People

This picture is the perfect example of why I would like to write stories about specific people. Why it is so important to seek out "the one". Why we should not look at the whole picture and make a vast generalization, something I am so guilty of. How on the surface and at first glance things can look okay. It is only upon further inspection that we find what peoples' real stories are and who people truly are. What they love, what they struggle with, what is right in their lives, and what is not, and where the greatest of friendships are made.

So now look at this picture. Not a scene too uncommon in Haiti. A narrow street, full of people. Big trucks unloading stuff. People selling stuff on the side of the road, etc.

Something about this picture made me blow it up to look at specifics. And I found this man. He is like a lot of people here, thin to the point of unhealthy looking, but look at what he is carrying. I have no idea what it was only that is must have been very heavy by the way he was hunched over. I know it must have hurt his back by the way he is holding his back with his free hand. It made me wonder. Who is he? What is he carrying? How far does he have to walk with it? Is he going to sell what ever is inside of it for money? Is this his job? Does he have a family? Can he feed his family? Where does he live?

There are situations like this daily that make me ask these questions. I am sure there were situations like this in the States too. Was I just too busy to see them? Would it have mattered? Would I have done anything anyway? Is there even anything to be done?

Still trying to figure a lot of things out.

Retaining Walls in Haiti

I mentioned to a few of you that I am the first geotechnical engineer that Build Change has hired. Other ex-pat engineers are structural engineers and construction trainers. Needless to say, they had saved several things in anticipation of my arrival.

Beginning shortly after the earthquake, the MTPTC (equivalent of Public Works Dept) undertook the task of assessing each structure in the Port au Prince area. Structures were then tagged green, yellow, or red. Green tagged structures had minimal damage and were sound enough to occupy. Yellow tagged structures had moderate damage requiring repairs, but were still considered sound enough to occupy (though you might be missing a wall or two). Red tagged homes were basically considered a total loss and could not be occupied. It is interesting to drive around town and see the tags spray painted on all the gates or near all doors.

Build Change, with other non-profit organizations serving as a funding source, has gone into some of these communities and conducted detailed assessments of these homes to establish specific retrofit solutions for each of these homes. We currently have a staff of approximately 60 national (Haitian) engineers who conduct these assessments, perform the designs, and then perform construction inspection. Our goal is to perform 40 assessments each week, but in the coming weeks we will be doing 2 to 3 times that many assessment per week.

Many communties of Port au Prince are built on steep slopes, one home on top of another. Rubble stone masonry retaining walls are used extensively for foundation walls and to create level building pads. The gross majority of these retaining walls were saved for me to analyze. There was a backlog of over 100 walls when I arrived, somewhat of a daunting task. I have thinned the stack a bit. To help get through the stack more efficiently I have developed a condensed version of the Federal Lands Highway (FLH) retaining wall inventory. I will be training our engineering staff later this week on the inventory program, in hopes that they will be able to sufficiently review and assess retaining walls. It has been a very satisfying feeling knowing that the inventory program that was developed by FLH thousands of miles from here will be able to be used to help put Haiti back on its feet.

As I mentioned, rubble stone masonry walls are about the only retaining walls I have seen here. The gross majority of them performed beautifully during the earthquake, with little or no damage. In fact, as I analyze these walls, in many cases I can't explain why they haven't failed. I suppose it has something to do with the care taken during construction, akin to many of the CCC era retaining wall that we see within the National Park System. The just don't build walls like that anymore.

While these walls did perform well I am certain that we will have to develop some retrofit solutions for many of the taller walls. There are a plethora of options available for such retrofits with proper materials, equipment, and construction expertise, none of which really reside in Haiti. The construction material of choice here is concrete. In fact, there isn't much else. Due to deforestation, timber isn't even available. I have begun to notice concrete telephone/electric poles around here (never seen that before). So as I begin to explore retrofit solutions, about all that I am left with is concrete, which is becoming a bit frustrating. There was a time in engineering history when concrete was all the rage and engineers didn't need materials other than concrete (there are still engineers that believe this). The engineering community has developed many more materials and techniques to solve problems, but concrete is still a very versatile tool. Unfortunately, it is the only tool in Haiti.

The Beach

Saturday we went to the beach for the first time. It was wonderful.

We took the route that looked like it had the least turns in getting there so we would not get lost. We ended up driving right through a not so great area and it took almost 2.5 hours to get there. But we got there none the less and it was great.

There are really no "public" beaches like you would see in Hawaii or Mexico. You have to go to a resort and pay to use the beach. Often included in the fee is a buffet lunch. You also have access to all their facilities and pools. We chose a really small beach that was perfect for our family. We even brought Tally who is a really sorry swimmer for a Lab.

After playing on the beach most of the day we went to the pool where CT was trying to teach some Haitians to swim. It seemed odd to me that one would grow up on an island and not know how to swim. Kind of like growing up in CO and never going to the mountains. But I guess when the beach is a real treat you may not do those things as often. Travel, another thing to add to my list of things I take for granted.

We took so many pictures on the way there that the camera died and we only took a few at the beach.

Some of the interesting things we saw along our way;

This was a motorcycle tap-tap. I wish we could have taken a better picture, but we were not in a great area and just a few min earlier someone had spit in their hand then rubbed it over the car windows where the kids were sitting. Nice huh? Anyway, this motorcycle had a little buggy attached to the back and it was carrying 6 people.

This is a two lane road made into a 4 lane and sometimes even 5 lane road. People drive on the sidewalks, pedestrians walk in the street, and if the traffic going the other way is moving faster than you then you just go ahead and drive in that lane...into oncoming traffic.

There are cemeteries all over. Some have these elaborate shrines built over the graves. I think the earthquake must have really taken a toll on some of them as most look like this now, all crumbled down.

Banana, not to be confused with bananas. We call them plantains ( if you have never had one, they taste a little like a potato). People sell these everywhere. You will see men walking with 2-3 of these giant bushels to sell. We have a few trees growing in our yard with them also.

A USAID hospital we passed along the way. I would guess this was probably set up post-earthquake and still seemed to be working. It was nothing more than a metal roof with tarp walls and a dirt floor. A little different than the hospitals I am used to working in.

We drove though an area that was completely different than Port-Au-Prince. Justin has a Haitian friend at work who is from a small coastal town. He tells Justin that PAP is not "the real Haiti".

It was great in these "smaller" towns. More rural, more friendly, it felt "safer".

Still the same hard working people, only in the country. They had animals to help them.

The hillside. I hesitate to even post this picture as it doesn't do justice to the real life image. There are these rolling hills with little tiny shacks everywhere. Little shacks that I am sure were there pre-earthquake. Full of happy looking people. People who work really hard.

Here are two women on a Motorcycle so full of stuff I am not sure how they still kept the thing upright.

Only in Haiti

The other night we were driving home from the beach; it had just gotten dark and the traffic was horrible, as usual. Traffic was stop and go on the dark, steep, windy road near our house. Didn't seem unusual, as we have become used to waiting in traffic. As we rounded the next corner, I caught a glimpse of something in the road and saw that cars were going around it. As we approached in the darkness, I made out the figure to be a man pushing another man in a wheelchair up the mountain road in the middle of the lane. Haiti certainly has few, if any, accommodations for the disabled and the transportation system is certainly not friendly to handicapped folks. I don't see that many disabled people out and about. I might know why now.

For whatever reason, Haitians seem to love Celene Dion. Her music speaks of love and pressing on, maybe something the Haitian people can relate to. It may be because she is French Canadian. For whatever reason, they can't get enough Celene Dion. In fact, I think there is a radio station in Port au Prince that plays her music almost exclusively. I sit next to a window that faces the street at our office. There is a truck that drives by 8-12 times per day, playing "My Heart Will Go On" (theme song to movie Titanic). Not simply just playing the song, but imagine playing the tune to the melodic chime of an ice cream truck. I can't get enough of it.

Who will be First?

It had to happen sooner or later. Someone was bound to get sick. I just did not think it would be me first. After lunch I was hit with a sudden and violent case of the stomach flu. I think it was probably because we have only had power 2 of the last 24 hours and I still ate some ranch out of the fridge. Not my smartest move.

I feel better now though so I'm pretty sure it is not Cholera :) And if anyone had to be sick I am SO glad it was me. I make it in the toilet every time!

My favorite part is when the dog was jumping in my face as I was laying on the couch, BJ came over and grabbed her and said "No, no Tally Mommy is sick, very sick. Don't bite her." Then he carted her away as only a 2 year old can with a puppy.

Class Notes

The notes may get a little hard to understand as the kids are answering questions from their classes.

Dear,class

i have done a ton this week. first of we got the most annoying cat in the history of the world.Next we wet to the beach it was so awesome even though it took 2 hours to get there.At the beach there was a swimming pool, food,and a giant red thing that was floating that you could go 7 feet in the water.We also went swimming in a different swimming pool that was like the one in Stonegate across the school.I also figured out how to open the double lock on handcuffs without a key.I miss you so much and it feels like it has been 10 years in Haiti. but i still like it here.

sincerely,

Houdini

Dear Class
I miss you so so so much .I got a cute little little cat we named it
Mckiley .But it dose not eat or drink or go potty .We wet to the beach
on Saterday.It was grate!!!There was a pool there to. As you can see I
am having a grate time
Love, IS

Ms. Lee-

that wuz svanu fot bii the trathlu wee got a cat naad Mckiley (that was SF foot by the tarantula. We got a cat named McKinley).

(My writing, Tate's words) I hope you do good with the kids in your class. We have trees around out house, the leafs are bigger than my Mom and Dad. They grow banannas. No the tarantula wasn't disguisting. How come you did so much exciting marks? We can not understand church becuase they speak Creole. We went to the beach there was a big crab in the sand. And then someone threw it in the water. I swimmed in the water. The water had seaweeds in it. The water tasted disguisting!!!!! (Mom, write five exciting marks).

Good Bye-

Love TJ

Adoption

Being here in Haiti has brought up a lot of feelings on adoption. There are over 700 orphanages here and heaven only knows how many orphans. Even if you were not an adoptive mother, you could not help but have adoption on the brain. I have had the opportunity to get to know some of the families who are adopting from the orphanage we often go to. Some of them have agreed to let me share their stories in an effort to bring to light the situation in Haiti. I hope these real stories will touch someone's heart and open someone's eyes.

As I have considered what I am asking of these families, I have wondered if I would do the same thing? Would I share my story with the world. Truthfully on our first adoption and before it was completed, probably not. I will now.

So, the stories of our adoptions (unabbreviated, sorry)

We had a hard time conceiving #4 and started looking into international adoption. We realized after looking into it that we did not have the funds to pursue it. Besides something about it did not feel right. While we were fasting and praying one day at a very sacred place in our faith, I had a vision of a beautiful brown little girl joining our family. I had no doubt she was to come to our family. So we started looking into foster care. After completing our home study we learned I was expecting. I was convinced through dream and feelings that I was having twins. So we thought about backing off on the adoption process. This did not feel right either. We kept going and the Doctor's insisted I was not having twins, a fact I confirmed with many ultrasounds at work :) I still could not shake the twin feeling.

Anyways, we completed all of our classes and paperwork about 3 weeks before BJ was born. We wanted to take a child with special medical needs for a few reasons. One, I knew we could. I feel if you are called to medicine it truly is a calling and not just a job. I worked in the NICU for almost 10 years; I knew I could handle it. Another reason is that in CO you can be reimbursed to be a foster child's RN. This was a great blessing for our family so that I could stay home with our bio-children and our special need's child. We knew there was a "waiting list" for special needs' children that was 9 months long at the time. So we decided to wait until BJ was about 3 mo old so that he would be 1 by the time we could actually take a child. We wanted him to have the chance to be the only baby for a while. I know again we were making our own plans and not following God's plan for us :)

We turned in our paperwork when BJ was 11 weeks old, a few days before we were to leave on a family vacation to the mountains. The next day we got a call to come and see a baby boy they wanted us to foster. This really put a kink in "my plans". First of all, this child was a white boy, not the beautiful brown little girl I had seen. Second, he would not require nursing care, therefore, I would be leaving 5 kids including 2 babies to go back to work. And third, he is only 6 weeks older than BJ. We quickly learned again, as we have time and time again in this process, that we are not in charge here. God has a plan and really our only choice is if we choose to follow it or not. We knew this boy was supposed to come home with us. At this point I had SERIOUS doubts about having him long term. After meeting his family I learned why. He was born to a beautiful, young, unwed mother. I truly believe loved him to the best of her ability. His bio-dad was not involved and actually had a warrant in CO so he could not take him even if he did show up in CO. The problem was the boyfriend. He was also a victim of his upbringing and I can not really judge him for things that happened. However, when we got our little boy he was in a full body cast with forever life changing fractures and he had failure to thrive. He was born at over 7 lbs. At almost 5 months old he did not even weigh 10 lbs. He had a serious aversion to eating and was terrified of most things. Long story short, as a result of the abuse and neglect he was subjected to he ended up on a feeding tube and oxygen. I still did not know he was meant to be our forever son as I wrestled with "making the decision". Should his parents' rights be terminated. I laugh now in thinking it was ever "my decision" to make. I now know why I was not convinced yet. I can honestly say I did everything I could to try and help his birth mother to learn how to be a mother. Had I known he was mine, the mother bear in me could not and would not have done that. The US is different than Haiti, if you have a will you have a way. There are programs and all sorts of things to help a mother out if she wants too. His mother and I worked hard for a long time. It was easy as there were two babies and two Mama's. And while I am not the perfect mother, I learned from the best and I can certainly model good mothering. In the end, it was not enough. She became pregnant again and lost interest in him. We still maintain a relationship and I have a great love and respect for her in knowing she really tried for her baby. She worked as hard as she could with the tools she was given and this is what I will tell my son someday. Don't get me wrong, it is not all butterflies and flowers. The effects of abuse run deep. This child, more than any other, tries my patience and brings me to my knees and challenges me to love in a way I never knew I could. And I finally have my twins.

Now about our girlie. About 2 weeks after we had taken BT to our temple to make him part of our forever family, the case worker came to me again. We had told her about my vision years ago and she remembered. Living less than 3 miles from my house was another foster home where my little girl was being raised. SF was born at least 10 weeks early at home, to a 17 year old mother, who did not know she was pregnant. She has an IQ of 65 and was abused in a very wrong way. She was never able to care for her baby. Her family was also unable as they were part of the situation. She was in the NICU for over 3 months and never learned how to eat. She has had a feeding tube since she was brought home from the hospital. Given her genetics, her birth trauma, (she was born at home and did not have a heart rate of 8 min per ambulance reports) and her prematurity she has the deck stacked against her. However, she has made great strides. On one of our first visits, our whole family fasted and prayed to know if she was the little girl we knew was to become part of our family. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life as we talked with each of the children about their feelings'. It was unanimous and we took her full time into our home when she turned 2 in March. With the example of the boys she now talks a little and runs all over, something of a miracle for a girl with cerebral palsy. She still does not eat and life will probably look "different" for her. And while not without physical challenges, on a lot of days she brings the happy to our family, she is mellow and lovely, kind, sweet, and easy going. I know beneath her physical limitations she has an amazing spirit. She is a fighter because if not she would not have made it this far and I know as her fighting spirit continues to show through she will continue to make improvements. We feel so blessed to have her as part of our lives.

So 6 kids in 7 years. Not my plan. 3 babies that are only 10 weeks apart, really not my plan. Special needs kids, again not what I would have chosen. I am just so grateful for a greater knowledge that God has a plan for us and while it is not always the "easy" plan or even obvious plan, it is better. Far better than anything I could have or would have planned. And I am grateful for an eternal partner who sees the whole picture. And helps me to do the same.

Totally lost my mind

It's official. I have totally lost my mind. We have a puppy that cries at night unless she is sleeping with IS and poops all over the house and car.
And now we have a tiny baby kitten.
And I am not even really a furry pet lover. In fact, some people in this house are crazy allergic to both.
But that rat the other night put me over the edge. I have talked to several people getting rid of cats here and they all assure me anything other than a cat who has just been weaned will run away here. So I talked to another lady today who had kittens that were just weaned. She is not sure how old they are, but by looking at this little one I can not think they are very old. The cats are outdoor, wild cats and this little one is Mean. It is a good thing there is not a lot of size behind her meanness yet, we hope she will warm up to people. For now I think it (we don't dare try to figure out the gender) is just terrified.

Some more Tally pictures, for a Lab she did not like the water too much.

The Orphanage

Today we were able to visit the orphanage again. We were there on Monday also. When we pulled up BJ said "we at da baby house" I guess it must feel strange to him to have a houseful of babies. He aught to look around a little.
The kids were well.
Today we played with bubbles, some sat enthralled, some were not too sure what to think of it.
We also brought Tally, she was a pretty sure no go. The lady who runs the orphanage said it was the first time they have seen a puppy. A few kids warmed up by the end, but 2 or 3 of them were just not having her.
We read books and sang. I get a lot of blank stares when we sing and read books. I really need to learn Creole, but the lady who runs it says English is a good thing as they are all going home, hopefully sooner than later, with their English speaking families. We have had the opportunity to connect with some of these families and that has been nice. I hope to be able to capture some pictures of everyday moments to share with them.

The good, the bad & the ugly

The Good-

Mostly everything

- The kids are doing well with homeschool,

- We are feeling a little settled,

- We have been able to volunteer in orphanages,

- There are great people here,

- I got the practice the hymns as I am going to play on Sunday,

- Rosalie is making Soup Jejour, some kind of pumpkin soup that smells so good

- We were able to go swimming at a hotel yesterday and met a group that is here doing an "attachment visit" at their orphanage. It was great to talk to people and hear their perspective. It was sad to hear of their journey and struggles.

- One of the ladies who came brought tons of Old Navy flip flops so now we have "house shoes", a must here.

The Bad-

- Some of the men here. There is this entitled, arrogant attitude in a lot of them. It is SUPER frustrating. In the States, I can take care of most things myself. Here my word is nothing and I am constantly harassed for more money until Justin steps in. They are not all like this.

- Being made to feel like I "owe" people because I am American.

- Being taken advantage of. We have come to realize someone we trusted has not been honest with us and it hurts.

- Today I would not pay a kid for "watching my car" (he and his 4 friends ran over as we were leaving the spot) He kicked the car once and pushed the side view mirror in. It wasn't until I laid on the horn and did not let up that he quickly ran away.

- These kids can not be over 8 years old and already this is what they are being taught, to not respect women and to act like people owe you things. No wonder they grow into the men some of these men are.

The Ugly-

- The kids saw "a giant guinea pig" in the bushes in our yard. When it appeared in our kitchen tonight we realized it was actually a RAT!

- The puppy cries at night unless she is in bed with someone, . . . we bought a kennel today.

- The zoo effect. Whenever we go anywhere, it is like we are the animals on exhibit at the zoo. People just stare. I guess we are quite the scene!

Class Notes

Dear Class-
We have done a lot in Haiti. Here is the things that really stuck out.One time a kid that looked like he was 11 came up to my Mom and shouted something weird in Creole. I miss you guys a lot. My
brother saw a tarantula. Also we got a puppy. Her name is Tally. She is really, really cute. She is a black lab. We went on a walk yesterday I offered to carry a bucket for somebody. It was a Haitian lady. It was getting really heavy in my hand so I put it on my head it was harder than it looks. We have to take a Haitian shower here. I'll explain how it is done. You a heat a bucket of water over the stove, you grab a smaller bucket, put it in the big bucket and pour that on your head. I'm going to teach our dog how to get out of handcuffs or at least try. I have a locked box in my room it is where I keep all the good stuff, like my handcuffs. Clearly you see I have had an awesome time in Haiti.
Sincerely- Houdini
P.S. there is a soccer feild by our house every once in a while we watch the kids play.

Dear Class-
My family bought a puppy her name is Tally. Tally's read name is Talkeetna. I miss you so much. We have a big house for Haiti. We are buying a cat to eat the mice around our house. My brother found a dead tarantula, it is by my sisters foot in the picture. I got a bug bite bigger than a penny. I have been to the orphanage 3 times, I got to hold lots of cute babies. As you can see I am having a fun time.How is school going? Is it still snowing?
Love, IS

Dear Ms.Lee and full day kindies-
You know the picture with the tarantula, I found the tarantula. Wecaught a lot of lizards. The car ride to my house is VERY bumpy, and when I ride in the back I don't even have a seat belt. In the
front I do. There are three couches at my house and some pictures. Our house is big, we have a fun back yard. This is a picture of the view from my house. We got a new dog, her name is Talkeetna, we call her Tally. We can't undertand their church. We go to a lot of orphanages, I like
the orphanages.
Sincerely-TJ

Blessed?

One thing that I have really had time to reflect on while we have been here is how blessed I am. I start thinking of ways that I feel blessed in a way that people around here are not and besides health, the blessings are all material things. Things that make my life "easier". A nice home, cars, dishwashers, washers and dryers, and disposals. And convenience things. Power, water, close grocery stores that have every thing my little heart could dream of etc, etc, etc.
As I have been reflecting on this I have been wondering what I did or did not do that God choose to send me to the life he did and others to another life. If I am totally honest, I would say my life has been really easy. I have never needed in the way I see people need here. However, I bet I have wanted more than they could ever dream of. I have struggled with what my role here should be. Do I try and bring my life to them, do I give endlessly, do I try and judge whom I give to? I am still prayerfully trying to figure this out. Looking at how people live here I have contemplated, does the ease of my life make my life better?
From where I now sit I would say NO. Not better different. And is some ways the "ease" comes with a lot of committments and burdens that I do not see here. I bet nobody here ever worried what sports to put their child in.
The thing that is amazing to me is that people here seem genuinely happy. They are kind and gentle and loving. This is a huge generalization that I know I am not qualified to make, but just my observations. People are trusting, open, helpful, and most importantly I think that people know God in a way I have never taken the opportunity to. The level of faith that is shown to me here is something I can not even begin to describe. I thought we had faith in leaving our "safety" of the States and dragging our 6 kids here with a lot of unanswered questions. And while I can not doubt that God has blessed us beyond measure, I can only hope someday my faith will be enough to change my heart the way I see people here doing. These people truly have humble, soft, lovely souls. They are hard working and do not act as though anyone owes them anything. I think in the end I do not need to bring my life to them, but rather learn from them and help where I can. Still just trying to figure out what that all means.
Some views from where I sit:
These are taken from our balcony. The clouds rolling in over the mountains. There is just something about the mountains that always makes me feel God's presence.

Some women doing the nightly water run and returning for the day with the things they were selling. Everyday people cart these heavy tubs up and down the mountain to sell stuff.

This is Ephanie, 22. She is a single girl who lives with her family right across the street from us. I feel such a contrast looking from our nice house seperated by the barbed wire, gate, and guard into her home. I have not talked to her much because I have not brought my computer over with google translator yet. But someday I would like to get to know her more. Her smile is infectious.

Someone once told me the best security you could have in Haiti is that of a strong social equity. We are trying to build that equity. Tonight we went on a walk to watch the local soccer game. We ran into a lady carrying the bucket on her head and the one in her hand. CT helped her down the mountain with the water. I hope the kids will see what I am seeing. The material things are not what brings happiness, the service and love of others is what will bring it.

Our New Baby

We have a new baby at our house.
Not to worry, it is furry and has 4 legs.
Still Justin is wondering if I have lost my mind!
...And to ease the mind of those of you still thinking we may adopt a real baby while we are here. Not going to happen. Haiti has very strict rules and would not allow a family with 6 kids to adopt...ever. Period. End of story and we just feel blessed to get to love on so many children while we are here. We are supposed to go to the orphanage again tomorrow and are so looking forward to it.

Back to the dog, most of our neighbors don't have guards or barbed wire like we do, they just have really mean dogs who snarl at you when you walk by. We thought we may want a dog too. We looked at Rotweillers yesterday, but the owner would not even let their parents out of the cage "because they may not be nice to the kids". So we decided on this guy...
Doesn't she look ferocious!
We decided to name her Talkeetna. Before Justin and I were even married we wanted a huge dog named Talkeetna (a city in Alaska with a really cool name). Because she is a lot smaller than the dog we had originally imagined we will call her Tally for short. She is a 4 month old black lab. And the kids are elated!

This guy has been wanting a dog since we adopted him and he is elated!

Tomorrow I think we are going to get a cat. Justin opened a drawer in the kitchen tonight only to find one in the drawer. Gross! The C-A-T will not be joining us back in CO, in fact if you know me at all, you are shocked we are even considering it! I just hope we can find a good mouser.

Are you kidding me?

Okay, I can deal with mosquitos and ants everywhere. I can even deal with no power and no appliances and no water for a while. This I am not sure about...
But, while I was cleaning the mice crap out of the silverware drawer, for the 3rd time today, the kids came in yelling "Hey Mom, TJ found a baby tarantula." Being the attentive mother I am I ignored them until the third kid came in to tell me about "da spider". And this is what I found.

Mind you this thing is dead and was all curled up and missing 1/2 of its legs, I wonder what kind of bug did that, I can not imagine what it looked like alive.
I am just praying tonight that it was not what bit my daughter, or I may be out of here.
Seriously even if my husband does write nice posts about me.
Out of here.

Slaughter Day

I think Friday must be slaughter day around here. Today we saw 3 goats hanging from a tap tap full of people, can you imagine driving around in an overstuffed taxi with 3 dead goats hanging off the side?
Last night I saw this guy lugging the cattle that have been grazing on the hill near our house down the mountain. I was sad as I have been watching these cattle for days as I eat my cereal with boxed milk wondering if maybe I could milk them. But I think they are boys which would just be awkward.

Then today traffic was stopped for a while. As we rounded the corner I saw why. I have started carrying my camera in the front seat with me.

Some more random pictures from the car. Not the best pictues, but I am driving with precious Cargo!
There are big trucks all over here. Huge ones that hog the whole road. The roads are more steep than I-70 at its worst and there are no run away truck ramps. Bad combo. Here is a truck that lost it's brakes and went off the road and down the hill some. It was totally torn up and burnt. The other day there was a horrible accident in PAP where a truck lost its brakes and plowed into a bunch of people. 25 people died and 25 were seriously injured.

CT made me take this for Justin. "Look Mom even Haiti loves the Bears." I seriously doubt this guy knew who the bears were.

Whitney

There is a Haitian proverb that states, "Women are like mahogany; they get better with age." This is certainly true of Whitney, although I won't say she has aged (still 29 and holding).

Throughout our courtship and married life I have always teased Whitney about her lack of outdoorsmanship (I guess that is what growing up in Chicago does to you). I have always claimed that Whitney's idea of camping is a Motel 6. In fact, I can only recall one time in which we have ever camped as a family and made it through the night.

Well I must admit that living in Haiti is much like camping and not even "glorified" camping. There are no simple tasks here. Everything takes twice as long to get done. For instance, the best way to take a shower is to fill a bucket with a few gallons of water (maybe hot, maybe not) and slowly pour it over your head. Clean is a relative term. To wash the dishes, one must scrape all food scraps into garbage can (no garbage disposals here), wash the dishes, and then rinse in bleach water. The electricity constantly cycles on and off so we have to be careful of what we put in refrigerator. Ah, the simple joys of life.

Through our first two weeks in Haiti, Whitney has been a trooper, a super trooper. I haven't even heard her scream when she sees a mouse run across the floor or a spider the size of a silver dollar. She has done much to get the kids and myself settled in our home. She has taken countless trips to the store to get food and other items (unfortunately there is not a Costco in Haiti so more frequent visits are required). She has hired house help, set up internet, purchased TV, tables/chairs, and various other items from people on the street. She has done all of this without complaint, for which I am very appreciative. Thanks honey, I love you. Maybe when we go home for a week in April, we can go camping.

Someone that has lived in Haiti for some time told me that life in Haiti is hard, whether you are prepared or not. I would now share the same advice with anyone contemplating moving to Haiti. Life is hard, but being here and being able to serve the people of Haiti is worth it.

Only in Haiti

Life in Haiti is very interesting to say the least. Apparently the best way to carry heavy loads is on your head. I have never tried it, but every man, woman, and child in Haiti is very adept at balancing large objects on their heads.

On the way home from work the other day I saw a man carrying a backpack on his head. I always assumed that backpacks had shoulder straps, but maybe they were chin straps all along. I might have to try it out.

More Creatures

Evertime the kids catch a lizard or see a new bug, I have to take a picture.
This is a leaf bug CT found today. The imp in the backgroud is trying to take it out. This is how they kill bugs here, with NERF guns. At least they think they do I guess!

Although we did not see the creature that did this, I would guess it had 8 legs and giant fangs. It creeps me out to know it was in bed with my daughter! The nurse in me was a little paranoid at the bulls eye look to it, how raised, red, and big it was so I got the marker out. It is better now.

Hot Water!

We have hot water!!! Well, when the power is on we do. The water system is interesting here. There is a large tank under the house that you pay to have filled up with water or rain water collects there also. When you have power you turn on a pump that pumps water up to a large blue container on the roof. Then gravity lets if come down when you turn the water on. If we have power then a pump turns on and gives us some water pressure. If not, then we just have a trickle. But now our 25 gal water heater is working YEAH!
So tonight BJ said "I have a hot shower, that's weird."


But again how can I complain when this is the view out our window every morning and night. I am not sure if you can see, but these are people walking with their buckets to fill up with water.

A little bit of Home

Yesterdays' 5.5 hour shopping trip only included 3 stops.
1- Megamart, a place that I would loosely compare to Sams' Club. You pay for a membership and then buy in bulk at a "discounted" rate. However, the eggs I bought were rancid. The case of water $24 and the meat in the freezer was luke warm at best. There were some great deals too, TP 12 rolls for $8, canned goods $1.50/can and tuperware containers. YEAH!
It was great until we got to the check out and it took them over 30 min to run my cc, including a call to the States. It was baby melt down time x3 and the big kids had a serious case of the gimmies. Then I had to apply for the card another 15 min and have them take my picture. BJ was loosing it so a worker at the store held him for me while they took the picture. Haitians ask me all the time if all the kids are mine. I speak charades very well. It looks something like someone circling their hands around all the kids and then pointing to my belly. With a questioning look on their face. I say yes and then inevitably they point to SF.
At the end of this my friend who was with me was like "Wow, when you told me you were coming to Haiti with 6 kids I thought you were nuts, but your kids are really good." She must have seen different kids than I did.

Stop 2- Epidor, where I ate my weight in French Fries and feel much better.
Stop 3- The Caribee Market- This place is just like home, besides the armed guy in the background. Maybe even better a shopping cart that fits all 3 kids and small ones for the big kids.

A big part of home, this one is for you Grandpa. I paid $6 for this bag and it was worth every penny!

And the Rains came in

Tonight it started raining for the first time since we have been in Haiti. It came in so quickly I was not even able to get all the laundry that was hung out to dry 2 days ago. Luckily most of it was in.

CT said "what is that noise?" I told him the rain he said "No way, it can rain that hard!"

BJ said "Shut da window dat rain noxious" I asked him if he meant obnoxious he said "dat what I say. Noxious"

All I can think of is all the people I know who are around us right now without a roof over their head. I am sitting here in this house with a sick feeling in my stomach feeling really guilty!

Rosalie

Meet Rosalie. We have had a hard time deciding what her job is called. CT called her a "maid" when we first got here. IS quickly corrected him and said that was rude. Our friends in Haiti call people who help in your house "house help". This makes sense to me and makes me feel a lot less guilty. I do know that she is quickly becoming is a good friend. I have found that people who have been in my everyday life, day in and day out helping you, quickly become people you really trust, see a side of you not everyone does (the good, bad and ugly) and in general just become good friends. Before we left CO we had a girl named Rachael with us who went back to school when we left. We miss her.
Anyway, back to Rosalie. I promised I would start writing some more about individual people as they really are what stands out here and I think give a more clear picture of the country in general.
Rosalie is 27. She is from a town about 4 hours away. She used to work in an orphanage here in town. They did not treat her well and she was paid $75/mo. to help care for over 80 kids. She cooked, cleaned and did laundry for them. She quit and was selling shoes on the street until she came to us. A friend of ours brought her to us. And we love having her here!
She is a single mother who has a 6 year old son. Her husband was killed in the earthquake and her son was hurt. She was at the orphanage at the time of the earthquake and was stuck there for days/weeks before she could get home.

IS just watches her day in and day out.

I was trying to do SF's hair one day and she basically pushed me out of the way to do it for me.