Supporting Haiti after the Storm

I have been asked by a few people about how they might help Haiti recover from the devastation of Hurricane Matthew. Given that I have been asked by a few people I thought it might be easier to answer via a blog post.

It is challenging to provide aid to Haiti as we have all seen in the news. A combination of poor long term planning, lack of understanding consequences, organization self preservation, and corruption have all help to exasperate problems in areas of Haiti. Even so, there are many in need in Haiti because of this storm and we need to separate providing immediate aid in the shadow of a disaster and the longer term recovery of Haiti; which must be lead and driven by Haitians with the rest of us providing the support as we are asked.

The people that I have directly worked with in Haiti were largely spared the brunt of the storm as they are in Port-au-Prince and the storm tracked over the south - west of Haiti. That is not to say that they weren't affected as they still had to deal with rain, flooding, and strong winds. Additionally, many have friends and family that live and work in the areas that we most affected. What I mean is that when evaluating where to help with aid I believe that there are places in more need after this storm than those with which I directly work.

There are two groups that I have worked with in the past, trust, and feel comfortable donating towards hurricane relief: United Christians International in Haiti and the Be Like Brit foundation.

United Christians International in Haiti (link)
This mission is lead by Pastor JeanJean and Kristie Mompreimer in Caiman, Haiti. The area in Caiman in which they work was once mostly a place of Vudu. Since the Mompreimers have moved in, Vudu has largely been eliminated and they have built both an elementary and middle school as well as an excellent university. The area in which they are located is far enough from Port-au-Prince that they were largely unaffected by both the earthquake in 2010 and the strong winds of this storm.

After the earthquake in 2010 the people in Caiman loaded trucks of supplies and headed to Port-au-Prince to provide help. Additionally, they brought people back to Caiman to help them be safe, warm, and fed. They are planning a similar effort after this storm. Below is an excerpt from an email sent by Kristie. These are people I trust and they plan to work with people they trust.

We had a nice Wed. night service last night. We talked as a congregation about what we can do for the people without homes and provisions in the south. As I'm sure you have heard, people need to cautious about how to proceed. There is potential government red tape and there are organizations that would use relief money and aid unethically.


Our church decided to collect food and clothing to send to some pastors that we know personally to give to the needy in their congregations. We also want to try to raise the money to put roofs on houses and churches in the south. We will be sending Eliberne, UCI board member and mason, with a crew to oversee the work. We believe that in this way we'll be certain that the money will get to the people that need it.

If you would like to help the Caiman church with this goal, you can go to the UCI website, ucihaiti.org and give a donation through our Clover online giving. There will be a drop designation for Hurricane relief.

Be Like Brit (link)
This organization is was started by the parents of a college student that was on a mission trip to Haiti when the earthquake hit in 2010. Their daughter, Britney, was killed in the earthquake. Shortly before the earthquake Britney sent the following text to her mother.

They love us so much and everyone is so happy. They love what they have and they work so hard to get nowhere, yet they are all so appreciative. I want to move here and start an orphanage myself.

Britney's father, who works in construction, over saw the construction of the orphanage they now run in Haiti and it was built as a safe haven for the children that they raise as if they were their own. A gentleman named Jonathon LaMare, who has experience working in Rwanda after the genocide, was hired as the director of the orphanage and he as done a wonderful job.

As you can see from the map links from their web site, the BLB orphanage is outside Port-au-Prince and close to the track of the hurricane. During the storm Jonathan posted updates on their Facebook stream and they continue to do so as they help with rebuilding their surrounding neighborhoods. It is also noteworthy that during the storm the BLB home took in 100+ people to help shelter them.

Trust
Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. Both UCI Haiti and Be Like Brit are organizations and people I have worked with and trust. They both care about and ahare life with the people of Haiti. There is longer term need in Haiti and I would be happy to talk to people about that; but for immediate need after this storm I trust these people with my donations of time, marterial and money.

Bondye la avèk ou ak tout pèp la an Ayiti
(God be with you and the People of Haiti)

To Cäiman and Back Again

Easy English Club

Back At Home Base

I find myself back in Port-au-Prince tonight after spending a few days with the Mompreimiers at the United Chirstians International site that houses the schools and university. While there I was able to use some of the skills for which I was trained as I worked on their computer lab and university networ (along with some remote help from some of the guys at Westgate Chruch who helped initially set up the network). Too long a story for e blog and likely not of interest if you are not into this sort of thing. But a big thank you for the Momprimers for their hospitality. It is truly a wonder what God has done through them in Cäiman.

And to think that I saw it on the road to Cäiman

On the road to Cäiman I tried to keep my eyes open to the sites of Haiti as it wakes up and prepares for the day. Below are a list of those things in no certain order. 

• Very young children carrying 5 gallon buckets to fetch water
• Some fetch water from public spigots
• Some fetch water from hand pumps
• Some were filling the buckets from a stagnant green pool under the overpass
• Beautiful lake formed by the hydro-electric dam
• People fishing in home made canoes 
• Kids untangling a fishnet bye the lake
• Fish traps in the water
• People walking cows, goats, pigs, and chickens
• People riding donkeys and it's not out of the ordinary
• Crowded market as people sell cows, goats, pigs, and chickens
• Children in uniforms making their was to school
• Long walks
• Some that looked like kindergartens walking alone to school beside a busy highway
• Many children not in uniform, not going to school
• Concrete homes give way to hand cut wood homes as you leave to the more rural areas
• Some wood homes painted in beautiful, bright colors 
• Some wood homes painted with vodou symbols
• University out of place in their rural area, but much needed and full of activity
• UCI is a beckon of light in Cäiman

Bible Story with the Children

I didn't get to spend a lot of time with the children today because I wanted to visit the Easy English Club, but it was a nice time while it lasted. When the chairs were delivered last week along with them was a box of children's bibles in Creole. Wilkins and I borrowed two this morning so I had the children read to me in Creole from the Bible. We read the parable of the prodigal son. I knew the basic story, so that made it easier to follow. 

Easy English Club

The Easy English Club meets at the church and does some worship, some Bible study, and its members help each other learn English. I got involved in this club years ago and am an official member, so it gives me great joy to visit the club why I can. Today's journey to the club and back was particularly joyful as the Pastor finally conceited to let me use the tap-taps to get from the guest house to the church and back, as long as Wilkins was with me. If you are not familiar with what a tap-tap is I urge you to search for them on the Internet and look at some of the pictures.  In short they are an ad-hoc public transportation system that most Haitians use to get around town. They are crowded, confusing, and cheap. But thanks to Wilkins' know how we made it there and back easily. 

Being back at the English club was great fun as the members are very insightful and bring up lots of interesting points.  Tonight the subject of discussion was the parable of the good sumaritan. Wilkins started by reading the parable in English and then posing questions. All discussion is in English so as the group digs into a subject they also practice their English. It really is a great club. 

Tonight a pray of thanks for a safe journey back to Port-au-Prince and for the safe ride on the tap-taps. A prayer of thanks also for the Mompreimiers and for all the wonderful work being done in God's name through them. A prayer of thanks and continued blessings on the Easy English Club as they form a Christian community of caring and learning. 

Bread, wine, a rough road, and a communities outrage

Last Sunday was communion at the church in Port-au-Prince. It was nice, as I don't believe I have ever had communion in Haiti before. It is true that having communion does make you feel a part of a broader Christian community. I think I felt that more being in Haiti.

After the service I ran into and old friend, as you might have seen on Facebook. I met Junior early on in my travels to Haiti when he was working as a translator and was an officer in the Easy English Club (EEC); of which I am proud to be a member. The EEC meets twice a week as they study English as well as the bible. A couple of us were participating in a meeting and we were doing role playing as a mechanism to learn English. I played the father of a teen girl, a young women played the part of the girl, and Junior played the part af a young man attempting to convince me to allow my daughter to go out with him. I can't honestly say I remember the outcome correctly, but my recollection is he didn't succeed. As I have daughters that role playing was easy.  We had a chance to catch and joke around a bit it was great to see him again. PG, another of the translators that works with Junior was able to come, but it seems he is doing well too. I expect unto come back one year and be introduced to their wive, once they break down, find a girls friend, and convince her father they are worthy; which of course they are. 

Monday had and early start as I was to travel from Port-au-Prince to Cäiman, which is about a three to four hour drive. Frandzy, his girl friend, and Wilkins drove me from PaP to Hinche, which is the paved part of the drive, thanks guys, and a friend of the Pastor that leads the church in Cäiman drove me the rest of the way, i.e., the unpaved part of they way. I was on this road about two years ago and it was bad, but apparently the company that was contracted to pave the road failed to complete the job and their contract was terminated and the road has been uncared for at least a year. So not the road is just about unpassable. Deep crevasses, collapsed bridges, and pot holes big enough to hide a small army. Let's just say by the end of the drive I was quite happy to see the mission compound and a certain part of my body was a bit sore. 

The mission at Cäiman is a wonderful site. It houses a primary / high school as well as a university where they teach aggreculture, finance, and nursing.  It is quite an accomplishment given that at one point this place was extremely unsafe and a center for the vodou culture in Haiti. It is always nice to visit here and it looks like some of my abilities might be put to work to help straighten out a few of the computer / networking needed. A big thank you to Pastor JeanJean and Kristie for allowing me to stop by. 

And while this place has been dangerous in the past it is not always peaceful in the present. Apparently someone has been threatening some of the local households with violence if they don't pay money. It has happened twice and tonight the town decided to push back a little. Cäiman doesn't have its own police force and while the community is justifiably upset, these situations can spin out of control. Pastor JeanJean was working to calm and correct the situation. I was thinking the best thing I could do was keep a low profile and stay out of the way. There is a bit of a gang and drug problem in the area, where people are coming from City de Sol (one of the worst slums in PaP) and enticing some youth here into the gang life. Just as you work to remove one evil from a place (vodou) another comes at its heals. The church here has an active and vibrant youth program, but evil is dangerous and can easily take from any community. 

Tonight I pray for Cäiman. That piece will come to the community and that the evil of drugs and gangs will succumb to th power of God in this place.  Amen. 

Grape Jello

Today happens to be my birthday. It is not the first of my birthdays which I have spent in Haiti. I don't really like making a big deal about my birthday as believe it or not I am sort of a private person. So you would think hiding out in Haiti would be a perfect place to pass my birthday. To be honest, while I don't like making a big deal about my birthday I do like being around my family on my birthday. And as I sit here tonight I Am thinking about them and I miss them. Thanks to my wife, Facebook, and the translators the children knew it was my birthday so I did get song to in both English and Creole.

I visit d the kids at the centre twice today.  I am trying not to call the place an orphanage, nor do call the kids orphans. They are children living at the centre. It just feel too degrading to me any other way. I visited the. In the morning during which I passed out some small plastic animal. It was fun watching their faces when they saw an animal they could not recognize. The otter seem to cause them the biggest confusion.  We then went back and forth as I learned some animal names in Creole and they learned some animal names in English. The kids have really been patient with me as I bumble through my Creole. They correct my pronunciation and help me restate sentence the correct way. I still feel like I am at the level of a three year old. 

In the afternoon I stopped by again with some coloring books and crayons.  And while I came back with hardly any crayons as I sit here it seems that the children have made remarkable progress in their ability to do a task and to cooperate by sharing resources like crayons. In years past it has been a constant battle to make sure the kids took only a single crayon at a time and then trade it in when they need a new color. It was far from perfect today and some of the little buggers kept trying to trick me and take multiple crayons, for the most part it worked.  Their ability to color within the lines seems to be improving as well. 

When I do visit with the kids I keep wishing that I had something for the older kids. Most crafts brought are really focused on the little ones and the older kids don't have much to do, or it is far beneath their skill level. The other day the decorating of crosses with wood was great for the older kids and I was happy seeing them engaged and challenged. I was thinking it might be nice to get the older kids a dominos or chess set. I have seem older kids living outside the centre playing dominos and thought that might be a good fit. It would have to be something that was understood for the older kids as everything the older kids get the younger want as well. 

I continue to notice two behaviors in the kids and even in broader Haiti that bother me. The first is the quick reaction to violence. What I mean is that when there is a conflict the children are often quick to raise a hand to each other. It is something that is just somewhT accepted in Haiti. Haiti is a tough place and these children have some very tough backgrounds, so this behavior is likely not unexpected and in the US the children would get counciling with how to deal with conflict.  Here the culture is just a bit more direct. I was speaking with a translator and he mentioned it is just the norm and when he was a child he was "beat" by his parents if he came home with a dirty school uniform. He agrees it is not good, but the question is how to change that bit of culture. 

The other behavior that bothers me, and I have written about this before, is the way, in general, the male population treats the female population. The males tend to believe that they can do whatever they want to the females and the females seem to just accept that this is the way it is. You can see this behavior started even in the young kids and I have seen it in general in Haiti. This too is a behavior that must change in order for progress to be made. 

I understand that what I stated above is a generalization and that there are many who don't act this way; but there is a significant populations that does. 

Good news! The building that they are converting into a church at the centre is supposed to have it's first service tomorrow and the kids will be able to attend. Not sure if I will be able to or not as they may expect me at the main church. 

It is a bit odd when the task in front of you is to just be in a place. There are times when I am at the centre and I am not directing crafts, instead I am just there. I am standing or sitting and the kids are just going about their day. Ever now and again one will come over for a hug or chat and then be off. The odd feeling that I am struggling with is that while my brain tells me I am not doing anything and thus fairly useless, something deep seems to be telling me that my task is just to be present. It is a sort of feeling that says your purpose is being there so that the kids know you are for no other reason but to be there. No alterier motive, no planned work, just there. And if t hey need to reach out they will, if they don't need to reach out that is ok, because they know you are there. Not sure that makes sense. But there it is.

Ah, the grape jello. I was all alone for dinner tonight. Saturday is a transition day at the guest house as teams tend to arrive or leave on Saturday. No one  else was about so I started to eat. about halfway though my meal up came one of the women from the kitchen with a bowl full of grape jello for dessert. Dessert is not a normal thing here and they don't know it was my birthday, but it was nice to have a little sweet for a birthday treat. 

Tonight I pray for healing for my wife. She has been under the weather and battling through in my absence. May she get the rest she needs so that her body may heal and that I truly love and appreciat her with all my heart. Amen. 

Reflections

A week ago I was sitting in an airport looking for a place to spend the overnight hours as the last leg of my trip to Haiti was over six hours away. Tonight I am sitting in the guest house in Port-au-Price Haiti. I started this trip, or at least tried to, without expectations. I also sit here tonight thinking about the past week. Things that have happened. Conversations that I have had. 

The week's pattern has been to either hang out at the guest house preparing for the afternoon with the kids or visit somewhere in Haiti learning more about the history; and then spend the afternoon with the kids doing a craft and just being and talking to them. 

Learning more about the history of Haiti has been well worth it. As I stated on Facebook you have to understand the history of a place and its people to really understand. In brief, Haiti was first settled by people from South America, commonly called Indians here in Haiti. Along came the Europeans, Columbus, who first enslaved the people and then wiped them out. Needing more labor they turned to Africa. After several failed slave revolts the slaves of Haiti revolted and won their independence and split the island into several areas, each controlled by one of the generals of the revolution that declared himself some sort of ruler. There was some infighting, murder, some unions, some foreign intrusion, etc. And it has been difficult here in Haiti for most of its history. This isn't 100% accurate, but I hope you get the picture. 

I spoke with a man this week who was born in Haiti, but moved to the US when he was five. He moved back to Haiti in December of 2009, two weeks before the Earthquake, at about 45 years old, and has lived here ever since. We talked about why things are still so difficult in Haiti and why change and recovery is so slow. He talked about how in Haiti there is a lot of corruption and not just at the top political offices. How after the earthquake, seeing the influx of money many people started orphanages, calling themselves pastors, filling the orphanages with their own kids or their friends and relatives merely to collect money. About people getting foreign organizations to purchase property in their name and then selling it, taking the money, and fleeing. Of stories of pastors either collecting money from groups to pay translators, drives, etc, but only giving 10% of what the promise to the workers. Or having the workers pay a fee for what they earn back to the pastor so they can continue to get work. How to change it. Education is one aspect of it, but another is getting the Haitian people to start looking out for each other and not just themselves. It is getting people elected and in office who care mor about the people they serve than their own pockets. 

Some of these problems are not unique to Haiti; but Haiti has these problems on top of extreme poverty. 

All these issues weigh on my mind and heart. 

Tonight I pray for Haiti. That it will heal itself. That the good people in Haiti, that far outnumber those that are doing harm, will succeed in taking their country and raising it and it's people to a place of respect, safety, and blessings. Amen. 

The other side of the donation chain

I receive a text message from the Pastor just before dinner was to be served asking me to come down to the orphanage to help with something. I responded that I would be right down, asked the other missionaries to wrap a plate of diner for me, and headed down.

On my mind was that the Pastor wanted to talk about our trip next week to Cäiman or perhaps something about the rest of the week. The reality I found out when I got there was that he was expecting some chairs and wanted some help with the unloading. I thought sure, I'd love to help out, love doing this type of stuff in Haiti.

I probably should have started getting suspicious when more and more strong young men started to show up. It began to look like Pastor called in a lot of the young men from the church. And the the truck came.

Not a pickup truck. Not even a box truck. A full shipping container in the back of a truck. We opened it up and it was packed floor to ceiling.

The good news was it contained student classroom desks (with gum still on the bottom) and brand new mattresses. It also contained lots of firefighter gear which was a bit puzzling and I asked the Pastor if he was planning to start his own fire department. He said that it was to donate to the city.

So into the truck Frandzy and I went and worked at a pretty good pace until the container was empty and everything was in the centre's courtyard. It was important to empty the truck quickly as it was not able to fully back into the centre and was blocking the street. I am glad it was evening, because I can't imagine how hot inside that container would be in the heat of the day.

With the truck unloaded the next task was to move the desks to the second floor classrooms and the rest to the third floor storage. Again, thankfully not the heat of the day. Everyone chipped in and we went from a full container to everything where it needed to be in about two hours. Even some of the older children pitched in and I am very impressed with their strength and stamina; both the boys and the girls.

The children and even some of the older "children" enjoyed trying on the firefighter gear.

Once done it was back to the guest house. My mission mates brought out the food, ice, and cola. That iced cola never tasted so goo and a big thank you to them for saving me diner.

Tonight I pray a a prayer of thanks for the donation to the centre and for all the hands that helped unload it. I pray that it will be put to God glory to help educate and care for the children. I also offer a prayer of thanks for my mission mates for the help tonight. Amen.

Location:Ruelle Samba,Port-au-Prince,Haiti

The Magic of a Pencil Sharpner

These are really my favorite type of pictures. I didn't ask them to pose. One girl ask me to take a picture of her and then grabbed a friend and before you know it lots of giggles and a picture. You can see a couple of the new children to the group home in this picture as well. 

Today we made God's guys with the kids. They had some difficulties getting started, but once started they did very well. I brought a throw toy as well. It didn't last very long Nd now sits on the roof three stories up waiting for a strong gust to blow it down. 

Finally today we purchased some pencils, a Sharpner, and some paper. This was because the other day some of the older children asked about pencils when we were handing out crayons. This led to two interesting findings. 

The pencil sharpener we purchased was and old hand crank model. Apparently the children had never seen one before and their expressions when a sharpened pencil was pulled out of the sharpener after a few cranks was priceless. 

The second noticed was that pencil and paper kept they quiet and mesmerized in thought for quite a long while. Give a child a pencil and paper and their imaginations go to work. 

Tonight I pray for Haiti and that it will rise from its current state to once again become the pearl of the Caribbean that it once was. That the people of Haiti will work together to left each other up as beloved children of God. Amen. 

Odds and Ends

There was no school today so we headed down to the orphanage after their breakfast time, but it turns out they had a problem with the gas, so breakfast hadn't been prepared yet. The kids eat two meals a day, which is normal in Haiti and for both meals today it looked like beans and rice, which is a Haitian staple; but I have to admit it looked like rice sprinkled with a few beans. 

We di make bead fish with the children in the morning. This is a craft where you string together bead in the shape of a fish. The children were quite good at it one they learned the concept and soon their were bead fish, necklaces, bracelets, and other things. 

I should mention that there are a mother and daughter team down here as well for this week. They are from Virginia and this is the third trip for the daughter, but the first trip for the mother. The daughter teacher 1st grade and the mother is retired. They brought craft supplies and ideas, I have some supplies and toys. 

The Pastor's oldest daughter is going to university in Oklahoma and his next oldest daughter just finished high school and is looking to go to school in New York for business administration. She wanted to practice her English so we spoke a bit. I think New York will be quite a change for her if she gets accepted. I was able to find out more about Sunshine's progress. She said Sunshine is always hungry and loves food. She said that she is strong, but just doesn't want to walk and that the family has to work with he to walk even if she cries to be carried sometimes. 

I also found out a bit more about the money the boys make for selling crafts. Apparently they sell to groups that come to the orphanage as opposed to selling on the street and they get to keep the money if they want or they can give some to the orphanage.  The boys use some of the money to buy supplies as well as they. Have bought a radio. 

Not sure if I mentioned or not, but there are new children at the orphanage to year. They have added two young no girls about age 7. The ceiling in the boys rooms has been fixed and there are dividing wall in the rooms now to divide the children's living spaces a bit. The older children bunk in one area with the younger children in another. 

I brought with me this year pictures of the kids from last year as well as pictures from several years ago. The kids seemed to enjoy seeing the older pictures. I would really like to capture the history of the children so that they can understand from where they came and understand their family. I know that some of the children have tough backgrounds, but I think that is part of them and having that history will give them a basis for understanding themselves. 

The older boys have become quite musically talented. The girls have always been able to sing well, but the boys have sort of a band now and have even started writing some of their own songs. Be sure to check out the Facebook page for the Source of Light (https://www.facebook.com/centresourcedelumiere/) to see some examples. 

Tonight I prayer for the children living at Source of Light. I pray that they discover their past and that they achieve their dreams. I pray that they understand their value as children of God and grow top make a stronger, independent Haiti. 

Easter Sunday Sunshine

Bon Pak. I hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter. This morning started out with about 3 hours of church service, which is actually a little shorter than I expected given that it was Easter. I was able to see some old friends so that was good.  I also got to see and hold Sunshine for a while. This is the little girl who was dropped off at the Pastor house last year near death by a very young mother. The mother was a young teenager who was not able to take care of herself or her child.since then the Pastor has adopted Sunshine and she is much better. She was a bit lethargic and I wasn't sure how much of that was 3 hours in a hot church v. Her health. And while she still does not walk or stand on her own when I supported he on her legs she seemed pretty strong. The Pastor wife had invited a doctor to look at her to help evaluate her. It looks like she still has a significant way to recovery and I worry that her early life may have a long term impact. 

After church we has a quick trip to the grocery store for lunch supplies and the back to the kids living at the orphanage. We played Easter bunny and handed out the eggs with some candy in them. The kids were very good about taking only one and they seems to enjoy the candy as well as enjoying the plastic egg to keep. 

I handed out some toys as well, which didn't last that long. Turns out when it comes to toys v. Haitian kids the toys always lose. The kids do enjoy looking at pictures of my family and America as well as play games on my old iPhone. They also like taking pictures of themselves and sometimes the pictures go from normal to silly quickly

I did find out that some of the older boys have started making arts and selling them. It is a little unclear where they have been selling them, but it seems they are. This is mixed news to me. It is good that they are learning skills and have an opportunity to make money, but I really don't think this is the way to a stable livelihood as many people do this in Haiti and there really isn't that much tourism.  The picture included here is a picture painted by 15 year old Richardson. It is for sale for $30 us. It is painted on a piece of cardboard. If you are interested let me know and I will see if I have enough money to buy it and you can pay me back.

Tonight I thank God for the gift and sacrifice of his son for us. I ask for blessings on these children living in Haiti. I pray that the will grow up and live a productive and safe live knowing that they are a beloved child of God. Amen. 

Busy Day

As I didn't get much / any sleep at Fort Lauderdale airport last night as was dragging a bit today. The good news is that all my bags made it and I was the first one out of customs. It goes quicker with a single person as opposed to a group. A quick trip to Natcom to pick up a phone sim and out the door to meet Pastor Ronel. Quickest trip through PaP's airport I ever had. From there to the guest house and most of the plan for he day was accomplished.

I chatted with the Pastor a bit and found out he already had one person in mind for the mentor position. Her name is Stephanie and she was raised in an orphanage. She has since studied psychology at university and has been already volunteering at the orphanage, working with the kids on socialization skills. The Pastor and I spent some talking with Stephanie making sure she understood what we were after and the requirements like reporting on the student progress. It seems like a good fit and I am excited to see what comes of it. 

For most of the day I hung around the with the kids.  The orphanage  dounless as a sort of community center and everyone was busy getting the place ready for a wedding and / or a wedding reception; he neatly I am not sure which. The work was being mostly done by adults who were friends of the wedding party, but occasionally the kids were call into action to carry some chairs. 

The kids were helping me with my Haitian Creole pronunciation, which is still quite horrible. Really need someone to practice with back at home. I feel like I am the speaking level of a toddler. 

When the Pastor was done with his morning meetings, and after we talked with Stephanie, the Pastor took me on a tour of the new property. The purpose of this property is to house some of the older kids so that they can start to live independently while still having a bit of a safety net. The property also will be use to raise chickens/eggs, a garden, and perhaps some fish. The building itself still needs a lot of work so if you want to led a construction crew to PaP for a week or two let me, I bet something can be worked out and there is plenty to do.

After  the tour I spent some more time with the kids  I brought my old iPhone 4 that I loaded with games. This seems to be a hit. In the afternoon I was feeling quite tired and ended up going back to the guest house for a quick nap, followed by putting some jelly beans in some plastic eggs for the kids. It is unclear to me if the kids will understand the tradition and I may have to explain the concept of a rabbit delivering chicken eggs.  It is all a bit weird. At least it isn't a Bilbi like is it in Australia. 

Tomorrow is Easter so I am looking forward to seeing how Easter is celebrated here in Haiti. I hear it is about eating fish, no meat. I do expect a long service tomorrow, but I also know that I will get to see some friends I have seen in a year. 

Tonight I give a prayer of thanks for a safe journey and the good news of all that happened and was seen today. I pray for continued grace and protection of my family, who I miss; and I pray for a glorious Easter tomorrow. Enjoy you Easter everyone. Amen. 

Time and Distance

I am on a plane now headed for Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This is my seventh or eighth trip and many people have been traveling to Haiti many more times than I. I am traveling alone this trip, so I am a bit more anxious this trip, but confident that it is in God's will. 

I was reading an article the other day where an American astronaut was being interviewed after returning from a year living on the international space station. He was asked a question that at its root is what people sometimes ask me, "what were you the most afraid of when you were there?" His answer captured my exact feelings when I travel to Haiti. 

I have said many times that I have never been afraid while I was in Haiti. What I mean by that statement is that I never felt in physical danger while there. I am convinced that it is God's grace providing that comfort. But to say I have never been worried or concerned is not accurate either. But the concern is not for myself.

My worst fear while I am in Haiti is that something happens back home and I simply not there. If something were to happen, and I pray it doesn't, I fear that I have simply let my family down. That I have not met my responsibilities and I can't get back in time to help and be present. 

This is essentially what the astronaut stated and I suspect it is a feeling shared by most family men when they are away from home for work, men's weekends away, or for mission trips. I suspect, as I know it does for me, that this feeling is amplified based on the time and distance you are away from home. 

I have to admit I feel pulled in two directions when I leave my family for two weeks to spend in Haiti with the kids who live at the orphanage. I don't know how to adequately explain the depth of my love for my family and how much I want to spend time with them, but I feel that if I don't go I would essentially be disobeying God. 

I wonder how the disciples felt and were able to drop everything to follow Jesus. I am in no way making a comparison to them, but I wonder if they every struggled with the tension between family and following. 

Today I pray for my family back at home. My children and wife who I miss and love. My wife who manages everything without me and supports me in these trips. May God care for them and show them Grace. May I be with the again soon. Amen. 

This Time Next Week

This time next week I will be in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and I will be able to visit with Christina, who is a girl I first met when I visited the Source of Light group home. She is also one of the older children whom I hope to help learn independent living skills through the hiring of trainer / mentors this trip. Last year she worked very hard with me, using my English to Creole dictionary so that we could understand each other a bit better.

While the trip is only a week away I feel I have at least a month of planning I would like to accomplish and I know that I will never be able to prepare or bring as much as I would like. I think I feel a little of this every year, but it is somewhat amplified as I am going alone and where I usually can rely on others to fill in the cracks I feel more exposed. I suspect there is a lesson in this for me as I will have to be more reliant and trusting in God on this trip than in the past. So prayers are greatly appreciated.

One of my biggest concerns for this trip, other than finding mentors, is this feeling that I won't be doing enough. Usually I am with a team of people that spend a week on a construction project followed by a week of medical clinics as physicians join us for the second week. I have always known that the first week has less impact than the second, but this trip there is neither construction nor medical clinics.

I have this feeling of inadequacy in that I don't have much to bring that will help the children. I do understand the impact the life skill trainers could bring and I pray that these can be hired, but other than that I fear the impact of my presence is quite small. I feel that it is important to go and visit the children so that they continue to know they are loved and thought of by people outside of the group home, but it is hard to quantify that value to myself. This is not a cry for encouragement, just things that are going through my head at the moment.

It will be good to see Christina, Edna, John Jonas, Richardson, etc. again this year. I hope to pick up a few some things to take with me and share with the children if I can find the time to get to the store.

Please continue to pray for this trip and stay tuned as I do plan to update the blog daily.

If you feel called to help support this work, please visit my Square page at https://squareup.com/store/source-de-lumiere where you can make a gift.

God and the Tech Sector

I work in the technology sector. This can sometimes be a difficult place for a person of faith. This week I was working at a customer site with several partner companies. In all the week was good, everyone got along well, and we made progress.

It was in the small spaces between meetings where things got interesting as topics such as politics and religion are raised. Always a minefield, particularly with a group of technologists and even more so when they range in backgrounds from California, Georgia, and various countries of Europe. This is when you start hearing phrases like "religion is a man made structure to promote society", "the Bible is just a book written to help control a group of people", "what kind of God sends people to hell because they don't do what he says", and "religion tells people not to think".

At some level I understand these arguments and likely have used them in the past before I believed. It is odd hearing them from the other side and recognizing how people judge without investigation while at the same time promote the scientific method. All things I am sure I have been guilty of as well.

Always be ready the Bible says, and I must admit I was not as ready or eloquent as I would have hoped.

I tried to explain that God does not send people to hell and that hell is separation from God. It is an individual's choice to be separate from God and not God sending you away. God is always ready to take you back when you choose to show up, but you must choose.

The good news is that we were able to have these discussions and still come out the other side able to respect each other; although I must admit I wonder if I have lost some level of respect in their eyes as one who believes in a "fairytale".

As a reminder, I will be traveling to Haiti in March and am still looking for funds to help support the work there.

https://squareup.com/store/source-de-lumiere

Location:Atlanta,United States

Of Mentors and Plans

The dates are set for next trip to Haiti. Guest house reservations have been made and tickets soon to be purchased. A lot of excitement and a fair amount of nervousness.

The plan is to spend the first week in Port-au-Prince, working with the children of the orphanage and looking for individuals that could act as mentors for the older children.  The second week, I am planning to travel with the Pastor that managers the orphanage about 3 hours north to visit the the Mompremiers at the United Christians International mission. This is a mission I visited two years ago where they have built a university and through the Grace of God  have been transforming a community away from Vodou. My hope is that some partnership may emerge between the mission in Port-au-Prince and the Mompremiers, but if nothing else I am hoping it is an opportunity to learn and share ideas.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am looking to help start a mentorship program for the older children living in the orphanage. The purpose of this mentorship program is to help the older children learn "life skills" to help prepare them for living on their own. Currently these children do not have the skills to live independently outside the orphanage and they are not allowed to live in the orphanage, by law, once they have reached the age of majority. The Paster with which I work is looking into how they might be housed in a different location when they reach the age of majority, but these children really need to be trained and prepared to live independently.

I am estimating that the salary of the mentor is about $150 USD / month and it would be wonderful to support one for the girls and one for the boys, which means we need to be able to fund $300 USD / month. I would like to keep this program going for at least a year, at which point we can evaluate it and see if it should continue.

To do this I am looking to find individuals to pledge a portion of the cost for a year. I was originally asking people to pledge $20 / month for a year or $240 / year. The thought was that with 15 individuals pledging $20 / month we could cover the costs and $20 / month sounded like something most could afford. Unfortunately, not many (2) people have responded. So please continue to pray about this and see if this is something which you might be able to do. You can either donate monthly or in a lump some. I have started a "Square" page to allow people to donate on line at https://squareup.com/store/source-de-lumiere. Please consider and donate and please tell your friends.

2016 Estimated Trip Expenses

In the spirit of openness I have included a link to my estimated expenses for this trip. If you are able to help support me in this trip, I would be greatly appreciative. The total cost of the trip is about $3000 and so far I have had 2 people donate. Donations to help support the trip can be made through "Square" at https://squareup.com/store/source-de-lumiere.

I am currently not a 501(c)3 charity, so donations are not tax deductible. If you know a lawyer that is willing to work on the cheap we can talk about changing that.

Life Skill Mentors

Plans are moving forward with this year's trip to Haiti. It looks like the dates are just about finalized and I should be able to meet up with another group while in Port-au-Prince so I may not be entirely on my own.

I have been thinking that it would be nice to contribute something materially toward independent living training for the older children while I am in country. My hope is to be able to identify one or two individuals who will be able to be mentors to the older children and help train them. This is where I need help, as while I can identify individuals, I need money to pay them. Based on what we pay drivers and translators while in country and what an individual was being paid for teaching English lessons to the children, I am thinking that it will cost about $150USD per mentor, per month plus a small additional amount for training expenses.

So, I am looking for 15 individuals that are willing to commit to a $20USD donation a month for 12 months, for a total donation of $240USD to support two mentors one for the boys and one for the girls. If you can donate all at once, that would be wonderful, but if you would need to do it as monthly payments that would be fine as well. If you are willing to help fund life skills mentors for the older children please contact me.

My plan is to require that the mentors fill out a weekly update on their work so that we can follow progress and they will have to provide receipts or documentation to justify expenses such as tap-tap (public transportation) charges if they teach the children how to use public transportation and food supplies as they teach them how to shop and cook.

So please, prayerfully consider committing to a year of supporting a mentor for $20USD a month for year. The older children are quickly approaching the age where they law requires them to leave the group home (orphanage) and they need training on how to do the tasks that we do every day as independently living adults.

Additionally, I continue to seek support to help fund my trip this years. To be honest, I would rather have people help to support the mentors, but if you feel called to help support my trip that would be appreciated as well.

Bondye Beni Ou.