I do not usually like getting up early in the morning. At my house it is Marc and Jessica who get up earlier than me... but in Haiti I get up early because it gives me a better chance to get an internet line to be able to write to my family and update the blog. Since there is not much to do in the evenings I have been going to bed by 9:00pm so getting up at 6:00am is not so hard.
Today we will be doing a training session with Sunday School teachers and I hope to be able to help them with tools to comfort and encourage the many children who are afraid and in mourning!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Sharing messages of hope
I just finished my day of training - it hard to believe that I have already done 12 training sessions with over 200 people in total. I have been finishing each of my sessions with an activity that I get the participants to do which they can then do with the children in their schools. I give them a piece of paper and ask them to make a picture which expresses their emotions or grief. I have found that when the sharing time starts the men and women really open up and share with us their fears, their sadness, their grief and pain. Some of the drawings are really profound. I have often had tears welling up in my eyes when I hear their stories and their fears about the future. It seems like many people here in the Cap are holding their breath because they expect an earthquake or a tsunami to hit this region of the country. They do not believe the suffering is over and they really are in fear for their lives and their families.
It has been raining here all last night and all day today - but people walked for miles in the train and waited outside to participate in the training session. I am so impressed with their willingness to participate in these sessions. One of the things that is really blessing the participants is that I am giving each of them a few cards and letters that the students in the schools where I work have written. They are so touched by the messages of hope and courage that the children of Laval have written to the children in Haiti. Since school is not in session here I cannot go and deliever the letters to the children myself - so I have asked the teachers and principals to take a few cards to their students. I am hoping that I will receieve some letters and messages in return to share with the students in my schools.
Yesterday I met five little girls who were so sweet. I gave them each a finger puppet and it really made their day. Today they were waiting for me outside the school where we do the training and I was able to give them some crayons and paper. Three hours later they were still there with their pictures for me to take back to my daughters in Canada! They love getting their pictures taken so I have lots of beautiful photos of these dear children.
Tomorrow we have another long day of training sessions then I am told we have a four hour church service on Sunday morning! Should be an adventure!
It has been raining here all last night and all day today - but people walked for miles in the train and waited outside to participate in the training session. I am so impressed with their willingness to participate in these sessions. One of the things that is really blessing the participants is that I am giving each of them a few cards and letters that the students in the schools where I work have written. They are so touched by the messages of hope and courage that the children of Laval have written to the children in Haiti. Since school is not in session here I cannot go and deliever the letters to the children myself - so I have asked the teachers and principals to take a few cards to their students. I am hoping that I will receieve some letters and messages in return to share with the students in my schools.
Yesterday I met five little girls who were so sweet. I gave them each a finger puppet and it really made their day. Today they were waiting for me outside the school where we do the training and I was able to give them some crayons and paper. Three hours later they were still there with their pictures for me to take back to my daughters in Canada! They love getting their pictures taken so I have lots of beautiful photos of these dear children.
Tomorrow we have another long day of training sessions then I am told we have a four hour church service on Sunday morning! Should be an adventure!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
My first day in Cap Haitian
This morning I woke up at 3:00am in order to get on the 6:00am flight to Haiti. They weighed every piece of luggage and every passenger before loading the little plane with 25 people and 10 roosters that were crowing the whole journey... it was a once in a life-time experience! I have been in taxis with chickens while I was in Africa but this is the first time I have ever flown with roosters!
We arrived at 9:30am to our hotel and were told that there were over 100 people waiting for us at a training centre at 11:00am. After quickly getting settled we gathered our materials and started our first day of training. We divided the group into four smaller groups and they rotated through the four sessions. My workshop was on working with children, and my colleagues did workshops on understanding the dying process, post-traumatic stress syndrom and self-care when caring for others. In the training today I would guess that about 15 people were in Port-au-Prince on the day of the earthquake and escaped with their lives. Many of them are still traumatized by what they experienced and what they saw that day and the following days.
It was a challenge to connect with the participants - the Haitians are a very formal people. All the women were wearing skirts or dresses (except the three of us who were leading the training!) and they each stood up to introduce themselves or to answer or ask a question. It took me a while to understand them and I think they are struggling to understand me! French is not their first language and it is not my first language so we are all adapting to find the language to communicate with each other.
The hotel we are staying at is nice. There are big spacious area with tables and chairs - an open lobby (where I am right now) with free wireless from time to time! I have tried several times to get on line so I am hoping this works. There is even water in the swimming pool now! It is very hot and humid so that pool could come in very handy when I get a chance!
Tomorrow we have a training session with the educational leaders of the city. People from several schools are coming. I heard that there will be about 75 people tomorrow. Right now the schools are all closed until March 15th because of the mud-slides that happened here a couple weeks ago. Four children died and all the schools decided to close until they could assess the emotional affects of those deaths and the earthquake on the children of the Cap.
There is certainly a United Nations presence here - I saw hundreds of people standing in line waiting for the food distribution program to give them rice. The pastor who welcomed us today and is coordinating our trip told me that he estimates that there are about 250,000 people in Cap Haitian who are displaced from Port-au_Prince because of the earthquake. Unfortunately there is not the infrastructure to meet the needs of all these people and many people have no job, no money, no food and no where to stay.
I am thankful that we made it here safely and continue to pray that God uses us to meet the need of these people who have been so traumatized.
We arrived at 9:30am to our hotel and were told that there were over 100 people waiting for us at a training centre at 11:00am. After quickly getting settled we gathered our materials and started our first day of training. We divided the group into four smaller groups and they rotated through the four sessions. My workshop was on working with children, and my colleagues did workshops on understanding the dying process, post-traumatic stress syndrom and self-care when caring for others. In the training today I would guess that about 15 people were in Port-au-Prince on the day of the earthquake and escaped with their lives. Many of them are still traumatized by what they experienced and what they saw that day and the following days.
It was a challenge to connect with the participants - the Haitians are a very formal people. All the women were wearing skirts or dresses (except the three of us who were leading the training!) and they each stood up to introduce themselves or to answer or ask a question. It took me a while to understand them and I think they are struggling to understand me! French is not their first language and it is not my first language so we are all adapting to find the language to communicate with each other.
The hotel we are staying at is nice. There are big spacious area with tables and chairs - an open lobby (where I am right now) with free wireless from time to time! I have tried several times to get on line so I am hoping this works. There is even water in the swimming pool now! It is very hot and humid so that pool could come in very handy when I get a chance!
Tomorrow we have a training session with the educational leaders of the city. People from several schools are coming. I heard that there will be about 75 people tomorrow. Right now the schools are all closed until March 15th because of the mud-slides that happened here a couple weeks ago. Four children died and all the schools decided to close until they could assess the emotional affects of those deaths and the earthquake on the children of the Cap.
There is certainly a United Nations presence here - I saw hundreds of people standing in line waiting for the food distribution program to give them rice. The pastor who welcomed us today and is coordinating our trip told me that he estimates that there are about 250,000 people in Cap Haitian who are displaced from Port-au_Prince because of the earthquake. Unfortunately there is not the infrastructure to meet the needs of all these people and many people have no job, no money, no food and no where to stay.
I am thankful that we made it here safely and continue to pray that God uses us to meet the need of these people who have been so traumatized.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Our luggage made it safely through American customs!
I was very concerned about all the medicine and products that I was bringing across the border into the US en route to Haiti. At the airport this morning we had no problems with customs or with the weight of our luggage. We made it safely to Fort Lauderdale and tomorrow morning we are off to Haiti. I need to get up at 3:00am to catch the flight for Haiti! This trip is challenging in many ways!
Today it has been fun getting to know the team I am with. Really amazing people with so much to offer in different ways. I am blessed to be working with these people and know that it will be a learning experience for me just spending time with them. I will be telling you more about them soon!
If you get a chance there was an article in the Montreal Gazette this morning about our trip - here is the link:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Helping+people+work+through+their+grief/2629786/story.html
I will hopefully write more tomorrow... from Haiti!
Today it has been fun getting to know the team I am with. Really amazing people with so much to offer in different ways. I am blessed to be working with these people and know that it will be a learning experience for me just spending time with them. I will be telling you more about them soon!
If you get a chance there was an article in the Montreal Gazette this morning about our trip - here is the link:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Helping+people+work+through+their+grief/2629786/story.html
I will hopefully write more tomorrow... from Haiti!
I am off to the airport!
Within an hour I will be leaving for the airport - the first leg of my trip is to Fort Lauderdale. I am praying that we will not have any problems at American customs because we will be staying overnight in Florida and I am bringing a lot of supplies to leave in Haiti. I hope that the customs officer will somehow allow us to pass with suitcases full of medicine, bandages, soap and shampoo!
My suitcases are right at the limit - another concern because of the little airplane we are taking tomorrow morning at 6:00am from Fort Lauderdale to Cap Haitian. They are much more strict about weight limits!
I will keep you posted about my journey. I appreciate your prayer and your support!
I'm off!
My suitcases are right at the limit - another concern because of the little airplane we are taking tomorrow morning at 6:00am from Fort Lauderdale to Cap Haitian. They are much more strict about weight limits!
I will keep you posted about my journey. I appreciate your prayer and your support!
I'm off!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
300 people awaiting the training seminars
I just read an email from my brother who is coordinating the project that I am going on to Haiti (although he is not actually going on the trip because of a broken shoulder!) and he informed us that his colleagues in Haiti have confirmed that over 300 people are planning on attending one of our one-day workshops in Cap Haitian. He heard that the need is so great that the response has been much higher than they originally expected.
There was an article in this morning's Globe & Mail that underlies the importance of the work that we have been asked to do. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/haiti/project-jacmel/invisible-scars-haunt-haitis-quake-survivors/article1483614/
The invisible scars that many Haitians are carrying around will be a challenge for years to come - my prayer is that the training sessions we can offer will help equip a few teachers, pastors and leaders to accompany people who are grieving and facing post-traumatic stress.
On a personal note - Marc is on his way to Malaysia. He left last evening and has a 27 hour trip to make before arriving in Kuala Lumpur sometime tonight. The girls are now in the Ottawa area where they will be staying with their loving aunts and grandma who will be spoiling them for the week. Everything is coming together for the trip and all the arrangements that had to be made.
There was an article in this morning's Globe & Mail that underlies the importance of the work that we have been asked to do. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/haiti/project-jacmel/invisible-scars-haunt-haitis-quake-survivors/article1483614/
The invisible scars that many Haitians are carrying around will be a challenge for years to come - my prayer is that the training sessions we can offer will help equip a few teachers, pastors and leaders to accompany people who are grieving and facing post-traumatic stress.
On a personal note - Marc is on his way to Malaysia. He left last evening and has a 27 hour trip to make before arriving in Kuala Lumpur sometime tonight. The girls are now in the Ottawa area where they will be staying with their loving aunts and grandma who will be spoiling them for the week. Everything is coming together for the trip and all the arrangements that had to be made.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Getting ready to go!
Today I received cards from the children of several of the schools that I work in. These kids had spent hours creating beautiful cards with messages of hope and concern for the children of Haiti. One girl who is in grade 6 handed me a bag with four home-made dolls that she had made for me to take to Haiti. I was so touched by their love and concern.
I have been buying supplies and collecting the items that my friends and colleagues have been donating. It is quite overwhelming. I am hoping that I do not surpass my luggage limits. I am trying to bring the bear minimum myself in terms of clothes and personal items in order to max out on items that I can leave behind for the Haitians.
Yesterday we had a special visit from Georges Laraque (for those who do not follow hockey he was a Montreal Canadian and he is a spokesperson for World Vision) come to the high school to thank the students for raising money for Haiti. He was so gracious and just encouraged kids by playing ball hockey with them! It was great!
I still have a lot to do before I leave but as each day passes I am feeling more and more blessed to be part of this team to do this project!
I have been buying supplies and collecting the items that my friends and colleagues have been donating. It is quite overwhelming. I am hoping that I do not surpass my luggage limits. I am trying to bring the bear minimum myself in terms of clothes and personal items in order to max out on items that I can leave behind for the Haitians.
Yesterday we had a special visit from Georges Laraque (for those who do not follow hockey he was a Montreal Canadian and he is a spokesperson for World Vision) come to the high school to thank the students for raising money for Haiti. He was so gracious and just encouraged kids by playing ball hockey with them! It was great!
I still have a lot to do before I leave but as each day passes I am feeling more and more blessed to be part of this team to do this project!
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