Peeling the Onion

Are you a Christian at 4 am

2012-01-19T10:38:00.002-05:00

I don't think I am.

One of the "charming" things about life in Haiti is that there are no rules/laws about noise or noise pollution. If there are, they are certainly not enforced. So this means that at any given time (when we have electricity) people can blare their music from their massive speakers in front of their house, even if its the middle of the night. Or someone can drive through town advertising something or playing music blaring from their car. Or someone dog(s) can bark incessantly in the middle of the night for what seems like hours. Someone can have a house party, starting at 11 pm ending at 4 am (remember houses don't have glass windows). All of this can happen and no one can or will say a word.

This week, there has been some noise in my life - at 4 am. It seems there is a kind hearted gentleman in the community who sees it as his duty to sing hymns into a megaphone throughout the town at 4 am to call everyone to prayer. I guess he's been doing this for a long time, but i just started hearing him this week. And of course, no one will say anything about him disrupting people's sleep, because if you do, you must not be a Christian as you are not getting up to go an pray at church. A few choice words run through my head at this time, I'm definitely not a Christian then.

You see, every Monday to Friday morning, at about 4, around 60 people gather at the church to sing and pray. Talk about devotion. My mother-in-law is one of them. Most days, she gets up, before dawn, with now alarm clock or electricity and goes to church before she starts her day. We were discussing this the other day and she told me, "I must go to church in the morning to give thanks because God has done so much for us."

Huh? That made me feel like the most ungrateful person ever! By North American standards, she has led and still leads a hard life, but yet she feels driven to get up each morning to give thanks before she starts her day.

Yeah, I don't think I'm a Christian 24 hours a day yet - I have a long way to go.

Lord help me to be thankful in all circumstances and give you the glory for all.

Two years plus two days

2012-01-14T11:46:00.001-05:00

I was intending to write something on Thursday, but I just couldn't seem to get my thoughts together to write. It's really hard to know what to say. Two years have passed since 300,000 people died in one night in a country of 9 million. Two years have passed since 2/3 of a city was destroyed. Two years have passed since 1 million set up "temporary" shelters to sleep - they are still there.

I am no expert. Especially since I don't live near Port au Prince nor have I been there in the last year and a half. It's so hard to know what to say when people ask if there is any progress. How do you define progress in a country that was so devastated before a 7.0 earthquake shook it? I don't know.

What I do know, is what I've witnessed here in my little community of Haut Limbe. Since the earthquake, I have seen:

2,000 patients treated (for free) in the weeks following January 12, 2010 at Eben-ezer Clinic. Some were victims of the earthquake, some had migrated back home to the country, some just hadn't been able to afford treatment until that time.
The in-patient facility "finished" 2 days before we received our first cholera patient. Since then, we have treated nearly 4,000 cholera patients.
Probably over 100 Canadians and Americans have visited to either train and give assistance in the clinic, volunteer and work on construction and organization projects, run an art camp, and build relationships with this community.
A new solar panel and inverter system was installed at the clinic decreasing our dependency on the diesel generator and EDH (state power).
Nearly 100 elderly people receive a meal every Sunday before church and a food package each month because of a Canadian church's generosity.

Progress and change are slow, but it is happening. In a country as complex as Haiti, we can't expect fast change.

Here is what I wrote on this day two years ago.

Bon Ane! Happy New Year

2012-01-09T11:55:00.001-05:00

Oh how the time flies by!!

We are already well into January –hard to believe. Let me give you an update of what has been going on.

We had a nice, quiet Christmas here. OnChristmas Eve, Ben and Shauna came over for a “Canadian”Christmas dinner. With help, I was able to prepare and fry thechicken Haitian style. Shauna brought boxed scalloped potatos andStovetop stuffing from Canada. Added a precious can of sweet corn tothe mix, and voila – Christmas dinner! It was very good and Iprobably overindulged on the potatoes and stuffing!

On Christmas Day, we had Cal's familyover for a little celebration. We had bought a goat a few daysbefore, so his mom came over with it and we prepared it and somefried plantain. Cake for dessert and it was a hit!

We were able to get to the beach acouple of times with Ben and Shauna and enjoyed some sun – I kindaforget what the sun looks like. It's been cloudy and rainy since lastWednesday!

Just after Christmas, we discoveredthat Cal had shingles – boo! Luckily we caught it early on and itstarted to clear up shortly after he started taking the medications.We are thankful that it looks like he won't have any lastingsymptoms.

On December 30, our group fromWetaskiwin arrived, finally! The plane was due to arrive from Miamiat 10 am, it didn't end up coming until 4 pm because the plane theywere supposed to take had a crack in the windshield, so they had towait for the Ft. Lauderdale plane to return from Haiti. It was a LONGday at the Cap airport. Cal and I had been dropped off at 9 am, so wedidn't have an easy way to get into town to pass the time, plus wewere never really sure when the plane was going to arrive, so we juststayed put. Luckily, there is a little restaurant nearby, so we foundsome food.

The group had a good time here. Westarted out easy – went to the beach on New Years Eve day. Everyonegot to try some fresh coconut water and lobster! New Years Day,church started at 6 am and afterwards we gathered at the Universityto eat some traditional Independence Day pumpkin soup. Haitians eatpumpkin soup every January 1, to mark their freedom from slavery.While slaves, the French never allowed them to eat the soup as it wasseen as too rich or refined for the slaves. So, once they receivedindependence, Haitians have eaten the soup.

The rest of the week was spent at theclinic – doing some amazing cleaning and organizing in the depot(thanks to the large rubbermaids they brought) as well asconstructing a little building that will be used to clean and treatstinky abscesses and wounds.

Unfortunately, the rain came onWednesday, so it put a bit of a damper on activities. But, we wereable to have a couple of Creole classes and be treated to a littleconcert by a couple of mens singing groups.

We got the group off to the airport onFriday am and had a nice relaxing weekend, catching up on sleep andrelaxation.

I'll be back to work full force in thenext couple of weeks, lining up things for the coming months. Pleasepray for patience for me as our internet connection has been lousylately, and I'm working on a computer I'm not familiar with thatdoesn't allow me to compose and read emails offline. It's reallyfrustrating. I was able to send my old computer back to Canada withthe group and am hoping it can be fixed in time for my parents tobring with them when we meet them in Puerto Plata at the end ofJanuary.

Blessings on you as you begin 2012!

A (not so) gentle reminder

2011-12-24T11:08:00.002-05:00

My computer crashed the other day. It shut down a few times on it's own, gave the blue screen of death and then upon trying to reboot notified me that it could not find the hard disk drive. Crap!

I tried and tried to get it going - not really knowing what I was doing. I tried to do a system restore with a really old back up disk I had - nothing worked. I was frustrated. I was mad. Mad at myself for not backing up my system regularly. I have all my really important working documents on a USB Drive, but I still had a lot of things like music, tv shows, pictures and all my uploaded emails on my hard drive. After hours of trying, I finally had resigned myself that I may lose everything. Fine. But the second problem is actually getting it back to working order, even if everything is lost. I don't have my start up disks here and I really don't know if I trust anyone here to work on it. That means sending it back to Canada. Luckily, a group is coming down next week, so I can send it back with them and then have my parents bring it back down at the end of January when we meet them in the DR. But still, that's a month without MY computer.

The truth is, i'm upset about the inconvienence of it all. No longer can I look at and write responses to nicely organized emails offline, instead I have to get on the internet (which has been working at a snails pace lately) and search through the 3000 unsorted emails that occupy my yahoo account. I can't listen to my music. I can't what my tv shows when I just want to relax.

It hit me yesterday, when we were atthe beach with friends (seemed like a good distraction from thecomputer problem), that what I was trying so hard to avoid had foundme. You see, in Haiti, you can keep yourself very removed from thematerialism and consumerism that is so much of a North AmericanChristmas. I found it very refreshing. But, it turns out it can findyou here as well. I had put so much of myself into the computer, Ihad forgotten what really can give life and joy. Not things, butGod's love and the relationships of family and friends around me.

And so, I think I've been able to letgo of the frustration. Life will go on, maybe a bit differently, butthat's okay.

May God bless you deeply thisChristmas. Joyeux Noel!

Food

2011-12-13T12:02:00.000-05:00

Food is such an important topic in Haiti. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it - what do we need to buy, how much does it cost, how in the world can my neighbours afford any?

For the past 2 years I've been trying to figure out what exactly the cost of food is in Haiti. It's baffling to me. It's baffling because I see how much I spend on food knowing full well that many around me live (barely) on a fraction of what I have. I do know that I don't eat like a typical Haitian. I eat like a wealthy Haitian. I have 3 meals a day. I eat meat at least once a day. I enjoy luxuries such as milk (canned or powdered), cheese (not the real stuff - highly processed, but nevertheless a luxury), etc. I would probably enjoy more luxuries if we lived in Cap where I had more regular access to the tiny grocery store that is there for ex-pats. For the most part, our food is bought at the outdoor markets in Limbe and Cap.

Thankfully, Cal's dad is more than happy to go to the market twice a week for us. You may think going to the market sounds fun - it is, for the first few minutes. But going to the market in Haiti is different than even countries like Honduras or Nicaragua. They don't have that romantic European or Latin American feel. Haitian markets are dirty, muddy, crowded, hot, dirty, loud, hot... get the idea?

Anyways, I thought I would give you an idea about the cost of food.

Conversions:
$1 US = $8 Haitian

The staple of a Haitian diet is rice. A 25kg bag of rice (American) sells for $200 Haitian ($25 US) right now. You may think - wow, 25kg's that'll last a long time! Wrong! Haitians don't eat rice like a side dish, it is the meal. I have seen children eat a heaping large dinner plate with no problem! 25 kgs doesn't last that long.

Eggs. Eggs (Dominican) are sold in cartons of 30 for $33 Haitian. A few weeks ago they were just $30. Inflation.

Iceberg lettuce (imported) - $7 Haitian

Chicken (Dominican) 6 drumsticks for $15 - $20 Haitian

Cooking oil, 1 gallon (American or Dominican) - $65 Haitian

Box of Cornflakes (American generic) - $21 Haitian

Coffee (Haitian Processed), 1/2 pound - $20 -25 Haitian. Local coffee is available in the markets for much less but is ground super fine and doesn't work in electric coffee pots or coffee perks, but tastes awesome if prepared in the the traditional Haitian way.

You might be seeing a pattern here. Haiti has a lot of imported food. It still amazes me how much of our food here is imported from the US and the DR. Unfortunately global trade rules have made it cheaper for Haiti to import food, then produce it themselves (a topic for a whole other post).

What can we buy that is local? Fruit! Yes, we have any amazing selection of fruit - oranges, grapefruits, limes, bananas, mangos, papayas, passion fruit, pineapple - it's amazing! Haiti does still grow rice - although it is hard to find, we grow some beans (congo beans are in season right now and are my favourite), sweet potatoes, manioc, okra, etc.

Anyways, the point is, food is relatively expensive in Haiti if you consider the income (or lack thereof) that most Haitians have.

My little idea

2011-12-09T11:32:00.001-05:00

Two years ago I wrote about my experience with the midwives in Haut Limbe. I had just been here a couple of weeks when Rosemary, a midwife nurse from the states, came to lead a seminar for about 25 local midwives. A few weeks ago, she came again to lead a 2-day seminar and I was able to attend.

I got so much more out of it this time - of course we had an interpreter, but this time I could understand the kreyol of the midwives. They are such sweet, special people. I was able to laugh and joke with them. There is a great age range of midwives, most of them being older. Some I'm sure are in their eighties (or looked it). Many of them live in extreme poverty and provide their services for free to their neighbours as it has been tradition. While they are happy to provide the service, they would appreciate some compensation, at least to cover the cost of purchasing the supplies they need - soap, razors/scissors, string, gauze, gloves, etc.

The midwives have formed a little association. They meet together at least once a week to support and learn from each other. My friend Carmelle is acting as coordinator of the group. Carmelle is 30 years old with a 9 year old boy and 5 year old girl. She lives with her mom (who is also a midwife) as she broke up with her husband.

Carmelle is bright and motivated. She is a member of the local scouts and is often involved in community activities. After spending time with her, I was trying to think of a sustainable way to help the midwives. Often times, people from Canada and the US send supplies down for them, but there is nothing consistent. I was trying to think of a way that the midwives could find supplies on their own, with their own talents.

I was thinking about the many groups that will be visiting this coming year, and then I had an idea. What if the midwives could make something to sell to the visitors? Something that is not too costly to make and could sell for a reasonable $5 - 10 US. I imagined that a lot of them can sew and do embroidery, so I thought maybe they could make potholders like my mother-in-law made for me! It's something affordable and a nice gift idea. They can use the profits to have a kitty to buy birthing supplies as well as to buy additional fabric and thread.

With just a small investment from me, I sent Carmelle off to Cap today to buy the supplies and the ladies will start working on the potholders. So, if you are planning to come in the next year, be ready to buy some pot holders and support some Haitian midwives! I'm so excited - I hope it works!

Tis the season...

2011-12-08T11:52:00.001-05:00

It's December in Haiti (and everywhere else in the world for that matter) and Christmas is fast approaching. It's really hard to believe that this will be my 3rd Christmas here (much to my mother's dismay)! But really, can you expect a girl to go from +30 to -30 degrees? I do miss Christmas in Canada - the lights, the food and time with family, but I'm trying to make the best of Christmas here as well.

A Haitian Christmas is pretty low-key relatively speaking. I've seen a couple of houses with Christmas lights (those that have electricity) and I've started playing Christmas music on my laptop while I work at the office and in my kitchen. The kids in the community are finishing up their end of term exams and are excited to be on vacation. There is more Christmas music being played on the radio and we sing carols in church.

This year Cal and I are hoping to have a small Christmas celebration with his family - not something they ever do. Christmas is just another day of the year for most Haitians. So, we are hoping to buy a goat - yep, a goat - to have a little feast! Goat is seen as a delicacy here, it's more expensive than chicken or beef. It's actually really tasty as well. Of course I won't be preparing it, I'll leave that up to Cal's mom, but it should be a good time. And since Cal's dad isn't really fond of goat, we'll make sure there is some beef for him. :)

December also brings cooler days and nights. No longer do I break out in a sweat from folding the laundry or walking 5 minutes to the University - thanks goodness! Cooler days also mean much cooler showers - brrr!! Unless I've just had my workout, I've resorted to heating water for a bucket shower these days to make it bearable.

Blessings to you as you prepare to celebrate Christmas!

On the bright side

2011-11-26T11:21:00.001-05:00

Since my last post wasn't exactly positive, I've been trying to think about what is positive in my life right now. The answer - I'm losing weight!

Now, that may sound ridiculous considering the country I live in being that most people don't have enough to eat each day and anytime you do gain weight you are greeted with cheers and "ou gwo!" (you're big!). But the truth is, I've been gaining weight steadily since the all inclusive, all-you-can eat buffet at our honeymoon resort! It was just too good to pass up - variety, three times a day! I didn't even try to stop myself. Dessert? Yes please! I was sure once I got home I would slowly drop the extra weight and get back to normal - wrong!

It was probably a number of things - adjusting to married life, adjusting to cooking for the two of us, the stress of waiting for Cal's visa, and it being too hot to even think about exercising. And then, we went to Canada for 5 weeks - pretty much the all you can eat buffet all over again! Not good. By the end of the trip, I could barely button up my favourite pair of jeans. But then I told myself, it's just "Canada weight". I'll sweat it all off back in Haiti. Guess what - that didn't happen.

After weeks of complaining to Cal, I finally bit the bullet and started exercising. It's cooled down enough now so that by 4 or so in the afternoon it is bearable to climb the mountain behind our house. Sometimes there is even cloud cover and the sun goes behind the mountain - bonus! I've been doing it 4 or 5 times a week for the past three weeks and this week I finally noticed a difference!

We've also tried to adjust our diet - less rice, more veggies! I think Cal is even dropping a few pounds! Just waiting for the day when I can put on my favourite jeans again...

Where I'm at

2011-11-23T11:36:00.001-05:00

I've been up and down and all over the place for the past couple of weeks. There's a lot going on around here and in my head.

Cholera numbers are down! We had up to 130 or 140 at the CTC just over a week ago and now we are down to 10 or 20. Thanks for all of your prayers and support. Unfortunately, there were a few deaths, but they were due to other complications so we are pretty happy with the care that was received.
With the cholera literally close to home (several children who live next door to us), it was a bit more emotional to see the crisis increase. I made several trips to the CTC to check on "my kids" and to their homes to make sure the remaining siblings had enough food and water while the parents were at the centre. I'm so thankful that the CTC was here and that we were able to get the supplies needed to treat these children.
There a lot of tough discussions and decisions to be made at the clinic. The clinic is going through some growing pains, trying to figure out how they can continue the mission of the clinic and work with partners here and abroad. Please continue to pray for the clinic.
I've been doing a lot of communicating with groups who will be visiting in the next 6 months. We have a ton of interest (6 to 8 groups) who would like to come. It's been tricky managing the calendar to find dates that work for them and for us here, and the reality is, there is only so much time and likely not everyone will be able to come when they would like. I know that for my own sanity and health, I need breaks between groups (at least a week) so that limits the amount that can come during the "cool" season here, and I'm trying not to feel guilty about that.
We have mice in our house. On top of everything else that is happening, it seems to be the last straw for me and my patience gets a bit thin (usually at Cal's expense). They are sneaky little mice. They have been able to eat the bait off of the rat traps (apparently they don't have mousetraps in Haiti) and get away unscathed. I've even made a homemade trap attempting to drown them, but they are too smart. Yesterday we put out poison - but they haven't taken it yet. Last night when Cal and I came home, Cal saw one go under the fridge, chased it out and killed it with his foot. I guess that works too, but I just know its brothers and sisters will be back tonight!
Cal and I are discussing when we will return to Canada - its a hard decision and will require a lot of things to line up. Please pray for us.
My financial support is not at the level it should be so that is an added stress as we make plans.
I've been thinking a lot of how it is best to help. Poverty is such a complicated issue in Haiti and unfortunately in the past well-intentioned help has often done more damage than good. It's a tricky road to explore and creates a great tension. Pray for me and the ECCC has we navigate our relationship with the clinic and Haut Limbe.

Batay Vètyè

2011-11-18T11:24:00.001-05:00

Haitian public holidays always sneak up on me here. I don't have a calendar for them so it seems that out of the blue they appear and surprise, no work today! That's what happened today (or last night when I found out).

November 18 is to remember Batay Vètyè - or the Battle of Vertières which actually happened basically in Cap Haitian and was the last major battle before Haiti declared its independence from France.

As today is a holiday, Cal and I had a leisurely morning at home - cleaning and making breakfast, all the while listening to the local radio station from Limbé. They spent a lot of time recounting the history of Haiti's independence, giving commentary to the current state of Haiti and its government, and playing songs encouraging Haitians to rise up and have pride in their country and pointing out how in the past 200 years, Haiti has not become what they once dreamed of.

Friday Update

2011-11-11T11:37:00.001-05:00

The cholera situation is not improving.

Last night, the CTC received over 30 children from a local community school who appear to be suffering from cholera. It is suspected that the water at the school was contaminated. Please pray for the children and that we can discover how the water source became infected.

Up until this point, few people from the community of Haut Limbe had contracted cholera - this is hitting much closer to home. Many of you who have visited Haut Limbe will know or recognize the children who are affected.

Thank you to all who have already contributed financially to cholera relief. If you are still interested in giving, click here for instructions.

A quick update

2011-11-03T11:55:00.002-05:00

The Plan was a success!! I can't believe it. Everything worked out very well - we got to Cap, got a hotel room, I got my nails done, we had a delicious supper complete with ice cream for dessert, and we got on the bus to the DR the next day! Amazing! We had a great, relaxing weekend in Santiago with our good friend Tammi and arrived back in Haut Limbe Monday night. I may have to make a "plan" again sometime!
Cholera is still here. The numbers have remained stable at 50 - 60 patients per day being treated. We were able to secure additional staff from Public Health, so that has eased some of the strain, but there is still a long haul ahead. Please continue to pray for this, and if you are interested in donating, please see this post.
Dr. Manno was in Canada for the past week and a half visiting a number of Covenant churches and supporters in Alberta and Saskatchewan. He is currently on his way back and we are looking forward to having him here again!

Cholera Update

2011-10-25T14:41:00.000-05:00

Just one year after it was discovered in Haiti and just shy of a year of when Eben-ezer Clinic accepted its first patient, cholera is on the rise again.

Since November of last year, the Eben-ezer Clinic cholera treatment centre (CTC) has treated approximately 3,000 patients. After the initial outbreak, the number of cases began to decrease steadily in the new year and by March or April, the CTC was treating less than 10 patients a day. Over the spring and summer months, the CTC remained open to treat 3 or 4 patients per day with staff from Eben-ezer Clinic and nurses provided by the Ministry of Public Health in Haiti.

In the past couple of weeks, the number of cases began to increase to about 20 by last week. Over this weekend, the numbers surged and we are currently treating 60 patients.

We cannot do this alone. Over the past year, we have received generous financial support from several organizations and individuals in Canada, the United States as well as Doctors without Borders and the Haitian Government and we are grateful. To continue to operate the CTC and provide quality care, we are asking again for your financial support.

We need to increase the number of nurses and support staff in the CTC to ensure quality of care for our patients. Cholera is a treatable disease if caught early enough and given the proper attention.

The Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada, one of Eben-ezer Clinic’s partners, is accepting donations for cholera relief.

To make a donation by cheque, please make it payable to:Evangelical Covenant Church of CanadaPO Box 34025, RPO Fort RichmondWinnipeg, MB R3T 5T5

Please include a note that it is for Haiti Cholera Relief.

To donation online, please follow the link http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s12866 and designate your gift to “Haiti Clinic” from the drop down box and write “cholera relief” in the comment box.

Tax receipts will be provided.

Please pray for the patients and as well as the staff and board of Eben-ezer Clinic as we face this challenge again.

The Plan

2011-10-19T10:57:00.002-05:00

First of all, I may be a bit crazy for making a "plan" - I do live in Haiti after all. Planning is not part of the culture here, and if it does happen, it rarely works out the way you intended. But, I have made a plan.

Next weekend, Cal and I will go over to Santiago for a few days. The main reason for the trip is to get my passport stamped (I have to leave the country every 90 days) so that I'm legal. The secondary reason is to have a "break" from Haiti. Even though the DR and Haiti share the same island, they seem to be worlds apart in many respects. Going to Santiago for a few days gives me back a bit of sanity and normalcy - smooth roads, traffic lights, fully stocked grocery stores, hair salons, restaurants, fast internet, 24 hour electricity and a hot shower.

Since I've been in Haiti, I've been making the trip over to the DR every few months and it has been wonderful.Anyways, we are planning to go next weekend. But, before we go, I have a plan. Cal and I never really "dated" while we were dating. A date for us was going to the bank in Limbe on his motorcycle and having a cold drink afterwards - exciting stuff. So, we're going to have a date! It's Cal's birthday on Saturday, our 6 month wedding anniversary on Sunday, it'll soon be the 1 year anniversary of our engagement and since we never really celebrated my birthday together (it was in July) we are going to celebrate - I think there are enough events to justify it.

Since we will be taking the bus from Cap to Santiago next Friday am, instead of waking up early to be there at 8 am, we are going to go to Cap on Thursday afternoon and get a hotel for the night! We are going to go for a nice supper at a nice restaurant and eat ice cream! I'm going to have a hot shower, Cal can watch cable tv. I may even go get my nails done. Oh the excitement!!

Yep, that's the plan. We'll see if it works!

When the abnormal becomes normal

2011-10-14T10:05:00.001-05:00

I finished reading Kathie Klarreich's Madame Dread last week. A very interesting read that I can relate to a lot. Kathie came to Haiti in the late 80s and ended up staying to work as a journalist for American media. At one point in the book, after she has lived in Haiti for awhile and visits home in U.S., she reflects on how some things about her life in Haiti used to be abnormal all of the sudden seem normal and she only realizes it when its placed in contrast with her American life.

There are many times that I forget how "abnormal" life is here for me and it is only when I go back to Canada or when we have visitors here to point things out that I remember what my "normal" life is like. I read a funny comment by another missionary in Haiti the other day. He said "I looked out the window and thought I saw someone walking a dog with a leash and I though it was strange. But then I realized it was a goat, and it seemed normal."

Here are some examples of things that now are "normal" to me:

Eating spaghetti for breakfast (I don't do it often, but it doesn't weird me out)
Putting toilet paper in a waste basket rather than flushing it down the toilet.
The smell of Klorox.
Goats, chickens, dogs roaming the streets with no apparent owner.
A stray dog running down the aisle of the church during the service.
Drinking Coke from a glass bottle.
Waiting in line at the bank for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Carrying any purchase or item in a black plastic bag.
Leaving parboiled meat in a pot on the counter for 3 days, and then eating it.
Buying processed meats like salami or hotdogs from vendors that have no refrigeration and the meat has been sitting in the sun all day.
Storing eggs on the counter, rather than the refrigerator.
Drinking water out of a little, plastic bag.
Seeing 4 or more people on a motorcycle
Hearing a radio ad for a bus station who's biggest selling point is their washroom.
People sitting on the streets, hanging out, all the time.
Piling 7 people in the extended cab of a small truck.
Planning my workday based on the availability of electricity.
Changing money on the street.
Greeting people with a kiss on the cheek.
Driving one hour to eat ice cream.
No traffic rules.
Unfinished buildings, everywhere.
Carrying my own supply of toilet paper for any outing.
Eating oranges, Haitian style.
Bringing my own chair to church.
Bucket showers.
Making supper by kerosene lantern.
Never standing under a mango tree from May to July.
Listening to Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys or Michael Bolton almost everyday.
Finding ants in your oatmeal and eating it anyway.
Saying "amen" after the choir sings in church.

The list could go on and on.

If she only knew...

2011-10-06T11:13:00.000-05:00

So yesterday Cal, Sendie and two other boys who are deaf from our community made a safe trip to and from Gonaives to meet with the Starkey Hearing Foundation to be fitted with hearing aids. The Starkey foundation often have celebrity volunteers with them and yesterday I happened upon a news release saying that Miley Cyrus was on a mission with them in Haiti right now. I had sent my camera with Cal to take pictures, so when he got back, I searched through them to see what I could find. And guess what, low and behold, there is Sendie with Miley Cyrus!

I love that neither Cal or Sendie had a hot clue that they met one of the most famous teen stars in America yesterday. I don't know much about Miley's personal or professional life right now, but I do have to give her credit for her work with Starkey and coming to Gonaives (a hot, dusty city) in Haiti and giving some of her time to help out. I can't speak about her motives, but I do know that in coming here, she was not swamped by adoring fans as no one here knows who she is. It's nice to know that there are some places in the world where celebrities are still just regular people!

Happenings

2011-10-05T10:33:00.000-05:00

What's going on???

Well, Sendie is on her way to Gonaives with Cal (for the 2nd time in 2 weeks - long story) to meet with the Starkey Foundation to fit her for hearing aids! So exciting, especially since school just started this week and these will help her immensely! I think i saw a press release saying Miley Cyrus is with the foundation in Haiti right now. Hmm - doubt many people here know who she is! Please pray for everyone making the trip as the road from here to Gonaives is quite frankly horrible and goes through 2 mountain passes.

I've been busy contacting potential groups who will be visiting in the next 6 months. It looks like we'll have a number of groups coming and it'll be busy. Pray for all those that will be coming and all of us here that will be receiving them.

The number of cholera patients being admitted has risen lately - maybe because the amount of rain we have received in the past couple of months. Pray for the clinic as they make decisions as to the future of the cholera treatment centre as our funding is almost finished.

In happier news - we've had electricity 24/7 for the past week and a half due to EDH's (Haiti's electricity company) generosity and our inverter system! Yay for a cold fridge, a fan at night and lights! Small things make all the difference here!

Fail - maybe not.

2011-09-22T11:47:00.001-05:00

I seem to be failing at this regular blogging thing - sorry folks! I am still alive, and I will continue to try to keep you all updated as to the goings on here in Haut Limbe.

I do have a small excuse for not writing in the past couple of weeks. We were hosting a volunteer couple (who also happen to be friends from Canada, now living in Hawaii) for 10 days. Joel, is a nurse and spent his time in the clinic assisting Manno by doing wound care, putting on casts, consulting patients and organizing one of the back supply closets. Brooke, an artist, led a 5 day art camp for 18 children from the community. It was a great success! I had the privilege to help her out and it was so great to interact with the kids and watch them be creative with the different projects. We met every morning for a few hours, and by the end - we were tired! The kids enjoyed their time, even though it doesn't look like it in the picture below! Picture taking is "serious" business in Haiti!

I would post more pictures, but I'm way too impatient to wait the 5-10 minutes to upload each photo.

Besides the "work" that was accomplished during their stay, Cal and I had a great time hanging out with Brooke and Joel and showing them the real Haiti. One of the advantages of visiting in a smaller group - we have the flexibility to show people a lot more and have them experience more regular Haiti life. This included a nice little tour of Cap Haitian, including a couple of the fanciest hotels, some time at an orphanage in nearby Limbe, a street party in Lakil during their annual saint celebration, a leisurely day at the beach and a few motorcycle rides! It was great to have them here. Thanks for all your hard work Brooke and Joel!

After dropping them off at the airport Saturday am, we decided to spend some time in Cap running errands - I hadn't really been there since we returned from Canada. First stop, a treat for me - a pedicure! At $6 US, I couldn't resist a little pampering for my poor feet. While I was relaxing, Cal and Alin looked all over Cap for some light bulbs, with no luck. They found light bulbs, but not the kind I wanted. I prefer soft, yellow light instead of the harsh white light of most inverter, power saving bulbs. Oh well, better luck next time!

Next task, off to the grocery store to see what they had in stock so I could do some "Canadian" type grocery shopping. We found some items for a treat, but unfortunately not the white cheese I wanted, so it was off to the downtown Haitian market to find it. Cal and I walked up and down streets, asking as we went along which "store" had cheese. We finally found it. Now, the crazy thing is how this "store" worked. There is a counter with shelves and storage rooms behind it. You walk up to one window marked "fiche" or receipt and you tell the guy what you want. He rights it down, along with the price and then hands you your receipt. You then go to the window marker "caisse" or cashier, pay your bill and get a paid receipt back. You then go over to the large counter where there are 4 or 5 workers behind and try to get the attention of one of them while 10 other people crowd around you, so that they can find your items for you. 10 minutes later, you finally get your cheese. This is Haiti.

That about tired me out, so we decided to call it a day by stopping at the gas station for ice cream and visiting Cal's sister for a few minutes. On the way home, we stopped a second gas station which actually had a better selection of groceries that than the grocery store in Cap, so I picked up a few more treats and we were on the way home. By the time we arrived, my motion sickness got the better of me and I spent the rest of the afternoon laying down and resting - but, I had my cheese!

My sickness decided to stay around for a few more days, so I spent Monday and Tuesday at home, near the bathroom. Luckily, we had borrowed a friends 3G internet stick, so I could do a quick check of emails from my room! I never thought I would see the day I would have internet in my bedroom in Haiti, but alas, it is here. A company called Natcom has come into Haiti and offer cell and internet service. Using the stick isn't exactly cheap, but it sure helps when I don't want to make the journey to the University in the rain or when I'm not feeling well. We hope to have our own Natcom 3G stick soon!

Well, I think that's all for now - almost time to head home for lunch!

What I did on my summer vacation.

2011-08-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, so as indicated in my last post, we really are back! We spent a great 5 weeks in Canada and now are settled back into life here in Haut Limbe. What did we do in Canada? Well, let's see:

Cal's first photo in Canada - Toronto Airport, just after going through Canadian customs. He's still a little ticked that the customs agent "wrecked" his visa. Since he had a single entry visa, they cross it out with a red marker - real classy!

By the river after lunch at Taste of Saskatchewan

Watching a soccer game one evening on the beautiful soccer field.

Day out at McBride Lake fishing.

Going for a boat ride at Crystal Lake

At the zoo in Winnipeg.

After a 24 hour journey including 2 bus rides, 1 land border crossing, 1 taxi ride, 2 flights and 1 comfortable ride in my parents van we arrived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan!
We spent 2 weeks in Saskatoon hanging out with my family, exploring the city, shopping and enjoying high speed internet and cable soccer stations (Cal).
For the long weekend we headed out to Norquay, Sk to the family farm to meet and visit a bunch more relatives and friends. Attempted to go fishing one day - ended up spending most of the day relaxing on the shore enjoying the beautiful day. Gave Cal the grand tour of Norquay (5 minutes) and spent a wonderful afternoon out at my cousin's cabin at Crystal Lake. Neither of us could bear to swim in the "cold, Canadian water" (we are spoiled here) but did enjoy some boating action.
Returned back to Saskatoon for a couple of days before heading on our Alberta tour which included Strathmore, Breton, Covenant Bay Bible Camp and Malmo. It was a lot of driving but so great to catch up with many friends that we had made from their visits to Haiti.
Came home to rest and wash clothes for 1 day before heading out to Winnipeg for a week! Spent time with Ben and Shauna (formerly of Haiti), went to the zoo, the Forks, and enjoyed a Stella's mexican breakfast. Visited still more relatives and friends and celebrated at Ben and Shauna's reception.
On the way back to Saskatoon, stopped in Minnedosa for a night to share with the church there.
Arrived back in Saskatoon to do last minute shopping, treat myself to a pedicure and have an early celebration of my niece's birthday.
Left Saskatoon on the afternoon of the 19th, flew to Toronto, then Montreal, slept a couple of hours and then flew to Puerto Plata in the morning. Attempted to take a taxi from the airport to our friend's house in Santiago - ended up taking 3 different vehicles arriving over 3 hours later. Spent the night in Santiago and then caught the bus to Haiti on Sunday morning and arrived back in Haut Limbe Sunday evening! It was a good long journey!

We are back!

2011-08-25T11:10:00.000-05:00

Yes, we are still alive! We returned back to Haiti this past Sunday after a great 5 week vacation in Canada. We had a good mix of relaxing, travelling and visiting and by the end, we were ready to return here. Thank you for all of your prayers for a safe journey for us!

I'll write more soon!

Learning to take the chair

2011-07-14T10:25:00.002-05:00

Short term and long term missionaries often say they go to serve the people of whatever (poor) country they are working in. I believe that is true and should be the motivation of any mission. Learning to serve those who are in need is important discipline of the Christian life. However, I think there is another discipline to learn as well – learning to be served by those in need. Let me explain.

When I first came to Haiti, I tried so hard not to be treated differently because I was a white girl from Canada. I wanted to fit into life here as much as possible. I didn’t want special treatment. This included using the same washrooms (latrines) as others and sometimes using no washroom (I am a farm girl and know how to squat in a field!). It included eating the same food as others (when it was safe). It included being squished into the backseat of a truck with 3 other people for a 6 hour bumpy, hot, drive to Port au Prince and sharing a tent set up on concrete with no mattresses for one night. It included many other things as well.

Haitians are very hospitable, even if they have nothing to offer you, they will do their best to make you comfortable. Often times visiting someone’s house, I would be offered one of the only chairs to sit on while visiting in the front porch. I used to be stubborn and refuse it because I didn’t like to be the only one sitting while everyone around me was standing. One time, we were watching a live soccer game in a neighbouring town (there are no bleachers so everyone stands), one of the vendors selling drinks out of her cooler offered me her chair. She was quite a bit older and looked tired and hot so I didn’t want to take her chair. Besides, 300 people around me were all standing just fine, I didn’t want to be the white girl that needed a chair.

You see, I used to think they were only offering me a chair because I was white and therefore for some reason deserved a chair. But, being here longer, I realize that that is not the case at all. They are offering me a chair out of care and hospitality, why should I deny that? And so, I’m learning to take the chair, even if it makes me uncomfortable, even if everyone else around me is standing. Because by taking the chair, I’m letting them serve me and give me a gift. A chair may be the only thing they have to offer.

Just a few more days!

2011-07-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that in just a few days Cal and I will be on our way to Canada together! Saturday morning we will be begin our LONG journey there. We'll leave Haut Limbe at about 7 am, drive to Cap, take a bus from Cap to Santiago, DR. Arrive in Santiago at 2 or 3 pm. Catch another bus to Sosua, DR. Take a taxi to the Puerto Plata airport. Board our Air Canada flight at 9:50 pm. Arrive in Toronto at around 2 am. Go through customs, and then wait for our 7 am flight for Saskatoon. Arrive in Saskatoon at around 9:30 am Sunday am. Whew! I think we will be a little tired!

Now that I know that Cal is coming, I've been trying to think of all the things that we can do and what I can show him about life in Canada. We'll get some time out at the family farm in Norquay, do some fishing, go to Winnipeg to see friends and relatives, and possibly head out to Alberta for a few days to visits some friends that have come to Haiti.

We'll spend the first couple of weeks in Saskatoon with my family, relaxing and exploring things there. I'm excited to show him the University, our parks, malls, libraries and go to a movie or two. Any recommendations for what else you would show someone on their first trip to Canada?

The answer is YES!!

2011-07-06T13:34:00.002-05:00

Cal was granted a six month Canadian visa!! We will be in Canada July 17 to August 20 and will for sure be visiting Saskatoon, Norquay and Winnipeg in that time - possibly Alberta.

Thank you everyone who prayed for this - we are so excited!!

They are on their way!

2011-07-01T09:18:00.000-05:00

7 youth and 2 leaders from Malmo Covenant Church are on their way to Florida right now so that they can fly to Haiti early tomorrow morning. Will you join me in praying for them?

Pray for safe travel in the air as well as on the ground once they arrive here.
Pray for good health for all - it's really hot right now and we don't want anyone to overheat!
Pray for relationships to be built between the Canadians and Haitians.
Pray for the minds and hearts of the Canadians and Haitians both to be opened and much learning to happen.
Pray for energy for myself and Cal this week - hosting is great, but it is also a lot of work!

Thanks!

More Waiting

2011-06-28T09:20:00.000-05:00

Cal had his appointment at the Canadian Embassy this morning at 8:10. I just talked to him and they gave him another appointment for July 7. I pray that this is a good sign. Nevertheless it's going to be a long week of waiting!

Waiting

2011-06-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning we were up early (3 am) to make sure Cal was up and ready to wait for the Port au Prince at the Haut Limbe "bus stop". After getting him out the door, I was able to sleep again for awhile and when I called at 7, he told me that the bus picked them up at 6, not 4 (this is Haiti after all!). They made it to Port by noon and all is well and good. Cal is staying at a friend's that is apparently not too far from the Canadian Embassy, so he should have no problem getting there tomorrow am.

I had a pretty relaxed weekend - did some baking, reading, writing and visited with Cal's family. I thought I would have a super sleep last night, but my body decided to wake me up at 3:30 and I couldn't fall back to sleep! It's going to be a long day added on to the anticipation of waiting to hear the results tomorrow.

Please pray with us that Cal gets his visa and has a safe trip back.

Cooking

2011-06-23T08:55:00.000-05:00

Learning to cook in Haiti is a challenge. Learning what fresh fruits and vegetables there are, where to buy meat, storing things... I was doing pretty good when we had regular electricity. However, in the last 2 weeks we've had barely any EDH (state power) and so the inverter batteries do not get to full charge so we only have power for 5 or 6 hours at night, or sometimes none at all, like last night.

We just have an apartment sized fridge, and don't keep much in it at all except for some cheese, butter, mayonnaise, processed meat (ham, salami or hot dogs) and juice or pop to treat ourselves to a cold drink. If we get regular power, the fridge can stay fairly cold - but this morning when I opened it, not a pretty smell. I think the ham is done - boo!

It also make it difficult to plan creative meals - we do our best to eat up the lunch leftovers at supper so that they don't go bad or to waste. We also can't store fresh meat. Luckily, the local butcher didn't kill a cow this past Saturday, so we didn't have any beef to store - but it does limit the variety of our meals. Chicken or fish - those are your choices.

Every night when I lay in bed I pray that they will give us EDH - seems silly, I lived without it before and millions of people in the country do it everyday. But I got spoiled with regular power for an extended period of time and now I miss it. Hmm...

On being anxious

2011-06-15T10:25:00.000-05:00

I've been anxious this past week. For a few different reasons:

Cal's Canadian visa application appointment on June 28. We've been getting all the documents ready for that hoping that they are enough for the officer to grant him a visa. I'm also praying that he has a safe journey to Port au Prince, is safe in Port au Prince, and is able to make his 8:10 am appointment without sleeping in or getting stuck in traffic!
Thinking about if Cal doesn't get the visa and going to Canada on my own. How many weeks should I stay? We already bought both of our tickets (you have to present them at the embassy for your visa application). Also, we booked with Air Canada out of Puerto Plata, DR and now they are on strike - hopefully that doesn't affect us!
Thinking about money. My support level isn't what it should be - it'll be a tight couple of months. I feel ridiculous worrying about money here, considering how everyone lives around me. Cal reminds me on a daily basis that we need to rely on God to provide all of our needs - but he's better at it, he's been doing it his whole life. Honestly, I've never had to worry much about money. Sure there were times when I couldn't do all the extras, but I've always had enough for food, shelter and much more. One of our devotions last week was about trials and hardships, and Cal reminds me that this is a trial, and we just need to put our faith in God. Much easier said than done!
Thinking about making sure our refrigerator stays cold enough during the day (when we don't have power) so that our meat doesn't go bad. Seems silly - but I would hate to waste meat!

But, there are many things to be excited about as well:

A youth group from Malmo Covenant Church will be coming the first week of July. I'm excited as we plan activities for them with the young people from the Scouts here in Haut Limbe. I'm excited for them to experience a world so different from their own, but interact with young people here that are probably more similar to them than we think.
This fall we are preparing to host an art program for children in the area. A volunteer (and friend) will be coming to lead a program for about 15 kids ages 9-12. We spent some time brainstorming about it over Skype last week and I'm excited about the possibilities of children here a new opportunity.
Going to Canada! One way or another I will be going to Canada this summer. I'm excited to see family and friends, drive on smooth roads, eat BBQ'd meals and fresh vegetables from the garden!

Please join me in praying about these exciting upcoming events (and also that I would remain focused on the good, rather than worrying about potential trials and hardships).

Random Bits

2011-06-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

It's hot in Haiti. Duh! The past two weeks have been cloudy and rainy, so we haven't felt the heat as much. Then yesterday morning the sun came out! Hallelujah - maybe my laundry will dry in less than 3 days! With the sun, came even more heat and humidity. It gets up to about 33 degrees Celsius during the day, and down to a cool 30 degrees at night. While I have no idea what the humidity is, I can say it is high by the perma-sweat on my face. Ugh! Oh well, as long as there is water for showers, I'm a happy camper. I'll take it over -40 and snow!
I'm getting used to being called Mme Cal (pronounced Man Cal). In Haitian culture, once a woman is married, and a lot of times even before she is actually married, she is called Madam whatever her husband's name is. At first I wanted people to still call me Janelle, but I've gotten used to answering to Mme Cal and kind of enjoy it. Even family and close friends do this - not more than 10 minutes after the wedding ceremony was finished, Cal's mom was calling me Mme Cal!
I'm also learning that cooked meat (beef) doesn't need to be stored in the refrigerator all the time. Last week, Marlene had come over to cook up some of the beef we had bought from the butcher on Saturday and she left it in a covered pot on the stove. When we got home, I asked Cal if we needed to put it in the fridge, he said no. The next day, Marlene came, fried it up and we ate it. Nobody got sick! I know that people do it all the time here because very few people have access to refrigeration with consistent electricity, but I just wasn't used to seeing it in my kitchen! Also, did you know that eggs don't need to be stored in the fridge either??
I learned how to make peanut butter the other day, well, partly. I came home after work and Mama (Mme Isaak) was getting ready to roast a bunch of peanuts in a big chodye (pot) over the richo (charcoal grill) on the porch, so I stayed out to watch her. We SLOWLY roasted the peanuts in the pot, stirring them almost constantly, adjusting the temperature of the pot by removing or adding pieces of charcoal). Once they were roasted sufficiently, she spread them on a large tray to cool and we started shelling the skins off. After that, she was going to take them to be ground and turned into peanut butter (of course with a little pepper added)!

That's all for today! Hope you are enjoying a sunny Saturday wherever you may be!

Oh how the days go by

2011-06-09T14:18:00.000-05:00

Sorry! I've been a real slacker lately and haven't taken the time to write blog posts or letters. I think of ideas for great posts when I'm walking around town, doing the dishes or sitting in church (I admit I sometimes daydream with speaker is talking too fast!), but I promptly forget them by the time I come to the internet in my little closet office at the university. So, please accept my apologies! Here’s a little update.

Things are going well here. The humid season, or should I say more humid season has arrived along with hurricane season. After going for months without rain, a couple weeks ago a system set in that gives us rain almost every day and not much sun. It's good to have the moisture, but I am missing the sun a little bit.

In mid May, we had a group of 12 from Strathmore (and other parts of Alberta) here for a week. Boy were they busy! During their time here, they were able to help continue the construction of the living quarters above the depot, create an inventory for the pharmacy and depot and build a house for a very deserving little girl and her family in the community of Danda - a couple of hours from here. They did have some fun as well - we went to the beach, had a Creole class, had a private concert, watched a futbol game, and participated in Flag Day celebrations.

The next group from the Wetaskiwin, AB area arrives at the beginning of July. It's a youth group, so I'm looking forward to connecting them with the youth in the community and building some of those relationships.

Work at the clinic keeps on going! It's been busy, especially since Dr. Joselie has been away in the States to have her baby boy, Joey Andrew Monel Jules, who arrived on June 6th! We excited for them to return and to meet little Joey. We've also been working on expanding the water distribution system in the community. Now, even more families will have better access to water for their daily needs. Our hope in doing this is to prevent diseases like cholera as well as other waterborne diseases.

Married life is treating us well! We are settled into our apartment now and are getting into a routine of life together. I'm having fun cooking some Canadian dishes for Cal (he's been pleasantly surprised that I actually can cook) and taking care of the house. Marlene, who cooked for me at Mme Isaak's house, still comes to cook our lunches Monday to Friday, which is a blessing as she is a great cook and it frees up my mornings to do work at the office and clinic.

What else is coming up? Well, on June 28, Cal has an appointment at the Canadian Embassy in Port au Prince to make his application for a Temporary Residency Visa to come to visit Canada with me this summer. If you could be praying for that, we would greatly appreciate it. We are feeling positive about his chances of getting a visa, but you never know. If he gets it, we plan to be in Canada from mid July to mid August. If he doesn't get it, I will still come, but for a shorter time. While we are there, we will visit with family and friends in Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as visit some churches giving support.

There are a few prayer requests:

• Please pray for the clinic staff and committee that they would be unified and work together for the betterment of the community.
• Pray for Dr. Joselie and her family as they welcome Joey into their family.
• Pray for Dr. Manno that he would stay healthy and get the rest he needs.
• Pray for the students in the community that are writing final exams.
• Pray for Cal and I as we apply for his visa and make plans to visit Canada this summer

Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement - it means a lot to both Cal and I.

Bondye beni nou! God bless you!

For real this time

2011-05-16T13:37:00.000-05:00

Alright, being as I haven't posted anything of much substance in over a month - I'll do my best to catch up.

First of all, the wedding was fantastic - it went smoother than I could ever had hoped for. My friends and family all arrived in and left Haiti safely - my biggest concern. I was able to go pick up my friend/cousin Melissa in Puerto Plata in mid-April. While in the DR, we were able to make a quick trip down to IKEA in Santo Domingo with Tammi to do some serious kitchen/housewares shopping. It was a success and I must say it was definitely strange to be eating Swedish meatballs and boiled potatoes in the DR - but when in IKEA...

Melissa and I came back to Haiti in time to pick up my other good friend Rose a week before the wedding and promptly went to get manicures and pedicures in Cap Haiten. Not something I ever treat myself to in Canada, but when its only $5 US for each, how can you pass it up?

The three of us had a good time relaxing, catching up and just hanging out in Haut Limbe. We even got an afternoon of fried fish and suntanning at the beach one day!

Melissa and I at the beach

Rose and I at the beach.

On the Wednesday, my family (parents, sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephew) arrived in Cap Haitien. It was great to be able to show them where I've been living and my life here. My nieces and nephew are all little blond, blue-eyed cuties so they were quite the spectacle in town where people have probably not seen many white children.

While in Haut Limbe, we prepared favours and decorations for the wedding and then headed into Cap on Friday to spend the night at the lovely Hotel Christophe.

On our way to Cap - wedding dress safely packed in the pink bag!

We woke up to a beautiful, sunny Saturday and we able to get ready in time to have some pictures done in the hotel's courtyard before heading off to the venue for the ceremony and reception. The wedding was supposed to start at 12, and I think we actually got going at about 12:45 - not too bad by Haitian standards! Even with out having a rehearsal, the ceremony went fairly smoothly and mission accomplished - we got married!!

Mme David, Mme Marc (caterers) and me.

The cake!

The ladies prepared us a wonderful meal and an extravagant cake - I had know idea what to expect! Everyone ate their fill and by 3 pm, we were all done. It was perfect and I couldn't have asked for anything to be different.

Friends!

With Alin who brought the plants and flowers for decorations.

Tammi - photographer and friend!

On the Monday following, after my family friends boarded their plane, Cal and I went to Puerto Plata for our honeymoon for a week and a half. It was a beautiful resort with great food.

Resort in Puerto Plata

Before dinner on the last night.

We ended the honeymoon by stopping in Santiago for one night with Tammi and to do some last minute shopping for the house.

Our little kitchen.

We are back now and are mostly settled into our apartment. I'm enjoying brushing up on my cooking skills and impressing Cal that I actually know how to cook.

This Wednesday, a group of 12 arrive from Strathmore to help at the clinic, so we'll be busy! I'm excited to see what God has in store for them.

Thanks for all your encouragement and support - Cal and I appreciate it so much!

Mr & Mme Calvin Christolin

2011-05-12T13:52:00.000-05:00

Mr & Mme Calvin

My Nieces, nephew and I.

My sister (Maid of Honour), Nicely (Best Man), Calvin and I.

Cal's Family

My parents and Cal's parents.

My family.

Mama Manno and I.

We're back!!

2011-05-12T10:39:00.000-05:00

We are here - we've actually been back in Haut Limbe for a week, but it's been a bit busy catching up on things, moving into our apartment and arranging everything. We are happy to be here and get settled into regular life before our next group arrives on Wednesday.

I'm going to try to post some pictures of the wedding by the weekend!

How a trip to Cap Haitien can suck the life out of you

2011-04-07T11:34:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has spent a little time in Haiti, will quickly learn that nothing is easy here. It's best just to work on that assumption and then be pleasantly surprised when something is easy - it'll save you years of stress and frustration.

On Saturday we went in Cap with a significant list of things to do for the wedding and for the apartment. Perhaps it was too ambitious, but it was all things that needed to get done in the next little while. Anyways, we set off at about 9 am in the truck. Now, getting to Cap itself is an adventure. It's only 25 kms away, but only a quarter of the road is paved (with pot-holes), the rest is gravel (with pot-holes) and very dusty as we haven't had any rain in weeks. Needless to say, I don't make the trip into Cap unless I absolutely need to. Along the way, we stopped at the wedding venue, paid the deposit and continued on.

We arrived in Cap. Cap Haitien is a city that was built or planned for about 200,000 people - it now contains about 1 million people. So, needless to say, it's crowded, busy and dusty! Traffic, is well, interesting. I know that it's a whole lot better than Port au Prince, but for the size of the city, it's still frustrating. Our next stop was the florists - but they weren't open. So we headed off to the hardware/appliance store to look for a stove and a fridge. After some talking and negotiating, we were able to settle on a stove and fridge. The stove is a bit bigger than I wanted, but when you only have 3 to choose from, you have to go with what you got. Driving to Port to find one just doesn't seem worth it. We didn't take them with us, because we didn't have the extra money for the stove. Cal went back on Monday to pick them up.

After that, we were off to the "stores" to find kitchen and household supplies. Mama was with us to help in our search and negotiations. Basically all of downtown Cap is one big open air market, but there are some "stores" along the side streets. We searched up and down, but Mama couldn't find anything that made her happy, so we to the main central market with all the food, clothes, shoes, supplies - basically anything you would need. After weaving our way through the "machanns" with their rice, vegetables, meat, etc, we found the kitchen supply area - heaven. We start picking all kinds of things we need - pots, spoons, bowls, knives, etc. We got a pretty good haul for about $50 US. We piled everything into a "kivet" (a large basin) and paid someone to carry it out through the maze of the crowded market to the truck for us.

By this time, I'm getting pretty tired, and hot. It turned hot here last week, so it's around 30 degrees during the day. We go to a nearby restaurant for a bite to eat and a drink and to regroup. After, we go back to the florists, they are open now. Made our payment for the wedding flowers and all the final arrangements. One last stop. To buy a mattress/boxspring. Here again, there isn't a lot of choice, unless you want to buy used - then there is tons of choice. We find a bed, make a negotiation and tie it to the truck. We're done!!!

By now it's about 3 pm and I'm wiped and a headache it starting to set in. We get home around 4, I eat the lunch that Marlene left for us, shower and fall down on my bed with exhaustion. My headache lingered around all night and into the morning. Finally, by Sunday afternoon I was feeling a bit normal again.

I shouldn't complain too much - Cal made the trip to Cap again Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It's tiring. Good thing I have a week to recover before my trip back to catch the bus to the DR!

Sendie

2011-04-06T13:29:00.000-05:00


Sendie Salomon

Sendie came into the clinic on Monday morning with her aunt. She is 10 years old and lives with her 4 brothers and parents in La Coup - a section of Haut Limbe. Since she was born, she has been hard of hearing. She began attending school at age 3, but has always struggled to keep up. The teachers do their best to help her, but class sizes are huge here and they simply do not have the extra time or expertise to give Sendie the attention she needs. She is able to read and write, but is very shy to speak as she has difficulties because of her hearing problems.

After Manno saw her, he called me to come and get her story so that we could send an email out to friends and supporters of the clinic to see if anyone would be willing to help Sendie so that she could see a specialist, perhaps in the DR. I wrote an email yesterday morning, not being very optimistic about what kind of response we would receive. Oh me of little faith.

This morning when I opened the inbox, we already had 5 responses from people with ideas and wanting to help financially. I was blown away and totally pumped. I showed Manno the emails and he said "this is the body of Christ - it didn't cost us any money to send an email. Can you imagine if we hadn't tried to help this little girl?". It's so true - it's so much bigger than us, God is in control and is working in the lives of people all around the world - in Haiti and in Canada and the U.S.

I'm not sure what the next step is for Sendie, but I'm excited to find out!

And the winner is...

2011-04-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

Michel "Sweet Mickey" Martelly.

Yesterday, just after 6 pm, a roar was heard in the area as the results of the Presidential election were announced. Martelly won with 67% of the vote over Mme Manigat. Martelly is a famous Haitian rap star who is very popular with the young people. Mme Manigat is almost 80 and the former first lady of the country. I don't really know who would have lead the country the best, but I'm just glad this election process is finally over! With Martelly winning, it means there will likely not be any demonstrations or protests over the results. These were just the preliminary results, the final results will be announced on the 16th - just a week before my wedding! I'm glad that things are quite decided and that there shouldn't be any unrest in the next few weeks.

March Update

2011-03-31T10:49:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends & Family,
Bonjou from Haiti where it is now summer I believe. We don’t really have four seasons here – just comfortable and then HOT! It was a pretty cool and comfortable winter, but it seemed to change overnight.

This Sunday in church I definitely needed my paper fan to give a little breeze during the service. We have now entered the season of multiple showers per day!

Weather aside, things are going well. This past month we hosted a group of 9 from Lighthouse Covenant Church in Sarnia. The majority of the group were 15-21 years old, so they had a lot of energy and a lot of questions! It was great to see them build relationships with our Haitian brothers and sisters here. They began helping construct the second floor of the depot that will be used as a residence for doctors and nurses working at the clinic. We also visited an orphanage in Limbe, had a Creole class and participated in a community English class. I think their trip was a success!

The clinic has been fairly busy, which is a good thing, but we also have some challenges as far as staffing. We have needed to hire an additional doctor for many months to help with the patient load, but we have not yet been able to. In addition, Dr. Joselie is on maternity leave for 3 months so we are under even more pressure for another doctor. Please pray for the committee as they work to secure a new doctor to serve at the clinic.

March 20th saw the run-off presidential elections here. Everything around here stayed calm and we hope to hear the results in April. Please continue to pray that the process will be fair and just and that peace will remain in this country.

Cholera is still here, but the numbers remain low. MSF pulled out of Limbe last week, so we expect the number of patients we receive at our treatment centre will increase a little bit. We are prepared to stay open to receive cholera patients needing treatment.

There has been some excitement in our household this month. Manno’s dad, Isaak, who had been living and working in the United States for nearly 20 years, retired and returned home to Haut Limbe! Manno’s mom (who I call Mama) was able to welcome her husband back to a very different house since he left. There has been a lot of work done to the yard and houses and since Isaak worked in maintenance in the US, he’s been busy everyday working on a project around the house. It’s such a blessing to see this family reunited as this does not always happen here when a spouse or family member goes abroad to work.

Also, Cal’s sister Briza gave birth via C-section to a healthy baby boy on March 15. We are thankful that everything went well.

Looking ahead, the next few months will be busy! Of course this month I will be hosting my friends and family coming for my wedding on April 23. In a couple of weeks, I’ll make a quick trip over to the DR to meet my friend who is flying into Puerto Plata (and do a little shopping). My parents, sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephew will arrive a few days before the wedding. We’ll spend a couple of days in Haut Limbe, and then go to Cap Haitien the day before the wedding. After the wedding, Cal and I will take our honeymoon in the DR and then come back to work in May.

At the end of May, we are expecting a group from Strathmore to visit. In June, there is a possibility of a small group from Minnesota as well as a group from Randolph World Ministries coming to providing training in the lab at the clinic. The first week of July, a group of youth from the Edmonton church will be coming – right in the heat of summer! We are getting the fans ready now for them! So, it will be busy. In mid July, we hope to make a trip back to Canada to visit friends, family and churches. Please pray that Cal is able to receive a Canadian tourist visa.

For me, this coming month will be focused on preparing for the wedding and preparing our apartment. We have decided to rent a little basement apartment that Manno is fixing up in the back house of our yard. We’ll have a nice sized bedroom, bathroom and combined kitchen/living area. I’m excited to be staying in the same yard so that I’ll be close by for visiting groups and also to have my adoptive family around me.

After the wedding, my monthly expenses will increase (about double) as we will be renting the apartment, buying and preparing our own food and just taking care of day to day expenses. I want to thank all of you for the support and encouragement that you have given me so far. If you would like to continue to support me monthly or with a one-time gift, you can do so online at CanadaHelps.org. Designate your gift to "Haiti Clinic" and write "Janelle Peterson" in comment section. Cheques may be mailed to: Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada, PO Box 34025, RPO Fort Richmond, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5T5. Please include a note indicating your donation is for Janelle Peterson. All gifts are eligible for a tax receipt.

Well, I think I’ve covered just about everything. Thanks again for your encouragement and prayers. I would love to hear from you!

Bondye beni nou (God bless you)!

Janelle Peterson

The heat is on...

2011-03-28T08:34:00.000-05:00

I think winter is over. Yesterday during church I had to use my fan during the service to keep myself cool. It's been a fairly cool winter here - compared to last year for me. By cool I mean, walking to/from the clinic during the day doesn't cause me to break out in a sweat and I can sleep in my flannel pajamas!

This weekend I had a "mini-vacation" house-sitting at the James' while they were in the DR. It's always a treat. This time I didn't even have to take care of the parrots! Someone else came to feed and water them!

This coming month is going to fly by I think - it's less than a month until the wedding! I'll be spending the next few weeks getting our basement apartment ready - buying appliances and household items. On the 11th of April, I'll go over to the DR to pick up my friend coming for the wedding and make a shopping trip to IKEA in Santo Domingo! Then, we we return to Haiti, my other friend comes and a few days later my family arrives for the wedding!

Yesterday i finished "addressing" the wedding invitations that will be hand delivered in the next week or so. We'll meet again with the caterers and make some deposits for the flowers and venue this weekend.

I forgot to announce this before, but Cal's sister Briza had a baby boy by C-section on March 15. Baby and mom are doing well!

Clinic Needs

2011-03-23T11:22:00.001-05:00

People often ask how they can help Ebenezer Clinic. Here are some ways:

Medical Supplies/Medication - We have a whole depot full of gloves, bandages, syringes, etc so we don't need supplies like that. But on a monthly basis we need insulin, One Touch or Reli-On glucometers and test strips. We have a program for diabetics in which they come and receive an insulin shot once a week. Most of the patients cannot afford it, so donations of insulin are very helpful.

Medical Professionals - Doctors and nurses who are willing to volunteer are always helpful. It is usually best if you can commit to at lease 3 weeks of service as it takes awhile to get the hang of medicine in Haiti, so the longer you stay, the more beneficial it is. Volunteers must be flexible to work in conditions different than North America and be willing to learn about Haitian culture and medical practices. We are also always looking for people who are willing to give training to our medical staff to help develop their skills

Financial - The nature of Ebenezer Clinic means that we do not make a profit and therefore are very thankful for financial donations given from individuals and churches. To make a financial donation through The Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada, please check out the link at the right of this page.

Prayer - Anyone can pray. Pray for the Clinic Committee, the doctors, nurses and the rest of the staff. Pray for the patients that come from all over the north of Haiti for care.

If you have any questions, please email me.

He's back...

2011-03-19T08:42:00.000-05:00

Another exiled former president has returned to Haiti. Aristide landed in Port au Prince from South Africa yesterday morning. I heard the news just as Ben and I were driving away from the airport to drop off the group of Canadians for their Miami flight. Ben had called a friend in Port and while he was talking I could hear the noise of the crowds in the street in Port through the phone.

As far as I know things stayed calm in Cap yesterday - Ben and I were anxious to get home as soon as possible. Nobody knows what this means - how will it affect tomorrow's runoff elections. The Haitian people are very divided in their support for Aristide - even in this community. Please be praying for Haiti in the coming days and weeks.

An interesting read

2011-03-17T11:11:00.000-05:00

The following blog references a book I recently read - "When Helping Hurts - How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself". It's a challenging read, but I recommend it to anyone interested in or involved in missions/development work.

http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/2011/03/thinking-through-stm.html

Fighting a cold

2011-03-09T09:52:00.002-05:00

Sunday afternoon I started to come down with a cold – boo! Monday morning, I woke up early, started my day by having breakfast and going to the office, but a half an hour later my sneezing, runny nose and stuffy head convinced me that I needed to go home and rest. So that’s where I’ve been for the past few days, save making a couple trips during the day to check/send emails. I need to get well soon as I have a group arriving on Friday morning and groups take a lot of energy when your healthy, never mind being sick!

Thankfully we’ve had a lot of EDH lately so I’ve been able to watch a gazillion episodes of House on my computer (thanks Ardis)! I suspect the generous amount of EDH is for Kanaval or Carnival. There hasn’t been school Monday, Tuesday or today. I think it starts again tomorrow. There isn’t much for celebrations in Haut Limbe, but some of the biggest bands in Haiti have been playing in Cap Haitian this week. Last year there were no Kanaval celebrations at all because of the earthquake, so this is my first experience (which hasn’t been much).

Well, back to resting I go. I’ll try to give an update once the group arrives!

A philosphy of mission teams/mission work

2011-03-03T11:25:00.000-05:00

One of the essay questions on one of my senior economic development courses at university was to write my philosophy of development. What a great question! I think I remember most of what I wrote, and I think I would still mostly agree with what I wrote at the time. I believed in grassroots development that was more than just a transfer of money or resources and included the participation of local peoples. I was leery of large INGOs that had a band aid approach to development believing they did more harm than good, all of the time. However, life experience and field experience adds new questions to my idealistic philosophy that I held. After working 6 years at a large Canadian food aid and food security organization, I quickly learned that there are many instances where food aid is the only response that is appropriate so that people do not starve. I learned that there are many organizations working on the ground with local partners to develop sustainable methods of development. I also learned that there are many organizations that choose not to work with local partners in a healthy way and this results in much damage.

Being in Haiti for the past year, I've seen both of these cases. Development and relief work is big business in Haiti. There are over 15,000 registered NGOs in Haiti! With that many organizations, one would think things would have changed here. But to look around, you see that is not the case. It makes me wonder why and what can be done to make lasting change. There are definitely systemic changes that need to be made in government and business - getting rid of corruption. There are also cultural beliefs and practices that inhibit lasting change. I'm not saying that this culture is bad - I believe that there is good and bad in every culture (including Canadian culture), but there are some historical and spiritual beliefs that do not encourage change.

I often wonder why I am here - I'm sure lots of you wonder that too! Although I guess I am technically a "missionary" I don't really feel like one in the traditional sense of the word, especially for Haiti. I didn't come to start a church or school, I don't lead Bible studies, I don't have any converts (nor have I tried to have any), I usually wear pants instead of skirts or dresses, I ride motorcycle taxis, etc.

So what do I do here? I do a lot of listening and learning. I'm learning to listen even more that talk or give advice. I've already made many mistakes by not doing that. The North American value of efficiency isn't always effective, especially in Haiti.

On a practical day to day level - I do work. I help Manno with his email communications. I coordinate volunteers and teams that want to help at the clinic. I give advice (when asked) for administrative matters at the clinic. I interact with my Haitian friends and neighbours everyday establishing relationships and building trust.

So what's my philosophy of mission teams and mission work? I'm not a fan of traditional mission teams. Gasp! Nope, I don't like them. I've seen too many teams of people in matching T-shirts at the airport arrivals ready to save Haiti. Sorry folks, you and your 9 teammates are not going to save Haiti in the next 7 days of your trip. Many of these teams come to Haiti ready to "fix" Haiti with no cultural or historical understanding of this country. They believe that North American models of development can be transplanted here and will be fruitful. They come to build churches, schools or medical clinics while Haitians stand around watching them wishing they could have a job. Or, they want to evangelize Haiti. Good intentions - but there are already churches here with many pastors who are doing this. Many pastors work in Haiti without pay - it's a calling for them. Is it not more effective for a Haitian to hear the Gospel from a fellow Haitian then a visiting missionary? What North American missionaries can bring is training and resources for the workers already here.

So what do I think mission teams should do?

First of all there needs to be a partnership between the team and the local partner. Both parties need to be in agreement for the purpose of the trip.
Teams need to come with an attitude of learning and listening, realizing that they do not have all the answers (if any) and that they can learn a lot from their Haitian brothers and sisters.
The team should not be the primary workers. When we do construction at the clinic, we always hire the local tradespeople to direct the work. The team usually spends their time doing grunt work, or sitting around building relationships with Haitians.
Teams should never give out food, clothes, candy, toys or other gifts in their own. Doing this is just asking for problems and reinforces the stereotypes of the "rich, white people" to the locals.
Teams should engage with the local culture and people making an effort to communicate and speak Creole.
Teams should understand that there is much more to Haiti than what meets the eye. People often say "everyone looks so happy even though they have so little". Which is a true statement. However, many people have been struggling to survive their whole life, they choose to have joy and hope rather than bitterness and anger. Even though people look happy, they are still struggling inside.

These are some of my thoughts, sorry for the rambling. I hope that you will join me in the struggle of understanding this beautiful country and come along and support those who are doing their best to make a difference.

Praise Items and Prayer Requests

2011-03-02T08:37:00.000-05:00

I realize that I do not share with you nearly enough praise items and prayer requests. Here is my attempt to do that and please remind me to continue to do it!

Praise

The solar/inverter system that was donated and installed by the ECCC a couple of weeks ago is working great! We now only need to run the generator for a couple of hours in the evening to run the water pump for the town! This will result in significant savings in buying fuel for the generator.
The number of cholera patients has decreased dramatically! We still have a few, but it is much more manageable and the word about prevention has spread.

Prayer

Run off Presidential elections are set for March 20. Prayer that things remain peaceful and that Haiti is given the chance for a free and democratic election.
A group of 9 from the Covenant Church in Sarnia arrive next Friday. Pray for them as they travel and for their time here that they would build significant relationships with those they come in contact with here.
Pray for Cal's family. His brother, Placide, has been diagnosed with anemia (it's very hard to have a high iron diet here) and has a reoccurring infection in his foot due to poor circulation. Also, his older sister, Briza, is pregnant and will be having a C-section in the coming month. Surgery is always a risk in North America, and even more of a risk here so please pray for her and her family.
Pray for our housing situation after the wedding - we have a couple of options, but nothing is for sure yet. Pray that it will all work out for the best and that I won't get too stressed about it in the meantime!
Pray for my friends and family that will be traveling here for the wedding in April that they would remain safe and healthy!
Pray for Cal and I as we prepare to apply for a Canadian Tourist Visa for him to visit Canada this summer.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouragement!

From the God's Politics Blog Today

2011-02-22T08:17:00.000-05:00

Poverty Tourism Can Make Us Thankful

by Kent Annan 02-21-2011

The jolt in Port-au-Prince herniated a disk in my lower back last month. The pain is making it hard to sleep at night. I’ve walked with a sideways bent and haven’t been able to pick up my two young children since.

But here’s the thing: The jolt happened while riding a motorcycle taxi to a meeting in a tent camp where 50,000 people live under tarps. So I can’t much indulge in feeling sorry for myself.
I travel to Haiti regularly for work with a nonprofit, but right now I’m back in Florida where I have a safe, dry home to sleep in; I have a bed; I’ve already been to the physical therapist four times; I can afford ibuprofen, Tylenol, and Aleve; I eat more than enough each day. You get the idea.
So when I start complaining, then remember this context, it seems my basic choices are either to be grateful or to be an ass.

On one hand, this is the proper perspective. On the other, this is a potentially exploitative “benefit” of what are typically called some variation of a “service trip,” but are also sometimes critically called “poverty tourism.”

We see people suffering so much more than us, and then come back and say, “It just makes you so grateful for what you have.” Or, “It puts life in perspective.”

The motorcycle taxi driver I was riding with lost a staggering amount in the earthquake. The church he attends collapsed on more than 200 people inside, his friends, his relatives. After getting off his motorcycle, I was soon talking with people in the camp who lost everything and have little reasonable hope for improvement any time soon.

A sore back? Sheesh.

But if the longest lasting result of my working in or visiting a place with much suffering, is that I feel a little better about my own life … well, then I’ve probably exploited people struggling with poverty even more than they’re being exploited already.

So for me, three differences come to mind to keep these trips from being “poverty tourism”:
First, who and how do I visit people? Is it marked by dignity, without patronizing, with humility, as a learner. Are we visiting with people or an organization who have respectful, engaged relationships with the community? What kind of photos do we take or stories do we tell? What side comments do we make to our fellow travelers? Do we ask ourselves the hard questions? How do we, or shouldn’t we, talk about “them?”

Second, and related, does it make a difference to how I live “back home?” In how I give, what politics I engage in, or in whatever the area is that we each can make a difference to the systems that perpetuate pain. How do I think and talk and act?

Third, is my visit only the beginning of a long-term commitment to finding effective ways to help? Even if I worked hard to build a community center or learning language or to add on to a church building, it wasn’t much in the big picture. People are often gracious hosts and share the best part of their smiles and lives with us when we visit. But sometimes that seems to give us an excuse to quarantine the unsettling part of our experience, the part that might demand a lot of us.

These are some of the factors for me. I’m in Haiti many times a year, but I still need to check myself.
If we come back with a kind of souvenir that makes us feel more comfortable about our lives, then it’s likely been exploitation. If we come back and we’re more uncomfortable, and also committed to smart, respectful ways to help, then maybe we properly honor the hospitality we’ve received.
Can we find good ways to contribute to each other’s well being?

Some people think there shouldn’t be these exchanges at all. I don’t agree. I think they’re important for working for justice. But I do think there are differences between traveling as a poverty tourist and a citizen of the world.

Kent Annan is co-director of Haiti Partners (www.haitipartners.org), which has set up an Earthquake Response Fund. He is the author of After Shock, which explores questions of faith, doubt, and searching, and he is also the author of Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle: Living Fully, Loving Dangerously, which is about living and working in Haiti.

You've Got Mail!

2011-02-17T10:29:00.002-05:00

Last week I got a couple of pieces of mail and you know what - it was quite exciting! Some of you have asked if you can send me mail, and you can!

I can receive mail through Dr. Manno's MFI address as follows:

Dr. Emmauel Mareus (HCCC)
c/o Missionary Flights International
Unit 1053, 3170 Airmans Dr.
Ft. Pierce, FL 34946 USA

MFI brings our mail every Thursday by plane to the airport in Cap. To make sure the mail gets to me - write my name somewhere on the envelope.

You can also send packages, however we ask that you send $1.50 or $2/lbs to cover shipping costs to MFI. If you are going to send a package, let me know so that I can give you the details of how to do that.

So... I'm waiting for your letters!

Trying to plan in a culture with little concept of planning

2011-02-16T08:16:00.000-05:00

In just over 2 months I will be getting married to Calvin. I’m so excited! As I shared in my earlier post, planning for a wedding here is a little different, but it’s been going pretty well. However, as the wise advice says – “don’t just plan your wedding, plan your marriage” – we’ve been trying to do that as well. Part of that is preparing our living arrangements. In Canada, I’m a great planner – I like to know what’s going to happen and how much it’s going to cost before I do anything. That’s a little more difficult here in a culture that doesn’t really value planning or preparing. Part of this is understandable – it’s hard to plan in a country where so many things can go wrong and prevent you from accomplishing your goal. But sometimes, just a little planning would help make the simplest task easier.

Anyways, since I arrived in Haiti, I’ve been blessed to room and board at Manno’s mom’s (Mama) house. I really don’t have to worry about anything here. I get 3 delicious meals prepared for me every day, I always have company around and can go into the kitchen where one of my Haitian moms will take care of me. Really all I need to do is clean my room and bathroom – pretty simple.

But, when Cal and I get married, we hope to have our own home. We are looking to rent a house that is located very close to the clinic that is owned by a Haitian American in the States. We took a look at the house in November and it’s pretty nice by Haitian standards. It has 3 bedrooms, a large bathroom, a living room, a dining room and kitchen that are all tiled and painted. Only the kitchen needs a bit of work with some counters and cabinets installed.

When we started looking at the house in November, we figured we could get everything ready by April, no problem! But then Cholera happened and MSF rented the house for some of their Haitian staff, so our needs were put on hold because MSF is paying a whole lot more in rent than we will! We still aren’t sure when MSF will leave ... we’re waiting.

In the meantime, I’m trying to prepare and plan for something I have no control over. The house isn’t really furnished – it has a dining table and chairs and I think a little propane oven. So, we need to find some things. The other Saturday when we were in Cap we started pricing out some things. A double bed will be about $300, an apartment sized fridge $300 or a full sized fridge $600, a small oven/stove - $300 or a snazzy full sized, 6 burner propane oven for $600. We went to the docks to look at living room furniture. I would really like a couch, a North American style one – not the uncomfortable Haitian kind. At the docks, things don’t have price tags so once the vendors saw the white girl, the price was probably tripled and they said they would sell me a couch, loveseat and two chairs for $10,000 Haitian – which is probably $1300 or so US. Yeah right!! And they wouldn’t sell a couch by itself, nope you need to buy the whole set! I think our living room will be furnished with plastic patio chairs!

I would love to buy some things second hand – but it’s a great gamble here. Nothing here is ever “gently used” and it’s hard to know how “used” something is until you have it. In addition to furniture, we are planning on getting an inverter and batteries so that I can be spoiled with 24 hour lights. I go back and forth on this – I mean, I survived for a year here without reliable electricity – can’t I keep doing it?

Along with having a house, I’m going to have to learn how to manage a house in Haiti! We are going to need food, laundry, clean water, etc. And well, I haven’t really been responsible for that. I know I won’t be able to go to the market shopping by myself and shopping in the grocery stores in Cap is too expensive and too far away to be an option. I’ll have to learn how to cook here with limited cold storage capacity and access to familiar ingredients. I loved cooking in Canada, but things are just different here and take a lot of time. Because of this, I hope to hire a cook for our noon meals during the week so that Cal doesn’t go too hungry as cooking a large meal takes a couple of hours here – you can’t whip something together in a half hour or call out for pizza.

Anyways, all this to say, is that there are a lot of decisions and purchases to be made in the next few months. Along with that, I need to trust that my increased monthly budget will be met as well to cover our living and travel expenses. When I start to think about this too much, I get stressed. I’m trying to let go of my planning personality – which is difficult – and learn how to trust that God will indeed provide for all of our needs and that we won’t end up without a roof over our heads or without food on our plate.

Solar panels, inverters, batteries and a bunch of things I don't understand!

2011-02-15T10:13:00.000-05:00

When the cholera outbreak hit Limbe last November, Ebenezer Clinic went from being a Monday to Friday day clinic to a 24 hour, 7 days a week treatment center overnight. Thankfully, the in-patient hospital had just been finished 2 days before, but we had not yet gotten to the point of purchasing and installing an inverter system to provide 24 hour electricity. So, for the last few months, the clinic's generator has been running pretty much 24/7 - which uses a lot of diesel and costs a lot of money. Sometimes as much as $400 to $500 US a week depending on how much EDH we receive. We don't really have the budget to sustain that at all, so the ECCC has been working on fundraising for an inverter system for us. This has all come together in the past few weeks and last Friday, Josh from Strathmore arrived in Cap with 6 solar panels (still intact!) and the inverter system for the clinic. After a bit of negotiation at customs, we were able to get everything released for a "fair" price and made the journey on the bumpy roads home without breaking anything!

Josh has been working hard to install everything and last night, the hospital was able to run on the batteries for a good portion of the night. He'll be doing more testing in the next couple of days to see how much energy the panels can produce and how much we will have to run the diesel generator.

This is such a great gift for the clinic - everyone is so excited! Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen!

How to plan a wedding in Haiti

2011-02-09T13:36:00.000-05:00

Growing up I was never one of those girls who dreamed and planned their wedding out exactly. Sure, I thought about it sometimes, had a few ideas, but never really held on to them for very long. To tell you the truth, in recent years when I thought about trying to plan a wedding in Canada, it kinda freaked me out. Anyone who knows me well knows that I really do not enjoy shopping, too much choice overwhelms me and I get a headache and run out of the store or mall! From what I could see, the wedding industry is made for people who like shopping and choice and all the newest things. Not my idea of fun at all.

And now I'm in Haiti trying to plan a wedding and its the exact opposite! It's all about limited choice here and it makes decisions so much easier - except when you can't even find one choice.

How have things been coming along. Well, let's see.

Venue - check
The trick here is to find a comfortable venue that is close enough for your guests to get to too, but far enough away to deter uninvited guests. We are having the ceremony and reception in the auditorium of a radio station about 20 or 30 minutes away. It's got air conditioning (a definite plus for April in Haiti), modern kitchen and sound system.

Caterer - check
Two local ladies who cook in the university cafeteria will be doing the catering. Since they consider Cal and I "their children" they are giving us a good deal and I know that they will do a great job with everything.

Dress - check
Now for this, I went out of the normal parameters of a Haitian bride. Brides here typically rent their wedding dress (a great idea which I think should take hold in North America), which I did. But, as I've moved past my 8 year old desire for an 80's style, pouffy, wedding gown, I decided to rent my dress from a bridal shop in Santiago, Dominican Republic where they have many more contemporary choices! You get the dress, tiara and veil, all for $80 US!

Flowers - almost check
Found a florist in Cap Haitien. They can order flowers from Santiago. To see their selection, I looked through the photo album of weddings they've done before. They don't actually have any flowers in the store. Now, I know they quoted me the "white girl" price, so we're gonna negotiate some more before we order. But we'll be able to get rose bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, flower girl baskets and a few arrangements for the altar.

Engagement/Wedding rings - check
Again, for more selection, we decided to get these in the DR. We were able to get them on our trip there but had to get them sized back here. The day we sized them is a day that I was reminded as to how abnormal my life is here sometimes. We were recommended to go to a guy in Limbe, about 10 minutes away. We found his house and he was all set up in his gallery (front porch) with his table and tools, complete with propane torch at his side. I was very skeptical and suspicious, especially as he started to cut my rings, but he seemed to know what he was doing. He got the job done, my rings fit now. Although I think I'll take them to a jeweler in Canada to get cleaned up a bit.

So that's where I'm at - so far so good. Now, I'm just praying that this country will stay relatively peaceful until after April 23 so it's safe for my friends and family to come and celebrate with us!

A long overdue update!

2011-01-29T09:25:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Please excuse me for my negligence in updating you as to the goings on here. It’s been a very busy few months and there are many things to tell you about.

As you all know, we have been working hard here to treat the cholera outbreak that reached our region in November. Ebenezer Clinic decided when the first cholera patient showed up at our door that we would act as a treatment centre, while many hospitals and clinics were refusing to treat cholera patients out of fear and ignorance. There was and still is much education to do about how cholera is spread and treated. Many health professionals were afraid to touch and care for those suffering from cholera, and that unfortunately resulted in many unnecessary deaths. At Ebenezer Clinic, people knew they would be treated with dignity and respect.

Since the outbreak began, Ebenezer has treated over 2,000 patients with only 20 dying. We were able to do this with the help of many partners and volunteers including: the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada, Medical Ambassadors, Covenant World Relief and Baptist Mission USA and several other individuals and groups. In addition, our biggest support came from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors without Borders. In early December they arrived to help with logistics, provide medical supplies such as IV fluid, and provide human resources (doctors and nurses) to staff the Cholera Treatment Centre. Without their help, we would not have been able to treat as many patients as we did. Cholera is still here, but the numbers are continuing to decline and we are praying that it remains that way. Thanks to all of you who have supported us through prayer and financial gifts.

Haiti has also been the scene of much political unrest in the past few months. The presidential elections that were held at the end of November have been considered fraudulent. The preliminary results that were released put the current presidents’ party candidate, Jude Celestin, in the top two which resulted in violent protests by supporters of the number three candidate. Runoff elections were to be held on January 16^th, but the results of the official recount had not yet been released, so this did not happen. This past week, Celestin took himself out of the running which should ease the tension. Runoff elections are set for sometime in March.

Amidst all this, Haiti’s former dictator – Jean Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc) decided to return to his country after being in exile in France for 25 years. Initially he stated that his reason for returning was to help his country that is still suffering from the effects of the earthquake and cholera. However, it has now been revealed that his intentions are to recover money that he hasn’t had access to as he is broke. He has been charged for the crimes he committed during his rule, but it will be several months before we know if he will go to trial.

It’s been a busy and tiring few months for me personally, however I have found some time for rest and relaxation. At the end of November I was able to go to Orlando, Florida where I met my family for a week’s vacation. It was great to unwind there and spend some good family time together. The week following, my good friend Shauna arrived for her wedding to Ben, one of the clinic accountants. It was great to share in that celebration and spend time with her. Christmas and New Years were very quiet around here, and a cold kept me mostly at home resting.

In October and November we hosted two groups here – one from Breton, Alberta and another from Minnesota. The Breton group was able to help finish tiling and painting the hospital just 2 days before we received our first cholera patient! The Minnesota group arrived here in the midst of the first wave of riots against the UN, but were able to provide some much needed help in the cholera centre as well as help construct shelves and a driveway for the clinic. We’ve also hosted a few smaller groups of doctors and nurses in December and January. They have been a great relief to the clinic staff who have been working above and beyond the past few months. We are looking forward to some groups in the coming months to continue work on the clinic and hospital.

And finally, in case you haven’t heard – I’m engaged! Calvin Christolin (another Ebenezer Clinic accountant) and I got engaged in November and will be getting married April 23 here in Haiti. Calvin grew up in Haut Limbe, attending primary and secondary school here before studying economic sciences at a state university in Cap Haitien. He’s been serving as one of the clinic accountants for the past year and teaches chemistry part time at the local secondary school. As you may have guessed, I’m extending my stay in Haiti past this spring. We intend to continue to live here for the next one or two years to continue serving in the clinic and community. We are very excited to begin our life together.

As you can see, there are many things to pray for here and I’m greatly appreciative of all your support in that area. Please continue to pray for this country and its leaders, this community, the clinic and staff and for Calvin and me as we prepare for our marriage.

Blessings,

Janelle Peterson

Just when you thought things couldn't get any stranger...

2011-01-17T09:43:00.003-05:00

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/01/16/haiti-duvalier-returns.html
Last night, shortly after 6 while I was eating a delicious supper of pizza with Calvin, news came over the radio that Jean Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier had landed at the airport in Port au Prince. Baby Doc had been sent into exile 25 years ago to France. Read the story above for more background.

Nobody knows what this means or why he is here. What is more fascinating to me, is to hear people talk about the "good old days" of his dictatorship. They remember having electricity, good roads, schools, no inflation and "stability". How sad it is that democracy has driven this country into more despair rather that pull it out.

Haitians will be watching closely to see what happens. I'm praying that things will remain peaceful - especially since I'm planning a short trip to the DR on Wednesday to do some wedding preparations!

One Year

2011-01-12T08:34:00.002-05:00

Please pray for and with Haiti today.

M'la (I'm there/here)

2010-12-29T20:00:00.000-05:00

When someone in Haiti says "m pa we ou" (I don't see you) - meaning they haven't seen you in a long time, the common response is to say "m'la" (I'm here/there). It means that you haven't been hiding, or away, you've been around. So, if you wonder where I've been the past couple of weeks - M'la!

Life has calmed down a bit here - it's still not normal! We still have 8 - 10 MSF workers sleeping and eating in our house on a given day, but I see them a lot less now because I got a new room! Manno graciously gave me his room downstairs (complete with an ensuite) so that I could have a bit more privacy (and a lot more sanity). He went to the DR last week to see his family. I'm not sure where he'll be sleeping when he gets back, but I'm not too worried. I've moved in and made the room mine and feel right at home!

Christmas was pretty quiet around here - just the way I like it. I have to say, I don't miss the consumerism of a North American Christmas one bit. Christmas here is not stressful in any way. I did come down with a cold a couple days before, so I did end up spending most of my time curled up under my covers in my bed, but the forced rest and relaxation was wonderful. Since the internet was down for a few days after Christmas, I got an extended vacation too - I'm not complaining one bit!

I trust you all had a joyous Christmas and I wish you God's blessings for the New Year! Everyone here is looking forward to the new year with anticipation. We all see 2010 as a year with "anpil pwoblems" (a lot of problems) and believe that 2011 will be better. I pray it is.

A Good News Story from Haut Limbe

2010-12-10T08:59:00.000-05:00

First Baby Born at Ebenezer Clinic, Haut-Limbe - by Tammi Biggs

Judeline Almonor gave birth at 12:05 a.m. on Dec. 9, 2010. Not only is this baby boy the first baby ever to be born at the Ebenezer Clinic, it is being coined as the first “cholera baby.” Judeline, from Limbe, came in to the clinic on Dec. 8 with cholera. While being treated, she started experiencing back pain. Judeline, already mother of two, was asked if she felt like she was going to have the baby. She calmly replied, “Yes.”

Dr. Manno had her moved to a separate area for her privacy. By this point, Judeline was experiencing contractions 2-3 minutes apart and was dilated to 6 cm. “You would have never known it, though, because she hardly made a sound!” Nurse Travis commented.

Nurse Travis described the next few minutes as follows: “We went to grab a birthing kit. When I got back, I lifted the sheet, saw water and the baby was crowning. In the next moment, I was catching the baby! It was that fast.”

Elio, a young man serving as a translator at the Cholera Center said, “The mom was so strong. She didn’t even make a noise. We just looked and ‘she spit the baby out!’” (A common Haitian expression)

The baby has a good set of lungs and seems to be a healthy eater. There is little chance that the baby will contract cholera and steps have been taken to reduce this risk.

In the midst of so much sickness and even death, it is a welcomed gift of God to be able to share in the joy of new life as we celebrate the birth of this beautiful baby boy.

I am in Haiti...

2010-12-08T11:49:00.000-05:00

I realize that I haven't updated since I left Haiti a couple of weeks ago for vacation in Florida. Well, I'm back! After a delightful, much needed vacation in Florida with my family, I came back to Haiti on Saturday, November 27. Since getting back, things have not slowed down at all.

The Monday after I returned, my very good friend Shauna arrived with her family to prepare for her wedding this past Saturday. It was great to reconnect with her and help prepare for the big day. We even got to spend a night in Cap at a snazzy hotel, get pedicures, manicures, eyebrows waxed, hair done... all those fun things that help a girl feel somewhat normal in this crazy country. The wedding was wonderful - the bride and groom were happy and all the guests had a good time. It was nice to be transported from the daily goings on of the clinic and hospital.

The Tuesday after i returned, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors without Borders) showed up to start setting up a Cholera Treatment Centre (CTC) in Limbe. With that, they will hope to treat the majority of cholera patients in the area, which will help provide much relief to our clinic. However, with their arrival, they also required accommodations, so our house is now full of a bunch of MSF workers ( 8 or 10 at a time). It's a bit crowded, but they are going to be around for 2 months, so I better get used to it.

The election was on November 29. Any reports I heard were that there was a lot of voter fraud, some violence outside polling stations, many people couldn't find their names on the voter list, there weren't enough ballots, etc.... not a transparent election at all. Last night they announced the 2 front runners - one of which is the candidate that the current president supports. The population is up in arms - they know that it is not possible. Protests started in Port last night and word is there is trouble in Cap as well today. Best advice, stay put and wait it out. The runoff is scheduled for January 16.

And finally, some big news, for me anyways.... I'm engaged! This April, I will be marrying Calvin Christolin. Cal is one of the accountants at Ebenezer Clinic. He's from Haut Limbe and we are looking forward to continue to serve at the clinic and the community of Haut Limbe together.

This past week

2010-11-21T15:34:00.000-05:00

This past week was one of the busiest, most stressful weeks since I've been in Haiti - probably even more than the week after the earthquake. There are a number of factors that contributed to it including: the increase in cholera cases at the clinic, hosting a 10 person team from Minnesota, riots in Cap Haitian and surrounding areas and upcoming elections.

Right now I'm writing from Orlando, Florida where I am spending a vacation with my family. There were many times during this week that I didn't believe I would be here.

Here's how the week went.

Monday morning at about 7 am, my friend Ben and I head to the airport in Cap Haitian to pick up a 10 person team from Minnesota who were coming to help volunteer in the clinic and do some construction work. About half way their, we received a phone call from the owner of the van we had hired to help transport everyone home that the road was blocked just out of Cap Haitian, so we turned off the main highway and took some backroads to the airport - including a little bit of 4x4 ing. We made it to the airport by 8 am to meet the flight. They were a bit late, but eventually showed up. We were waiting for their luggage to arrive on the second cargo flight scheduled to land. It seemed to be delayed by about 2 hours, so we were trying to decide if we would wait at the airport for it, or go home and send someone back later to pick it it. While we were trying to decide, the airport was suddenly filled with people off the street as they were fleeing tear gas that the UN had released outside as some riots had broken out.

We began to learn that there were riots all over the city and after awhile learned that they were targeted against the UN under the accusation that they brought Cholera to Haiti. For the next few hours, we had very little information as to what was happening. We sat in the departures area of domestic flights, talking and playing cards to pass the time. After our truck and van were secured behind the airport gates, Ben decided to take a motorcycle taxi down the back roads to see if we would be able to leave by driving across the runway and out the fence.

He returned to say that we could go, but we had to hurry. So we gathered everyone, and unfortunately had to leave another American there by herself as she was driving a while Landcruiser that would attract too much attention and cause danger.

To get off the airport property, we had to pay off some young men who had set up a road block. There were a couple more small road blocks along the way, they we successfully negotiated our way through. The next hour was relatively quiet as we drove through a rural area to the town of Plain du Nord and Acul du Nord. At one point we had to cross through a river with a steep, muddy bank - luckily the 4x4 helped us through.

When we got to Acul du Nord, I thought we were in the clear, but as we turned onto the national highway, we learned there was one more big road block to cross at the town of Pillatre. Fortunately, the clinic's reputation, and our familiarity with some people helped us cross with a little pay off. We finally arrived at home at about 4 that afternoon.

For the past couple of weeks, the number of cholera victims has been growing. Over the weekend we had 50 patients in the hospital at a time, with many others coming on an outpatient basis being treated with oral re-hydration. The Minnesota team was eager to help in anyway they could, and jumped right to work helping change IV bags and doing what was needed.

The next morning, I began calling the airline to see if their luggage would be arriving that day. At one point they said the airport was open and the plane would come, so we sent two guys by motorcycle and back roads to the airport, but the plane never came. There were still riots and roadblocks around the city.

Each morning I would call to see if a plane was coming, but things never cleared up enough for the airport to open.

By Thursday, many of us were beginning to wonder if we would be able to get out of the country anytime soon. We started to pursue avenues to evacuate the Minnesota team earlier then their Monday departure date. At first, it was recommended that they leave via the Carnival Cruise ship that would be landing in nearby Labadee on Friday. But later learned that to do that, they would have to register at the American Embassy, all the way in Port au Prince. Then we learned that MFI would fly them out of Port au Prince at 1 pm the next day. That meant that they would have to start the 8 hour drive to Port that afternoon, sleep in Gonaives, and finish the drive in the morning. After much discussion and consultation, we decided that it was not a safe option as we had heard of several roadblocks being set up on that road.

We decided to wait and see if the airport would open Friday or Saturday to fly out on MFI or IBC.

Thursday night there were rumours that the roads were being cleaned up and on Friday morning, we awoke to the sounds of horns of big trucks passing by on the highway. A good sign. The airport opened later that day, however not in time for my IBC flight out to Ft. Lauderdale to come. We learned that IBC and MFI would be flying out Saturday am so we made arrangements to go on those.

Early Saturday am (5:30) I headed into Cap to the airport on the main roads to check in for my flight. The rest of the group came later that morning to check in to their MFI flight and by 12 o'clock, we were all on our way to the US.

The road blocks during the week had made it difficult for us to receive medical supplies at the clinic, so by friday, IV fluids were due to run out, but thankfully that afternoon, it was safe to drive to Cap to pick up a load from Doctors without Borders.

Please keep Haiti in your prayers. Elections are in one week. People are saying that this is fueling the riots, while others lay the blame solely on the UN and their lack of progress during their 5 year occupation, and the belief that Cholera was brought to Haiti by Nepalese UN soldiers. Whatever the case, tensions are high the country is hot, or as they would say in Kreyol "peyi cho".

Please pray that their are enough medical personal and supplies to treat the growing number of people infected with this deadly disease.

Pray that Ebenezer Clinic can make good decisions.

Pray for strength for Dr. Manno and the staff.

Please also pray that I have a restful and relaxing week in Florida with my family. My plan is to return to Haiti next Saturday as long as things stay calm.

Here we go...

2010-11-14T14:09:00.000-05:00

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and I think they are going to stay crazy for awhile.

Yesterday, we had 50 patients at the hospital. Those of you who have seen it, may wonder where in the world we can put 50 people... well, everywhere! An orphanage on the other side of Cap Haitian has donated a bunch of cots and have also constructed a make shift tarp shelter to the back of the hospital.

We are finding that God is continuing to provide for the needs of the hospital. When the container full of medical supplies arrived almost a year ago, many of us wondered when we would ever use some of the supplies donated - like adult diapers! Well, we know now. And we are so lucky that these supplies were already here, ready to be used.

Also, it's amazing that the Breton group finished tiling and painting the hospital just 2 days before the first cholera patient arrived!

Last night, a group of American and Dominican doctors and nurses arrived with a bunch more supplies and to help provide medical care, giving the Ebenezer staff much needed relief.

Tomorrow, a group of 10 will arrive from the States. A couple of them will help in the clinic, while the others will help construct some additional shelves for the depot and pharmacy.

Thank you from the staff and board of Ebenezer Clinic to all those who have donated to and come on a missions trip with the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada to help with this construction. Without your help, many of the patients we are treating would have no where else to go.

And then the sun came out...

2010-11-12T11:16:00.000-05:00

Finally!

It feels so good to have the sun beating on my skin warming me up. Maybe now the muddy roads will being to dry and my clothes will dry!

I was just up at the clinic/hospital to see where things are at. Yesterday, we received another donation of IV fluids that should last us for about a week! So good.

Currently, we have 19 patients in the hospital. To date, we've treated 78 patients since the epidemic started.

What do we need? We need funds to help cover the extra expenses of running the generator 24/7 (it costs over $100US/day), and paying additional staff salaries. We weren't planning on opening the hospital yet, so we don't have a way to cover these expenses yet.

If you would like to help, you can make a donation through the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada online via CanadaHelps. Please designate your gift to Haiti Clinic and write "cholera" in the comment box.

Or, you can send a cheque to:
Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada
PO Box 34025, RPO Fort Richmond
Winnipeg, MB R3T 5T5

Attach a note saying your donation is for Cholera relief in Haiti.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

22 degrees Celsius is chilly

2010-11-11T09:05:00.000-05:00

Okay, call me a wimp, call me spoiled, I don't care. But after one week of rainy, cloudy weather and temperatures no higher than 22 or 23 degrees Celsius, you would be chilly too. This past week I've been wearing jeans, long sleeved shirts, socks during the day and my winter time pj's at night with 2 sheets covering me. My clothes got washed on Monday... they are still not dry. They are strewn across the living room on chairs. I'm just hoping they dry before I send my next load on Monday! But, with all that, I'm thankful that I have a dry place to sleep every night.

Things are starting to slow down a bit at the clinic - well at least yesterday we did not receive as many cholera patients as the day before. So far we have treated over 35. Unfortunately, Wednesday night we lost our first 2 patients. One child, about 5 years old came in. They got the IV in, but a couple of hours later he was complaining of being cold and just seemed lifeless. He passed away. Another man, who we suspect was HIV positive, came in without any family and kept pulling out his IV so eventually he died as well.

On Monday we are expecting a group from Minnesota. There are a few medical professionals coming as well as some others who will help build shelves in the clinic and depot.

On Friday, I fly to Florida to spend a week with my family. I'm very excited to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving with them. I'm also excited to have a hot shower and put some overstretched t-shirts in a clothes dryer and shrink them back to their original size! Small things excite me these days...

Treating Cholera

2010-11-08T08:41:00.000-05:00

We had 15 cholera patients in the hospital over the weekend. Here are a couple of stories of the people we are treating.

One woman came in to be treated by herself - her husband and children had already died of cholera earlier in the week so she is left with no family. Normally the family is responsible for feeding and caring for patients in Haitian hospitals - here she was able to find help. Please pray for her as she recovers and tries to begin her life again without her family.

A baby was brought in yesterday. He had just started to vomit and have diarrhea a half hour before and was already in shock. The mother was crying believing that he would die. It took about a half hour to get the IV in because his veins were already collapsed. This morning, he is alive.

We are learning that a lot of people are dying from cholera because many health professionals are not well educated about the disease and are afraid of contracting it. Also, in most hospitals, the patient must come with money to go buy their medication and IV's before they are treated. Can you imagine trying to find the money to buy medication while you are vomiting and suffering from diarrhea?

Please continue to pray for strength for the clinic staff and for all those we are treating.

Cholera in Limbe

2010-11-05T09:35:00.000-05:00

As I’m sure you all have heard, there is a cholera outbreak in Haiti. It originated in the Artobonite Valley, about 100 kms from here, about two weeks ago. They have reported over 400 deaths and several thousand infections. A week ago, we started hearing about cases in the north (where I am) and on Monday we had our first cholera patient being treated at the almost finished hospital at Ebenezer Clinic, and last night we had 5 patients staying to be treated. These patients are coming from Limbe, about 5 kms away where we believe cholera has infected the river where many people wash clothes, bathe and gather water.

Cholera is a waterborne disease that causes dehydration by vomiting and severe diarrhoea. If untreated, it can be fatal within hours. However, the treatment is very simple – rehydration through IV fluids and antibiotics.

The two hospitals in Limbe are full of cholera patients and so people are coming here once they’ve been turned away, or if they do not have the money to pay for treatment. We anticipate that the number of patients will only increase in the coming days.

How can you help? Please pray for the staff at Ebenezer Clinic who are serving above and beyond. Also, using the almost finished hospital as a treatment centre also means that the clinic will have extra expenses (running the generator almost 24 hours a day, buying extra medication, paying extra staff time). Most patients we are seeing will not be able to pay for their treatment. You can help offset these expenses by making a donation through the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada. All donations are tax deductible and can be made online at www.CanadaHelps.org (please designate your gift to Haiti Clinic and write “Cholera” in the comment box) or by mailing a cheque with a note that your donation is for Cholera in Haiti to:

Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada
PO Box 34025, RPO Fort Richmond
Winnipeg, MB R3T 5T5

Thanks for your support!

This week

2010-11-03T14:01:00.000-05:00

Early Monday morning (leaving the house at 6) we dropped off the Breton group at the airport. I have to say it was a very successful trip for them (I hope they feel the same way). We were busy and accomplished a lot of work and they met a lot of people. Thanks you guys!

On Monday we also received our first cholera patient at the hospital. Over the weekend they discovered that cholera is now originating in Limbe (about 5 km away) and both hospitals are full of cholera patients. Yesterday we received our second patient. We are trying to create a plan of how to respond with treatments and figure out what extra funds and staffing will be required. The hospital is almost finished - we would like to get the plumbing hooked up as soon as possible.

Over the weekend there were also reports that the cholera originated from a Nepalese UN Base in Haiti. Apparently the strain is the same as the one that is in Nepal (where cholera is endemic). This is makes things so much worse in my opinion and does nothing to help build trust between the UN and the Haitian people.

As if this weren't enough, Tomas is heading our way by the end of the week!

Update

2010-10-26T11:18:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Thought I would give you a little update about the past few days - they've been busy!

First off - we finished preparing the house for the group! I was doubtful during the process, but by Sunday night, the upstairs was completely finished being painted, the stairs were smoothed and squared and the shower was fixed! Phew - just in the nick of time!

Yesterday morning we picked up a group of 9 eager folks from Faith Covenant Church in Breton who will be here for one week. They are doing great and survived the night of barking dogs, roosters crowing and bugs in their rooms! Yesterday we did a little tour of the clinic, hospital and area, let them rest, eat some great food and play with the neighbour kids. This morning, they are hard at work at the clinic tiling and painting.

And now about Cholera.... we have no reported cases in Haut Limbe as of yet, but the clinic is preparing as we expect patients will come here eventually for treatment. Sunday morning in church Dr. Manno and Dr. Joselie were given some time to provide some education on what Cholera is, how to prevent it, and how to treat it. Prevention and education is the key right now.

Please keep praying for Haiti.

Cholera death toll jumps in Haiti

2010-10-24T15:08:00.000-05:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11616535

The death toll from a cholera outbreak in Haiti has leapt past 250, officials say.
More than 3,000 people were infected, said Gabriel Thimote, director general of Haiti's health department.

Five cases of cholera were detected in the capital, Port-au-Prince, but UN officials said the patients had been quickly diagnosed and isolated.
Around a million survivors of January's earthquake are living in tents near the city with poor sanitary conditions.
But Mr Thimote expressed optimism the outbreak could be contained.
"We have registered a diminishing in numbers of deaths and of hospitalised people in the most critical areas," he said.
"The tendency is that it is stabilising, without being able to say that we have reached a peak."
Quick killerHealth officials have been trying to contain the outbreak in areas north of the capital.

The five victims isolated in Port-au-Prince had become infected in the Artibonite region - the main outbreak zone - and then travelled to the capital where they developed symptoms, the UN's humanitarian affairs agency said.
This meant Port-au-Prince was "not a new location of infection", it added.
Aid officials have described the prospect of a cholera outbreak in the city as "awful".
Those in the camps are highly vulnerable to the intestinal infection, which is caused by bacteria transmitted through contaminated water or food.
Cholera causes diarrhoea and vomiting leading to severe dehydration, and can kill quickly if left untreated through rehydration and antibiotics.
The worst-hit areas of the outbreak were Saint-Marc, Grande Saline, L'Estere, Marchand Dessalines, Desdunes, Petite Riviere, Lachapelle, and St Michel de l'Attalaye, said the UN.
A number of cases have also been reported in the city of Gonaives, and towns closer to the capital, including Archaei, Limbe and Mirebalais.
'Contaminated' riverMany hospitals have been overwhelmed, with patients at the St Nicholas hospital in Saint-Marc being being forced to lie outside in unhygienic conditions, hooked up to intravenous drips.
The aid agency Medicins Sans Frontieres has set up a cordon around the hospital to control exit and entry to try to contain the spread of the outbreak.

Dr John Fequiere told the BBC that his hospital in Marchand Dessalines was also struggling to cope, and that he had seen dozens die.
"We are trying to take care of people, but we are running out of medicine and need additional medical care. We are giving everything we have but we need more to keep taking care of people," he said.
Some patients said they became ill after drinking water from a canal, but others said they were drinking only purified water.
The Artibonite river, which irrigates central Haiti, is thought to be contaminated.
Haitian Health Minister Alex Larsen has urged people to wash their hands with soap, not eat raw vegetables, boil all food and drinking water, and avoid bathing in and drinking from rivers.
This is the first time in a century that cholera has struck the nation, which has enough antibiotics to treat 100,000 cases of cholera and intravenous fluids to treat 30,000, according to the UN.
Haiti - the poorest country in the region - is still reeling from January's devastating quake, which killed up to 300,000 people.
Seismic experts say that quake may have been caused by an unseen fault, and that pressure could be building for another tremor.
The journal Nature Geoscience has published two papers which both conclude the fault originally blamed for the quake was not the real source, and that it remains a threat.
"As the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault did not release any significant accumulated elastic strain, it remains a significant seismic threat for Haiti and for Port-au-Prince in particular," concluded one report written by Eric Calais of Purdue University in Indiana.

October Update

2010-10-21T09:58:00.000-05:00

Dear friends and family,

Greetings from Haiti!

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 11 months since I arrived in Haiti. In some ways I feel like I just arrived here yesterday, in other ways, I feel like I’ve been here for years. So much has happened in that time – some good and some bad – no matter which, I’ve learned so much about myself, my faith, my God, and I feel like I’m just starting to really learn about Haiti. Just when I think I’ve mastered some revelation of why Haiti is the way it is, I stumble upon some other fact or truth that just opens up the door to more questions. I’ve been doing a lot of processing in my head – I’ve meant to share more of it with you on my blog, but sometimes I just can’t put it all into words on a screen. I’ll try to get better at that!

That being said, things are going well here. Summer vacation is over – kids are back in school and life is getting back to its regular rhythm. Things at the clinic have been steady. Dr. Manno was particularly busy during August and September as Dr. Joselie was on vacation. There is still work to be done on the new hospital and a lot of planning to be done before it can open.

We have a couple of groups lined up to visit in the next month. The first is a group from the Covenant Church in Breton. This is the first time for this church to visit Haut Limbe so I’m very excited to show them around and have them experience this community. They will be working on some more tiling in the hospital as well as some painting, cleaning and organizing. About a week or so after they leave, I will be hosting a group from a Covenant Church in Minnesota. They will continue the work on the hospital as well as assisting in the clinic as they have a few medical professionals coming with them.

Before that group leaves, I will be flying out to Florida to spend a week with my parents, sister and brother-in-law and their children. We’ll be going to Disneyworld, Seaworld and just spending time together as a family. There is also a rumour that we will have a Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner too!

My original plan was to return back to Canada after our vacation, but I have decided to stay on here in Haiti longer. Right now, I’m looking at staying until the Spring of 2011. I feel like this past year was such a learning experience, I want to put all I have learned to use for hosting the upcoming groups.

To do this, I am humbly asking for your continued prayer and financial support for my ministry. I am so grateful for all the support you have shown me in the past year – it is so encouraging, and I know I wouldn’t have been able to be here without it.

There are a number of ways you can support me in prayer:
• For me to stay healthy and strong to fight off any illness or fatigue;
• For me to continue to learn and understand more Creole;
• For me to have patience and understanding when dealing with cultural differences;
• For me to find ways to continue to find ways to be spiritually fed (I’m beginning to understand Creole sermons, but it is still a struggle)

If you would like to continue (or begin) to support me financially, you can do it a couple of ways. All donations can be made through the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada and are eligible for a tax receipt.

If you would like donate by cheque, please download a response card, complete and mail to the address given. Please make sure my name is does not appear on the cheque.

If you would like to donate online, you can through CanadaHelps.org. Please designate your donation to Haiti Clinic and in the comment space indicate your donation is for Janelle Peterson.

I would also encourage you to consider supporting the ongoing work of Ebenezer Clinic. You can do that the same way as supporting me; just indicate your donation is for the Haiti Clinic.

Thanks again for partnering with me in this ministry. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Blessings,

Janelle Peterson

The week before...

2010-10-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

The week before a group comes is always busy. We're making sure that the supplies are purchased for the work project, arranging transportation and there always seems to be some project going on at the house.

Last winter, it was amazing what could be done in the few days before a group came. A whole bathroom was tiled, painted and given new fixtures, new doors were installed, new screens were put in windows, rooms were painted, etc. This week is no different. Currently, the inside stairs are being fixed - they were previously very uneven and steep and frankly quite dangerous if you were not used to climbing them, especially in the dark! Today paint is being purchased which will give my room a face lift and hopefully the common area upstairs. Who knows what else will happen - I'm learning not to be so surprised!

If you build it, they won't come?

2010-10-18T11:57:00.000-05:00

Usually I attend the local Baptist church here in Haut Limbe every Sunday. It's a fairly large church in structure and attendance. I have a really hard time estimating numbers of people, but I would say there are regularly 5-600 people that attend and fill the whole church. It's not a fancy church by any means. It's full of very uncomfortable, falling-apart, squished together wooden benches the fit 8 or 9 Haitians comfortably, (maybe 5 North Americans comfortably). Usually, I bring my own plastic patio chair to sit on in a aisle at the back. I do this for a couple of reasons - so my butt won't fall asleep, so I can limit the sweat that I create, and so I can change positions more than once during the 2.5 hour service. All in all, it works well.

The church has 2 main pastors as well as many visiting pastors who come to preach. There are many choirs and singing groups. There is a worship team and there is a "sound system" that somewhat works. As my Kreyol improves, I'm beginning to enjoy the service more and I'm getting a bit more out of it.

Yesterday however, I wanted to experience another church. I had met a pastor of a nearby church and I thought it be interesting to check it out. So, my friend and I took a motorcycle to this little church about 5 minutes away. It was a very small building in comparison to ours, and probably had about 50 people inside worshiping. When we got there, we found out the pastor wasn't there yet. We weren't sure if he was still coming or wasn't coming at all, so we decided to drive a little farther down the road to another church.

We drive up to this church which is in a compound with a school and medical clinic. The service had already started when we walked in. As we walked in, I felt like I was in a North American church (except for the metal roof above). It had ceramic tile on the floor, a sound booth at the back of the church, tons of very nicely stained, comfortable benches (I might even dare to call them pews), the platform was raised at the front with beautiful flowers on it, a worship team with drums, guitars and a keyboard, a communion table, and the kicker - a power point projector!

I was a bit overwhelmed, to say the least. But as I looked around, the pews were over half empty and the service was already started. I thought of how crowded things were in Haut Limbe. Very interesting.

Obviously this church and compound were heavily supported by a North American church. And I learned later, that really this church didn't really exist before the N.A. church built it. It wasn't it a partnership between a Haitian church and a N.A. church, it was basically a N.A. church plopped down in the middle of Haiti. It's been there for 10 years, and it's still only half full on a Sunday morning.

When we left after the service, I could say that I enjoyed it - it was familiar to me and I was physically comfortable (lots of ceiling fans). We walked around the grounds a bit and saw the Pastor's very new looking white, shiny extended cab truck which he will get in and drive back to his comfortable house in Cap Haitien. You see, he just planted a church where there was some land. The people didn't ask for a church, someone in North America thought it would be a good idea to build a church in Haiti.

It made me sad and made me appreciate our over crowded church in Haut Limbe all the more. It may not have a lot, it's certainly not perfect, but it definitely is an integral part of this community's life, which is what every church should be - in my opinion.

My double life

2010-10-16T09:57:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I feel like I lead a double life here. Let me explain myself.

When I made the decision to come to Haiti, I knew that I didn't want to live like a traditional missionary in Haiti. Haiti is full of missionary compounds where a lot of times American and Canadian missionaries can live a very secure, comfortable life with luxuries like 24 hour electricity and running water. Sad to say, a lot of times (from my limited observation) it would be easy for these missionaries to refrain from engaging in daily Haitian life. I'm not saying that is how all missionaries live, I'm just saying that some can and do. That's not how I wanted to experience Haiti. If I was going to come to Haiti, I wanted to experience Haiti as much as I possibly could.

Fortunately, Dr. Manno's mom was willing to let me come live at their house which is not in a compound, but in the "town" surrounded by plenty of neighbours and a mountain to climb behind it. By Haitian standards, the house is very comfortable. Most of the floors upstairs where I live have ceramic tile. There are 3 washrooms with running water (when the town water system is working which is most of the time). The electrical system is hooked up to the clinic's generator so we have electricity during the day when the clinic is open. There is always food available to eat and everyone eats twice a day (except me - I get three meals a day). Yep, it's pretty comfortable. It's not all rosy though. I've had my encounters with rats, ants, cockroaches, no water, noisy neighbours blaring their music,

However, everyday I see my neighbours who do not live as luxuriously as me. I see children bathing outside from my bedroom window. I see the holes in the roofs of their houses when it rains. I know that only the eldest boy of 4 children (with another on the way) of a single mom next door is going to school this year because that's what the mom can afford. I see his little sisters wear the same 2 dresses everyday.

While I see these harsh realities around me everyday and I try to interact with my neighbours, I know that I can never fully understand what they experience. You see, because I am a "blan" (foreigner), I know that I will always be able to find food. I will always have money to buy gas to put in the truck or motorcycle. I will never have to decide if I will eat today or send my child to school or to the doctor. I can plan a vacation and get on a plane or a bus within a day and leave this country simply because I have a Canadian passport and access to money.

I'm usually uncomfortable when I'm given special treatment because if my skin colour - like being offered a chair at a futbol match when everyone else is standing. But sometimes I like it. Like when I get to sit in the front seat of the truck instead of being squished in the back, or I can walk into a fancy hotel to use their washroom and know that no one will question my presence there, or when I can walk through "security" at the airport with no problem, and so on.

I don't know how to reconcile these two lives. I don't know if I ever will be able to. And I'm writing this from inside a nice, missionary house where I am currently house/cat/bird-sitting with 24 hour electricity, internet, running water and a North American kitchen - and I like it and I am thankful that I have the opportunity to stay here every once and awhile.

I don't mean for this post to be judgmental in any way - it's just thoughts that I'm trying to process.

On Etiquette and Manners

2010-10-06T18:55:00.000-05:00

I've been in Haiti for just over 10 months now and I'm still trying to figure out the Haitian system of manners and etiquette. It's funny how I thought Canadian norms of manners were universal - silly me! While there are a lot of things that are the same, there are a lot that are different. Here are a few of the things I've noticed.

As a well-trained, polite Canadian, I say "please (souple)" and "thank you (mesi)" all the time. Only recently have I begun to notice that "please and thank you" are not always required. Often times when somebody wants you to bring or pass you something, they simply say "Ba'm ________ (fill in the blank) which translates to "Give me __________". This is not considered rude. I still always add a "souple" afterwards. Don't get me wrong, Haitians are very polite, it just all depends on the situation and context and how you interpret it. What may seem important to a Canadian just might not seem important to a Haitian - or it is and is just shown a different way.
Forming lines does not come naturally here. The only place I've seen it work well is at banks where they actually have those roped mazes to follow, otherwise, it's a free for all! Whether it's a counter at a fast food restaurant or cashier counter at a store you have to do your best to be heard or seen to place your order or pay for your merchandise. I am not good at this. Maybe there is a system of how things work - I have not learned it yet!
Time. Punctuality is usually not important here - but sometimes it is. Most people are early for church - I suspect this has something to do with being able to find a seat. But for events like weddings, graduations, parties, it is acceptable to start and/or show up 1, 2 or 3 hours later. I, of course, am still usually 5 minutes early from the set time. I'm also learning that many people just do not have a good concept of time. A friend may be going to Cap Haitian, I'll ask what time they will be back, they reply that they will be back in 1.5 hours. Now, this is impossible as it is a 1 hour drive to Cape and a 1 hour drive back and then you still need time to do your errands!
Haitians don't like to ask questions or say no to someone who is their elder or superior, even if they ask you to do something that will completely affect your plans for the day or require more work for everybody. They will just do it even if there is a better option - which I have often pointed out! Also, if something isn't as it should be, they don't seem to investigate. Example. The clinic has been waiting for a number of money wires to come in the past couple of weeks. Several times we have sent the signatories to the bank to check if the funds were received. Each time they came back and reported that they were not there. So, I started sending some emails to see what the problem was. I was told that the funds were indeed at the branch. So, on Monday I go to the bank with the two accountants myself to get to the bottom of this. We ask the teller if the funds are there, it takes a little while, but eventually she tells us that 2 have been received, but not the one that I had been told by the main bank was there. So, I asked some more questions, she started investigating and found out there had been a little problem so the account had not been updated correctly. The money was there. I can only imagine how long we would have "waited" for the funds if I had not gone to ask questions. My friends here think I'm crazy for asking so many questions - but you have to here. If you don't all you get is vague answers and perhaps misinformation!
Haitians are patient. They will wait and wait and hardly complain. I used to think I was a patient person, but being here, I've learned there is a whole other level of patience that can be achieved. An example, the neighbour kids will often sit on the steps outside my door waiting for me to come home or to leave the house so I can help them with their English. They don't call for me - or if they do it's so quiet that I can't hear them. If when I get home I have something else to do, I tell them that, and they still wait for me until I have time for them.

These are just some of the things I am learning and understanding... very slowly!

Just a little reminder.

2010-10-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

Source: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/11/2216179/with-fraction-of-rubble-cleared.html

With fraction of rubble cleared, Haiti looks little changed since earthquake

The Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti | From the dusty rock mounds lining the streets to a National Palace that looks as if it’s vomiting concrete, rubble is the most visible reminder of Haiti’s devastating earthquake.
Rubble is everywhere: cracked slabs, busted-up cinder blocks, half-destroyed buildings that still spill bricks and pulverized concrete onto the sidewalks.
By some estimates, the Jan. 12 quake left about 33 million cubic yards of debris in Port-au-Prince — more than seven times the amount of concrete used to build the Hoover Dam. So far, only about 2 percent has been cleared, which means the city looks pretty much as it did a month after the quake.
Government officials and outside aid groups say rubble removal is the priority before Haiti can rebuild. But the reasons why so little has been cleared are complex.
Heavy equipment has to be shipped in by sea. Dump trucks have difficulty navigating narrow and mountainous dirt roads. An abysmal records system makes it hard for the government to determine who owns a dilapidated property. And there are few sites on which to dump the rubble, which often contains human remains.
Also, no single person in the Haitian government has been declared in charge of the rubble, prompting foreign nongovernmental organizations to take on the task themselves. The groups are often forced to fight for a small pool of available money and contracts — which in turn means the work is done piecemeal, with little coordination.
Projects funded by USAID and the Pentagon have spent more than $98.5 million to remove 1.2 million cubic yards of rubble.
“There’s not a master plan,” Eric Overvest, the Haiti director for the U.N. Development Program, said with a sigh. “After the earthquake, the first priority was clearing the roads. That was the easiest part.”
Leslie Voltaire, a Haitian architect, urban planner and presidential candidate, says his country needs a “rubble czar.”
“There should be one person in charge,” he said. “Resettlement has not even begun yet, and it can’t until the city has been cleared.”

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/11/2216179/with-fraction-of-rubble-cleared.html#ixzz11D7rmP2h

Where did September go?

2010-09-30T11:05:00.001-05:00

I can't believe that September is pretty much over! Where did it go? I guess this means summer vacation is over. University started earlier this month and primary and secondary schools will begin again next week. The sun is setting a bit earlier and the nights are "cooler". Yes, summer is over. It also means that things will start picking up again in terms of my work. We have 2 groups scheduled to come this fall - one at the end of October and another in mid-November. It'll be so exciting to see what work will be completed on the new hospital!

I was able to spend a few days this past weekend in Santiago, DR after recovering from a bit of illness. I'm almost 100% now, thank goodness. I would like to say that I relaxed in the DR, but really I didn't. I joked with my friend/host that I came to Santiago for stimulation - shopping, traffic, city life - I can rest when I'm in Haut Limbe! The main reason I went was to get my passport stamped to keep me legal, but in an added bonus I got to do some shopping for personal items, get a haircut, drive up to Puerto Plata, experience Dominican Church, realize how much of my Spanish language skills I've lost, watch cable TV, have ice in my drinks, eat salad and hand out with my friend Tammi. It was a nice break.

Now, back to work!

What has been going on...

2010-09-11T09:26:00.000-05:00

September is almost half over - I can't believe it! It's seems like life is flying by here, although in the midst of it, time goes slowly. Here's a bit of what has been going on the past few weeks.

I finally got to Cap Haitian and got to eat some ice cream! I hadn't been there in over a month and consequently hadn't eaten ice cream in over a month - not good!
In Cape, I contemplated purchasing a new cell phone - my current one is basically the cheapest kind you can buy in Haiti - it used to do the job, but lately texts haven't been sending and I've been frustrated with it's ability to find signal. So, I thought I would take a look to see what I could find. Turns out, I'm not better at making decisions while shopping here than I am in Canada. There was very little selection at the Digicel Store, so I walked away empty handed. Maybe next time?
Dr. Manno has been busy at the clinic as Dr. Joselie is on holidays in the States. We are starting to plan for the projects that the groups will do when they come in just over a month!
Fellow Covenant Missionary and friend, Tammi Biggs from Santiago, DR was here the past week to spend some time here and in Port au Prince with Dr. Manno to visit the camps the clinic adopted.
We've had almost 24/7 EDH here for the past week. Turns out a neighbouring town, Acul du Nord or Lakil in Creole, is celebrating their saint this week. There have been parties all week and since the head of the senate comes from Lakil, we've had consistent electricity. It's going to be a bit of a shock when they take it away!
We fixed the internet in my office! Woohoo! Now I can come whenever I want and since I got a new laptop with a long lasting battery, I really can come whenever I want!
My rat problems are not over - I discovered a half eaten shoe this morning in my room. I certainly didn't eat, so the rat has been back. I'm going to be asking for a new door later today.
I drove for my second time in Haiti. This time it was Manno's truck which is an automatic. I survived the trip just fine, just had issues with a key that didn't want to come out of the ignition, power locks that have a mind of their own and power windows and seats that don't like to cooperate!
Bird/cat/house sitting went amazingly well. It never took me more than 3 minutes to get the parrots into their cages this time and they didn't escape!
I've started Creole class again as my teacher has returned from his visit to the US to visit his wife. I have now started the level 3 reader and get to read little stories which are basically Haitian proverbs in story form.
Malen is back cooking in the kitchen. She was on vacation for August - I missed her!
Avocados in Haiti are huge! I love them and I try to eat one every day. Sadly, mango season is over. :(

Rat La (The Rat)

2010-08-24T08:51:00.000-05:00

When I was deciding whether I would come to Haiti or not, I played a lot of scenarios in my head. I imagined all exciting things about coming here – meeting new people, learning a new language and culture, experiencing life in a different country, etc. I also imagined all of the risks or things that would make me uncomfortable – having to eat food I don’t like, struggling to learn a new language and not being able to communicate, getting sick, cold showers, unreliable water supply, limited electricity, living with bugs, cockroaches, spiders, rats. In my time here, I’ve experienced all of these things, good and bad and have been okay with it, until early Monday at 4:30 am.

For some reason I woke up (I usually don’t wake up during the night). I decided to go to the washroom. When I came back to my room with my flashlight in hand, I saw (and heard) something scurry across the spare bed in my room – a rat!!! I’ve seen rats in my here – but they were always outside or in other buildings, not my house, never mind my room. I let out a scream and stood frozen. I didn’t know what to do. It scurried up the wall, onto my shelves and climbed the window screen. I let out a few more screams and then ran to the stairwell to yell for Jimmy (Manno’s cousin who lives downstairs and the only other person in the house) to come because I saw a rat. Jimmy comes upstairs, pillowcase in hand and Mama isn’t far behind (she heard my screams from the other house). I show them where it is, and before they can do anything, it runs out the door, probably out the window to its home in the trees. Mama gives me a hug, tells me not to be scared and to go to sleep with my door shut. For the record, my door is always closed when I sleep, however it has quite a large gap at the bottom just the right size for a rat to sneak under. I go back to bed, curl up in a ball, afraid to leave my bed, or my room, not knowing when the rat is going to come back. I must have fallen asleep eventually, but it wasn’t very restful.

In the morning, everyone in the house knew what had happened (they heard the screams) and were making fun of me for being scared of a rat. They said “Ayiti gen anpil rat yo” (Haiti has a lot of rats) as if I didn’t know that. Apparently it doesn’t phase them when a rat scampers by them while they are sleeping. And apparently I was supposed to yell “amwe”, not just scream, so that people knew to come. Oh the things I am learning.

So, even though there are a lot of rats in Haiti, I’m not happy that they can come into my room whenever they please. I hope we can get the bottom of my door fixed, but I’m not holding my breath. Maybe someday I will be okay with rats running around my room, but it’s not going to be in the next few days. Thankfully, I’m going to house/bird sit at Steve and Nancy’s until Friday. Maybe I’ll catch on my lost sleep!

How to write about Haiti

2010-08-19T09:56:00.000-05:00

I found this article posted on another blog I read. Something to think about...

Click here to read it.

Haitian Wedding

2010-08-16T11:24:00.000-05:00

Sister Yadlee and me after the ceremony.

I went to my third Haitian wedding on Saturday. Every one that I have attended has been different, so I have yet to fully understand what a traditional Haitian wedding is like. I guess they are all different, depending on the couple, much like in Canada. I do have a few observations though.

Haitian brides look either bored or terrified during the ceremony – it seems like they would rather be anywhere else but at their own wedding.

There must be at least one choir at every wedding.

People dress up in their finest clothes – the shinier the better.

Bride and Groom during the ceremony.

There must be at least one Celine Dion song played during the ceremony – in French or English. Yesterday they played “All By Myself” – which I found a bit funny, since it was a wedding. But of course, no one else clued into that – it was a Celine Dion song and it had a nice melody!

The photographer will do anything to get a good shot of the couple – meaning they will stand at the front, blocking everyone else’s view during most of the ceremony.

The bride, groom, and their attendants get to sit in fancy chairs on the platform for the ceremony. They only stand up when it’s time to say the vows and exchange rings.

Weddings are usually in French – to show that you are intellectual – even though many of the guests aren’t able to speak French.

Haitians don’t like to linger at the reception – they eat their food and get out! I think it mostly has to do with the fact that its getting dark by that time and many people will have to walk or take public transport to get home.

Tampico is the drink of choice for any festive occasion.

Since Being Back...

2010-08-06T09:40:00.001-05:00

I've been back in Haiti for 2 weeks and just realized that I haven't posted here to let you all know that I did indeed make it back here safely. Yep, I'm back and the trip went relatively smoothly. I had a few moments in Fort Lauderdale when I thought I wouldn't get to fly out because a tropical storm was due to approach south Florida, but we made it out even if we were a bit delayed because US Customs' computers were down (for a moment I thought I was already in Haiti!).

What's been happening since I've been back?

I celebrated my 30th birthday with my Haitian friends and family with pizza, popcorn, lots of ice cream and a couple of trips to Cap Haitian.
I said good bye to Shauna who has finished up her time in Haiti and is on her way back to Canada.
I endured the many comments of "ou gwo" or "you're big" after eating a North American diet for 3 + weeks. Being told "ou gwo" is actually a huge compliment in Haiti, but I don't think North Americans will ever be able to take it that way.
I've been to 4 futbol games so far. Now that the World Cup is over, the regular futbol leagues have commenced and everyday around 4:30 or so, life stops to go watch a match at the neighbouring town.
I've been enjoying my new Dell Laptop with 8 hour battery life to watch a Friends episode or two in the evening when there is no electricity.
and finally... Wyclef Jean is running for President of Haiti??? Not too sure what I think about that one yet.

Pictures - Progress on the hospital

2010-07-17T14:48:00.000-05:00

Food for Thought

2010-07-17T14:16:00.000-05:00

This episode of "This American Life" was broadcast on NPR in May. The second story (at about the 30 minute mark) features abit about Ebenezer Clinic in Haut Limbe.

You can stream it or download it from ITunes here.

Six Months Plus a Day

2010-07-13T12:01:00.000-05:00

It's been 6 months and a day since the earthquake. Here's a report I prepared after my recent visit to Port au Prince to assess the work that Ebenezer Clinic did.

On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Port au Prince area of Haiti. It is estimated that over 200,000 people lost their lives and close to 1 million people lost their homes and were forced to relocate to other parts of the country or in tent cities amidst the rubble. In the two weeks following the quake, the world watched Haiti intently and gave generously to the relief efforts. Within hours, military and organizations (large and small) from around the world descended on Haiti to help.

Those who live in the north of Haiti (about a 250 km drive away) felt the earthquake as well. Although there was little physical damage, the damage was still felt here as many people lost loved ones in Port au Prince and we began to receive many Internally Displaced People (IDPs) as they migrated north to start a new life. Amidst this, Ebenezer Clinic in Haut Limbe began to look for a way that they too could respond to the needs of those affected by the earthquake. In the first two weeks following the quake, the clinic decided to provide free services to all of its patients, most of who had come from Port au Prince. In that period, the clinic saw approximately 2,000 patients. In addition, they began to look for ways to directly provide relief in Port au Prince. Through the generosity of donors like the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada, Geneva Global, Mission of Mercy and numerous other Canadian and American individuals, Ebenezer Clinic created a strategy to adopt two communities in Port au Prince that had not yet received help.

Here is an excerpt of the journal of Janelle Peterson during 2 day trip to Port au Prince to observe the relief work of Ebenezer Clinic.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

I woke up at 4:30 this morning as we were supposed to leave at 5 to go to Port au Prince. We (5 clinic staff including a doctor, lab technician, and pharmacist plus myself) are going to do mobile clinics at two of the sites that Ebenezer Clinic helped after the earthquake that happened just 6 months and a day ago. None of us have visited the sites before and only a few of us have been to Port since the earthquake. 6 am rolls around and we finally load ourselves and the medication into the truck to begin the 250 km (or 6 hour drive) to Port au Prince.

It’s a long and bumpy ride. The National Road is in some dire need of maintenance – it doesn’t quite compare to Hwy #1 in Canada. The first 2 hours to Gonaives include ascending and descending two mountain passes (without guard rails), dodging pot holes every 50 ft and bumping along coarse gravel parts. There are 4 of us sitting in the backseat of the truck – which helps with holding you in place over the bumps, but after just two hours, my legs begin to turn numb.

We begin to approach Gonaives, which has suffered its own bout of destruction through hurricanes in the past few years. I can’t help but notice all of the signs that outside donors (NGO’s and governments) have posted along the road to show their projects. It’s discouraging to see because although the signs are posted there, any true sign of progress or development is not evident. I wonder if Port au Prince will look like that in two years.

Once we pass Gonaives and get close to Saint Marc, the road becomes much smoother and we can zip along at 60 mph. The condition of the road is a reminder to me of the disparity between the north (where I live) and the south (Port au Prince) in Haiti. As we approach the outskirts of Port, we begin to see the first tent cities set up in the open fields. For those in the truck who are coming to Port for the first time, they are overwhelmed by this sight. It’s hard to imagine that people fled the city and their crumbled homes to find refuge in an open field with only a couple tarps or sheets for shelter.

It’s about noon and we arrive at the first site, Dubuisson. We aren’t that far into Port and you begin to see the damage of the earthquake. Buildings lay crumbled with people going on with life around them. Any open yard is filled with makeshift tents and usually has a sign posted outside it reading “we need help”. I’m guessing that the UN didn’t make it there. We pull up to a gate and enter a large yard with a few buildings in it. After we park, we can see a group of people waiting under the shade of the trees for the mobile clinic to begin. To the right, I can see the shelters that Ebenezer helped to construct over the past few months.

We meet Madeline, who works for the organization ANK – Ansam Nap Kenbe (Together We’re Holding/Keeping), which is the local group that Ebenezer Clinic partnered with in this area. She shows us how they’ve set up for the mobile clinic, and the clinic staff get right to work to start seeing patients. We’ve also hired 3 other local doctors to help Dr. Joselie out. As they get to work, I help by cutting blank paper in half to be used as patient dossier/prescription pads. At first there doesn’t appear to be a lot of people waiting, but as time goes on, more and more people arrive.

Soon Max, our host, invites me to come and see more closely the construction projects. The shelters built here provide permanent housing for 33 families. The families who are here gathered at the site from the surrounding area after the earthquake as their homes were destroyed (picture above shows their original shelters right after the earthquake). Before the earthquake, the yard belonged to one or two families (who probably live in the United States) where they were in the process of building large vacation homes, that now stand partly constructed and partly destroyed.

Max proudly shows me the shelters and introduces me some of the families along the way. A young girl, maybe 8 or 9, befriends me and holds onto my hand as we walk along. Each family has a space, maybe 10x10, to live in. There are heavy tarps on 3 sides, with metal sheeting for the roof to keep the rain out. One woman proudly shows me her kitchen area in a corner of the room where she is cooking lunch. Everyone has their belongings neatly stored around the edges. People seem generally happy and content with their current living conditions. I learn later, that many people were living out in the yard without any more protection than a bed sheet before hand. Now, people know that when the rains come, they can stay dry during the night. As we get to the back of the property, Max shows me two latrines that we built. Though they lack some privacy, they provide help provide some proper sanitation.

The doctors consult more than 100 people that day. We finish up around 4:30 and pack up before we visit an annex to this site where more shelters have been built with the support of Mission of Mercy. When we arrive there, people are lined up to receive a ration of food. ANK is currently only able to provide food once a month to the families living there – they hope to one day be able to provide more. We take a look at the shelters built and see that some have not been completed as of yet. They are hoping we will be able to help them complete them. We meet one woman who does not currently have a bed so she is sleeping on the ground.

After the tour, they invite us to eat a meal that they have prepared for us – rice and beans, chicken, gratin and cake. As we eat, Madeline thanks Ebenezer Clinic and its donors for all the help they have provided so far, but she reminds us that there is much more work to be done. I can’t help but wonder how the people here will ever be able to provide for themselves and not have to rely on outside help.

It’s soon getting dark, so we go to Max’s house where we will stay for the night. We set up two tents outside and after having much needed showers and eating one more time; we go to sleep because we have another big day ahead of us.

Monday, June 14, 2010

It’s another early morning. Everyone starts stirring shortly after 5 when we hear some roosters crowing nearby. We get ready for the day and eat some breakfast. Before we head into Port au Prince, we have a chance to watch some of the futbol game between Holland and Denmark. It’s the World Cup and almost everything in Haiti comes to a halt when a match is on.

By 8:30 we start making our way into Port au Prince. As we get farther into the city, the destruction of the earthquake is much more evident. There are larger buildings which fell, bigger piles of concrete, and yards upon yards of tent cities. The place that we are going, Fort Nasyonal, is located near the center of Port au Prince and is essentially on top of a hill. As we drive up I notice the large machinery that is there to start moving the concrete. There are also many workers wearing Haitian government issued yellow T-shirts that say “Ann Leve Kanpe!” (Let’s Rise to Stand!), that are working in the hot sun and dust to move concrete by hand. It’s a labour intensive job.

We park the truck and then carry our supplies down the hill to the gate of the site of the mobile clinic. This site includes about 120 families that lost their homes in the earthquake. We will set up in a shelter that was built on a basket ball court after the earthquake. The entire court is covered with a metal sheeting roof and has strong tarps for walls to keep the rain and the wind out. As we get closer, I notice that a TV has been set up and of course it was broadcasting the current World Cup match. During the World Cup, the government is providing EDH (state electricity), so that fans can watch the games. Up until this point, most areas of Port au Prince have not received any EDH since the earthquake.

Today we have two doctors who will be seeing patients. The local organizers, Organisation des Jeunes Progressists de la Ruelle Boisson, have set up a ticket system for patients and everything runs smoothly. I wander around the shelter that has beds and personal belongings set up to get a better view. On the other side of the court, I can peak out the tarps and see a view of the rolling hills of Port au Prince covered with dilapidated houses.

I take a seat near where the pharmacy has been set up to do some observation. I meet Emmanuel St. Brice, who is one of the local organizers with for the day and he is able to tell me about his experience during and since the earthquake.

Before the earthquake, Emmanuel and his family lived in a home not far from the basketball court. When the earthquake happened, Emmauel was upstairs in his house helping one of his cousin’s children study. The house began to shake and all the people inside ran out into the street. Everyone made it out alive at the time. There was dust everywhere and no one could see anything. At first they could not find all the other members of the family because communication systems were down, but they were able to meet up the next day at the basketball court where many people had already gathered to sleep for the night before with no shelter to protect them. After about one week, the United States military showed up to distribute some medicine, water and soap. Some people had been able to salvage some food from their houses because they made a strategy to enter the houses safely to retrieve it. He told me that people had to bathe in the street with no privacy and many people went for days without changing their clothes. To this Emmanuel said, “We lived like we did not exist”.

Dr. Manno had visited the tent city for the first times shortly after the earthquake, but it wasn’t until March that Ebenezer Clinic was able to come down to provide some relief. In that first trip, they were able to do a mobile clinic as well as provide food packages to the people. By April, they were able to start building the more permanent shelter over the basketball court. These shelters helped address the issues of the wind, rain and intense sun that people had been exposed to before. They also provided a better sense of security to the people. They shelters are not completely finished as of yet, they hope to expand them even further.

“We want to say thank you to Ebenezer Clinic and all of the donors for all the things they have done for us. We hope to continue to work with you and find a way for us to be able to provide food and water to this community.” Emmanuel St. Brice

After seeing about 60 patients, we finish up around noon. We find some lunch at a nearby hotel and set off for home. We are all tired and just want to get back. We arrive in Gonaives shortly after 8 and then make the worst part of the trip. Going through the mountains isn’t fun during the day, never mind in the dark when you only have seconds to see the semi truck coming towards on a road with no guard rails! We roll into Haut Limbe just after 11pm, happy to be home and grateful for a shower and soft bed to sleep in. It was not a comfortable trip, but I am glad that I went. The stories of the survivors of the earthquake need to be continued to be told. It’s been six months, but they are still living with the affects of the earthquake and will continue to live with them for years to come. I was encouraged to see the work that is being done there, but I was continually reminded that there is still so much more that needs to be done.

Back in my other reality

2010-06-30T18:17:00.000-05:00

I'm back in Canada. I left Haut Limbe on Monday at 8 am and finally arrived back in my house in Saskatoon at 2 this morning. Travelling from Haiti to Saskatoon is no easy task apparently. But that's not so surprising as nothing is ever very easy in Haiti.

To get here, I had to drive one hour to Cap Haitien, board a flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, spend the night in Ft. Lauderdale, go back to the airport yesterday, fly to Detroit, on to Minneapolis - run from one side of the terminal to the other to make my connection, fly to Saskatoon only to find out they were have a massive rain and thunderstorm which prevented us from landing and we did not have enough fuel to just wait around, so we fly to Regina, land, refuel, wait for the storm to pass, finally fly back and touch down at about 1:30 am, go through customs and then get home. It's been a very long 2 days!!

It's good to be home - in some ways it feels like I was never gone, but in other ways I feel like I've been gone forever. I turn on the radio and realize I don't recognize any of the songs. I have to consciously remember to put the toilet paper in the toilet, not the garbage. I drove for the first time today in 7 months and was amazed by traffic lights, orderly cars and the absence of honking. I'm confused by how late the sun goes down. Yes, it's been a long time. But it's so good to see my family - my nieces and nephew who have grown up so much!

Tomorrow we head out to the farm for the weekend. We hope to do some fishing - can't wait! It's been so long. After the weekend, I'm off to Winnipeg for the week. I hope I get some time to catch up on some sleep along the way!

May/June Update

2010-06-16T11:18:00.000-05:00

I know that May has be over forever and June isn't over yet, but I wanted to get this update done now because tomorrow 13 visitors will descend upon our house and they don't leave until 2 days before I come back to Canada.

The past couple of months have flown by in some ways. The first week in May, Shauna and I were given a gift of a vacation in the Dominican Republic. It was so wonderful to get away, relax, spend time at the pool and just be for awhile. We spent most of the week up in Puerto Plata, and then spent the weekend in Santiago with our friend Tammi so we got the chance to do some much needed shopping, etc.

We returned to Haiti with Beth, who has visited Haut Limbe a couple of times before. She came primarily to implement the new patient database at the clinic. She was successful and the archive workers are now using the computer database to find patient files!

The last week of May I became ill. At first Dr. Manno thought it was just severe dehydration, but when I got a fever, we decided it was likely malaria. Boo! So I ended up being housebound for 2 weeks to recover. I'm feeling much better now and am thankful for all your prayers for a quick recovery.

This past Sunday and Monday I traveled to Port au Prince with a team from the clinic to do two mobile clinics and to gather pictures and stories of the work that the clinic was able to do there through the generous donations of people in Canada through the ECCC and other donors as well. It was a long two days, but worth the trip. I'm currently writing a report of what I saw and will likely post it soon for you.

Tomorrow, a group of 13 arrive with Randolph World Ministries. They will be doing some lab work at Ebenezer Clinic as well as some other clinics in the area. It will be a full house for the next little while! While they are here, I will be preparing for my trip to Canada and making sure things are in place for when I am away.

I will leave for Canada on June 28. I will be in Saskatoon and Norquay until July 5. After that, I will head to Winnipeg to see friends and family and go to the Winnipeg Folk Festival. I will likely head back to Saskatoon on July 12 where I will stay until I return to Haiti on July 22! I look forward to seeing many of you while I am there - let me know if you would like to get together!

Until I leave, a few prayer requests.
Pray for the group that is arriving tomorrow that they will have a safe and healthy time here.
Pray for the clinic staff that are working hard to provide care.
Pray for me as I continue to recover from illness so that I will be healthy for my trip to Canada.
Pray for me as I begin to make decisions as to if I will stay in Haiti past November.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!

Blessings,

Janelle

Adventures with Parrots

2010-06-12T11:16:00.000-05:00

Dr. Steve and Nancy, missionaries who live on the University Campus in Haut Limbe, have a few pets that they absolutely love. These include a cat, 3 parakeets, 2 love birds, and most importantly, 2 parrots who they raised since they were babies. Everyone around here knows that Nancy loves these parrots very much. They are quite beautiful birds, but they do have a bit of an attitude and like to bite people sometimes – so not everyone is as fond of the birds as she.

Anyways, when Dr. Steve and Nancy are away sometimes, Shauna and I have house/bird sat for them. We know how many times to feed each of the birds and change their water. The parrots have a cage that they stay in that we bring into the house every evening for the night. A lot of times when they bring the parrots in for the night, they will let them out of the cage to crawl around abit (their wings are normally clipped so they can’t fly). Nancy has no problem putting them back into the cage before bed by simply saying “step up” and they climb onto her hand and she puts them in the cage. Now, when Shauna and I attempt to put them back in the cage for the night it’s quite a different story. We don’t let them step up onto our hands (because they have a tendency to bite), we use a prop for them to step on to. We usually try to sweet talk them and tell them how much Nancy loves them as we ask them to “step up” onto the prop. This can process can take up to 20 or 30 minutes for us and includes much laughter and frustration for both of us.

Currently, Steve and Nancy are in the States for vacation. While Shauna and I are not staying at the house this time, we still have a key to go over and use the internet in their living room. There are some other people looking after the birds. Thursday morning at about 8:30 I walked over to their house to start my morning work. As I walked up to the door, the birds had already been put outside for the day – this is normal. What wasn’t normal was that both of the birds were climbing around outside the cage. I took my computer to put it inside and see if anyone was in the house – no one there. So I grabbed the prop to try to get them to climb on and put them back in the cage. Amazingly, they cooperated and I got them back in the cage and closed the cage door tightly. I was puzzled by how they were able to escape, but I went inside to start my work.

After about 10 minutes, I looked out the window and noticed that one of the parrots was outside of the cage. I go to investigate and see that the cage door is closed again – how in the world did they open the door and then close it again. I tried again to use the prop to lure the disobeying parrot inside, but it was not working so well and Mrs. Cat was sitting not far away.

I decided it was time to bring reinforcements, so I walked over to Laurie’s house – the next yard over. She knows the birds well and is helping look after them. I told her the situation and she comes and helps me get the bird inside the cage and we bring the cage inside the house for the day. She tells me that the night before, the parrots had gotten out as well and one had flown up into a tree and one of the groundskeepers had to come and climb the tree to rescue it. The poor groundskeeper never climbs trees, but did it for Nancy because he knows just how much she loves them.

So I continue on in my work and after awhile I leave the house (all locked up with the parrots safely inside their cage) to go to the clinic for about a half hour. When I return, one of the parrots is out again! I coax it back into the cage and then look for something to tie the door closed with. I finally find an elastic band, tie the door and it works for the rest of the day. I think that the problem is solved.

Yesterday morning, Shauna and I both go over to their house in the morning and again a parrot is outside the cage! We are puzzled because the elastic is still tied holding the door closed! We do see that the bottom of the cage has a tray that slides out that is a bit loose so maybe the parrots worked together to push it out to escape. Who knows? We get the parrot back in the cage and in the house and give them a very stern talking too!

I never thought that I would have so many conversations with parrots in my life! Oh the joys of living in Haiti!

On having malaria

2010-05-31T11:30:00.000-05:00

So, I got malaria. I kind of knew this day would come sooner or later. I've opted not to take the anti-malarial medication that many short-termers take when visiting a country like Haiti. When you get malaria, you just have to take those drugs anyways to treat it.

It started last Sunday morning when I woke up with a severe headache and muscle aches. At first, we thought it was just extreme dehydration, but when I got a fever that evening, Dr. Manno decided it was most likely malaria. He did a blood test for it on Tuesday, however it came back negative as it's only accurate if you take the blood while you have a fever. Anyways, I started taking doxicyclin to treat it and by Wednesday my fever was gone!

So for the past week i've been secluded to my home watching Matlock reruns and a show called Burn Notice (thank goodness the house is hooked up to the clinic generator so we have power during the day). To be honest, I've been going a little nutty. Today is the 2nd time in a week I"ve been out of the house. I tried to come out on Friday, but I got really tired after so decided to wait awhile before I went again.

The Dr has ordered me not to work this week, so sad. But I do need to check on a few things. I'll do my best to rest, I promise!

Normal?

2010-05-21T09:19:00.000-05:00

It feels weird to say it, but it feels like this past week life has been "normal" here. Now, I'm not so sure what normal is supposed to be here, but this last week, I've felt it. Life since the earthquake has made life feel like anything but normal. It was busy and there were always groups here so I didn't feel like I had much routine. But a few things happened this past week that made things normal.

We went to the beach on Sunday and were able to swim and just lay in the sun - normal. The internet in my office was working again - normal. I went into Limbe to the bank one afternoon - normal. We had a nice day in Cap on Tuesday which included going for lunch and eating ice cream afterwards - normal. We spent the evening sitting in the living room, in the dark, talking and laughing together - normal.

All these things combined together made life feel normal here, and it feels good.

On learning Creole

2010-05-15T10:17:00.001-05:00

Before I came to Haiti I was both excited and nervous about learning Creole. In University I took a year of Spanish as I had thought I would end up in a Spanish speaking country - that didn't quite work out. When I first got here, every time I tried to communicate, I started speaking Spanish, because when one goes to a country that speaks a different language it just seems natural to speak the other language that you know, even if it's completely different. (This happened to me when I was on vacation in the DR last week - I kept trying to speak Creole in a Spanish speaking country).

Anyways, language learning can be incredibly frustrating and rewarding at the same time. I hired a private tutor within a couple weeks of getting here to have one hour classes 5 times a week. I seemed to be making acceptable progress during the first month, but then I seemed to hit a wall. It was so frustrating, I just couldn't seem to pick stuff up. One of the reasons for this I think was that so many people in this community speak English, and they always want to practice with native English speakers - works for me! I was not forced to use my Creole, there was always a way to get around it.

When the groups started arriving to work this winter, I found out that I actually knew more than I thought as I had to start acting as an interpreter for them. But I would still have times of great frustration as I didn't have the time to study for my classes.

While I was in the DR, I made a promise to myself to be much more intentional about Creole when I got back. So far, it is working. I've been putting the extra time into my homework each day - my teacher has noticed. I've tried to speak only Creole with people who also speak English. I even find myself sometimes thinking in Creole and the words just seem to flow out of my mouth - so encouraging.

So, I'm having fun with Creole. It means so much to Haitians when you make an effort to speak their language. They know that Creole is not a very useful language to learn - no one else in the world speaks it. But it is their language and its so much a part of their culture. To understand them, one must understand Creole.

So now when people here ask how my Creole is - I answer, "M'ap vini" (I'm coming) and they smile and agree.

Home again

2010-05-11T08:43:00.002-05:00

It’s good to be home in Haiti. We arrived back here late Saturday afternoon after a lovely weekend in Santiago to end off our vacation in the D.R.. We were able to get our haircut, do some shopping, go out to dinner and enjoy all modern conveniences for just a little longer.

By last Friday, I was mentally ready to come back here. I was missing my friends and family here and I was excited to get back to work. I even had a renewed desire to study my Creole just a little harder. Being away was good and needed – it made coming back that much more sweeter. I’ve loved walking down the street greeting people who I see everyday and having them be excited that I’m back. It’s good to know that you are missed.

April Update... for real this time

2010-05-06T15:35:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

So I'm on the 6th day of my vacation here in Puerto Plata and I believe that I am officially relaxed! Quite the accomplishment. The past 4 months have been so busy and overwhelming - it's been nice to have some time away and removed from life in Haiti, even if it is only for a week. It's been good to reacquaint myself with life outside of Haiti - even if I'm just on the other side of the island. It's good to remember what a hot shower feels like, get caught up on some world news, walk down paved streets, drink a glass of water with ice in it, etc.

April began with Easter and a work team of 14 arriving from Strathmore, Alberta. Our house was full, but we were able to squeeze everyone in to a bed. This group had quite a few people who had visited Haut Limbe before, so it was very fun to watch them reacquaint themselves with old friends as well as see all the progress that was made on the hospital. Thanks to some organizing queens, we were able to organize the supplies, once again, onto shelves that had been built in the depot. They were also to complete most of the tiling in the hospital.

While they were here, we "admitted" some of our first patients to the hospital. Very exciting and great that we could care for those who would not normally by able to afford a hospital stay, but it also made us realized that there is a lot of work to do before the hospital is ready to function.

After the Strathmore group left, Shauna and I had a visit from our good friend, Rose. It was so nice to spend a couple weeks with her, showing her our life here and just being able to catch up on news and people from Winnipeg.

What's coming up? Well, when we head back to Haiti on Sunday, we will have one visitor coming with us. A woman who actually did some work at the Clinic last year will be with us for three weeks volunteering. Then in June, I will host another group from the States for a couple of weeks. Right after they leave, I'll be heading home to Canada for over 3 weeks! I'm so excited to come home to see my family, friends and take in the Winnipeg Folk Festival! I'll be in Saskatoon, Norquay and Winnipeg, so hopefully I'll be able to connect with a lot of you while I'm there.

Thanks again for all of your support and encouragement.

Blessings,

Janelle

April Update... coming soon!

2010-05-04T17:12:00.000-05:00

Hello all!

I'm going to do my April update soon. I promise! This week I'm on vacation in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and I'm enjoying the sun, relaxation, hot showers, electricity, reliable internet, smooth roads, tv, air conditioning, pools, familiar food, etc. This vacation was a gift to Shauna and I, and we are very much appreciating the time away from Haiti to recharge. I'll write more soon. I promise.

March Update

2010-03-29T10:07:00.001-05:00

Dear friends and family,

I’m looking at my calendar realizing that March is almost over wondering where the past 3 months have gone. I had good intentions of writing monthly updates to all of you, but since the earthquake on January 12, life has been anything but normal here and finding the time and headspace to write has been very difficult.

First of all, I want to thank you for all of your love, support and prayers over the past few months. I know that my presence here would not be possible with out it. The weeks immediately following the earthquake were very draining emotionally, spiritually and physically and so I know that it was not my own strength that carried me through, but the prayers of others.

The remainder of January and beginning of February were spent fielding emails and inquiries from friends and supporters of the clinic in Canada and the US as the clinic worked on a response to the earthquake. One of the first things the clinic decided to do, was offer free services the first 2 weeks after the earthquake. In that time, the clinic saw over 2,000 patients as people had already began to migrate back north from Port au Prince. Since then, the clinic has kept its fees reduced to 50% of what they were before the quake and we are still seeing great numbers of patients.

The reality is that the earthquake did not just affect people living in Port au Prince. Everyone is affected and there is increased financial strain on everyone as they look for a way to survive in a country that was barely holding on before. People have to make decisions daily of how they will use the few resources they have – will they buy food for one meal that day or will they take their child to the doctor to receive treatment for sickness. It is for this reason that the clinic has kept its fees reduced for the time being.

Also, in the first trip that Dr. Manno made to Port au Prince after the earthquake, he identified a tent city in Fort National in a particularly poor area for the clinic to partner with and provide relief to. Since that time, the clinic has made several trips there to provide food, water filters, tarps, mobile clinics and build some permanent structures. This has been made possible with the funds so generously given through the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada and a partner organization of Eben-ezer Clinic called Geneva Global.

In mid-February, the first of many groups to come arrived. Since then, we have hosted 27 different people in Dr. Manno’s house. People have been here to help with construction on the hospital and some have come as medical professionals to serve in the clinic here and with the mobile clinic in a community in Port au Prince. Much has been accomplished in that time – the interior and part of the exterior of the hospital have been painted, 2 rooms inside have been tiled, and the depot of medical supplies have been organized. Next week a group of 14 arrive and we hope to finish the tiling. Having groups here is a blessing as we provide opportunities for people to engage with and build relationships with our Haitian brothers and sisters and we can see the dream of the hospital become a reality for this community.

Some prayer requests:

Pray for Dr. Manno as he continues to serve at the clinic here in Haut Limbe and lead the response in Port au Prince. Pray for strength and guidance in making decisions.
Pray for the thousands of people that have migrated north to live with family here as they search for a way to provide for their families.
Pray for the staff of Eben-ezer Clinic as they continue to serve.
Pray for the Canadian/American groups that have visited and that will visit in the future that their time here may be a blessing to all involved and that relationships will continue to grow.
Pray for all those who are involved in hosting groups (Dr. Manno’s mom, cooks, cleaners, drivers and clinic staff) who work so hard to make our visitors feel welcome.
And finally, please continue to pray for strength and wisdom for me so that I can be effective as possible here.

Thanks again for all of your support.

Blessings,

Janelle

Pictures

2010-03-23T11:37:00.000-05:00

Since I've been so neglectful of this blog lately, here are some pics of the past couple of months.

Crossing the Haiti/D.R. border on open market day
A depot of organized supplies!
Painting in the hospital
The Saskatoon Group
My dad and me in Puerto Plata
Winnipeg group relaxing at the beach
Destruction in Leogane
Dr. Manno talking with ECC reps
My private jet from Port au Prince to Cap Haitien

Life is Bizarre

2010-03-19T10:28:00.000-05:00

I'm back from Port au Prince.

I don't know what I was expecting, but what I saw was different from what I expected. What stood out to me is different than what I thought would stand out to me, or anyone.

We drove down on Tuesday. The plan on Monday night was to leave at 8 in the morning. At noon Dr. Manno actually had to find me so we could leave - I guess I'm slowly becoming Haitian.

We arrived in Port Tuesday night and stayed at Manno's friends house - such gracious hosts.

Port looked different than what I expected. I guess I expected the landscape and city to look like the north and Cap-Haitien. It doesn't at all. What stood out to me was not the collapsed buildings, but the disparity between Cap and Port, pre-earthquake. The quality of roads compared to here is unbelievable. They had paved roads, with traffic lights, with somewhat orderly traffic. That's what stuck out to me.

Wednesday morning we met up with a delegation from the Evangelical Covenant Church and some reps from Medical Teams International. We made the long trek out to Leogane - near the epicentre of the quake to see a static and mobile clinic, and then came back to Port to see a school that has been converted into a crisis relief coordination centre. At the end of the day it was back to Max's for the night.

Thursday am, we arrived at the airport around 8 and by 8:30 I was on my very own plane back to Cap in 30 minutes. Yep, life is bizarre here.

My friends came to pick me up shortly after I arrived at 9 and the intent was to come straight back to Limbe, but we decided to check and see if a letter was ready at the government building for the release of some supplies that were shipped to us. So, we drive to one gov't building, wait for about 20 minutes, get the letter and then head back to the airport.

We get to the airport, and customs tells us that we need to get the letter authorized at another gov't office. So we drive back into the city to this office. We meet with some official for about 30 minutes in a nice air conditioned office to be told that we need to attach a list of what the contents of the shipment is. So, we get that and he signs the letter. Then we need to go to a 3rd office for another stamp. Once there, they decided they want a photocopy of my ID in order to release the boxes - cause I guess they are more comfortable releasing the boxes to a Canadian??? Anyways, we finally get everything stamped. By that time it's one o'clock and we're hungry, so we grab lunch at the local fast food joint before going back to the airport for the third time that day.

We get to the airport, give all the documents and they finally bring out our boxes. Before we could take them, they of course had to take a few things for themselves. We load up the truck and start our way back, almost. We get a phone call asking us to pick up a student to bring back to Limbe. So we wait another hour to get her and then finally head back home arriving around 4:30. I had left Port at 8:30 in the am - I could have gotten home faster driving.

Oh well, just another example of how nothing goes as planned and everything is just so much more difficult in Haiti.

Catching up

2010-03-09T11:39:00.001-05:00

Since February 12, we have had 19 North Americans stay at our house for some period of time. It's been busy. We're at the halfway point. Tomorrow, 8 more arrive from Winnipeg and I think things will wrap up for awhile on April 9 when we drop a group of 14 off at the airport.

Hosting groups is great. It's fun to interact with and meet new people and have them experience life in Haiti. Hosting groups is also tiring. It's a 24/7 job with just a couple hours of "me" time stolen every once and awhile.

Things are progressing at the clinic. When the Saskatoon group was here, the majority of the painting in the hospital got done, and the plumbing should be finished soon. This week, we will be tiling. It's so good to see the progress happening.

This weekend, a team from the clinic will make its first official trip to Port au Prince to provide relief and a mobile clinic to a tent city in Ft. National. The plan is to send a team every second weekend for the next 3 months.

Also, next week I'll be making my first trip to Port for some meetings. I'm sure I'll have something to say about that when I get back.

It has been FREEZING here the past few days. Cloudy and rainy. The other night i was wearing 2 sweaters and a jacket and was still cold. This Canadian has become soft. It was 22 degrees last night and it felt like 5 degrees.

Sorry for the random post, just wanted to update a few things. I'll attempt to do better in the future.

I'm here

2010-02-27T12:03:00.000-05:00

I'm not dead. I'm still alive. Sorry for the silence. It's been a crazy couple of weeks here.

I've made 2 long trips to Santiago/Puerta Plata, DR to pick up and return a group of 10 Canadians. Quite the adventure. I made the return trip by myself just fine - although it took me 12 hours!

We got a lot accomplished in the clinic in the past couple of weeks. The majority of the painting is done and a lot of organizing of the supplies has been done. I couldn't done it by myself, that's for sure. We got the internet working in my office again - very thankful for that.

Yesterday, 2 more Canadians arrived and tomorrow 4 Americans and one more Canadian arrives. So the house will be full again.

I'm enjoying a lazy Saturday here - might even take a nap this afternoon.

The Calm Before The Storm

2010-02-11T09:37:00.002-05:00

One more day.

One more day until the first visitors arrive to stay with us. Starting tomorrow, we will have 1 to 12 extra people (Canadians and Americans) staying with us for the next 2 to 3 months on a rotating basis. There will be medical personnel and work teams coming to help with the painting and tiling of the hospital. Starting tomorrow, I shift into host mode - which I'm looking forward to, because that is part of my job. But it is also very tiring making sure that everyone has everything they need - meals to eat, water for showers, toilet paper, transportation, managing money, translating, etc. Normal life here will be put on hold for awhile.

Life has been somewhat normal the past couple of weeks. It's been great to have Shauna here to share life with - to laugh and talk with. We spent a few days bird/house sitting for the James' while they were gone to Port au Prince. It was kind of luxurious to spend a couple of nights in a house with 24 hour electricity and a tv to watch movies on. A mini vacation for us.

Yesterday was a surprise good day. We ended up going to a clinic at Bayae - about an hour away. We went to see how their financial systems work as we are working on implementing some changes at Ebenezer Clinic. After a meeting of about an hour, we went to the most beautiful beach ever, called Chou Chou Bay (sp?). It was more beautiful than Labadee - especially because there is nothing or no one there - just a natural untouched beach with white sand. I got to spend the afternoon with 3 good friends, swimming, playing frisbee and just relaxing for a while. A very nice treat before the busyness comes.

Next Monday, I will be going to Santiago, DR for a few days - i'm quite looking forward to it. It'll be nice to be "out" of Haiti for a while... to go to a restaurant, to go to a store and hopefully get a haircut. Then on Wednesday morning, i will head to Puerto Plata to pick up the Saskatoon group of 10 which includes my parents. Very excited to see them and show them my life here.

Monday Adventures

2010-02-04T10:27:00.000-05:00

Monday was a very exciting day for me - my good friend Shauna was due to arrive from Canada. She had spent 3 months here this summer in the same community, so I was excited to spend time with her here, with our friends. Monday was also a very clear reminder of how nothing goes as planned in Haiti and of how a lot of the time, I have no idea of what is going on.

Now, her plane was due to arrive at 12:45 in Cap. Me and 3 of our mutual friends (Alin, Ben and Calvin) were planning to greet her and pick her up. Normally, this should go smoothly. However, on this particular day, both of the vehicles we normally have access to, were not available, so we had to make other arrangements. My friend Alin was able to borrow a truck from a friend so that we would be able to bring Shauna and her luggage home without using public transport.

Monday morning. The plan was to leave at 10 in order to get to the airport on time.

10:05 - Janelle begins to wander through town to find her 3 friends and the vehicle that we are supposedly borrowing.

10:30 - I'm at the end of my driveway, 3 friends have been found, but no vehicle. I innocently ask where it is and Alin tells me it's in Cap. Alright - how are we getting to Cap? Public transportation! I haven't taken the bus yet here, so I was kind of excited to do that.

10:45 - We're still standing at the end of my driveway. When I ask why, I'm told we're waiting for a motorcycle to get a ride to the "bus station". I laughed out loud at hearing this, because really it's about a 7 minute walk to the end of the road to the "bus station" and we had already been waiting for 15 minutes. Anyways, a motorcycle finally comes and we get a ride to the "bus station".

11:00 - we're waiting on the side of the road for a tap-tap going to Cap to come by. They are all full and nobody is stopping.

11:20 - a bus comes by, we get on. (Public transport in Haiti is usually old pick up trucks or school buses). But it's going the wrong direction. It's going to Limbe, not Cap. When I ask what we are doing, I'm told we are going to Limbe to see if we can find a bus going to Cap. Alright, but i'm starting to get a bit concerned that we won't make it to the airport on time.

11:35 - we make it to Limbe, but we don't get off the bus. Again, I ask why. Now they tell me that the bus will turn around and go back towards Cap. Okay. Shortly after, as we pass by Haut Limbe, we ask the bus to stop because Alin forgot the 2 propane tanks that Mama wanted us to fill in Cap, so we pick those up. Finally we are on our way.

12:20 - we start entering Cap. Alin had said that we will pick up the truck when we got to Cap, however there was now a change of plans. Alin and Calvin will stop at the gas station to fill the propane tanks and get the truck, and Ben and I will take a taxi to the airport to meet Shauna. Ben and I get off the bus at the bus station and are able to find a taxi - a real taxi that is a car, not a motorcycle! Luckily the traffic was extremely light and we were able to drive up to the airport at 12:47.

1:00 - no Shauna.

1:30 - no Shauna. remember there are no arrivals/departures monitors in Cap Int'l Airport and as far as we know, the plane is supposed to arrive at 12:45.

2:00 - no Shauna, but Alin and Calvin arrive with the truck.

2:30 - no Shauna

3:00 - Shauna finally arrives! Apparently her plane was delayed in leaving Ft. Lauderdale and they had to stop in the Bahamas for fuel. I was so excited to see her and get a good hug. The only problem was, her luggage did not arrive from Minneapolis to Ft. Lauderdale. So, as it turns out, we could have taken public transport home - but oh well.

At this time, we still hadn't eaten, so we stopped at a restaurant for a bite to eat before heading back to Haut Limbe. It was a long day, I was very tired, but I was very happy to see my friend.

Saturday Morning News

2010-01-30T08:57:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the silence here. I guess I'm kind of like the news headlines - now you have to search websites to find news about Haiti, it no longer takes up the whole front page. The truth is, there isn't much new to report regarding the earthquake here.

It's been a somewhat normal week. The floods of emails and requests have subsided and I feel like I'm in control of them now. I've had some time in the afternoons to just relax, which has been nice. The banks have opened, so I was able to get some money. The clinic has been steady this week, which is good. We were also able to make some progress in organizing the supplies in the hospital and storage area so that the work teams who are coming will have somewhere to work.

Today will be a down day. At 11, I am going on a field trip with my Creole teacher to the market in Limbe - should be interesting.

In other big news, my good friend Shauna is arriving on Monday for an undetermined amount of time to help out with setting up financial systems at the clinic. I'm very excited to have her come and experience life with her here.

Yep, that's all for now

Two weeks later

2010-01-26T14:15:00.001-05:00

It's been two weeks since the earthquake and we're still feeling aftershocks.

It's been two weeks and things are beginning to return to some kind of "normal" up here.

It's been two weeks and I still haven't been to Cap Haitien. I can't imagine how overcrowded it is now.

It's been two weeks since we last had EDH - I'm not hopeful that I'll ever have it again in the time that I'm here.

It's been two weeks and many people do not know if their loved ones are still alive or if they are dead and buried.

It's been two weeks and the search and rescue effort has stopped.

It's been two weeks since Haiti first made the top story of every newscast.

It's been two weeks and I'm still learning how resilient and strong the Haitian people are - they put the rest of us to shame.

It's been two weeks since I sat in my Creole class and felt the earthquake - not knowing how much this would change the lives of everyone in this country.

It's been two weeks - how has your life changed?

Plugging along

2010-01-23T10:26:00.000-05:00

I just want to say thank you to all of you that have emailed or messaged me in the past couple of weeks - I truly appreciate it and apologize if I haven't responded to you yet. Your support and encouragement means a lot to me and everyone here. My friends here often ask what people in Canada think about all this and I am able to tell them that you are praying for Haiti and helping in anyway that you can.

We are still in planning stages for our response in Port au Prince. The clinic board will meet tomorrow to plan and discuss. Please be in prayer for all those involved in decision making here - that they would make wise decisions that will ultimately result in the best for this community and the rest of Haiti.

Letter from Dr. Manno

2010-01-21T10:24:00.001-05:00

clinic Thursday morning

Written Wednesday night.

It’s 4 o’clock in the morning. Marcel, one of the clinic staff, couldn’t sleep and he decided to take a walk. Since his house is near the clinic, the walk took him to the clinic. To his surprise, there were already a few patients in the waiting area. He asked them why they had come so early as the clinic was going to open at 8 and consulting would start at 9. They answered that they wanted to make sure that they would be seen that day. At 8 o’clock, Marcel came to my home to ask me to start seeing patients at 8 as there were people who had been waiting for 4 hours.

This week the clinic board has decided to make its clinic services free so that all of the people coming from Port au Prince will have access to medical attention and money will not be an issue. Even people who have been sick for awhile are welcome to come.

One way or another, we are all victims. Even though I’m not in Port au Prince, I have people that I know from there who are currently staying at my house. Everyone will have extra expenses to deal with that were not in the budget. That is why we have decided to help people at the clinic.

From our experience of the past few days, we have realized the amount of people who have been sick in their homes because they could not afford to go to the clinic – some for many months. An older woman came in today whose blood sugar was at 450 and her blood pressure was 200/12. Since June she hasn’t been able to come to the clinic, because of money. A little girl, 9 years old with sickle cell whose hematocrite is 24% came. She has been home sick for more than a week and cannot walk because of the pain. Her condition will be with her for the rest of her life and she is in the list of patients that receives medical attention for free. When asked why she hadn’t come sooner, her mom answered that she couldn’t come because she couldn’t afford the transportation fees to the clinic.

I have heard stories this week of great courage. One woman who came into the clinic was in Port au Prince during the earthquake. As everything began to shake, she grabbed the 2 children closest to her, even though her children were in another room. She held on to these children for 15 hours before help came and saved them. Her own children had died in the next room.

We have realized that Ebenezer clinic is one of the cheapest clinics around. At the end of last year we were asking why the number of patients was going down. Today we found out with the free clinic that they hadn’t gone to a different clinic, but had stayed home suffering because they could not afford to come – the financial crisis has hit Haiti as well. Though Ebenezer clinic is cheap, it is not cheap enough.

At the end of the day, the person in charge of registration, told me that there are already 150 patients who came today that we couldn’t see and who will seen tomorrow. So we will need to start as early as we can.

In an act of faith, we have decided to open our gates to those who need help. We do not have the funds right now to sustain that. We are asking our partners to support us as much as they can - to pray for us. We are committed to help those who have come to the community from Port au Prince because they cannot stay in those conditions (no house, job, food), and we are also planning to go to Port au Prince next Friday to respond to the crisis there.

I’m 40 years old. A house in Haiti is a life project. You cannot get a mortgage in Haiti. People build a house to leave it for their children. They may not finish it in their lifetime. At 40 years old, I haven’t been able to raise enough money to complete my house – and I am a professional with a job. So many houses have been destroying in Port au Prince, so many broken dreams. These people are left with nothing and no hope for the future. This is the reality here.

So I have come to ask myself what is the most important thing in life. What is it that a hurricane, gunshot, violence, earthquake cannot take away?

Aftershock

2010-01-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

We had an "aftershock" this morning of 6.1 at about 6 this morning. I was laying in my bed - i'm not sure if that is what woke me up or if I was up before it. I must admit I was somewhat paralyzed - didn't think to get up and get outside. Thankfully, no damage here. We don't know what the result is near Port au Prince.