Christmas in Haiti

The Wilkerson Family had the privilege of spending Christmas week at the LOVE Takes Root Haiti project at La Concorde Orphanage. This Christmas Journey was an amazing experience.  Not only did sixteen of our family land in the same place,the same week, but then we were able to share with our extended Haitian family the birth of Jesus.  A little different from the commercial bombardment of our US departure. The first day in Haiti was spent meeting and greeting along with all the update with new facility. The joy of hugs and hellos.  The second day was setting up all the gift bags for each child to receive something on Christmas and planning and setting up a Christmas party at La Concorde. This sounds like it would be simple BUT I thought organizing and making Christmas equal for 9 children took a lot of energy try 50 children! With the help through the heat of the day we came through. Then it was the day of the party. We showered, did hair and dressed each child in a new sweat suit donated by Ron and Nancy Quincy. Wow they looked great! A stage was built, chairs rented and many children from the neighborhood were invited. The children preformed wonderful songs including Jingle Bells. The excitement was in the air. Each child was called by name to receive a bag of new dress, soccer shirt, soccer ball, soccer shoes, legos, a blanket and candy.  Thanks to the Rubino family, the Howe family and all the sponsors. Also a thank you to Janis Strickland for a donation along with the sponsors for a feast!  We had a long table of chicken, prickly, lasagne, and cake! The dining hall was chaos with gift bags everywhere. Each child opened their sponsors cards, which most of them were signing cards, please imagine. They love the sponsor letters and pictures. The visiting children also received a gift of pen, crayons and candy. The music continued the candy was all gone and the night had become dark. A huge surprise was when the Bastiens called for Rick and Barb, they had a very large wrapped gift. We opened it confused and it was a hand drawing of  us at our daughters wedding. Yes they went on facebook and found a photo to have a Haitian paint for us. Overwhelmed would explain the moment. The joy on their faces of giving a grand gift was truly the best Christmas present ever. Upon taking a dark tap tap ride home,  we all fell into a hot sticky bed and quickly fell asleep. It was a Holy day filled with peace,love and joy!

A Trip of Faith

Life is back to normal, hustle and bustle no time to rest, no time to love a child who needs a hug that day. This was not the case a week ago for 9 individuals who traveled to a new world and met the most amazing people, many of whom weren't over 3 1/2 feet tall. Faith Lutheran Church's mission team spent 5 days at the Love Takes Root orphanage building a Sukup house and growing in God's love along side the 40+ children. Here is our story.... Day one. We arrived in Port Au Prince on Tuesday and made our way through the winding road over the mountain and into Jacmel (only two of us got car sick). We first went to the orphanage and were greeted with the most amazing singing. The warmth we felt from the moment we entered the lunch room was immediate. The children are amazing and so strong in faith already. Day two. Up and at 'em and ready to begin our building of the Sukop house, which was to be used for food storage at the orphanage only to discover...NO bolts. God had a plan and today it was for our group to talk about and share Him with these children. (We did get the materials of the Sukup house moved to the location we were going to build it). We did VBS with the children as well as put some needed slip guards in the shower areas and put some door knobs in the doors. We played with sidewalk chalk too! Now we were no longer strangers we were friends and children in Christ. What a day! Day three. No bolts so more VBS and play time with the children. More door knobs went in as well. Joan was busy doing some basic medical needs for the children and Theone was busy taking more pictures of these beautiful children. They posed so cute we all got a chuckle from this. Day four. Bolts are here! So the work of the Sukop house began. It was over cast this day so we were blessed to work in the shade instead of the full blast of the sun. We met the contractor Dave, who was a Saint to our building crew. We hired 5 of his workers to help us with our project. They were amazing young men who worked very hard with us that day. We finished nearly 85-90% of the building that day. As we winded down our day and took a minute to rest the children all gathered around our sweaty messes and shared Gods love with us. Kathy, Joan and Theone also did more VBS with the children this day. We also took out the parachute and played with the children....so many many smiles and laughs I think my cheeks still hurt from this day! Day five. Our last day at the orphanage. We were again blessed with Ed and Dave to help finish the Sukop building. We finished fairly early this day so we were again able to do more VBS with the children. A few of our group also attended the church service at the Orphanage...Pastor Lee was able to give an amazing message to the children too. This was a hard day for our Faith group. We needed to look into those big brown eyes and say goodbye. It was amazing how in five days they had touched everyone of our hearts. Our sons, Connor and Reid grew so much in their faith this week I can't begin to even explain. Many hugs and tears were shed this day. Faith Lutheran's mission group went to an orphanage in Haiti to share the love of God and spread the word of Jesus to children who don't have the access to this like we do and we came back more filled with the spirit ourselves! Al said it best...we entered a country with so much need we thought we could never do enough and left an orphanage feeling that Yes we can make a difference. Thank you Rick and Barb for allowing our group to experience this awesome trip. It has forever changed our lives and we hope it has impacted a little bit of those children's lives. Until our next adventure to La Concorde....God Bless!

Moving With God

Hi ho, hi ho, off to move mama into her new home! Another day full of grace, happiness, and celebration. As mama says, "God is good...all the time!" We had another early morning, we watched the young fisherman row his boat across the sea in search for his supper. Then into Dave's truck we pile, and we travel to the orphanage, sadly for our last full day with the kiddos! We again were greeted by the children, all awaiting our arrival. We were quickly put to work...Marty, Diane, Carolyn, Vicki, and myself scrubbed all the windows where mama, papa, and the rest of the caretakers will live. While the windows are far from spotless, they were cleaner than before (let me say it took a lot of elbow grease to scrape the paint and plaster off the windows and sills!). While we were scrubbing windows Ron and Denny finished the soccer goals...they turned out amazing and the kids love them...now no more cheating in the middle of the game! The guys also went and got 30 banana "baby" trees to plant at the orphanage, they plan to plant them tomorrow. The children are doing great, they are adjusting to their new life so well. We had a jump rope contest today, sadly Marty didn't win...while My Love did great, Michel (one of the helpers at the orphanage) came in first.. he even danced while jump roping! Marty handed out sweet tarts and smarties to all the children, they sure do love their candy! Sadly many of the children are sick, two of the littlest children have high fevers and are so miserable, we have been giving medicine to them and hopefully they will be healed. Speaking of sick people...we have a few ourselves, Vicki went back to the hotel early (she took a moto there...I'm so jealous! Maybe I can ride one tomorrow!), and Marty and Carolyn didn't feel very well all day. During the afternoon we started to carry all of mama's belongs to her new room. We carried the dresser, mattresses, and the very large and very heavy armoire into her room, she felt so blessed for all the help. Today Marty and I also went to a diner/supermarket and bought the children ice cream...it was a unique experience. We had to trade our US dollars in at the UNI for gourdes (Haitian money) then went and bought 7 different flavors of pint size ice cream containers. We plan to give the kiddos the sweet treat tomorrow. Carolyn and myself handed out bracelets to the girls and crosses to all the children, they loved them! Before we knew it was time to head back to the hotel. However, we just stopped at the hotel to grabb money, because Dave knew a place where we could get souvenirs for a better price. It was a short trek to the selling area, it was an amazing little community all nestled in the mist of the city, we all bought a few souvenirs to remember this amazing experience! Arriving back at the hotel we said our good byes to Dave and thanked him for his gracious help throughout the week, and wished him luck as his ministry continues to grow. We ended the day as we always do, a quick dip in the pool to find relief from the blistering hot sun, and an excellent dinner, while a few members (Vicki and Carolyn) of our group didn't eat much as they still are not feeling well. As the day ends, I ask many of you to pray for all the sick ones, Vicki, Carolyn, Marty, all the children, and anyone else who is ill. I hope they feel well tomorrow, and ask that God heals them tonight. Also please pray as we travel back to Port au Prince tomorrow afternoon, we should be back in the US before noon on Friday! Tomorrow will be a sad day for us as we have to leave these children, but I believe they have the faith and will power to achieve their highest dreams. "God is great, all the time!" Good Night and God Bless! <3

Labors of love

Today is Tuesday, how can the time be passing so quickly. We try not to think about it. We arrived early again but this morning most of the kids were lined up outside awaiting our arrival, what a heartwarming sight! I don't think my heart can hold all the love I am feeling. This morning was the unofficial first day of school at LaConcorde. It will not officially start until after the teachers arrive on Sunday. Ellisia first took the more advanced children. It was surprising to see the class was comprised of both older and younger children....it was done by aptitude not age. It was amazing to see how much they had already learned in math. They are very bright children....I must remember the promise I made to my husband when I left....no bringing a child home! But how could you even choose one, they are all so special! The remainder of the kiddos were taught next. Ellesia is very patient with them all, such a good teacher. I learned from our first group that the kids are fascinated by sunglasses so Marty, Diane and I brought them each their own pair. They looked so cool sporting their new shades. Katie and Carolyn gave them fun dinosaurs, what great fun! Late morning we started several projects that we had been assigned. We are thankful that the water issues have been repaired. So Denny and Ron worked on the soccer goal posts. Tom, Diane, Marty, Carolyn, Katie and I started clearing away a plot for the children's garden. Once cleared each child will plant their own plot. It was very hot and dirty work but it was a labor of love. Tom hacked away at the shin high weeds with a machette. The rest of us sat on our hineys in the grass. Well surprise imagine having a tarantella.crawl out from between your legs! It happened to Diane TWICE!!! and here I was looking for snakes. The few kids that were helping us came running at Dianes squeel. It was quite a sight! After we all calmed down it was time to leave for the day. Our ride home from one of the construction workers was done with country music blareing. Once again the pool felt so wonderful.

Daily routine

Today we had a full day with the kiddos. We arrive before breakfast and find the building all spic and span with Mama and the girls preparing the meal. They have a quiet efficiency to their work. The children are all slowly emerging from their beds. Breakfast is quietly served and eaten. We presented Mama with the aprons and oven mits and kitchen towels we had brought her. She was very appreciative and happy. Of course the quiet didn't last. During music time we handed out the musical instruments we brought. What a hit! Make a joyful noise unto the Lord! For almost an hour we heard they joyful music. Their jam session ended with singing praises to the Lord. What a beautiful thing to witness. Denny and Diane gave each little girl a cute handmade doll and each boy a baseball hat with LaConcorde on the front and each boys name on the back. They loved their gifts. We thought with the rain the previous night that we would not be able to go outside but we found a place for Marty and Katie to throw the football. Great fun. The children saw their first cateydid bug. The big green winged bug was very fascinating to everyone. Marty kept poking around at it until it flew up and landed on her shirt. At first she just danced around with it on her but it soon headed for her face and then it wasn't so funny for her. Young Erickson ran up and flicked it off her...everyone cheered as it flew into the tree. Some of the guys worked on the water system again which continues to be a problem. Denny planted grass in front of the school. It will be so nice when it has grown and the mud disappears. We organized the supply room and explained to Ellisia and Mama what we had done. I hope the construction guys can install shelves soon so it stays organized. We finished the day with a walk on the beach collecting shells and taking a swim. Our meal was probably the best so far, lobster with butter YUMMY!!

The ocean is calling

If you have gone on a mission trip before you know that part of the experience should include taking in the sights and interacting with local people. A storm blew through the previous night so the surf was high but that didn't stop us from taking our trip to the beach. The day was still overcast so there were not a lot of other "tourists" at the beach that morning. You might think is a good thing...NOT! We definantly interacted with the locals. I think everyone in Jacmel was there trying to sell us something...everything from paintings and jewelry to shells and food. After trying unsuccessfully to convince them all that we didn't want to buy we made our way to the beach. I thanked God for the beauty of his creation that was all around us. It was awesome swimming in the ocean with the waves washing over us and the beautiful view of the mountains as a backdrop. How wonderful it is to be alive. Denny tried to convince everyone that he was lighter because the saltwater made him more boyant. Carolyn found a cool shell in the surf so the search was on to find shells. I have to say she was the winner though. We had chosen this particular beach because Denny Ron and Tom had been there before and said you could get a huge lobster dinner for 11 bucks. I knew since they are men they probably exaggerated somewhat. So the lobster was huge but it cost us 15 bucks....there goes my extra shell buying money! HOW am I going to get the shell guys to believe that I have no more money. The lobster was very tasty even though I almost ate the eyeballs...YIKES I SAY! After another swim we climbed aboard our faithful tap tap and headed to the hotel to change. The guys gave us 15 minutes and believe it or not we were pretty close. Then we were off to see the kiddos again. We arrived to learn that they had water issues during the night so the guys tried to fix the problem. The rest of us kept the kids occupied so Mama could rest. No outside activities today since it rained. Marty made the mistake of trying to paint fingers and toes by herself. Even some of the boys wanted painted. I handed out some small airplanes for the kids to put together and it was pandimonium! Note to self...come up with a better system when handing out our gifts. Needless to say it was a little noisey in there but everyone had fun. We did some other activities and it was time to head back to the hotel. Its amazing how fast the time is going by.

Oh the glory of the mountains

Friday Barb took the nurses and some of group two for a hike up the mountains. They saw many interesting things along the way including a man purposed to be cursed by voodoo. Marty said ie was pretty scarey. They also saw many goats and pigs that are usually tied to a tree. An older boy named James travels up the mountain ..every day to feed his goat. Papas cabin was described as something out of the wild west. Very primative but effecient. Papa stays at the cabin several times but is now at the new orphanage. The remainder of our group played with the children while Mama rested. Mama has not been feeling well which is quite a concern as she is the backbone of the orphanage. About 3:00 we got to see the children have their dinner. American children really could take some lessons from these Haitian kids. They are to stay away from the tables until all the plates with food are placed on the tables. Then either Momma or Ellisia call them and they quietly seat at the tables and they are quiet thru the whole meal and eat every crumb. Barb and Rick and the group were somewhat subdued most of the day as this was their last day with the kids. The nurses had gifts to pass out and the kids exploded with excitement. But then came the sad time of goodbyes. By the time we left everyone was crying both children and adults. We all loaded up in the back of our tap tap....all 19 of us in the back of a small toyota pickup! Don't anyone tell my mom or I wont get to come back! The pool was calling our names so many relaxed with a cool swim before dinner. Every dinner at the hotel is an experience. Very good Creole cooking. Most everyone turns in early as we are warn out by the heat and trying to keep up with the kiddos. So we said goodbye to our friends. May God watch over them and help heal the sadness in their hearts.

Greetings from group 2

We are having trouble with our wifi connection so I will try to type quickly.... What an experience! God is good all the time! Many of us had never flown internationally. The view of the ocean was amazing. The airport in Port au Prince was an eye opener. We are definately "different" but that is ok. We have never seen anything like the streets of Port au Prince...their driving is CRAZY! Everyone driving in a hurry with no traffic laws. Horns blaring wildly. Quite something just hang on and "enjoy" the ride. They took us to see the old orphanage. Very depressing to see that most of the people are living in those conditions. It took about an hour to get through the city. Then the real experience began....our trip over the mountain. The view from the upward winding road was spectacular....as long as you didn't look down...YIKES I SAY! After our sensory overload in the city the beauty of the mountains was a welcome sight. Everything is so luscious and green with flowering trees everywhere. Could this be what Eden looked like? Once there we checked in to our hotel. Another slice of paradise right on the ocean. Waves breaking against the beach and sea birds calling. What more could you ask for....how could someplace so beautiful be painful for so many. We were so glad there was enough time to go meet the children. A crier by nature I was surprised that their joyious faces didn't make me cry...they were so happy to meet us all that came to my face were huge smiles. These children have been transformed from the shadowed being they once were. There is much dancing and singing and all the things children do. It was a God moment for me...so precious I will never forget it. It was nice to see Rick and Barb again and meet the nurses. We had a late meal together and learned some of the things that need to ne done. And so ended our first day.

Team One Saying Goodbye, Team Two ready to Work!

We have had a full day today. Many of us with James and Saul, two of the boys in the orphanage, hiked the mountain to see Papa's land that has been in his family. We noted after starting that the boys speak no english and our Creole is spotty.  Rick can say hi and start conversation so we just walked on!  It was very humid and hot today but the journey was beautiful and the tropical forest quiet and peaceful. We met the 3 goats and dog and saw the potatoes that had been planted. We came back and went to the orphanage.  The children sang songs with us praising God. The student nurses did physical assessments on the new children. Some medical work to be done was recorded. Team One passed on a long list of things to be done to Team Two.  Many games were played. The children were instructed on using scrubbies and soap.  Good demonstration by a former flight attendant with us! We had jump ropes and yoyos with much joy. You could feel our hearts fill with emotion with the anticipation of leaving as the afternoon turned to early evening. How do you walk through such an incredible journey and  say good bye. Not for good but for now?  God was so  great in planning that we do not leave them alone but with another Team to help for another week.  Then we will leave them wrapped in prayers and an e-mail away.
Leaving is so bittersweet,  seeing the children running and outside ( which they are all the time except when eating) brings such complete joy and contentment to your heart. But not being able to kiss each one in the morning leaves you with great sadness. Mama said good bye with tears streaming down her face. Which did not help us at all.  How does one say thank you, how do you process the journey that is so far from the road anyone was traveling on just a short time ago? The answer for all of us is LOVE.  It is not so complicated or complex. It is simple, basic and really what Jesus walked on this earth to show us. Love The Lord your God and then Love one another.  Sometimes teaching Sunday School helps to break it all down. So much we can learn from a child's perspective.
May each person who has been part of the journey so far feel the peace that surpasses understanding in their heart. It does not matter if you have stuffed envelopes, played golf, wrote grants, attended meetings, bought towels, sent medals, or prayed you have loved!

We have arrived!

We arrived yesterday afternoon to Jacmel. Drove through Port au Prince on the way to Jacmel, for many of us this was an eye opening experience. We all arrived safe to the hotel in Jacmel, the hotel has a beautiful view of the ocean. A few of us went for a swim before heading to the new orphanage. The children were absolutely ecstatic to see us, a little tired from their first time swimming in the ocean. We had the tour of the orphanage, and it is amazing...the children have so much room, and are so grateful for everything they have! Came back to the hotel had pizza, and many of were exhausted by the day and went directly to bed. Right now sitting in the villa eating breakfast, and watching a couple of fishermen in a row boat. Plans for today: hiking to papa's home, going to the orphanage, and see what else God leads us to achieve today. We thank God for our arrival, and ask Him to guide us through this journey. 

Katie Gibson

Joyful, Joyful We are thankful

Our blog is spotty as is the internet in Jacmel.  We have been all so very busy and the children are so happy and all have come to life in the outdoors!  It is a lot of smiling, running. playing and learning. The learning curve for all is very steep.  We have accidentally emptied the cistern. ( left faucets on when power was off, when power came back on in middle of night everyone thought it was raining).  Emptied a months worth of propane. Turned off the flame but did not turn off the propane. We are all learning so much.  I even know how to fill the cistern from the well!
The concept of bathroom is so new. We are taking turns spending the night to help in cottages. Leading them to the toilet in their sleep instead of a bucket or outside. Brushing our teeth in a sink, taking a shower and not going under the faucet for the cloths washing area! Last night I spent time turing on the lights and fans. Why are we sitting in the dark?  This is followed by much excitement and praising God.
The dining hall is such a blessing also.  Everyone sitting together and you can hear a pin drop.
The children continue to capture our hearts. They are truly gifts from God.
Time to take 47 children to the beach for their first swim!  need prayers for sure!

Miracles continue, Praises Flowing

The days are full of work, organizing, educating and taking care of medical situations in Jacmel. We fall into bed at night and although the air is 100% humidity we fall quickly asleep.  The children are also sleeping very well with all the constant motion they are in all day long. 

The nurses spent time teaching everyone how to use the toilet. We will need to continue the educating daily. It is all a process.

We said a tearful good bye to the Ochylinski family whose generosity made this a reality. They will be back. It was hard to take the children out of their arms.

We continue to explore Jacmel taking groups of children with us so they can see their new town. They are so excited to be out walking around and seeing the ocean is an amazing site for them. The joy continues to be felt in ways that in our lives we rarely feel for short times much less days at a time. 

Our hearts are full. Thank you for the prayers we are feeling every one of them.  GRATEFUL,  Barb

Amazing Graces!

It will be difficult to put into words the experience LOVE Takes Root, DSN Students and  Ochylski Family  had today moving 47 children from a less than desirable location to a very wonderful newly built home.

The morning started early with miracles like our bus arriving on time to pick us up at 6:30 am sharp AND our breakfast ready before the bus arrived. Arriving at the La Concorde it felt a little like Uncle Jed and Grannie throw back.  We had a bus, moving truck and van. They were all filled to the brim. With belongings and people. Some like Connor Rick and Genevivie were sitting in the back of the open air moving van on some belongings. While others were in the van holding the younger ones on laps. Then there was a bus filled with children in yellow LTR tee shirts and Doug. The neighborhood was buzzing with excitement. As we waved good bye and headed to drive over the mountains.  All was well except for Doug passing the kids "the bucket".  

We arrived at the new site of La Concorde to be greeted by a long line of all the workers that had worked at the building site over the last 6 months.  The children lined up and walked through the workers into the new dining hall. They then had a celebration of song and prayers so heartfelt not a dry eye in the room. The praise for gratefulness was an overwhelming expression of joy. Mama had her arms raised in praise to The Lord. 

We then toured the site, the kitchen,the boys cottage, the girls cottage named for Eleanor Ochylski, the staff house and the great outdoors!  There were beds for all, toilets, sinks with water running, showers, a bedroom and porch for Mama and Papa. The kitchen is spacious with stove, refrigerator and deep freezer! Missing some content like fork, spoons and plates but we are on our way to a new future. 

We all wondered if the children we all know and love so much would be over whelmed and quiet or go wild with the joy of the experience. WELL they went wild! They ran and ran and ran all over the outdoors. Interesting many fell multiple times because they had never had room to actually run before. We had scrapes and lots of dirt. The older girls not having had a shower were all striped down in the bathroom taking a shower or two. They were truly singing in the shower. The talking, laughing and smiles were like nothing we all had ever seen before.

We then all gathered for a late lunch. ALL the children, all the guests and all the workmen! It was about 150 people eating a feast. We learned the workmen have gotten a noon meal daily working on the site that is part of their pay. It was wonderful chicken, hot dog, rice and juice!

The children continued to explore every inch of ground. They walked in the tall grass out back. They saw a cow over the fence and watched it munching grass, they learned about shade trees!

As those of us honored to be a part of something so much bigger than all of us we jumped in the back of the pick up to find our hotel.  It is remains a miracle that so many people with the love to care made such a difference in the life and future of children who are our future. 

Preparing to MOVE

There was much excitement in La Concorde Orphanage today.  The belongs are packed ready to be put in a truck. The children are aware but not really sure what this all means. The adults are sleepless with anticipation.  We had a wonderful last day in the present site with dancing, singing and playing some hand movement games. It seemed like we had been waiting such a long time and also like it was just yesterday we started this vision!  We have a wonderful new little girl joining us, she is 3 years old quiet and seems to have a lot of pain. We will be deworming and hope that will help. Moving with the children are two new kittens and a puppy.  They are too cute and bring a lot of joyful entertainment to everyone. Elisee went to the new site today with people from his church in PAP.  They were blessing and praying on the land in preparation.
Rick took both the nursing students with Keetah and then the Klein Family with Aunt Jessie on a walking tour of PAP today.
We are meeting the bus, truck and van at 6:30 am tomorrow. So grateful for all the work done by so many people to make this a reality. God Bless each one.  Trying to fall asleep!   Barb

Port au Prince - Day 2

The girls woke up in Port au Prince today, sticky as can be. Showers were needed to feel refreshed before heading to breakfast. The girls were a little droggy until they had about a pitcher of coffee each, it was hard to stop because it tasted so good. After breakfast, with Rick as their tour guide, they ventured through the city. There aren't many words to describe the way of life the Haitian people live. You could still see the destrucion of the earthquake that hit the city in January 2010, and a few tent cities still existed. There was garbage everywhere, cars driving wildly obeying no road rules or laws, and goats, stray dogs, hogs, roosters and chickens wandering around unoticed by bystanders. The girls were able to grasp a good idea of the state the people of Haiti live in during their walk around the city, and they were able to taste some sugar care and view the local hospital. The girls were in awe and at a loss for words when seeing the destruction that still exsits.

After spending an hour and a half walking around Port au Prince the girls and Rick headed back to the hotel. There were 3 men selling Haitian paintings, carvings and gifts outside which Rick said were priced fairly so the girls spent a little time shopping for souvioniers. They then freshened up the best they could, some put their feet in the pool to cool down, they grabed a couple snacks and then started walking to the orphanage.

They arrived at the orphanage after another good walk through the city. They waited anxiously outside as they heard the children singing on the other side of what can only be described as a "steel barn door". Rick did his secret knock and everyone inside screamed with joy. The girls were overwhelmed when they finally saw the kids everyone had been talking about. Although the orphange had been described as "hell" the children couldn't have been in better spirits. The joy that these children have despite having almost nothing brings incredible perspective. The girls spent the next few hours getting to know the children, they watched them sing songs, saw their incredible expertice at working iPads and iPhones, and loved having their photos taken and taking photos in return. You should see these kids run an iPhone, not to mention Instagram. No wifi in the orphanage, darn. They laughed and cheers and crawled all over the girls, they tickled each other and danced and couldn't have been happier to have the DSN nurses there to hang out with. The girls were able to see mama prepare dinner for all the children and got to see them sing there before dinner song, or maybe it was a prayer. The girls could not be more excited to transition these children to their new home in Jacmel tomorrow morning. The future that these children are getting because of the love and generosity of Love Takes Root is astouding, and something that the girls will treasure for a lifetime.

We Arrived

We are sitting at the Ausberg finishing our meal. All have arrived safely. The LOVE Takes Root members, the Klein Family and Aunt Jessie and the DSN Nursing students are getting to know each other and ready to work together to have the children move.  The weather is wonderful and there is a lovely breeze. We are tired and ready for a great night of sleep.
The drive through Port-Au-Prince was amazing for those of us who have been coming for 2 years noticing all the improvements and those who have never been here trying to understand the quick change from Miami to PAP.
As it happens here the check in at the hotel takes a long long time. And we even paid with one person.  We are thankful for the opportunity to be here.  We can not wait to hug the children tomorrow and spend time together.  Such blessings.

The Adventure Begins

The trip started off with a packing party and a bunch of space bags and mountains of pillow pets. The DSN girls met at their school and stuffed the 60 pillow pets into 10 space bags and then sucked the air out to make them small enough to pack among their bags. It was quite an effort but the girls faired well. Nursing students: 1, Pillow Pets: 0.

The nursing students were on a Spirit Airlines flight leaving Denver at 11pm. When checking their bags they were really excited to see that they were under the 50 lbs! Only to be corrected that Spirit Airlines' policy was 40 lbs....well shoot. Luckily, half the girls had a nice attendant who waived the fee. The other half of the girls were being helped by a less than helpful female and had to pay the extra fee. The girls arrived 2 hours before departure and easily made it though security, except for Emily, who decided to push the boundaries by wearing an excessive amount of bobby pins, carrying more than the recommended amount of lotion and having a full water bottle, Airport: 1, Emily: 0. Once through security the girls had plenty of time to spare so they headed to The Chop House for a drink. After receiving their beers and taking their first sip they were told by their waiter that they were closing and to hurry up and finish, but that the bar across the way was open until midnight. During this time the girls also learned that their flight had been delayed an hour and a half, great...more time for drinking.

They headed over to the other bar, Jimmy's, to have a few more beers. They had a great time getting to know each other and had a lot of laughs. During a moment of going to the bathroom to break the seal they decided to check the flight board to see when their flight was supposed to depart, the board read: ON TIME! It was 11:15pm and the original departure time was 11pm. The girls were in a panic! They went back into the bar to grab their belongings, and ran out leaving their almost full beers behind (luckily they'd already paid!). It's too bad we can't break into the airport security to watch the tape back of the girls running through the airport. Not only were they a little tipsy but they were sprinting and bypassed all the walking escalators which could have saved them precious seconds on their quest toward their gate at the end of the terminal. When they finally got to the gate their was no one in sight and no plane was present. For a second the girls thought they'd missed their plane only to find out that it was further delayed till 3am....you've got to be kidding!  They just left perfectly good beer behind, Airport: 2, Nursing students: 0.

After laughing at the ridiculous of the situation they finally figured out where to talk to the Spirit Airlines representatives to figure out about making their connecting flight to Haiti, which was to leave out of Ft. Lauderdale at 7:15am. They were now arriving in Ft. Lauderdale after 9am. Spirit booked them on American Airlines leaving Ft. Lauderdale at 1:20pm. With nothing left to do until 3am the girls decided to head back to the bar which closed at midnight, they had about 20 minutes to have another drink. They were able to talk the waitress into giving them two drinks each if they promised to have them both drunk by 12:05am....not a problem. Pretty sure she hated them. Nursing students: 1, Airport: 2.

Once they were kicked out of the bar they headed back to the gate and found an incredibly uncomfortable spot to lay down and "sleep," which was tough between feeling like they were in an igloo and catching glimpses of the marijuana documentary going on in the background. The flight was finally boarded and took off at 3:40am and they were off to Ft. Lauderdale. The girls all slept pretty much the whole flight.

They landed in Ft. Lauderdale at 9:15am and luckily their connecting flight gate was next door to the one they got off. And, even more impressively, it was the original flight they were suppose to be on, which had also been away, evening up the score, Nursing students: 2, Airport: 2. They had enough time to hit the loo, grab some coffee and get in line to board. Once on the plane the girls were instantly the minority, they were the only six white girls on the flight, the adventure begins! The flight was a fairly quick and easy one with only slight turbulence for about 30 seconds. Once they landed they headed through customs, grabbed their luggage and headed out to find Frantz, their driver who drove a van with no door, but as Barb described, "is ok because he's a really good driver." They waited about 15 minutes before Frantz found them and led them over to the van which was about a 2 minute walk. Some of the girls made the mistake of letting some of the locals roll their bag for them. Once loaded up they then demanded money...opps. 

Leaving Minneapolis

Well all the bags are packed with Sheet, Towels, Pillow Pets and Cups. Thank you to Lucy Steffen that did a lot of run around and Sam Geyer who can pack like a champ! To Jamie Billings for the sponsor donations. A special thank you to Hailey Johnson and the Fourth grade in Ames, Iowa for hand decorating our cups.
Kirk, Doug, Keetah, Rick and I are ready for a wake up call at 4:00 am.  We were given wonderful tee shirts with spirit by First Congregational Church. We are so excited and also know there is a lot of adjustment in this trip for many. As I prepare I just think of the amount of love that has been given by so many. It is so humbling to have so many people work together caring for the least of us.
Follow our blog this week so you can journey with us and also the pictures on Facebook!  Walk on!
Grateful,  Barb

Tuesday June 25th

Today was another great day in Jacmel. Three of us nurses got to go to the CCH Clinic and work with the doctors and nursing staff there. We split up two followed two different doctors during their clinic visits and the other nurse in our group took vitals and weights. We interacted and helped these patients in the clinic all morning. It was a great experience! The rest of our group went to another orphanage in town and helped brighten each child's day with hugs, kindness, and open hearts. All of us had a positive day and we are so thankful for this opportunity to serve and every opportunity in our lives!

Nursing group LTR

Auvoir for now

The time in Haiti always passes quickly with a slow Haitian pace. Rick, Barb and Doug will be leaving late this afternoon. We feel pleased with all the things accomplished in one week and quietly wonder if more could have been done. So American in our thinking. The gift of not being able to be here longer is that we empower our Haitian partners. This  relationship and shared trust makes the values of LOVE Takes Root organization to work with projects that are self sustainable attainable.
As we leave and arrive in Haiti, the first and last thing we do is hug and kiss each sweaty, sweet child. The spirits and potential of each child is felt. You see future fathers and mothers. Future teachers, nurses, farmers, business owners and leaders.  As I stand dripping and filled with love, in my mind runs the words; Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, they are yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.  As Jesus taught us Love our God, and Love one another. I reflect that everyone who has worked to make this project a reality has loved these children. It does not matter if you assisted with the LTR web site, organizing a fundraising event, wrote thank yous, ordered tee shirts, donated pencils, sponsored a child, donated money, traveled to assist- you have loved.  Our hearts are filled with gratitude our bodies are tired and hot and are spirits are overflowing with joy.
We will hit Miami and the pace will increase dramatically and quickly. We will take out our phones and the cortisol will increase.  There is work to be done and funds to be raised to finish the vision.
God Bless you today!

HOT ENOUGH!

Not sure I can find words to describe the heat we have experienced today. It actually started last night with the single fan on the wall on and off, waking in the morning already covered in sweat. Then a very extended car ride from Jacmel to PAP with sitting traffic and no air movement.  For a long time.  We stopped for some fruit for the children at market and then went to the Orphanage.  The orphanage was like sitting in an oven. The children were very quiet, dripping and hot. Barb held Indiana for a treat and she fell asleep. It was like holding a hot box in a sauna. Doug was wilting but more heat was to come. Rick, Barb and Doug with Frantz went to visit Mr Baptiste and his wife Nicole. Mr Baptiste is the gentleman we purchased the land from. The ride through PAP was bumper to bumper for 80 mins with a very small vehicle, high temperatures and no breeze.  BUT the visit was such a joy. We sat and visited, showing them the land progress in Jacmel.  Learning about their family and touring the beautiful gardens that Nicole works in daily.  She will be splitting some plants for the orphanage in Jacmel! Frantz and Rick talked about the possibility of buying the back piece of land that was removed from the original purchase for raising food. It was a good discussion and Frantz did a wonderful job talking and expressing himself! More discussions to follow.
During the car ride to PAP we had a good discussion with Frantz reviewing the time table of the building project. We also talked about the Bastien Family doing all the painting for the inside buildings at the orphanage. They will be excited to do this, it will save money for project and really give them ownership. Frantz did say he had his homework done for Tennie before she left! We will go to orphanage tomorrow morning and also have a meeting with Frantz.
The nurses were off to the beach today! I am sure we will get some good blogs from their adventures. We are much cooler now with the sun down and a soft wind blowing. Not to mention we each have a gin and tonic.  No one has needed a bathroom yet but hopefully sometime during the next 20 hours.
Being in the orphanage today was hard because the conditions were even worse with the heat. I sat silently praying that  September will be here faster. Felt like a seven year old waiting for Christmas!
May everyone have a wonderful rest and God Bless You All!
Grateful,  Barb

Friday in Jacmel

Jacmel day 3

This morning all six of us nurses, Barb, and Rick to the Notre Dame nursing school. This was about a mile walk from Isaiah house. Once there we met the senior nursing students that had three semester of classroom and clinicals then their final year is studying for their boards. Barb and Rick taught the class about the pediatric assessment and gave a great presentation. We met Dimitric who was a management student that was a excellent interpreter. Next we took a tour of the grounds and sat through a meeting between the school and love takes root. After the nursing school we walked back for a great lunch at the at the Isaiah house. We then relaxed for about an hour then Rick, Barb, Tony, and Elisee went on a hike up the mountain to Papas house! To start the journey we jumped on moto bikes for a two mile drive.....crazy experience! Then started the hike. It was about a two hour hike along a beautiful river up into the jungles across the streams mountains! We had to stop once on the trip up cause I was dying...( out of shape last two months nursing school took a toll). From there we climbed on we had another twenty minutes or so to Papas house. Once there we gave a hat that my bible school decorated and other goods to James ( a orphanage who takes care of papa) sweet sweet little boy who loved all the items. He was in need of them! We also gave two more hats to two little boy and girl on our way. We took many pictures! Then after visiting we ventured down the mountain. They have every tropical fruit tree/ plant you can think of. Once we made it down greeting all the wonderful happy community members. We jumped on moto bikes and made it back to Isaiah house just in time for supper. It was a awesome experience that I will never forget!!  

 

God is great and we are so blessed!! 

Briana RN!! 

Friday in Jacmel

What a productive and wonderful day we all had in Jacmel. We started early this morning walking to the school of Nursing in Jacmel.  It is called Notre Dame. It is right by our building site. We met with Father Saveur. He will be assigned to the school full time while St Michelle Church is repaired from the earth quake. Rick and Barb gave a lecture to the nursing students about Nursing Assessment of the Child.  The Iowa Lake Nurses also introduced themselves and will be presenting lectures through the week, next week. Our whole group had a  meeting with the nursing Dean, Assistant Dean, Vice President and Father Saveur we reviewed how we can work together to assist in the educaiton of nurses and relationship with LOVE Takes Root Medcial/Dental Clinic. It was a very successful meeting with a lot of discussion.
In the afternoon we split into groups. Tony, Breanna, Rick and Barb hiked into the moutains to visit Papa and James. It was a strenuous hike but everyone did very well. We enjoyed our time learning about all the foods to eat in the mountains and enjoying time sitting in the silence.
Doug spent the day in Caye Jacmel learing more about the Luke Society there, as Rick and Barb sit at dinner we have not seen him yet. I am sure he has had an amazing day and will have many stories for me to blog!
The students are all set for their week in Jacmel. They will be working at the building site, teaching nursing students and assisting in the CCH primary care clinic. Rick and Barb feel like they have given a good orientation to the nurses. And wish we could stay longer!
Oh good news here is Doug, He did have an amazing day.  God Is GOOD. We are blessed!
Grateful,  Barb

Beautiful Day in Jacmel

Rick,Barb and Doug woke up to no power and no water in our hotel. It makes you so happy when you have cold water! Rick walked Barb to where the nurses are staying and then Rick and Doug walked to hospital. Rick to do some surgery and Doug to meet Dentist. The nurses with Barb went to vista an orphanage that was recently built by the same builder. We also brought stuffed animals for each child. Thank you Alana for carrying them to Haiti and thank you mom2moms for the donation.  The nurses then toured the work sites.  Already rafters were up and the foundations were staked for additional building! Next week the nurses will assist the Haitians working side by side when the nurses are not giving lectures to nursing students or assisting with primary care clinic. Rick and Doug met us attune work site and we all took a tap tap ride to the beach. The breeze was refreshing and so was the cola. When we returned we did practice walks around Jacmel so everyone could know the landmarks when they get lost! Rick, Barb and Doug had a wonderful dinner, a visit with Dr Oda and some time to reflect!  Good news before bed the water came on and we loved the cold showers!
Grateful, Barb

Nurses Are in Jacmel it is HOT!

All the nurses who are recent graduates and board certified, from Iowa Lakes Community College have arrived in Jacmel. They took a walking tour of Jacmel and visited St Michelle Hosptial. Rick was doing surgery all day and most of the evening. Tony is a nurse that speaks french fleuently which is a real plus. The nurses are easy going and slowing down the pace to meet life in Haiti.Randy and Tennie left for PAP. Not before walking many, many miles to greet the nurses. They were returning to review planning meeting and assignments that had been requested for greater understanding the schedule and jobs within the current orphanage. They also had a visit to the orphanage to say Auvoir.
Rick, Barb and Doug were able to eat dinner with Elisse and Michele. We found Rick's pizza spot and it was so good. We were so hungry. The nurses played street soccer, Brianna too.  The night air was hot. Our hotel without water, but sleep was a thankful rest.

What day of the week it is?

Losing track of time and days. We started early this morning going through the market to investigate what we can purchase locally and how much things would cost. We looked at stove tops, school uniforms, shoes, pots, pans and dishes.  The market is FULL of people going in every direction and quite amazing. It is hot with strong smells making our Grocery stores looking amazing very modern convenience.
We then in the afternoon went to the beach. We swam, cooled off and did have some grilled lobster. Sounds like something out of a resort pamphlet! We all thought this was like a spa day- first we had the sauna experience and sweat any toxins then we had a long salt bath!
Later in the afternoon we met with Dave and Darilus the couple who lives here and is the contractor of the building. We went over details at the building site. From heights of hanging sinks to shower heads. Then ended the evening at a Haitian restaurant in the mountains.
We heard from Frantz that the Iowa Lake Nurses have arrived in PAP and we will meet them tomorrow in Jacmel.
Grateful,  Barb

WOW!

Rick, Barb, Randy, Tennie and Doug went to Jacmel early Monday morning. We did stop for a short hike along the way.  When we arrived in Jacmel we went to the orphanage building site and WOW! The fence is up, the foundations are poured,  the well is in, and the metal studs are up in the first dorm!  After being in the small space in PAP we all just stood there with visions of children running outside in our heads.  We reviewed all plans in detail.  We then went across Jacmel an to see the orphanage that was also built by Calvary International Development Ministries.  It is great to see a complete project.  I told everyone it was just like a cooking show where they take out the baked dish after they have just mixed it. We then went on a walking tour of Jacmel and to dinner at a small resturante in town. It was a day filled with emotion, joy mostly.  The night was hot and did not cool off but our bodies and minds were tired.
Grateful,  Barb

Fathers for Many

Greetings!  Rick, Randy and Doug got to experience Father's Day with many children on their laps! It was a very productive and tiring day. Randy, Doug and Barb walked early to the orphanage.  All the staff then left for the off site seminar/business planning session. Doug and Randy set up a dental office in the back of the orphanage and did exams on each child.  Along with the exam was some time to spend with each child and they received a Tie Day shirt done by Katie Gibson and group from Sioux Rapids. It was easy to identify who had not been examined yet! Barb held down the front area with reading many picture books, teaching addition and singing. We then handed out the pencil cases with  2 markers, thank you to Kathy Anderson and notebooks to everyone. Many of the pencil cases were microphone shape and we had a "show".  Later in the day we also gave gift bags to the children from St Joe's in Milford. The children all lined up in two's to share a bag of goodies.  It was exciting for sure. The orphanage was above 100 degrees and after 8 hours we were ready to get back to the hotel.
Rick and Tennie came by Tap Tap to the orphanage after a very successful meeting and we all walked home via Rick's short cut.  It goes right through the back neighborhoods of Carrefour.  Rick greets everyone we see, for the rest of us it feels like the old Sesame Street game, which one of these things just doesn't belong. As we arrived back at our hotel everyone was tired and hot ready for some food.  The Seminar/ business planning meeting was an excellent experience for everyone who attended.  It was very interactive for everyone. As we sit at dinner and reflect on our day we are filled with joy and gratitude for all the work everyone has done to assist LOVE Takes Root and the difference it has made.
Blessings!  Barb

We Are Here!

Today Rick and Barb Wilkerson, Randy and Tennie Binzer and Doug Van Hofwegen arrived in PAP Haiti.  We went from the airport straight to the orphanage to see the children.  They were in the process of eating and quickly ate to spend some time with us.  The present site continues to be less than desirable,  but the new building project is in their dreams. And soon to be reality. Thank you to all the work so many have done with this project thus far!  Being with these wonderful spirits makes us recognize again their talents and gifts.  The potential they possess for the future of Haiti.
For all the past visitors with LTR, Robinson and the door less van picked us up at the airport.  Driving PAP is a horn blowing experience!  The improvements with the airport and clean up of tent cities warms your heart and shows progress.
The Auberg continues to be a paradise moment in the day. And fans too!
Tomorrow will be an early day. Rick and Tennie are having a seminar and planning meeting with all of the orphanage staff off site.  While Barb, Doug, and Randy are taking care of the orphanage. I am sure we are going to have a lot of stories tomorrow night.
We are ready for bed after a 17 hour day!
God Bless and Grateful,  Barb

Learning how to add pictures

Well as  you can see my lesson did not work.  But exciting pictures will be sent to SEEDS.  If you would like to receive SEEDS just contact us at www.lovetakesroot.org and we will send you a monthly update of LTR current project.
Busy week for LTR  Cupcakes and Wine  Style Show at Wild Rose Inn Okoboji
Thursday June 13th at 7:00 pm Tickets $25 all proceeds to building project.
LTR Board trip to Haiti leaves on Friday!
If anyone knows how to add pictures to this blog please teach me!
Grateful,  Barb

Wrapping it Up

Today was one of my favorite days here. We made our way back to Port Au Prince for the flight tomorrow.

We all wound down from the hard work the past couple of days by sitting by the pool and relaxing. Then ordered pizza; which was surprisingly good :) A lot like the pizza in the US.

After lunch we went back to the orphanage. It was a little different of a dynamic at the orphanage this time. Right off the bat the kids and Elysee (the man who has been traveling with us) engaged the children in singing a variety of songs. The afternoon was spent playing different group activities with the kids, one of them consisting of musical chairs and another of hot potato. While we were there, the kids had one of their meals for the day. It was encouraging to see the amount of food they were getting served. For lunch and dinner the children all wait until everyone is served with their food then say a prayer together. I have been so blessed to be part of their life here and to see what is to come for them.

There are no good words to describe the experience at the orphanage. I could only hope that whoever gets the opportunity to do something like this would jump on it in a heart beat. It was so difficult to leave the kids today but was very encouraging to know what is in their future. I only wish that I had the privilege to be here when the kids move to the new orphanage. They are so happy and joy filled as it is that I know it would be a touching experience to see them playing in the yard and the smiles on their faces.

One of the things I have taken from this trip that I was not anticipating was the amount of faith the Haitians have. Everywhere you drive around town there are phrases like "Thank you Jesus" and Elysee, the children, and many of the Haitians all share the same love for God. One day on the work site a man from Spencer, we had been working with, went up to one of the Haitian workers and said "you are the best Jerry!" and the man immediately responded by saying "No God is the best." This wasn't the first time that someone had responded in that way. They give recognition to God for everything which in some sense surprised me because of the environment they are living in. Everyone is so hope filled and joyous, it truly is contagious.

I only wish that you all could experience a fraction of what I have here. I know being back in the US will be difficult just because of the many differences we have in cultures but I am excited to get back and share my photos and videos with you all.

BVU Beavers!

Things Are Progressing!!!

Greetings to all from lovely Jacmel.  This was the second day of fence construction at the new orphanage site and a lot of progress is taking place.  The BVU Spring Break AWOL group is pushing the Spencer old guys group pretty hard, but I must say they are all keeping right up with the younger crowd.  I think everyone who has not dug post holes by hand has truly developed an appreciation for those who have.  It is hot, humid and hard work yet everyone has kept very good spirits and seems to truly be enjoying themselves.  Yesterday while working, about 3 neighbor children came to watch and interact, but today there were probably 25- I think the sharing of lunch had some impact, but also just the sharing of games and laughter certainly was the main draw.  The Spencer group of Dennis Philips, Tom C Howe, Ronnie Hamrick and Todd Brockshus have done a ton of work and after tomorrow we will be taking the day to go to the Family beach, to visit Hope for Children (the new orphanage being built by our contractor/architect, Dave Bird), St Michelle Hospital and CCH where I have been working and downtown Jacmel.  It is a holiday here, so no work!.  This will give everyone a chance to see what LaConcorde will look like very soon.  The work that he and his haitian crews are accomplishing is truly  amazing!!  Before I forget, because Dennis did until I reminded him this am, Happy anniversary to Dianne Phillips!!  Don't worry Dianne, Denny only shared the card you sent with a few of us :-).  The BVU group will be heading back to PAP one day earlier to catch their flight and will see some sites arranged for them in PAP.

To give a brief overview, I think I can say that for all in our group, the highlight of PAP was visiting the children at the current LaConcorde site.  It gives  everyone a very keen insight into the drastic change moving to Jacmel will make in the life of these wonderful kids.  We then loaded up into 2 very full vans for the trip over the mountains to Jacmel.  The good part was no one got sick and the bad part was the gait of the Spencer group was certainly impaired for a while.  We arrived at the Isaiah House where we were warmly greeted and then off for a quick tour of the market, downtown Jacmel, the landsite, etc.  Since then it has mostly been work and fellowship among one another.  To all of you at home, be proud of your loved ones, they are truly special people!  They have also developed a new love of walking from one place to another!

I also am fortunate enough to have with me Christina Olsen, a 4th year med student who rotated with me on ortho her 3d year.  Yesterday we worked in the Community Coalition for Haiti clinic/OR getting ready for surgery today.  Dr Mukkuaka Oda, an orthopedic surgeon I have been working with here in Haiti, had gathered a group of patients for me to consider surgery on.  There were many interesting cases for us to review and schedule for surgery.  CCH has a brand new set of OR's that was used about 3 weeks ago by a volunteer group for 2-3 days, but otherwise is really brand new.  We inventoried the equipment available with Laura Schick, the nurse director for CCH, and scheduled surgery for today which went very well.  Dr Oda arranged for anesthesia from PAP for us and things actually went very well with another day of surgery scheduled for tomorrow.  Christina was a huge help being my assistant and scrub tech for all of this and did a great job!  (Only if she would have decided on Ortho instead of Family Practice!).

I have been able to meet with and spend a lot of time with Dave Bird who has been arranging our fencing and has bid for the entire job for us.  He and his wife are wonderful people and great host/hostess.  Last night I went to their home for dinner and was able to sit down with Dave to make some final plans for the project.  With the blessing of our very understanding LTR Board of Directors , we were able to arrange the site and dimensions of the buildings and discuss cost estimates, etc.  It was decided that we would be moving a number of the buildings and due to the elevation of the property, adjust the size of the buildings. All in all we will be building 2- 20 X 60 dorms, a 28 X 64 kitchen, eating area, common room, pharmacy(required by the government), a 28 X 64 home for the Bastien family,and a Sukup storage building.  This will all get started as soon as board approval with an expected finish date of late July.  The fence will be up by the end of next week.  The next phase of the other 2 dorms, the school and the med/dental clinic will start as soon as funding is available.  The spot gets more beautiful each time I see it.

As the week reaches its midpoint, I find myself marveling at all the success we have ALL been able to reach in such a short time.  Through the continued efforts of all of us, the generous donations of MANY, this will truly in the near future be reaching completion and we will be able to see all the work paying off.  Thanks to all of you and God Bless!!

Rick

DSN back in Denver

Home! 

We are currently on our way back to Denver. The last two days have been very busy so we weren't able to blog last night. Yesterday was spent at the nursing school Institut de Jeunes Filles. We made it there at about 10am after our van overheated and we broke down on the side of the road ( just a little water did the trick). All of us were so overwhelmed and amazed at how much the administration and students loved having us there. This visit was very significant because on April 4th of this year a student and two administrators from this school in Port-au-Prince are visiting Denver to hopefully build a connection where our schools can eventually be affiliated with each other. The visit went very well and we had the opportunity to ask the students questions as well as them asking us questions (of course through a wonderful interpreter!) We also stopped at the Haitian history museum on the way back to the hotel and we all enjoyed it vey much and thought it was very educational. The rest of the day was spent packing and preparing to leave Haiti. 

We would like to say from all of us that we couldn't have had a more educational, eye-opening and wonderful experience. Our group was so very fortunate to have Barb Wilkerson lead us through our journey in Haiti. She is inspiring, enthusiastic, passionate and a genuinely nice person. All six of us feel like this trip has changed our lives and will help us in our future career in nursing. 

Thank you so much Love Takes Root! This trip will be with us for the rest of our lives! 

Amy, Michael, Stephanie, Erin, Kim, Dianna

So much to see!

Hey!

So far I have met so many different Haitians here. They are all so wonderful and very generous.

Yesterday we spent majority of the day walking around Jacmel. We walked through the market, had lunch, and walked by the site for the new orphanage. The kids are going to love all the room they will have to play in the yard and explore. I am very excited for them.

It is interesting how the people get around and go about their days. There are taxi's here called "tap taps", they are pretty cool!The name comes from tapping on the top of the truck to let the driver know when it is time to stop so they can get off.  We spent the day traveling around in a tap tap to different places around Jacmel. Whenever we eat somewhere, each restaurant takes about 2 hours to get our food which is very different than what we are used to in the US. It definitely represents the different mindset between cultures as well as the supplies available to make a meal.

 I feel this trip has already impacted me greatly. I've learned so much about their culture. The orphanage isn't what we think of an orphanage in the US. Many of the children in this orphanage know who their parents are, they are there because their parents haven't been able to give them a very good life. They are unable to provide food for them and therefore would be better off at the orphanage. The orphanage limits how often they are able to see the kids and some parents do come once a month. There is only one little girl who they don't know her history or her story. She was dropped off one day and the father said he was going to get food but never came back. It is heart wrenching to see the conditions they are living in but have so much joy to share with us, it is definitely a self-examining experience.

The more I am in Haiti, the more I am able to look at the United States in a little bit of a different light. I've examined the way I live and the dynamics of our culture. There is so much I complain about. The car I drive, the administration at BVU, my cell phone running slow. If I am complaining about the roosters crowing in the morning at 5:30 AM here, I really need to take a couple steps back and re-examine myself. I feel selfish in a lot of the ways I live my life in the US and the people here have so much less, physically, but they have so much happiness! For the most part, everyone is so so friendly. For example, we were walking down the street yesterday and there was a man that knew who Dr. Wilkerson was and came over to say hello. After greeting Dr, he worked his way down the line and gave each of us hugs and said "God Bless You."

This city is huge and has so many people in it and there have been multiple times we will be traveling down the road and our interpreter will pick someone out in the crowd they know. Even if they do not know who people are, they have conversations like they know each other. On our way through the mountains yesterday our driver slowed down (didn't stop), stuck his hand out the window to an approaching car. In the middle of driving, and the middle of the road, he gave the man a prepackaged water packet and took a key. It was pretty comical and a representation of how everyone pretty much knows each other.

Last night was very cool because there were a group of kids playing soccer outside our hotel. They played for a good three hours and it was definitely entertaining to watch! Hopefully they will be there again tonight and we can go out and kick the ball around.

Today, we spent time at a nearby hospital. Our interpreter was able to take us inside the hospital where the patients were staying. Even in the hospital they stared at us and we exchanged friendly Bonjour "good morning" blessings. It was the most uncomfortable situation I have been in so far. In the US we are so used to privacy and HIPPA violations, but there we saw many patients laying there being treated. I felt as if we were intruding and it wasn't appropriate but the Haitians didn't seem to think anything of it, other than we were "blondes" (what they call white people). I can't even explain what the Hospital was like but it definitely tugged at my heart and was very hard for me to see. We walked into the maternity ward and saw the delivery room which was very different as well. There was one small room with three beds, a waiting room of six beds where the mothers wait before they are ready to deliver, and one other room where they stay after the birth.

As we were leaving the hospital today we were walking around outside and heard Justin Beiber "baby" being played. We all started laughing and tried to figure out where it was coming from. It was an older man's cell phone ring tone! Ha :) Every once in a while we will hear a lot of American songs being played and it's really fun.

After the first hospital, we took a tap tap to the next hospital where Dr. Wilkerson was seeing a patient. We had the opportunity to sit in on the appointment. There were 6 of us from our group there and probably 4 other people in the room as well. There really aren't any rules when it comes to their health care system. There was a little boy who was getting his full length leg casts off and did not like it one bit. He was extremely scared of the saw. Nothing that was said could calm him down. It was difficult to communicate with him to ease his fears but later calmed down after reapply the cast. He was 6 years old and had cleft feet that were surgically repaired and had wounds underneath the cast that needed to be cleaned before an infection spread.

After the appointment, we took a trip down the hall to the physical therapy clinic. It was actually very similar to what is in the US because the people volunteering there are from schools in the US, they are natives of Haiti who have studied PTA in the US and have moved back to Haiti to help the people. They said they are very very busy and see many people each day. The man I was talking with actually invited me to stay and help him and his staff. Our site leaders said that we have that option on Thursday to go and help at the physical therapy clinic. I would absolutely LOVE that! We will see if a couple of us are able to go help. When I was talking to him today, he said that his vision is to go back to his home town and develop another clinic because the one we saw today was the only one in this entire area. Physical therapy here is free for everyone and majority of the time they seek stroke patients and motorcycle accident patients.

~BVU Student 

Cock-a-doodle-do

The rooster crowing at 5am came a little early this morning after our exciting, busy first day yesterday in Port-au-Prince. We arrived after lunch from New York to the Port-au-Prince airport and successfully snaked through the crowds in our group to find Franz and our transportation. We quickly traveled through the capital to our housing for the night. We expected to see a very impoverished place, but the amount of need and plethora of damage still present was astonishing.  We were excited to get started.

After dropping off our bags, we gathered our supplies and toys for the orphanage and were on our way! We packed Similac (baby formula), toy cars, bubbles, barrettes, books, kickballs, and lotion for the children and adults at the orphanage. Seeing the orphanage was absolutely inspiring! God is at work in Haiti and in this orphanage. Once entering the orphanage, we were overwhelmed with ambition to serve the children and Love Takes Root during our time here. The children loved our toys and the adults were very grateful for the other supplies. We experienced so much LOVE in the orphanage. We instantly loved the children and visually saw how much love the adults have for the children. The children and adults were grateful that we were there, but we were grateful that they were sharing their stories, space, and time with us! All of the kids were happy to play with us. We played with the balls, painted fingernails,  took pictures and read books together. Most of the children didn't speak English, but it didn't matter. We could still communicate. One of the most interesting things was observing that the Haitian children had the same emotions that we see children in the USA  possessing. In the end, people in all corners of the world are still PEOPLE.

The Haitian culture has been wonderful. The people are very eager to communicate with us,  even if our languages are different. We catch some stairs because of our physical differences, but after a simple wave, all of the nervousness goes away and we all share smiles or a simple head nod. We are happy to be in Haiti and we feel that Haiti is happy to have us.

Today we are traveling from the capital to Jacmel, the new orphanage site. We are ecstatic to see the hopeful place of the children's future. We have so much motivation now after seeing the children and their current living situation. We have our bags packed and are ready to see what else Haiti has to offer. We are eager to make our mark on Haiti.

We are a group of 10 Buena Vista University students and 2 BVU faculty members. We are participating in BVU's AWOL (alternative week of offsite learning) as a spring break program.

GO BEAVERS!!

Back to the PAP!

Yesterday (Sat)  we were not able to blog due to excessive internet use in the Isaiah House. Yesterday was a nice relaxing day spent shopping, swimming in the ocean, and touring the same type of buildings that will be built at the new Jacmel location. Shopping was great, Fatima had a great variety of Haitian gifts. We are all coming back with tons of Haitian souvenirs. We were then taken to a beautiful beach where we were able to relax, swim, and have some cold "sodas". After our relaxing afternoon, we headed to a  newly built orphanage with the contractor, Dave, who built their buildings,  and will be building Love Takes Root's buildings. They were amazing and the kids will be so happy with them. Overall it was a calm, relaxing day!

Today, we woke up early to drive back up to Port-au-Prince. We went straight to the orphanage where we spent all day with the kids. We started with eye tests and played with the children. Nail polish and temporary tattoos were a huge hit. We will all be coming home with nice pedicures, including Michael. We returned to our hotel and met with Barb's husband, Dr. Rick, and the students from Buena Vista University. We also had a meeting with the administrators from the Port-au-Prince nursing school. They will be visiting the Denver School of Nursing April 3rd through the 9th. They are interested in building a relationship and becoming our sister school. Tomorrow we will be spending the day touring their school, and hopefully visiting the hospital with them. It is a great way to spend our last day here in Haiti!

-Kim, Michael, Erin, Amy, Stephanie, Dianna

A Day of Nature and Hiking

We said goodbye to Frank, Kristen and Julie as they flew back to the US today.  The rest of the group got up early to walk from Jacmel up into the mountains to Bisson Bleu.  It is a large waterfall with 3 basins of deep blue water.  It took about 2 hours to get up to the spot where you hike another 30 minutes to see this beautiful place.  We stopped for some coconut and then finished the hike. After spending that time in the sun we were ready to jump in!  The water was cool and we were thankful for the relief from the heat. Mike and Erin climbed the water fall and jumped.  Most of us jumped from the large rock,  only because in going to the next basin the choice was climb the rocks with a rope or jump to the deep pool of water.  For me the jump seemed most energy conserving! We had carried up our lunch of some peanut butter on bread and fresh mangos. Lunch was welcome.  We then started back for our hike back to Jacmel.  The views were breathtaking.  We passed many villages and stopped to talk to many Haitians along our journey. The most difficult part of the trip is crossing the river that runs into Jacmel.  It sounds silly but with bare feet the rocks really hurt!  On the way up when we came to crossing a pick up truck had been behind us with a ladder in the back said climb in the back. We did and got a ride across.  At least in coming back we gave all the Haitians at the river who were washing their motos, bodies and clothes something to laugh about. They were cheering us on.
Tonight we are all very tired and content with our experience.  The students are a little sunburned, I used plenty of sunscreen, been there done that.  I am sure everyone will sleep very well.
We have learned so much about the culture and the views about health and well being during this experience.  The students are a very talented, capable, passionate and compassionate individuals I am so impressed.
Grateful,   Barb

A Little tour a Little Beach

Today was a very eventful day. We kicked it off by meeting a man with a wheel barrow full of sugar cane who used a machete to cut us each a piece. Then we started our trek to CCH, the new clinic in Jacmel.  On our way Michael was offered to buy a real live eagle! Sadly he declined.  CCH was amazing! Such a nice facility with air conditioned OR rooms, new equipment, and a huge rehab room.  We were all very impressed.
For the second part of our tour, we walked to St. Michel, the hospital here in Jacmel.   There are no words to describe how devastating the hospital conditions are. We toured the grounds and saw the ER, OR, maternity, pediatric and internal medicine buildings. It was so sad to see how the patients were living.  It was interesting that the family took care of the patients and brought them food, not the nurses or hospital staff.  It really made us all appreciate all we have in the US and be thankful for our quality healthcare and caregivers.
We continued our tour on a more relaxed note.  We took a "tap tap" to the local family beach.  A tap tap is like a taxi service here in Haiti which entails a pick-up truck with a roof on the back and benches to sit on. To get the driver to stop for you, you have to bang on the roof making a "tapping" noise.  The beach was beautiful! We spent the afternoon in the sun drinking coconut milk out of a real coconut and searching for sand dollars and sea glass on the beach.  It was very well-deserved after a busy couple of days at the clinic.
We are all having such an amazing time and miss everyone back home.
Love,
Kim, Amy, Erin, Stephanie, Dianna, and Micheal

Yet Another Day in Clinic

Today we woke up to pouring rain and no running water. We went to clinic were the skies started to clear.  It was a very busy day. We had 245 Haitians enroll in the study we were assisting with. That is a lot of data and a lot of blood sticks.  We do not have any more supplies with us so done for now. We also had a personal screening of the documentary Haiti Redux.  It included the story of the orphanage and the positive future they have with new building.
After dinner we all went downtown Jacmel and enjoyed some time together.  The water is back on can not wait to take a shower! Oh the simple joys in life!
God Bless and Grateful,  Barb

Cold showers never felt so good! After the rain storm last night everything has gotten real muggy and the showers are a great way to cool off before bed. We were all very happy to be able to sneak away from the hotel tonight and go get some "sodas" at an old hotel in downtown Jacmel. The hotel was a rustic building built in 1884 and we had a good time exploring it and the local artwork on the walls. Today was another long day in the mobile clinic but we were happy to help so many of the locals. Hard to treat people though who you know you cant follow up with and have no real diagnostic tests to confirm an illness. We did our best though and the people were very grateful to have us come to their town. At the end of the day at the clinic we got to play with the local children. They really loved taking pictures with us.  Back at the hotel we watched a documentary about the redevelopment and new construction in Haiti. It was very interesting and included footage from the LTR orphange. Tomorrow we are going to tour the CCH clinic, a local hospital, and the nursing school in Jacmel. Should be an interesting day and we will update you all tomorrow night. Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers. We are having a great time.

Mike, Kim, Dianna, Stephanie, Erin, and Amy

Another Day in the Clinic

Hello Friends,
Today we spent another full and hot day at the mobile clinic. Some students did vitals, others admitted patients and the rest helped with the Malaria study. We were able to get through about 100 patients today which took 7 hours. Once again we saw many different Haitian health concerns that helped us understand the health care needs of this country. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the land that Love Takes Root is building the new orphanage on. It is filled with baby goats, baby chickens and skinny cows! There is so much open land for the kids to run around on and it is going to change the lives of Mama and her orphans. We decided to imitate the Haitians and stand in the bed of the truck while we drove back to the hotel. We are all so tired and have to wake up early in the morning to return to our last day at the travel clinic.

Bonsoir!
Michael, Stephanie, Amy, Kim, Erin, Dianna

Greetings From the rest of the Gang,
Kristen, Julie, Frank and Barb are doing well. Kristen taught classes to the Haitians today about the importance of hand washing and brushing teeth.  Julie stuck many people and Frank our none medical assistant filled and placed correct labels on all the vials of blood! Barb recorded all the data for the Malaria study.  Long day and much accomplished.
Last night Frank and Barb went to the land with Dave Bird and his wife.  We then went to the orphanage he is presently building ready for the children to move in on Friday. This is the orphanage that was next to our land but displaced by the new airport project.  The orphanage that Dave is finishing is amazing.  It brought tears to my eyes. The buildings are utilitarian but nice looking, Windows with screens everywhere for cross ventilation.  The inside has wonderful finishing work. It is Haitian built with much learning of skills for future building.  Dave and his wife are a delightful couple who are living out there calling from God. I am thankful that LOVE Takes Root has the opportunity to work with them.
We all spend our nights on the roof of the Isaiah House discussing and processing. Tired, hot and content.  We have quickly forgotten our first world, fast paced, Facebook lives back home.
Many blessings,  God Bless.   Grateful,  Barb

Day 4

Today we went to a travel clinic in a small rural town in the mountains above Jacmel. We assisted with a Malaria study from the University of Florida as well as collecting vitals and providing care with pharmacist and physicians from the University of Minnesota. Forty six Haitians consented to participate in an experiment testing rapid malaria, hemoglobin, G6PD deficiency and sickle cell anemia. Currently we have not found positive results for malaria but the test will look back three months once they get the blood back to the lab.

It's so amazing working with the Haitian's. They are so stoic, patient, and easy to communicate with despite the language barrier. Not even one child cried during blood draws which is so different from what you see in American children.

On the way back we had to stop because the guy behind us was honking like crazy only to find that we were about to lose our wheel and they had to hammer it back on. Long day but it was a great experience with an even more amazing view at the top of the mountains.

From Haiti
Erin, Mike, Amy, Stephanie, Kim, Dianna

Haiti Day Three

Today we woke up early had breakfast and packed up to head to Jacmel. Before our trip though, we stopped at the orphanage again to drop off supplies for the kids and Mama. We left lots of vitamins, antibacterial ointments, and what seemed like a million toothbrushes and pairs of eyeglasses collected in Colorado. Thanks to everyone who donated for our trip. Mama was almost to tears with joy when she saw what we had brought. After visiting the orphans, we crammed into a little van and started the 2 hour drive across the mountains to Jacmel. Jacmel is a beautiful coastal town. Lots more trees, lots less traffic, and feels much safer then port-au-prince. We spent the day just walking around the city getting a feel for the culture and lifestyle in Jacmel. Tomorrow we will head into the mountains to run a research study on the prevalence of malaria in Haiti that is sponsored by the University of Florida. Should be another long day, but we are all well and having a good time. Miss you all back home!

Mike, Dianna, Kim, Stephanie, Amy, and Erin

Message from the rest of the gang.  Beautiful day in Haiti, sunshine and a little breeze.  Thanks to Katie Gibson from Sioux Center High School all the children loved their notebooks and pens!  We received many hand written Haitian notes of thanks from the children. We also handed each of them their sponsor letters which they proudly cared around and had Mama read them over and over. Gretchen and Mark they loved the dog picture a big hit!
I will say 13 people and all our luggage in a small van was an interesting trip to Jacmel. GOOD news no one was car sick this time.
Jacmel feels like home. The town is quiet and has a peaceful feel. We went on a walking tour after checking into the Issiah House.  And we had an afternoon soda pop at Hotel De La Place.  We will have a early start on long day tomorrow. We will also stop by the land on our way out of town tomorrow.  Barb, Julie, Frank and Kristen are going strong. God Bless.

Thoughts from the second group arrival

Barb Wilkerson, Frank Brooks, Kristen Potts and Julie Buettner arrived late on thier Miami flight to arrive in PAP a little after 5 pm.  We were picked up in the infamous no door van from the Sept DSN trip!  We then had a 3 1/2 hour ride to the Hotel in stand still traffic.  The sun set the streets were full and it was hot.  But after a few hours it started to rain. The streets quieted down the traffic slowly moved past the flooded pot hole and we arrived at the Hotel. We took our 60 minutes to check in and 2 hours to get our food and hit the pillows hard.  It was a drive to study the culture and as Frank said it gives him perspective on the 405.  God Bless

A DAY IN THE ORPHANGE

We arrived to the wonderful yellow shirts from LOVE Takes Root worn by the children singing songs of welcome. We quickly went to greet each special spirit.  They were thrilled to do the sponsor activity of Wreaths that tell the Easter Story. Jamie Billings good job it was a hit. Also to all sponsors they sang a wonderful thank you song to you.  The wreaths will hang in the orphanage until Easter. They also loved the bracelets from Girl Scouts Troop 5640 Daisy and Troop 8226 Brownies in Davenport Iowa.  Everyone has a bracelet on their wrists!  We gave out art supplies from Art For The Nations.We colored, made cut dolls and hugged a lot. We were able to stay until time for the children to get ready for bed.  Walking back to the hotel with our hearts full and our souls content and the hand made hearts from the children in our pockets.  Frank is shocked out of his senses. Sleep well.

First two days in Haiti

Hey everyone! It's the DSN students. We arrived at the hotel yesterday at about 1:00 pm after a long four hour bus ride through Port au Prince. It was very surreal and hard to put into words the poverty that we saw. Franz took us on a tour to the Adventist Hospital here in Port au Prince. It's been re-built and expanded since the earthquake, however it still doesn't have near the technology and capacity that American hospitals have. Today, we walked to the orphanage and we are exhausted! The kids LOVED having us there and we LOVED them (pictures coming soon)! We all felt heartbroken for them, but we were amazed by their spirits. The kids are so loved my Mama (the lady that takes care of them). It's dinner time, but we will blog tomorrow after we arrive in Jacmel!

Love from Haiti,
Amy, Michael, Dianna, Erin, Kim, Stephanie

Almost to Haiti

About to board the plane in Ft. Lauderdale to port-au-prince. Everyone is very tired from the red eye here but excitef to get to Haiti. We will be spending the rest of the day visiting a hospital in port-au-prince and will blog more about that tomorrow.

Mike, Dianna, Kim, Erin, Amy and Stephanie

February with LOVE Takes Root

"Where there is great love, there are always miracles." Willa Cather

This is an exciting month for LTR.  The permit is in process and the work is ready to begin. Planning for March Trips is in full swing. These trips will include a eleven day trip with Denver School of Nursing, a week trip with Buena Vista University students, and our first Building Mission Group from First Congregational Church, Spencer Iowa.
Fundraising 2013 plan is in formation. Anyone who would like to host a small Fundraising House Party please contact us. The goal is to have 25 throughout this year throughout the country.
At the orphanage they have a new beautiful child. She is two years old with a shy quiet smile. All of the children are well! ROOTs for a Child have sponsors getting letters and pictures to them to be carried down by the groups in March. Also going is tee-shirts dresses and school supplies. The groups will also bring letters back to the sponsors.
May the month fill your hearts with the power of LOVE, CARING, and Growth.