Our Time in Haiti- Mission Trip Jan. 2014

Today was our last day in Haiti. All of us had such a wonderful time and learned so much from the children. We continued our efforts to stop the scabies, ringworm, and intestinal worms. Clean sheets were placed on the children’s beds on Wednesday and the children were given more medication for ringworm. The children were so excited to take their medication- mostly because it comes with sweet applesauce. Jessica and Casey made many new friends who LOVED to do their hair. Tammy, Jessica & Casey were able to spend time with all the kids creating VBS crafts that were well loved and decorating each dorm and the school room with flowers and stars and the words: “Mete toujou konfyans nou” which means “Always believe in Love & God”. Everyone loved the words and meaning. Jamie & Peggy had a great experience lecturing at the nursing college on Wednesday. The students learned all about the heart and CPR. We had one student volunteer to lay on a table and let us demonstrate hand placement for CPR. It was a learning experience for all of us and we were so thankful to have Franz there to translate for us.

On Thursday, we taught the kids to play UNO! They loved the cards and all wanted to play. It was such a wonderful experience for all of us to spend time with children and The Bastien family. Elizee learned all about the medications and will continue where we left off. Detailed instructions were left with the medications and a plan for any new children was developed. On follow-up today the children reported that overall they feel less itchy- what a blessing. And our one child with the infection on her hand seemed to be doing better with no pain today and Elizee will continue her antibiotics and e-mail Jamie any questions. We ended our time with the kids by getting them treats- crackers, cookies, and juice. Everyone loved the treats and the children blessed us with a thank you song when we left. God certainly blessed our group! Our only wish is to bring EVERYONE home with us!

DAY 2 Mission Trip Jan 2014

Day 2 the journey continued.

This was a very big day for our group. We needed ALL the sheets washed and ALL the clothes washed in boiling water. There were women there that did all the wash. Our group gathered all the sheets and clothing and put them in bags for the washers. Then we put vinyl mattress covers on all the beds.

By this time…the kids were done with school. We colored pictures for their sponsors back home and took lots of pictures. We also started treating for ringworm, this took some organization as we again needed to figure out dosing for each child and then the children will need to continue on medication for the next two to three weeks.  They were so happy to again get their spoon full of applesauce!

Next was a shower for each of the kids and each received their brand new red t-shirts that say, “ Jezi Renmen Nou”…which means Jesus Loves Us! The girls also got new pillow case dresses from St. John’s Lutheran Church in May City, Iowa…BIG HIT!!

Lastly we played games, the children sang BEAUTIFUL songs about Jesus…again a few tears came back.

We discovered one little girl with a very bad infection in her hand. As the children were singing, I spotted her crying and holding her hand. We started a course of antibiotics after seeing the very bad infection, put on antibiotic ointment and a gauze bandage and gave her a dose of ibuprofen. A hug and a kiss after that seemed to make things a lot better!

We are now back at our hotel and ready to eat supper.

Tomorrow will bring another busy day, Jamie and Peggy doing nursing lectures at the school of nursing and Tammy, Jessica and Casey will be doing VBS crafts and playing games.

We are loving the children, Bastian family and the beautiful view of the ocean.

DAY 1 Mission Trip Jan 2014

Day 1: We arrived in Haiti Sunday afternoon. Our whole group felt blessed to be here and that we were all here together for a greater purpose. As night fell, we drove through Port-au-Prince, where poverty filled the streets. We stopped to pray on the edge of Port-au-Prince to ask for blessings on this journey. As we drove to Jacmel, we must admit the curvy road gave us all some nausea and nervous moments. But then we saw the beautiful lights of Jacmel in the distance and grew excited to arrive in Jacmel. But it was a long journey! Our group had the benefit of coming during Carnival, which we learned is a pre-Mardi Gras type party. As we drove into the town square in Jacmel huge crowds of people dancing and running through the streets stopped our van. It was quite a sight to see and we wish we had pictures to share, but we were so fascinated by the crowds running and dancing through the streets, no one thought to grab a camera. Our guides Franz & Bobby were also amazed, and just in case, locked the van doors as our van was in the middle of a crowd. Our first day at La Concorde was a wonderful and fulfilling experience for all of us. As we pulled into the orphanage and saw the kids, tears filled our eyes. We loved meeting all of the children, who were so welcoming and glad to see us. Jamie was able to meet with Franz and mama and the local builder to come to a consensus on future building plans.

Tammy, Jessica, Casey & Peggy got a tour and got to meet quite few children along the way, who were only too happy to have Jessica & Casey carry them from building to building. The girls and boys dorms were so colorful and inviting. Tammy, Jessica and the girls spent time making bracelets while Jamie & Peggy went to the local hospital to meet with the OR charge nurse and discuss plans to meet the nursing students and present on their topics of choice. Miss LaHat was gracious and invited Jamie & Peggy to speak for 4 hours on Wednesday on heart attack, heart emergencies, and CPR.

The other big thing that happened was we treated all the children and adults for a very itchy skin condition—scabies. It was a lot of work to get all the children lined up, weigh each one, figured what they need and given them a spoon full of applesauce. Some kids needed the pill crushed, and others did not. But they were all very polite and cooperative to get the treatment

Day 1: We arrived in Haiti Sunday afternoon. Our whole group felt blessed to be here and that we were all here together for a greater purpose. As night fell, we drove through Port-au-Prince, where poverty filled the streets. We stopped to pray on the edge of Port-au-Prince to ask for blessings on this journey. As we drove to Jacmel, we must admit the curvy road gave us all some nausea and nervous moments. But then we saw the beautiful lights of Jacmel in the distance and grew excited to arrive in Jacmel. But it was a long journey! Our group had the benefit of coming during Carnival, which we learned is a pre-Mardi Gras type party. As we drove into the town square in Jacmel huge crowds of people dancing and running through the streets stopped our van. It was quite a sight to see and we wish we had pictures to share, but we were so fascinated by the crowds running and dancing through the streets, no one thought to grab a camera. Our guides Franz & Bobby were also amazed, and just in case, locked the van doors as our van was in the middle of a crowd. Our first day at La Concorde was a wonderful and fulfilling experience for all of us. As we pulled into the orphanage and saw the kids, tears filled our eyes. We loved meeting all of the children, who were so welcoming and glad to see us. Jamie was able to meet with Franz and mama and the local builder to come to a consensus on future building plans.

Tammy, Jessica, Casey & Peggy got a tour and got to meet quite few children along the way, who were only too happy to have Jessica & Casey carry them from building to building. The girls and boys dorms were so colorful and inviting. Tammy, Jessica and the girls spent time making bracelets while Jamie & Peggy went to the local hospital to meet with the OR charge nurse and discuss plans to meet the nursing students and present on their topics of choice. Miss LaHat was gracious and invited Jamie & Peggy to speak for 4 hours on Wednesday on heart attack, heart emergencies, and CPR.

The other big thing that happened was we treated all the children and adults for a very itchy skin condition—scabies. It was a lot of work to get all the children lined up, weigh each one, figured what they need and given them a spoon full of applesauce. Some kids needed the pill crushed, and others did not. But they were all very polite and cooperative to get the treatment.

Day 2 the journey continued.

This was a very big day for our group. We needed ALL the sheets washed and ALL the clothes washed in boiling water. There were women there that did all the wash. Our group gathered all the sheets and clothing and put them in bags for the washers. Then we put vinyl mattress covers on all the beds.

By this time…the kids were done with school. We colored pictures for their sponsors back home and took lots of pictures. We also started treating for ringworm, this took some organization as we again needed to figure out dosing for each child and then the children will need to continue on medication for the next two to three weeks.  They were so happy to again get their spoon full of applesauce!

Next was a shower for each of the kids and each received their brand new red t-shirts that say, “ Jezi Renmen Nou”…which means Jesus Loves Us! The girls also got new pillow case dresses from St. John’s Lutheran Church in May City, Iowa…BIG HIT!! Lastly we played games, the children sang BEAUTIFUL songs about Jesus…again a few tears came back.

We discovered one little girl with a very bad infection in her hand. As the children were singing, I spotted her crying and holding her hand. We started a course of antibiotics after seeing the very bad infection, put on antibiotic ointment and a gauze bandage and gave her a dose of ibuprofen. A hug and a kiss after that seemed to make things a lot better!

We are now back at our hotel and ready to eat supper.

Tomorrow will bring another busy day, Jamie and Peggy doing nursing lectures at the school of nursing and Tammy, Jessica and Casey will be doing VBS crafts and playing games. We are loving the children, Bastian family and the beautiful view of the ocean.

The Rest of the Story

Greetings,  I thought that since we have just been using the blog to post the exciting information from mission trips it would be good to hear about the daily work to keep the project moving forward. Not too glamorous but important.
Communication is the main focus. Communicating from Haiti to US, from Facilitator to Board, from Committees to Board, from organization to anyone who will listen!  There are phone calls, Letters, E-mails, Texts messages, Facebook, web page and of course conversation and meetings.
The logistics at times can be frustrating.  Not to mention a different language, culture and conversations with accents. But then you can take a deep breath and smile. Some how that is communicated through all types of modern day media. And it works. The good works shine even in the not glamorous work. And it keeps you going!  Journeying on with a glorious smile!

Reflections

The return to the US was uneventful except for the thoughts that are clashing in your mind. When you first arrive in Haiti you take a deep breath and quickly adapt to what is, actually every time you go this process is faster to occur. But the returning to the US seems to become more complicated. Leaving the children at the orphanage was not as difficult because the conditions of these children's lives have greatly improved. (The exception would be Lauren who fell in love with a very wonderful but malnurished 2 year old.) But the knowledge that education is necessary both for the sustainablity of La Concorde to be independent and that the future of all of the world children is education, makes you realize the work is far from done. You also realize with all the luxury of our lives, that we each have a reponsiblity to keep working.
The greatest work to be done is relationship and gratitude. The relationship of each person that is a part of this project is key. There are so many who have contributed in so many ways. There is no measure it is the whole that makes so much happen. Just as Christians learn the body has many parts, but all of its parts form one body. We move forward as one body helping another body. Empowering others to be independent and whole. The relationship and trust with our partners in country is a great gift to be cared for well.
The gratitude is the realization that the plan for each of us so greater then any of us.  So again I jump back in, work, wrestling meets, basketball practices, farm animals, 4-H, meals, college applications, friends, book clubs and all, BUT will continue to work with those clashing thoughts and work on! Looking forward to relationships in 2014!