December 18, 2008

we'll be leaving for Port in a little more than an hour.  should be home in St. Louis around 5, pending weather.  mild ice storm may delay things.  hopefully I'll get home in time to change clothes and make my return flight to Port in January!!    had our Christmas show for the kids last night and it went really well.  after two of the daughters of Petit Hommes' were outside singing worship songs in Creole.   can't even remember which one it was now, but it was one I knew, so they began to sing in in English and we all sang together.  it was a good night.   be seeing everyone soon, have a good day, keep that ice/snow away Lord!!!     bye for now.

December 15, 2008

it is about 77 deg here in St. Marc this morning...and it is 16 deg in St.Louis. maybe the flight will have mechanical problems......KIDDING!! looking forward to being home for a few days. next few days will be hectic, have to get my packing done early, as Wednesday is school till 1:30, then prepare for the Christmas show they do with the kids for the families that starts about 4. It goes for a few hours, then clean up and get ready to leave next morning about 5 for the airport. Typical travel stuff.

After the first several weeks here I kind of settled in here and got into the routine of life. Recently it seems that there is something new going on in me. I can't identify it but a change nonetheless. Kind of a "sorting out" thing maybe. Life here is more "regular" I guess and it feels like maybe a fork in the road is upcoming. As I have said before it seems like I am getting changed much more than anyone I interact with here. Whether it is in order that I might be here long term, or that I may be a different person when home again is unclear to me. I guess I know I will see differently if home, at least I hope I would. I see people differently, and myself, and honestly I see God differently. Maybe that is the change in me I can't identify. so, on we go, another day of school, and I look forward to being in my home church this weekend. bye for now.

December 13,2008

Hard to believe I will be basking in the ice and snow of central western Illinois this time next week. :) or is it :(?? putting the finishing touches on the Christmas show they do at the school. much practice, and it does cut into the school time but the kids like it, and it does give a break, or a reward for the first half of school to them. Gary and Caroline are off to Bible school this morning as I house sit and "manage" Rose who is making the Saturday meal for us. we have started a thing where G/C and myself, along with Al and Bev and Barb when she is here, do a Saturday afternoon get together thing. We pool some money and have one of the Haitian staff fix a Haitian meal for us, rice/beans (shocking, I know) plaintains, potatoes, chicken (ok, we splurge) and picklies. not pickles, but picklies, a kind of cabbage slaw that is made with as much hot pepper as you can stand. Rose is kind to us, as she knows burning the entire intestines out of the missionaries who work the school would not be in her long term interests! :) the Haitians kind of laugh at us on these things but I have learned to laugh at myself also. those who know me are aware that I have long had this skill, as I have even longer had things to laugh at myself about.

I must brag here some regarding my Creole. it is coming along nicely, thank you, and I am gaining some confidence in speaking AND actually understanding a little of what the Haitians say, as long as I am aware of the subject and I can get them to speak SLOWLY. You do this by listening to what they say for 3 minutes and waiting for a break. then you look at them and say "souple, pale dousman", at which time they roll their eyes and start over. You see, I have just asked them "please, speak slowly" and they then realize that I am not Haitian (yes, I do see the irony in that statement) and they know they must speak to me as if I am 2 years old. But this is an improvement for me. One of the girls at school is going to teach me a new Haitian word every day, starting next week. Of course, after 3 days I will be gone for 2 1/2 half weeks so who knows what I will remember when I return. I have been told that you actually do better when you return after a break from it, as your brain apparently processes things somewhat and it begins to sink in some.

Gary is arranging for me to meet an ent doctor after the first of the year in Port au Prince, or more correctly Petionville, where all the money lives. There is at least one ent in the country and I am exploring the option of opening an audiology practice in Port. I have seen some of the bourgeious with hearing aids, and I suspect that they get them in the states or in the DR. oops, Dominican Republic. it would not take a lot of sales to support myself here and enable me to do more ministry. So, we'll see where that goes. I am trying to explore options while at the same time not tie myself to anything for next year. Kind of a get ready for anything thing. You just never know what doors God will open for you, or what ones He will close behind you. Maybe I'll be right here again, maybe I'll be in the US looking for a job and looking for a new or used car, if there are any available then. :) or maybe I'll be at the South Pole, who knows? I am learning to be flexible, at least spiritually. My chiropractor will not be happy with my fleshly flexibility. That will be an early visit when I am home. I am looking at my next 5 months here as an opportunity to gain some personal discipline in my time management and use skills, which, as an American, are abysmal. I always assume I have time to do things LATER and I will have time for everything when LATER get's here. Not so. So eventually I'll get a plan together....:):)

I have been downloading some pic's while I am typing (see, I am getting better, usually I wait till I get to the picture part and stop and go get them!). so here are some pic's for those visually inclined folks.

Picture are of some of the houses that are being repaired from hurricane relief monies that are going out to people still. you can see the damage yourself and some of the people affected. these are not the worst, just some of the available pictures we have. many lost their homes entirely. those homes were either lost or completely rebuilt if money was available. just another reminder of life here and how it is lived.

suddenly, the ice and snow don't seem so bad after all. hope everying is having a good day, drive safely in Middle America, will see many of you next week. bye for now.

December 9, 2008

yes, I know I am not posting often. the team last week and starting school again, and I am realizing I am leaving to return for a break in 9 days.... leaves me thinking and not doing much recently. returning to school is a good routine to get back to. we have had a couple of heart to heart discussions with one of my students who is right there on the verge of being kicked out of school. passive aggresive, won't work, etc. but after today he seems to get the idea...for at least a day, we'll see how tomorrow goes. as I get to know the kids more, including the younger ones, and I interact with the staff more, I am beginning to look at them as a kind of a family, and I enjoy that and worry over it. I think, "how can I ever leave them?", right after I think about coming home next summer or other oppotunities I might have, like starting an audiology practice in Port au Prince. I know every year or so, someone is here, and they get close to the kids and the kids get close to them...and they leave and someone else comes in. I wonder what the effect would be if, oh, I don't know...someone actually came back? it causes me to think, and part of it is am I just doing this because I feel it might be a good thing to do, or is this God calling me to do this? so I pray, and think....then in an epiphany, I think and pray. and wonder. so if anyone wants to think and pray with me...please do, I can use the help.

weather is wonderful, high 70's in the morning (when the locals go around in long sleeve coats) to around 90 for a high. very dusty though, cough, cough. sun is coming up later and later, makes it hard to just pop up in the morning, but usually I have been awake for an hour or so at least anyway. I am thinking of getting a scooter next year if I am home for summer. prelude to getting one here, or maybe a motorcycle. so Rufus, you can hold fundraisers all summer to get me money to buy a bike here next year....that is if I wind up here. so many questions. looking forward to seeing everyone soon, I just hope I avoid what Al has now, dengue fever. it apparently it going around, please pray for him and for the people it doesn't turn into a big problem, I know there was an outbreak of it about this time last year around here. so, I'll be home....or really sick. Hmmmmmmmmm..........I vote for home. :) bye for now.

December 5, 2008

A very busy 4 days have gone by, and NO I don't have pic's to share of the clinic. I don't think of getting pic's until I sit down to blog, then I say to myself, "self, you're a dork". I just don't have that priority of getting these pics to share in my head yet. I do have a few of some cute kids though.

Eye clinic started Monday and it was...unorganized and kind of a mess to start with, but we got it figured out as we went and it went fairly smoothly. Saw about 130-140 on Monday, that is my guess. Tuesday we had the glasses that had been help up in customs so we had better glasses to give out. The computer inventory system they had had some bugs apparently in it and it took almost 2 hours to get it working and that slowed everything down. Since it was the last day in St. Marc, we had to see everyone, including those from Monday who came back to get the glasses we couldn't give them on Monday. Opinions differ but it was at least 225 people and it got kind of stressful for some of the team doing that level of work. Wednesday and Thursday at Mountrois were much better and things went off with only self inflicted wounds, and minor scratches at that. Overall I would say that we saw between 650-700 people in the 4 days and most got prescription or reading glasses. Many complaints of itchy eyes. The dusty season is just beginning to start and it really does cause people problems.

After the clinic Thursday we returned to where the team was staying, the Xaragua hotel where a Bible conference was being held on Thursday. People from the team spoke and apparently it went really well. Took pic's after that of local area's for the team to take back. They have a very cool guy, Roy, who is the church videographer for them. He brought a tv cam with others, and shot video late Wednesday and all day Thursday. The church raises funds for missions just like Gary and Carolines. He took pic's along the roadway (not appreciated by the other traffic, by the way, or the local farmer who wondered if we were going to damage his banana's or tomatoes. He was assured we would not hurt anything and was fine after that). Also at the orphanage and at the home of one of the workers here Francois Petite Homme, last name is pronounced

petty-tom, as in tom petty....and the heartbreakers....for those more than 40 it may mean something. Took video of his house and family, all 8 kids. The orphanage shots were good and I got some pic's of some local kids there, so HERE ARE THE PICTURES....

well actually I have to find the camera now......this is how I write stuff. right up to where I need something, THEN I go get it. (pause for effect here)

the first one is of Pastor Mark of the team doing a video shot with a local child inside the orphanage gate. this is the community of Mac Donal. and no, you can't get fries with it. :) the next pic is of some local boys who always gather and watch whenever something like this goes on. a large group of missionaries, especially with high tech camera's will bring every local kid that has nothing better to do. the last one is of a little girl who also came around, very cute kid who just wanted in on what was happening so I took her picture and showed it to her, which caused a big smile.

I think the team got a view of Haiti they had not had. a few had been in Haiti before on this type of clinic, and I think most had some mission experience. listening to them I gathered it was a different type of experience for them this time. I don't think they had actually been out in the "field" you might say, previously as much as this. it is always eye opening to live it. the church we had clinic in Mountrois had no roof over half of the building. the group had previously travelled in closed buses on paved roads. that is not Haiti, and probably won't be for some time, though progress is being made. at least some is. it's been a tiring week, but I know many people received glasses who had not been able to see their whole lives, and many did who would not have any other way during their lives.

I know many church folk's go into fits when you quote James 2:15. "suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing and you say, "well, good bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well"-but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. what good does that do?"

God says to have faith in Him IS to believe in Him enough that YOU go out of your way to give to those who have need. Believe me, it is worth it and I am happy to have a small part in it. It is about letting yourself be changed instead of needing to be in control. Once you go, you get stretched outside your comfort zone and realize you'll live. And you get to be part of stuff like this. Very cool.......or sweet, or whatever word your particular generation uses. thanks for listening, bye for now. WAIT........I forgot to announce that I officially am being followed on another blog!!!!!! Thanks Kristin, now I'll stalk you too!! it's all good...someday I might get out of the basement here. :)

Dec 2, 2008

had eye clinic again today. people were lining up at 5:30. Gary and Caroline were at Xaragua with the team again. it is a long drive there and it does not make sense to leave here in the morning to go get them and then return with them, so they were staying there. dealt with workers and power starting at 6. got clinic going when the team got here, but some technical problems delayed things. funny thing how that works out when things get delayed. instead of making for a shorter day....it makes for a longer one. we worked straight thru till about 6, saw 150+ people, and got EVERYONE done today. tomorrow we go to Mountrois to do it again, as well as Thursday. it was a very tiring day for everyone, late in the day some nerves got frayed as will happen, but we got thru it and a lot of good was done for people. so it was worth it. I am tired now, going to take a nice cold shower so I can wake up and still have time to get asleep later.

December 1, 2008

well, for a short while I am stranded at the house. we are having an eye glass clinic at the school and basically have been battling a riot at the gate for the last 2-3 hours. we needed water for the workers so I went out and got a 5 gallon jug at the house. got within about 10 feet of the gate and could not get closer, so I passed it over the crowd to the workers at the gate and came back here. shortly I will see if the crowd has lessened somewhat so that I can get back over.

I hear it is snowing in St. Louis. right now a little quiet snow sounds pretty good. bye for now