Gonaives

The needs are beyond what you can imagine in Gonaives.
I believe that if everyone will do just a little part to help it will all get done and people will soon get the help they need. Don't get me wrong, some things will take months, some years and some things will never be the same. Some of these kids today are kids that lost their families in the storm in 2004 and now they have lost everything again.
I keep thinking about the saying...How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Today we took our first bite!
We drove out and got this group of kids that had been stuck on top of their orphanage in Gonaives.
They had not eaten or had anything to drink in days. We stopped and got bread, bananas, water and peanutbutter.
Trust me - we did the easy part.
We would meet up with Mike, Beaver, Renald, Rose and her family who had done the hard part. Walking for hours with all the kids. We met them at the badly damaged bridge and would carry them across. Our job was feeding everyone and giving them a ride back into town to stay at Sherry's.
BTW - she isn't running an orphanage, she is running a school. She never planned to have an orphanage, but she just happened to have an empty building ready for these guys to stay in. Hmmm!
Now the really hard work begins.
They will need food, clothes and help getting the waist deep mud out of their orphanage.
I have to keep telling myself - one bite at a time! We are collecting supplies to bring over to them in the afternoon.
I was thinking we should do something just crazy, fun and ramdom - like getting them icecream!
That is always best eaten one bite at a time - well, really big bites if it is Ben and Jerry's, but we don't have that here.

Remembering 9/11 and SaraH

Yesterday was 9/11. Even with our lives full of so many needs here in Haiti we didn't forget about the twin towers, we talked about it at dinner with our children. We also talked about the fact that on 9/11 last year I got the phone call saying that SaraH died here in Haiti.

I have posted a picture of SaraH the first day we saw her. It was my first trip to Haiti and I promise you I thought I had fallen in to a really bad dream. But my buddies, Barb, Kim, MaryAnn and Lisa, who got me into this mess, seemed to be right next to me reminding me it was all very real.

I can still see a picture in my minds eye of her standing on the road with her grandmother. I have to skip that part because I cry everytime.

SaraH's story is long and complicated for so many reasons. Part of me thinks maybe a blog isn't the best place to explain, but than again, it might be the perfect place. I am thinking a book.....

For now I will just say that I, and maybe others, still find some of her life very painful to talk about. I have struggles about her life... what could have, what should have and would have's mess with me.

But, this morning my sweet Jesus said to me...it is not how you found her, it is how you left her.
I could have added...."But, what about..." to His words, but that isn't what He was saying to me.
It was simple.
After a year of doubt and questions I got such a simple release - Sheila, you left her heart in a good place.

This blog wouldn't be right if I didn't add one final note about my buddy who loved SaraH most. She would not like it if I talked about her in public so I will just say - ditto! You left her heart in a good place!

Just one last note....Dan just drove in the gate with the ipod pounding out a song. It just happened to be playing Hall and Oats...you guessed it...Sarah smile! I am so not kidding!

Storm

As I went to get Jean Kelley the other day someone told me about a woman who went up to the roof to get away from the flood that was coming. As she waited for the water to pass she went into labor having her baby on the roof in the rain.

Yesterday, Junior showed me this picture.....

I am pretty sure I don't have the right words to finish those thoughts...

Mom...

Yesterday, out of the clear blue, Parker said to me....Mom, who made God?
Mom: Uumm...well, God has always been here. He IS the creator....
Parker: Mom! But, WHO made him?

He didn't like my answer so he went to Dan.

Parker: Dad, who made God?
Dan: I think I was eight when I asked the same question......Son, God has always been here.
Parker: That is what mom said!
Dan: Believing in God is about FAITH!

That was that and he walked away...I don't think we are done with this one!

UPDATE:
1. You can send funds for Jean Kelley to the p.o. box listed on our blog. Please make a note in the memo so we know what the funds are for.

2. Thank you to all who have been praying for Haiti - we are fine but we had a really bad storm last night! Adding more rain made it even harder for many. We have two ladies in our program who are now homeless. They told us they are sleeping on a porch and left with only their babies and no other personal items. Please let us know if you would like to help them as well.

Urgent Request For Jean Kelley

The past two days have been a bit of a blur. I got a phone call saying that Jean Kelley was in pain and he needed me to come and help him. For those of you who don't know who Jean Kelley is... I posted a blog on August 14th that you may want to read before you go any further. For those of you who know Jean Kelley, you know that he never asks for anything or complains about his leg. He is very much like my own kid, calls me mom and the whole bit so getting his phone call told me that this was something that needed my attention right away. This is where it gets blurry. I have been down this road with him and I kicked in to high gear. We went and got him from the orphanage he lives at, had a nurse look at him, got him meds for pain, fed him, sent emails, made phone calls to help determine our plans for today. With some direction from Dr. Jen I made phone calls to find the best price for an x-ray, labs and to find the doctors office that Tara and Troy had used. It makes me laugh that you can call a place to check on an x-ray and they can tell you that the generator doesn't work and they don't have current so try back in the next day or two. John said, he has had to buy gas for a generator in order to get an x-ray done. Only in Haiti!

So here is what I know now:

1. I need your help!
2. The doctor asked to do the operation today!
3. It will be expensive! It could be $3000 - plus!
4. It needs to happen asap!
5. I will do everything I can to save his leg - even when they say the "a" word!
6. The doctor said that there is so much infection his leg could burst again!
7. He will need IV meds for six week after the operation.

Please let us know if you can help!

Thorn

Today was kind of gross....well, not kind of, it was really gross.
Roseline didn't come to sew on Monday and wasn't here again this morning. I was disappointed that she didn't come because I see so much ability in her.
At about 11:00, I heard the gate close and looked up to see her walking in with her son who had his arm in a sling.
Oh, dear! What was wrong now?
She began to explain that the thick yellow paste all over his hand was butter. No, he hadn't been burned. He had been poked by a thorn. OK....why, butter? I never did really get an answer to my question. His hand was so swollen I couldn't imagine what had happened. I was thinking a bite of some kind. No, it was a thorn. I had her take him in the bathroom and wash his hand so I could see what was going on with his hand. When I got it under the light I could see a small scab like thing on the side. I touched it a bit and found that the thorn was still in his hand and had been for the past three days. As I touched it he wiggled and made faces - it had to come out.
About this time Dan was in the kitchen making eggs and Spam. Yes, Spam! His new favorite breakfast meat. I am sorry, but I can't even really talk about it because I still can't believe that he really likes it. Remember, I am in the clinic room about to pull out a thorn that has been festering for three days and this kids hand is three times bigger than it should be. That can only mean one thing...it was going to explode. Suddenly, with out any warning Dan says, do you want eggs and Spam? Pop! The thorn was out and I was really thankful for a strong gag reflex! The stuff that was pouring out of his hand didn't go well with the picture of eggs and Spam, trust me! Nor was it good that it drained junk for a long time mixing with the smell of Spam cooking!
I told you it was gross!
BTW - she did stay and sew after the operation!
Spam anyone!
Sorry!

Even Little Girls...

I kept hearing myself say, "they are so cute!"
I wasn't making the connection that all the little girls with scarves tied on their heads loaded down with water, food or house hold supplies aren't really little girls in a third world country.
Pretty soon "cute" left me uncomfortable as I noticed that they look and act just like a grown up doing jobs just as a grown up would do, never saying a word about how hard it is or how unfair it is. I don't recall seeing any of them with a baby doll. A real baby, yes, but not a doll. I see dirty little feet that don't struggle to keep flip-flops made for some one much larger on their busy feet. They are often empty looking, watching every move made around them, never saying a word. Maybe be it is me that has caused the silence. Maybe it is me that has taken away any expression, reaction or emotion. I have, on occasion, seen children run as fast as they can to get away from the white people.
My guess is, it is more than that. I think that as a little girls their lives are lived as adults, even down to the way they dress.
I have learned to travel with candy on long road trips. It opens doors!
Even little girls who live life as an adult like candy, so do big girls who are now mama's.