Here are some of the beautiful children I was able to meet. This children live in absolute poverty - they lollipops, toothbrushes, soap and crayons I was able to give to them put smiles on their faces.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The children of Haiti forever in my heart!
Here are some of the beautiful children I was able to meet. This children live in absolute poverty - they lollipops, toothbrushes, soap and crayons I was able to give to them put smiles on their faces.
I am home!!!
Last night when my plane touched the ground in Dorval I whispered a prayer of thanks. God had taken us to Haiti and back and we were all well and so happy to have had this experience. I was blessed with a wonderful group of people to travel with. Our team had been touched with the poverty and the hardship of the people of Haiti - but we also knew we had given something back.
I will be forever blessed by my experience. The faces of the beautiful children, the warmth and generosity of people who are so poor and so broken, the appreciation on the part of so many teachers, leaders and pastors who received our training... all these things warm my heart.
The situation in Haiti is so difficult - as I mentionned the people are incredibly resilant, but their hearts are broken by the fear, the corruption,the poverty, the grief of losing their loved ones. This is a picture of Raymonde - the woman who was pulled out of the rubble with absolutely nothing - not even clothes because she was naked. Her daughter died in the earthquake. Her faith in God is what is giving her hope to continue on!
I want to thank you for your support of my trip. I am back at school today and so many people told me that they were reading my blog and following what I was doing! I will be adding some photos in the next couple days so keep looking!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The last post from Haiti
I woke up this morning with really mixed emotions! I am so excited about going home and hugging my daughters (Marc will be in Malaysia until Friday evening!... but I am excited to see him too!) This is the longest I have ever been away from them so I look forward to being back together as a family.
But my heart is heavy to have to leave this country and all the needs behind. I have been so touched by their beautiful smiles, their friendly manner, their open hearts. I have been privileged to meet so many amazing people.
All together we trained over 700 people here. Our training sessions responded to a real need and I thand God that the doors were open and we could respond to these needs. Yesterday I was at a Christian University in Limbé that has close to 500 students. We did a trainning sessions for young men and women studying to be teachers, pastors and chruch leaders. They were so hpappy to get the training.
I also visited a medical clinic who has had their numbers double since the earthquaake. I gave them all the medical supplies that I had brought that were donated by the Work Oriented program at Laval Liberty High School where I work. They were so pleased to get the items I brought.
I then stopped at an orphanage and shared all the craft material with them. I have been able to give money to a number of groups because of the generous donation of a church in British Columbia.
Everywhere I go I feel that the people need so much more! I am so grateful that I have had this opportunity and I know that I will never be the same because the people of Haiti are now in my heart and in my prayers.
When I get back to Montreal I will load some photos onto the blog and share with you the many lessons learned from this trip! Thank you for your prayers for the past few days. I have felt your love and your support for my work here!
But my heart is heavy to have to leave this country and all the needs behind. I have been so touched by their beautiful smiles, their friendly manner, their open hearts. I have been privileged to meet so many amazing people.
All together we trained over 700 people here. Our training sessions responded to a real need and I thand God that the doors were open and we could respond to these needs. Yesterday I was at a Christian University in Limbé that has close to 500 students. We did a trainning sessions for young men and women studying to be teachers, pastors and chruch leaders. They were so hpappy to get the training.
I also visited a medical clinic who has had their numbers double since the earthquaake. I gave them all the medical supplies that I had brought that were donated by the Work Oriented program at Laval Liberty High School where I work. They were so pleased to get the items I brought.
I then stopped at an orphanage and shared all the craft material with them. I have been able to give money to a number of groups because of the generous donation of a church in British Columbia.
Everywhere I go I feel that the people need so much more! I am so grateful that I have had this opportunity and I know that I will never be the same because the people of Haiti are now in my heart and in my prayers.
When I get back to Montreal I will load some photos onto the blog and share with you the many lessons learned from this trip! Thank you for your prayers for the past few days. I have felt your love and your support for my work here!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
My last full day in Haiti
It hardly seems possible but today is my last full day in Haiti. Yesterday we thought we were going to be going to the school where there was the mud-slide but instead we ended up doing another training session with 60 more people. Many of them were traumatized and scared. One lady told me that she did not know what to do because she was so frightened to send her children today becausesomething could happen to them while they were at school and she was at work. She just wants to keep them close to her at all times. This is a country full of scared and grieving people.
I can hardly imagine how hard it is going to be this morning in the schools across this city who are opening their doors for the first time in several weeks. Many children and many mothers will be facing separation anxiety. It seems like one of their major fears is that a tsunami will hit their region. As I looked out onto the bay and the ocean yesterday I could only imagine how fearful it might be to live in this area with that concern. All I could do yesterday is to try to reassure these people - none of us can know what today or tomorrow holds, all we can do is trust God with our lives and live with confidence for today.
Last evening we had dinner with a missionary couple who have been in Haiti for over 25 years. Dana, the wife, told me about their life here, raising their children in Haiti (they have three children who are all at university now in United States), the loneliness that they have faced, but also the depth of love and devotion they have for the Haitian people. A few years ago she and her husband were kidnapped and her husband was held for ranson. They had demanded $350,000 for him. They let her go to gather the money - but they held on to him. She had to negotiate with the kidnappers over the cell phone on several occassions. She told me how people around the world had heard about the situation and began praying. Two days later they accepted $5,000 and released her husband. It was a miracle. What an amazing woman of faith. She actually was able to tell her kidnappers after this all happened that she forgave them and that she wanted to know about her faith in Jesus Christ. WOW!!!
Today, I am going to a town called Limbé where there is a small university. We will be doing another training day with students, many of whom are now in Limbé but had been in Port-au-Prince on January 12th. Many of them are trying to recover from their shock and grief.
Yesterday I went back to Bethany - the housing project with Jacinthe and Josianne and we gave out soap, toothbrushes, shampoo and crayons for the children. It started out quite calm - but it turned into quite a mob scene and Pastor Voltaire had to step in and calm down the crowd. Desperate people all around.
Today, we hope to stop at an orphange on our way back from Limbé to distribute more of the supplies we have brought with us. All the medicine and bandages will be given to a hospital in Limbé that has received lots of people from Port-au-Prince but none of the supplies from the various NGOs working further south. Interesting how the people can get through on the roads from Port-au-Prince but the supplies are being blocked by the government that wants kick-backs!
I can hardly imagine how hard it is going to be this morning in the schools across this city who are opening their doors for the first time in several weeks. Many children and many mothers will be facing separation anxiety. It seems like one of their major fears is that a tsunami will hit their region. As I looked out onto the bay and the ocean yesterday I could only imagine how fearful it might be to live in this area with that concern. All I could do yesterday is to try to reassure these people - none of us can know what today or tomorrow holds, all we can do is trust God with our lives and live with confidence for today.
Last evening we had dinner with a missionary couple who have been in Haiti for over 25 years. Dana, the wife, told me about their life here, raising their children in Haiti (they have three children who are all at university now in United States), the loneliness that they have faced, but also the depth of love and devotion they have for the Haitian people. A few years ago she and her husband were kidnapped and her husband was held for ranson. They had demanded $350,000 for him. They let her go to gather the money - but they held on to him. She had to negotiate with the kidnappers over the cell phone on several occassions. She told me how people around the world had heard about the situation and began praying. Two days later they accepted $5,000 and released her husband. It was a miracle. What an amazing woman of faith. She actually was able to tell her kidnappers after this all happened that she forgave them and that she wanted to know about her faith in Jesus Christ. WOW!!!
Today, I am going to a town called Limbé where there is a small university. We will be doing another training day with students, many of whom are now in Limbé but had been in Port-au-Prince on January 12th. Many of them are trying to recover from their shock and grief.
Yesterday I went back to Bethany - the housing project with Jacinthe and Josianne and we gave out soap, toothbrushes, shampoo and crayons for the children. It started out quite calm - but it turned into quite a mob scene and Pastor Voltaire had to step in and calm down the crowd. Desperate people all around.
Today, we hope to stop at an orphange on our way back from Limbé to distribute more of the supplies we have brought with us. All the medicine and bandages will be given to a hospital in Limbé that has received lots of people from Port-au-Prince but none of the supplies from the various NGOs working further south. Interesting how the people can get through on the roads from Port-au-Prince but the supplies are being blocked by the government that wants kick-backs!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Church Haitian Style
This morning I went to church at a Baptist Cathedral! There were about two thousand people at the service - which was three hours long. One of our team members José was the preacher for the service. All the women and girls were dressed very fancy and many of the women were wearing fancy hats or doilies on their heads. It was very traditional and very long! Children sat through the whole three hour service without fussing... something I have never seen in my church experience. The choir in this church was bigger than all the people in our church in Montreal. There were even hundreds of people out in the streets listening to the service on huge speakers.
This afternoon we had a tour of an area called Cité du people - a slum like I have never seen before. There was garbage everywhere and pigs and children picking through the garbage. It was beyond even my worst thought. There is so much garbage and no system to dispose of it. This could be a beautiful country - the coast is lovely - yet the garbage and the filth of the streets completely destroys the beauty of the nature.
I also visited a small community project that the church has started for women and children. It is called Bethany. It has about 18 small aparments where primarily older women live - some with their grandchildren who have been abandoned by their parents. It is very small and crowded but it gives these ladies a safe place to live.
We are hoping to visit a couple orphanages and schools in the next couple days. I am hoping to be able to distribute the supplies and the money that I brought with people in those locations.
This afternoon we had a tour of an area called Cité du people - a slum like I have never seen before. There was garbage everywhere and pigs and children picking through the garbage. It was beyond even my worst thought. There is so much garbage and no system to dispose of it. This could be a beautiful country - the coast is lovely - yet the garbage and the filth of the streets completely destroys the beauty of the nature.
I also visited a small community project that the church has started for women and children. It is called Bethany. It has about 18 small aparments where primarily older women live - some with their grandchildren who have been abandoned by their parents. It is very small and crowded but it gives these ladies a safe place to live.
We are hoping to visit a couple orphanages and schools in the next couple days. I am hoping to be able to distribute the supplies and the money that I brought with people in those locations.
News from Port-au-Prince
OUr two team members who left us the first day to go to Port-au-Prince returned late yesterday afternoon with news and photos of their experiences. They did three days of training there with over 200 people. They shared stories and pictures that told of the devastation of buildings and of people. Many people are living in tents - those are the lucky ones because not everyone can even get their hands on a tent. Many others just have tarps and plastic that they have managed to hang up. The city is still full of rubble and debris because all the heavy equipment is sitting at the port unable to enter the country because the government is demanding that the foreign companies and governments pay duty. I also heard that further north, near Goniaves where there are thousands of people in refugee camps, the roads are blocked by the Haitian government demanding money from the humanitarian organizations.
The corruption here within the government is unbelieveable. Most of the people I met do not trust the government and cannot understand how anything can change. We are praying that with the eyes of the world now on Haiti that the government will be more responible an will be willing to make the necessary changes to help the people.
Josianne told us the saddest story of a young couple in Port-au-Prince. They had been in love for years and been in engaged for close to 8 years while they tried to put together enough money to get married. Finally on January 8th they got married and on Jaunuary 12th the husband died in the earthquake. This young woman is in a terrible state of grief. We hope and pray that some of the tools and support that people received through our training sessions will help people like this.
One of the waiters here in the hotel told us that his brother lost his wife, his children and his leg. I will give this waiter some money to share with his brother who is so devastated.
The stories go on and on... everyone knows someone who has died or or has lost his arm or leg. One lady who lives here in the Cap believes that another earthquake or tsunami will hit here soon. She told me that all she asked of God is that she would want to live or die - she didn't care - but she did not want to lose an arm or a leg. Many people here are so frightened to amputation. They know that those who have been amputated will have years of misery before them.
My thoughts and prayers are with this people. There is still so much to be done to give them a life of hope.
The corruption here within the government is unbelieveable. Most of the people I met do not trust the government and cannot understand how anything can change. We are praying that with the eyes of the world now on Haiti that the government will be more responible an will be willing to make the necessary changes to help the people.
Josianne told us the saddest story of a young couple in Port-au-Prince. They had been in love for years and been in engaged for close to 8 years while they tried to put together enough money to get married. Finally on January 8th they got married and on Jaunuary 12th the husband died in the earthquake. This young woman is in a terrible state of grief. We hope and pray that some of the tools and support that people received through our training sessions will help people like this.
One of the waiters here in the hotel told us that his brother lost his wife, his children and his leg. I will give this waiter some money to share with his brother who is so devastated.
The stories go on and on... everyone knows someone who has died or or has lost his arm or leg. One lady who lives here in the Cap believes that another earthquake or tsunami will hit here soon. She told me that all she asked of God is that she would want to live or die - she didn't care - but she did not want to lose an arm or a leg. Many people here are so frightened to amputation. They know that those who have been amputated will have years of misery before them.
My thoughts and prayers are with this people. There is still so much to be done to give them a life of hope.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Rain and Overcast
I guess the good Lord did not want me to be tempted to see this as a tropical vacation rather than a mission to help the suffering people of Haiti because since we got here we have not seen the sun and it has been raining almost non-stop. I just looked at the forcast for the next few days and each day it seems like there will be cloud and rain. In reality when I am training people all day long it is probably better that it is a little cooler than usual. But even the Haitians are complaining that it is cold and wonder where the sun has gone!
Today we decided to have bigger groups and just run two longer sessions rather than four shorter ones. It was a bit of a break not to have to repeat the material four times. Today with the Sunday School teachers I led an activity where half of the group had to write one of their fears about the future on a piece of coloured construction paper. The other half had to write down a promise of God from the Bible. We made a construction paper chain with one fear attached to one promise. With this activity the people could help children in their churches to see that God can meet our needs and respond to out fears. It was really interesting to see them shouting out their fears and respond with a corresponding promise. Afterwards I gave some of the people some construction paper, siccors and glue so that they could do the project with kids in their churches.
As I have been talking about grieving among children and how to help the many children who have had a parent or a loved one die, the participants of the seminars have been sharing their stories and those of people they know. There are close to 100,000 people in the Cap who were traumatized by the earhquake - close to 500,000 in the whole region. It seems like everyone I have talked with knows someone who has had a loved one die. Today a lady told me about a little girl whose parents had died and she asked me when it would get better for that little girl. Unfortunately I could not give her a date or time. I did reassure her that with time and with the support of loving people around her that little girl would learn how to go on with her life even though it would never be the same.
This afternoon José and Josianne, two of our team members are returning from Port-au-Prince. I am anxious to hear about their experiences there and to know more about what is happening there now - about 7 weeks after the earthquake.
Today we decided to have bigger groups and just run two longer sessions rather than four shorter ones. It was a bit of a break not to have to repeat the material four times. Today with the Sunday School teachers I led an activity where half of the group had to write one of their fears about the future on a piece of coloured construction paper. The other half had to write down a promise of God from the Bible. We made a construction paper chain with one fear attached to one promise. With this activity the people could help children in their churches to see that God can meet our needs and respond to out fears. It was really interesting to see them shouting out their fears and respond with a corresponding promise. Afterwards I gave some of the people some construction paper, siccors and glue so that they could do the project with kids in their churches.
As I have been talking about grieving among children and how to help the many children who have had a parent or a loved one die, the participants of the seminars have been sharing their stories and those of people they know. There are close to 100,000 people in the Cap who were traumatized by the earhquake - close to 500,000 in the whole region. It seems like everyone I have talked with knows someone who has had a loved one die. Today a lady told me about a little girl whose parents had died and she asked me when it would get better for that little girl. Unfortunately I could not give her a date or time. I did reassure her that with time and with the support of loving people around her that little girl would learn how to go on with her life even though it would never be the same.
This afternoon José and Josianne, two of our team members are returning from Port-au-Prince. I am anxious to hear about their experiences there and to know more about what is happening there now - about 7 weeks after the earthquake.
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