January 24, 2009

I can't believe how fast this is going. January is almost over, Feb is a short month, then it is March. There is a small team coming in the first of March to do a medical mission for a few days, then Caroline will be gone the rest of the month as she goes back to Chicago to teach an internet Bible study class, so that will be a very busy time for Gary and I. Then it is April and the school year is practically over.

Yesterday we finished the legal stuff for the new orphanage that Bev and Al are starting. there was a meeting with the available parents of the 3 kids who are going to be the first ones there. with a translator the rules and expectations were laid out and they agreed to everything. They were genuinely happy that their kids were getting a chance. When it came time to sign the papers, the only father there, who looked about mid 60's, couldn't sign his name. It looked like he had never done it before. One of the locals helping with the details took his hand and helped him hold the pen, then made his mark for him, then wrote his name as witness. This is a very humbling place. You see things like this regularly, people who never had a chance to get any kind of education and have had to make their way thru nothing but, well, whatever each uses. This man is an alcoholic, his wife is not sane, and their young son has apparently been exposed to far too much in far too short a time. He is one of a legion of kids who run the streets, naked for the most part, eating whatever they can find or steal, sleeping with whomever will take them. His name is Ti-Russ and he is maybe 4 years old, so those of you with kids that age imagine that life for them for as long as you can stand thinking of it, and know these kids live it every day.

It appears I will get to meet the ent doc in the next week or two, though nothing definite yet. It has been the last week of the grading period and it's been fairly busy with kids trying to get in grades. Yesterday I walked into my class and Pony was talking to Ginou, an American student from NJ here for the year. Ginou will go back to the states this summer and resume his life there as far as we all know. Pony has one leg, he lost his right leg to cancer several years ago. Pony is 19 I believe and lives in an orphange with about 10 or so other kids in Mountrois. His family lives far in the interior, and many of them are dead now. Pony was talking to Ginou when I came into the room and I knew Ginou was taking a test, so I told Pony to leave him alone. Pony told me he wanted to tell Ginou something about the chapel service we had that morning, so I gave him a minute. When I returned, Pony was returning to his desk and looking back over his shoulder told Ginou "you have nothing without God, Ginou".

When things like this happen it makes it difficult for me to think of being home, having the extra comforts and income and thinking it is really important. Pony will very likely spend his whole life here, though there is a chance he have an opportunity for school in the states when he graduates from school here (Pony is doing about 7th grade work). His life is as I described, and he takes the time to tell a rich kid from the states he has nothing w/o God. For those of you who know the Bible, everyday it seems to me that I am living in the book of Acts here. Kesmy had a seizure in class on Thursday, he moaned for about 5 minutes before it passed. They have been happening more frequently for him. Afterwards he said he was ok, just needed to rest. Later that night, I had to go back to school to get something around 7 pm (the school is open that and some other nights for an English class some of the teachers hold for Haitians) and Kesmy was there reading from a French Bible studying Scripture.

This is a very, very humbling place despite the problems and pitfalls. It can be totally exasperating and then.....you see why you're here all over again. It get's clear again in your mind and you carry on. I don't know what the future holds, no one really does. I will very likely be home this summer as I do need to make some money to support myself here, and I truly do miss my son's and friends there. The longer I am here though, it seems it get's a little more clear to me how I want to live the rest of my life. I feel like I wasted so much of it chasing the garbage I was chasing, and I feel so blessed to be here and offer what little I have to offer to those I can offer it to.

So if you ever want to mess up your life and thought processes, just let me know. I'll arrange a trip here for you and maybe you'll be as messed up as I am! If you're lucky, maybe more! the weather is good, we even got a little rain the other day. take care folks, stay off the ice and snow. I much prefer the dust and dirt here. :)

Djebenis tout moun.