Poorest of the Poor

The orphanage at Cite Soliel today was pretty amazing.

There were tents with packing blankets on the dirt where the kids slept. 

One tent had three sets of metal bunk beds but unfortunately they 

weren't functioning as beds, they had clothing stored on them with no mattresses.

The most modern thing about the whole orphanage was the bathroom facilities. 

I didn't venture to open the door to see how things worked but it appears 

to be a pretty nice way to handle what could otherwise be a huge health problem.

 I wonder what relief organization built it for them.

The kitchen was an open-air hut with a charcoal-burning cooking frame. 

Pots and dishes stored on the ground. 

Adjacent to the kitchen hut was an empty chicken coop. 

There were several chickens roaming on the property.

Other than some scabies, a girl with asthma, and another girl with female problems 

this was a very healthy bunch of kids. 

The adult caregivers are doing the best they can with the resources they have - 

which are very scarce. They were very gracious to us and very much appreciated 

the medical checkup for the kids, staff and some of the villagers

 and for the load of food provided by Chadasha.

The big challenge of the day for me was to dust off 

my 20 year old blood-drawing skills and draw blood from 

a set of malnourished and dehydrated twins. 

Whew! I am glad to report that with lots of sweat and prayers I was successful 

- and the twins are HIV negative.

This orphanage is terribly, terribly poor but healthy considering the living conditions. 

So glad we were able to help.

Haitian Play Day

Today was our day to play. 

 We spent the day at the newly formed Chadasha children's shelter. 

 It is housed in the second story of a lovely senior Haitian-American woman's home. 

 Currently there are 10 children residing here. They are all loved and happy. 

 The goal for the home is to be a sort of holding station for kids i

n the process of being adopted. 

 Hopefully it will become completely self-sufficient with the adoptive parents 

paying upkeep for their kids while the process is being worked.

For me, the coolest parts of the day were getting to deliver some of the bed bags 

that my GFWC Legacy service club made for the kids and getting to meet and deliver 

the items that my daughter purchased for the oldest girl at the home.

A few weeks ago I saw pictures of the kids in the shelter on Michelle Robert's Facebook page. 

 The oldest girl struck a chord with Allison and me. Allison decided that 

for her upcoming birthday she wanted money to purchase items for the oldest girl. 

 Together we shopped and bought 2 dresses, top/shorts outfit, undies and training bras, 

a journal, colored pens and pencils, and lipgloss.

When I got to meet Stelie (short for Estelie) I fell in love with her! 

She was a little shy at first but was very excited about the bed bag with her own name on it. 

When I got to give her the bag of goodies from Allison she was really just awestruck. 

I also told her that Allison would like to exchange notes, pictures, and photographs 

in the future if possible. With the regular trips that friends of mine (and me?) 

will make in the future getting notes passed shouldn't be too much problem.

 She gave me two very well colored pages out of her coloring book 

and signed her name and "I love you" for me to give to Allison.

 I think this is the beginning of a wonderful relationship.

My friend and fellow mission worker, Kathy, worked with Stelie on her numbers 

while we were there too.

Overall it was a very low-key, relaxing day of playing with the kids with just 

a little bit of medical check-ups added in. Another good day.

The Apparent Project

Saturday was a busy day for the team. 

We spend the day doing a mobile medical clinic for the Apparent Project artisans 

and their families and a few folks from the adjacent tent city. 

 The Apparent Project is a non-profit organization dedicated 

to helping Haitian residents develop and sell their art in order to support themselves 

so that their families can remain together. 

 This very worthwhile organization is run by 

Corrigan and Shelley Clay - empowerers extraordinaire.

We managed to see 120 people that day and were exhausted at the end of it all. 

 What do an all-female mission team do after a hard day of seeing patients? 

 Why, we shop! We got to spend a bit of time in a small room with tons of amazing jewelry, 

coconut nativity sets, hammered metal crosses, and baskets. 

 These amazing artists take cardboard, 50 gallon drums, fabric and 

lacquer and turn them into real works of art.

Sunday, Kreol Style

Sunday in Haiti is church day. 

 The team got all gussied up (well, we had on skirts) and went to 

the Pernier Baptist Church in Petionville (an area of Port au Prince). 

 We love this church and wanted our newbie team member Becca to enjoy this service. 

 It is in Kreol but there are some things that transcend a language barrier. 

 The order of service is roughly the same as at home - hymn singing, sermon and communion. 

 The really cool thing about this week's service is that about 40 people were 

lined up across the front of the church and down the center aisle. 

 The pastor and the elders of the church made their way around and spoke to 

and shook the hand of each person. 

 After church we asked Kessy, one of the young men who translates for our team, 

what all of that was about. 

 He said that the Sunday before was Homecoming for their church and that the people 

who were lined up were being formally presented as members of the church.

After church we changed clothes and headed to the beach. 

 The plan was to see some property that the Chadasha Foundation is planning 

to purchase to build a respite for the children they serve.  

As we traveled the road to the beach we came upon a field covered in white and gray rocks. 

Spread over the rocks were hundreds of black crosses. 

Some with wreaths long since dried up and withered, some just plain. 

This place is the mass grave for over half of the people who perished 

in the earthquake of January 2010.

Rather overwhelming but in hindsight it seems a peaceful, dignified place 

to place the remains - away from the chaos of the city.

Once again found out why Haiti's nickname is "Waiti". 

 The beach resort where we stopped for lunch took so long to serve us (>2 hours) 

that we missed our opportunity to see the property. 

 We needed to get back into the safe confines of the guesthouse before it got too dark. 

 This city just isn't safe after dark.

By the way - after riding for a total of 3 hours on the "prison truck" 

(our open air chariot for the week) I cleaned my face with a makeup removing wipe. 

The black stuff is mascara, the tan stuff is dirt. 

The air quality from dust, burning trash, and vehicles exhaust is significant. 

This is not a country for germphobes!

Andrea and the kids

I met someone who impressed the socks off of my today. 

 Andrea and her husband (who is currently in India on a church mission trip) 

run a little orphanage in Croix du Bouquet, an area of PAP. 

 She and her husband came to PAP to start an orphanage 6 weeks after they married! 

 Wow, what a honeymoon! 

 Now they have 26 kids who are loved and beautifully cared for by the Brewers.

One of our favorite girls - Wilnise.  

Never stopped smiling the whole time we were there.

We spent an afternoon at the orphanage checking them out medically 

and starting medical charts for them. 

We enjoyed playing with them, giving them candy 

(hey, we are the medical caregivers, not the dentists - don't judge!), 

and receiving a gift of a spontaneous dance from the kids. 

 The song that they were singing is a Shakira song that was made popular 

at the last World Cup games. 

 It was much fun to watch the kids dance and then to watch 

our team member Stefanie join in.

I will be very interested to see how this orphanage evolves. 

 Sweet kids being loved by sweet people - it's a good start!

Melissa Fix

Jenny is in heaven!

 

 One of the first orders of business for my dear friend and Haitian homegirl 

was to get her hands on her soon-to-be-adopted daughter, Melissa. 

 When Jenny first met Melissa was on my first, Jenny's second, mission trip to Port au Prince. 

 This sweet baby with Down's Syndrome was abandoned by 

a desperate mother who couldn't care for this special child. 

 With lots of nutrition and medical care this baby is thriving. 

 No one knows how long her health will hold out but for now she is 

happy, healthy, content little girl. 

 And her blanc momma is pretty happy and content too.

If you would like to read more of Jenny and Melissa's remarkable story, 

check our Jenny's blog at http://drjennychapman.blogspot.com/

A Little Traveling Music Please...

Well, like all best laid plans, things haven't gone exactly as planned. 

 With the storms from yesterday, our early morning flight out of town was cancelled 

because the airport didn't have power. 

After some very early morning discussions with the airline folks we managed 

to get flights out of Birmingham, bounce in Charlotte, and land in Ft. Lauderdale at midnight 

with a 6:10am flight to Port au Prince in the morning.

So - here we sit in the Ft. Lauderdale airport, outside of the secure area, 

with nothing open, waiting for the American Airlines ticket desk to open at 4am 

so we can get our boarding passes. 

 (Shout out to Erin, US Airways flight attendant extraordinaire for loading us up 

with bags of sodas, waters, and first-class snacks knowing that we were going to be sitting

 in the terminal overnight and leaving to go on our mission trip first thing in the morning.)

We had to retrieve all of our checked baggage to be re-checked for the international flight 

in the morning. Not sure why. Anyway, we are sitting here, 

with loads of baggage and telling anyone who looks at us funny 

that we are going on a girlfriend weekend. 

 A bag for makeup, a bag for hair products, a bag for shoes...