyond amazing), I get to spend part of my life here in Haiti, helping, serving, loving orphans and widows, and giving to the poor, and laughing, and loving, and celebrating life with people who seem to know better than anyone how to make it work with what you've been given. Far Beyond Lame...so I say...Bring on the 30s. If the first day is any indication, it's going to be a great year! Or decade even!

When I was at Concordia, our theme one year was "Life is Praise." Some of my friends continually bring up that theme. And so I do it too...Life is Praise, and I couldn't be more thankful that God has blessed me this far in my life, and I know that the one who provided for me yesterday, provides for me today, and will continue to provide for me throughout all of my days!

Pictures from the party to come...and more blogs on Immigration/Emigration, and the first day of school for the kids! So...come on back!

I read a lot...

I've always loved reading. Well, at least I feel that way...I'm sure there were times as a child when I hated to read, but I don't remember those times. Since being here I have finished two books. (Eat, Pray, Love, which I did not enjoy too terribly much. You can skip it probably. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't my favorite book of all time...and the White Queen, a historal fiction piece on the royal family in England before the Tudors...it was ok, but I wouldn't tell anyone to run out and buy it either.) I'm partway through two other books as well, Madame Bovary and When Helping Hurts. I packed up a whole lot of books that I've wanted to read for a long time, and books others have suggested.

I also spend a lot of time reading things online...blogs, news sites, the weatherchannel.com...all sorts of things. I follow a lot of Haiti news online, and I read a lot of blogs from people who work/worked in Haiti. Usually they say things that I think are so profound, and then I look at what I write and think, "man. I have no idea what I'm talking about."

Sometimes I wish I had great thoughts to spill out here for you to read...but sometimes I'm afraid to say anything about Haiti...to give my take on things, because someone down the line will google Haiti and find this blog and think I know what I'm talking about. When the reality is, none of us know what we're talking about. The people I like to read from Haiti who are folks who struggle every day and still say they have more to learn than they already know.

Henry David Thoreau is attributed as saying, "How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live." I guess I want to busy myself with the standing up to live part...I just wish that sometimes I had something a little more profound to share. Believe me...I think about loving orphans and defending the fatherless a million times a day. I think about adoption and if it's better the adopt internationally or keep kids in their birth culture. I think about the church and how it shows mercy and serves the world. I think about government and how it could and maybe should work for the people. I think about Haiti...and wonder how they are ever going to dig out from this crazy time. I think about people in tents. I think about giving them houses. I think about my life as a North American, and United States Citizen. I think about my responsibility as a member of the global community. I think about international aid. It's no wonder that at the end of the day, I'm convinced of the fact that I have so much to learn.

I had a professor once who said something like, "I was dumber at 30 than I was at 19." He was saying that when you're nineteen you think you know everything, and by 30 you have realized there is so much you just don't know. I am two sleeps away from my 30th birthday...and I feel what my professor told me so many years ago. But I am eager to learn and glad to have been given this opportunity to live and serve in this country. I know it is a blessing and a privilege.

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Today was a slow day. I had some plans, but the cars weren't working...so I revised the plans. The weather has been "cool" and rainy and I had a bit of a headache today. I'm planning a big party for my 30th birthday this Sunday. (By the way, you're all invited if you want to book a plane ticket to PAP, I'll pick you up!) I decided to have the kids help me make paper chains for decorations.

I did all the prep work and told Gertude I would take a nap first since my head hurt. I went to lay down and she went to visit her mom. I awoke to the sound of tapping on my door. I called and answered "yes". I heard nothing so I rolled over. Then I heard my door opening and turned over to see 8 of the kids from the orphanage stading by my bed telling me to get up. The nannies had told them that I needed their help and they were all eagerly awaiting some fun time with me.

Let me tell you, managing 8 children under the age of 10 and trying to teach them how to do a new craft when you don't speak the same language. BUT, it was fun. I put on music. We danced, we glued, we got ready for a party!

My favorite part is when the older kids called my mom on the cell phone. They wanted to talk to her so badly, but all they could say in English was, "Hello, what's your name, how old are you." So cute. I think my mom was laughing. It was good!

Gertrude cooked some of my favorite food tonight...my stomach is full, my heart is full...I had a full day!

Up Late...

So, it's late. Well, it's only 11:15, but for a place where roosters start crowing at 3am, it's late. I guess you could say I'm doing what any normal person would be doing at this hour. I'm reading up on the medical tests you can have run at the Lab here in Haiti. And then I'm looking up all the initials for the tests to figure out what they actually check for. And then I'm looking at some of our kids' lab reports to figure out what's going on.

Folks, I am not a doctor. I'm not a nurse. The most I know, which is decent considering I have a theology degree, is what I learned in my high school anatomy and biology classes.

I really must say, I'm learning a lot, but I might be in over my head on this one and I think it's time for bed.

Goodnight!

And sometimes things work…

Sometimes things are hard here, and it can sometimes take ages to accomplish what you think is a simple task. But, sometimes things work out! Today seemed to be the day where things were working out! We went to the Immigration/Emigration offices again today and we got the passport for little Carly! Three weeks later, but we got the passport!!! I’m hoping that everything goes right and we are able to pick it up from the offices next Monday like they said we could. This is a huge blessing. It has been a long, frustrating 3 weeks trying to work our way through whatever system there was, but there is more than a little bit of joy at having almost finished the task.

I was also able to pick up test results for the little boy we had tested for HIV. I have his full medical analysis in my hands and I’m now able to send it on to the adoption agency we work with. He also tested negative for many other illnesses, and for that we are grateful!
The transformer is in and working, tonight we’ll wait and see if the city electric comes on! If it does, we’ll have lights and fans without having to run the generator! This is also great news, because it costs us about 35 dollars a day to run the generator.

I also got to stop by the Lutheran church where I worship while I am in Haiti. It’s not very close to where I’m living right now and I haven’t been up there yet. I plan to be there for worship this Sunday, and I am so excited to be back there. When I walked through the door the first person I saw was Elucie…I hugged her and got to see all the work they’ve been doing on the part of the building that fell in the earthquake. It looks great…really really great.

I was then able to direct my driver through Port Au Prince to a “suburb” where my friend Joanna is working. Navigating PAP is not like driving in the states. You’re lucky if you find street signs, the traffic is almost always horrid, and the roads are terrible most of the time. The fact that I could give directions anywhere means that I’ve been here long enough to figure a thing or two out. This is VERY exciting for me…next step is driving in the city. Maybe I’ll give it another week or two before I try that! I did however get a SWEET sunburn on my arm that was on the window side of my seat. The sun was hot today and it burned my one arm. It’s going to look awesome having one dark arm and one pasty white arm, but today was super productive and a sunburnt arm in a price I am willing to pay!

Good Day...

Today was blissfully quiet compared to yesterday! I read about 100 pages in my book, slept in until 8:30am, and got to spend the afternoon and evening hanging with my good friend Joanna Thiele at the Heartline Hospital. It's been fun meeting lots of people that I've heard about and read about for so many years. Also fun to see healing.

All in all...a pretty good day

Sometimes it seems nothing is easy…

I haven’t written in a few days because I kept waiting for the end of the story before I started to tell it…but it seems that end of the story might be a little bit down the road. While I’m in Haiti I’ll be working on a lot of different things. It’s been a bit frustrating the past few days because it just seems like nothing comes easy. Nothing works the way you think it will. That’s part of the “charm” of Port Au Prince. When travelling with my friends here, we’ve always had a saying, “hurry up and wait.” This seems to be the new theme of my life.

Shortly after arriving here I began the process of trying to get a passport for a young girl at the orphanage who needs to have some medical work. She has everything she needs for the medical visa, except the passport. You would think it would be easy to get the right paperwork together for such a thing. That’s what I thought when I started, but I was oh so wrong. This girl’s mother has died and her father has given her to the orphanage because he is unable to care for her. He

has been pretty cooperative in trying to help us get the paperwork we need. Because she still has

a birth parent living it is necessary for us to have him with us in the process…I think…at least that’s what they tell me. Many days in the past three weeks have involved me getting up, putting on dress clothes to go to the Immigration/Emigration offices, trying to hunt down the father, making sure he has everything he needs, packing the father and daughter into a car and trekking across PAP in horrible traffic to get to the offices. There is always a HUGE line of people waiting to get in, but since I am holding a child, people assume we’re there for adoption and let us in right away. We push through lines until we reach the office of the director, where we sit with paperwork and wait for something…as far as I can tell there is no real system. Maybe there is, but I’ve spent hours in this office and can’t seem to figure it out. From what I can tell, the “secretaries” let you in when they feel like it, and if they don’t feel like it, they don’t let you in. It’s in this office where I’m given the run around a million times, “you need this,” they say. I have it. So they tell me something else I need. I try to tell them I don’t really need that paper and that I just need them to help this little girl who is crippled. They won’t let me see the director…so we try other ways. I’ve had many moments where I’ve though they were going to help, and I’ve had many moments where I’ve completely lost it, both in English and in Kreyol…I only know like 30 words in Kreyol, so that’s probably fun to see. I’ve been asked to bribe people huge amounts of money, and I’ve been told it won’t cost a thing. I have been all around the city trying to hunt down paperwork, and here we sit three weeks later, still waiting. We’ll try again on Monday. I do think we’re getting closer, and eventually they’ll get so sick of seeing me that they’ll just give me the passport to shut the crazy American up. AND, after all of this we still have to wait a couple weeks for the visa. The doctors and guardians in the state have been waiting to help this girl since January. My personal goal is to get her to the states before Thanksgiving…we’ll see! She’s sweet, and probably has no idea what’s going on. The “process,” or lack thereof, is hard.

We’ve been trying to put in a transformer at the Guesthouse/orphanage so that we can get city electric. City electric in PAP is pretty notorious for not really working all that well, but in the area where we live, it’s not so bad. This will be huge as we spend almost 800 dollars a month to run the generator. Gas is not cheap here! Gertrude bought the parts they said she would need to install the transformer…she spent over $1000 dollars US. Of course when it came time to install it yesterday she was told that she would need to spend another $500 US in order to have ALL the parts. These might not seem like huge amounts of money to people in the states, but in Haiti, where people make 3 or 4 dollars a day…it’s HUGE. I wish I had bazillion dollars and could just help. It’s hard to watch friends struggle to make ends meet.

I’ve also been helping Gertrude’s sister try to get home. She is a nun in Tunisia and was in PAP for the funeral of her brother. If you can imagine, flying from Haiti to Africa is a bit of an ordeal. She’s a nun, and her family is Haitian. She has no money. I spent so much time trying to book her a ticket that didn’t cost a million dollars. We found one. She was supposed to leave today. She got to the airport and wasn’t allowed to board because even though her final destination was Rome, she flew through the States and did not have a US Visa…she was denied flight, and we’ve spent most of the day trying to figure out how to cancel flights so we don’t lose $680 dollars. It’s hard. I still don’t know how we’ll get her home.

Add to all of this the number of people starting school next week. Most schools cost between 300 and 500 dollars a year, plus the cost of books and uniforms. Many people have sponsors from the States, but I’m realizing how little we really understand the Haitian School system and how much the students still lack even if they do have a sponsor. Also, not easy.

All of this is incredibly frustrating, and I am a “fixer” by nature…to find things that you cannot fix is just annoying. But, it’s crazy…there’s always hope here. People don’t freak out. I freak out…Haitians don’t freak out, at least not that I can see. If I was turned away at the airport, you can bet I’ll be on the phone crying to my dad…but this lady handled it with amazing grace and poise. The passports haven’t come, the inconvenience drives me mad, but people here just try again. Today Gertrude gained her composure and did what she had to do to make this transformer work.

And a great story to end with. There is a little boy here that was thought to maybe be HIV positive. He’s had lots of tests and we had to wait 6 months to give this test to this little boy. I took him yesterday. He cries every time he sees me, so I wasn’t sure I was the right person to take him, but I did. I walked in to the lab, ordered the test and proceeded to the lab room. He sat on my lap. The man wrapped the band around his arm and searched for his vein…the child began to freak out. As soon as the needle pricked him he peed all over my lap…Yep, me covered in pee so a boy could have his HIV test. Today we got the results…NEGATIVE! NEGATIVE!!! This child who we thought had a devastating illness has tested negative. I couldn’t be more excited. Even in the midst of chaos, there is joy to be claimed and celebrated.
So…even though NOTHING seems to be easy here, I am happy to be here, and I am happy to call Haiti my home.