October 17, 2009

first week fini!    not a bad first week.   I have a pretty good class.  Pony, Sophonie, James, Jeptha from last year.   Spencer, a missionary kid from the states here till Christmas, and Termitus, a Haitian from the states.  overall the school is organized better as far as class time and teacher's.  It is quieter and the students seem to get more done.  We have two new teen age girls, Tia and Christella, placed in a class that has been exclusively boys for 3 years now, and it is producing the expected results.   the boys keep doing things like breaking their pencil points so they can go to the sharpener and be close to the girls desk's and talk, etc.  But so far no major problems. 

Yesterday we had the chapel service and it went well, worship was good.  It still touches me to see people from outside on the street stop and listen and try to look in.  Hopefully it is a benefit for them. 

This morning I helped skin chicken for the after noon meal that Nancy is helping to prepare.   We will have chicken, rice and beans (!), fried plantains and picklies, a hot cabbage/slaw type of dish.   very tasty stuff. 

still hot here, but the bad expected heat keeps getting put back a few days at a time on the weather site.   However, we are within 2 days now and the forecast for Monday is still 106, so it appears the other shoe is about to drop.   Again the forecast for next week is for temps from 103-107 all week. 

October is one of the more rainy times of year and so far there has been little rain.  It apparently was a very dry summer, again in the rainy season, and instead of floods and storms Haiti may be facing the opposite now....drought.    The garden area of Pont Sunday where most of the area's vegetables are grown has already dried up, and food is being brought in from Port au Prince, which just drives up prices.  Another food spike people really can't afford.   Rose, our cook is very thin, I would guess 30 pounds under her weight last spring...and I am told she has gained weight since the start of September and Gary/Carolines return!   Summer was survived by all relatively well, but some of the staff are so thin.   Another season of eating is at hand for them, and they are happy about it, as you would expect. 

still waiting for shipment of the audiometer here.   When it arrives I hope to get to the hospital and talk with the admin there.   Apparently Dr. Paul Farmer has taken over the operation of the hospital here.  He is a pretty well known missionary docctor in Haiti who has been active in medical care here for years.   I hope I can set up some means to start testing by end of the year, and we'll see where it goes.  There are the legal things to do, get permits and stuff, but that shouldn't be too hard.  I am actually kind of excited about it.  I haven't done a hearing test now in over a year, and I think I would enjoy getting my hand back into it. 

All in all, pretty much what I expected, life goes on, it is good to see the other missionaries here and trade stories of travel and travails.   Also of the good things, like the mamba program expansion, the police investigation into the Rollings situation which has uncovered police corruption in the area and which has started a more complete investigation of the justice system around Pierre Payan.   Hopefully the locals will be able to get a better course of justice for themselves as a result.  The heartaches continue also, as another baby girl died this week in MacDonald.  Life in Haiti.   will write again soon.  

Bondye benis ou

Dan