July 17, 2014
It’s a small world after all! No we are not at Disneyland
but it IS a small world. Our son-in-law,
John, is having a birthday today. “Happy
Birthday to you!” We met John’s cousin,
Sarah from Sioux City , Iowa
It kind of feels as though we could add a few pages to the
Dr. Suess book titled, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.” One of our upcoming projects took us here,
there, and everywhere to count school desks at 8 out of 9 schools which we are
associated with through MH4H and PFH (Promise for Haiti). We were accompanied by Ronal, the school
superintendant and a driver who could squeeze a 4 wheeled vehicle through a one
lane donkey path like no one else.
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| Three Bears School maintenance project will be to replace the tin roofing |
Each
of the schools has had some of the old desks replaced with new ones. The goal for the project is to have all new
desks in each school by January 2015. We
also documented other maintenance and repairs that need to be done. After we traveled the countryside we sketched
out a map of the area mapping out the approximate location of each school. We did not track the distance from place to
place so… the mileage scale on “The Map” reads… ‘1 inch = your best guess’.
The opportunity came this past Saturday to visit several
families in the Bohoc and Lapila communities that have potential to have a new
house built if certain funds are available.
With a trusty little notepad and pen in hand, we could document the
families by name and jot down how many people reside in each house and include
ages of the children. Each family showed
such character and personality in such humble living conditions. Two of the
families had already gathered rock, one of their most plentiful natural
resources, which will help build the new house foundation. The people that show they have taken the
initiative to invest time and effort into the project will likely be at the top
of the list.
Going to Market provides great opportunity to practice
speaking Creole. We try to ask for the
items we want to buy and then attempt to understand how much we need to
pay. One successful market trip yielded
a beautiful ‘Anana’ (Pineapple), Mango, ‘Bongu’ (cheese that never melts…not
even baked on a pizza in the oven), ‘Ti Malice’ (plastic-y margarine that only
melts in the fry pan), ‘senk ze’ (five eggs), matches to light the propane gas
stove, ‘Kanel’ (Cinnamon to grate into the French toast batter), and a bag of
‘Savon pou lavi vesel’ (powdered dish soap).
We have been on a hunt for a bunch of ‘fig’, (Bananas). We thought we had found some one market day
but later realized they were plantains which are hard, not sweet, and need to
be cooked which we don’t know how to do.
We have been told they sell out fast so we need to get to market EARLY!
What a blessing the motorcycle has been for us and the work
we need to do. It gives us independence
to take care of whatever comes up in a day.
Most days we have ‘a plan’ in the morning of how the day might go. Quite often the plan has been changed even
before breakfast is over! We are
adapting to Haitian ways pretty easily.
Three people on the ‘moto’ is ordinary. On the moto with us is our friend Dasley, a fine, trustworthy Christian young man.
This afternoon our souls were fed to overflowing by the
kindness of a Haitian who shared his story with us. We had a printed document that we needed
scanned to send in an email to our son Michael’s college. We stopped by a small business where
‘impressions’ (photo copies) can be made.
We had been to this place earlier in the week to have some ‘impressions’
made of “The Map”. That day when the
copies were completed the business owner said there was no charge, the work was
done for us for free.
Today, in talking to Pito, the young, Christian business
owner, we learned that he had the capability to scan our document to the flash
drive we had along. As he went about the
task, we said quietly to each other that today we would insist he let us pay
for his services. The work was done and
we asked how much we owed. He again said
the work was done for free. We said we
REALLY wanted to pay him for the work.
He continued¸ “ The other day you did not understand me when I told you
how missionaries had helped me in my life.”
He told his story…when he was 15 his mother died and he was living in
the streets. Some Christian missionaries
from the US
had gotten to know him and shared the love of Jesus Christ by providing the
opportunity to attend school and go on to attend university. Other missionaries provided the resources for
him to open this business. He told us,
“missionaries just like you helped me in my life.” He, in turn, wanted to demonstrate Jesus love
by offering his services to us. It was
very evident that his heart is full of gratitude to our Lord.
“Jwi lavi nan Jezi”…
Enjoying life in Jesus, Craig and
Christi
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| This vain bird was staring at his reflection in the muffler of the moto all afternoon. |
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| A Haitian kitchen. |
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