Two Weeks In

It's been a very interesting two weeks, and I've got many, many things to share, many, many thoughts to express, many, many gifts and blessings to appreciate and praise God for. (Many, many is something my nephew says and it's not strange to hear the Kreyol equivalent around here: "Anpil, anpil"). But there is a risk of boring a few of you (you know who you are) with a long post, so I'll be brief-ish and save the rest for another day :)

The other afternoon I came up to Rachel's (the director of the orphanage and my supervisor) apartment to find her re-wrapping the arm of one of the Hope Village girls. The girl had been riding one of those wiggly car things (like they have at Chapters in the children's' section - you sit on them and wiggle to make them go - those things are super cool and can turn on a dime!). This girl had been riding where she shouldn't have - down a sloped sidewalk that ended in stairs. The result of the ride was a broken bone in her arm. That was last week. This day Rachel was wrapping her arm up because the girl had decided the cast was inconvenient and had taken it off (the way a cast works here is a bit different, it's more like a splint and not so permanent). The girl was annoyed that she was being restricted by this contraption again, but she submitted to Rachel's care.

As soon as Rachel finished this task, another couple of Hope Village kids arrived with an issue that required a cold compress. That taken care of, another boy arrived with complaints of sores on his hands (I found out that he gets infections that often result in sores on his skin - he doesn't have HIV, they wonder about some kind of poorly treated infection from before he came to the orphanage as a toddler because he always gets these sores). He was crying about the intended treatment (to prick the blisters on the sores) and I found myself overwhelmed by this picture of 6 kids standing around the boy and Rachel, encouraging him to listen to her, to mind her. This picture of family, with Rachel mothering the little group and all their bumps and bruises, brought me to tears.

This is a big place and there are literally thousands of people who come through the gates every day. Teams, usually from North America, arrive every Wednesday and Saturday to do all kinds of construction, medical and evangelistic work on the campus and in the surrounding communities. There are many, many Haitian workers who come to the campus to work - there are a lot of projects on the site (the building of the new two-storey guest house, a giant warehouse, the expansion of the clinic into a hospital with an E.R.) - and there are many other indigenous workers at other locations nearby (a project to build houses in a nearby town, for example). There is a LOT of activity here every single day. That's not even including all the church activities on the weekends and some week nights... OR the thousands of children who attend the school on the property (they added afternoon school after the earthquake to accommodate all the children from the tent communities in the surrounding area - families who left Port-Au-Prince).

And in the middle of it all sits Hope Village. Home to 62 children and 24 caretakers for these children. That's many, many.

So to make a family here, I've decided, is a crazy thing. To think that you could come together and provide for the needs of these children in the middle of all this - is nuts.

Unless God is in it.
And He is.

Oh boy, is He in it.

Another Post Already? Naw, mostly pics :)

Handiwork in the library - dig the bright colours:

 

This is the building in Hope Village where I’m living (that window below the arrow is beside my bed... I realize in retrospect that the arrow is too small... oops):

Last weekend at the beach:

It's quite beautiful here... 

Thanks for your patience!

I'm all set for using the Internet now! It took some finagling... not really, just some time...

This week I've been studying Creole and doing different things around campus while waiting for my Creole teacher to be arranged. I think we have someone lined up and I should start intensive lessons Monday - looking forward to it and praying that God will open up my brain in amazing ways!

In the meantime, I've helped out at some English classes with one of my roommates, another intern, Abby. She works with the Hope Village children and adults (Haitian men and women who work there with the orphans) to teach them English.
I also did some painting in the children's library getting shelves and tables ready for them to use the space.
Today I spent some time down at 3 Cords - an initiative started here for people who have had prosthetics fitted at the lab here at MOH - where Haitian women are employed hand-making head bands, hair clips, jewelry, purses and shoulder bags that are for sale here on campus. Very cool stuff and totally cute. All of the workers at 3 Cords have had some sort of amputation and now have full time jobs! A bunch of sewing machines have been donated so that should aid in their production of these goods.

I'm getting to know more people and what goes on here but have yet to do any Art Therapy sessions. I'll wait until March to start working with Haitian children, but I may have an opportunity to work with some North American children and families starting in the next weeks. A number of children and parents from Canada and the US were here when the earthquake hit last year and so I've offered support if desired. I'll meet with one family in the next week or so about what their needs might be and if I can help.

I've begun to build some sweet friendships and treasure these getting-to-know-each-other days.
I'll find some good pics to post this week... lots to see!

Bon Swa, Ya'll!

Two Weeks

Today is two weeks til my departure date.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti.

There is something about an anniversary that feels like we should commemorate or postulate...
but, as much as I'd like to have something of worth to state,
all I can do is to sit with the quiet weight
of January 12th.

Metamorphosis

Christmas was lovely.
Which is saying a lot because I like traditions.
I'm been trying to think of one tradition that stayed the same ... nope. All different, adjusted or new.
We've been focusing on forming new traditions with the new generation. And really, I just feel blessed to share Christmas moments and family love with my nephew.

Our lovely little Love!

It's been a time of change and searching for balance in the family. Rest and unrest. Endings and beginnings.
At work I've been starting to say goodbye to clients, doing endings or transfers.
At home we seem to be aware, whether it's spoken or not, of the fewer and fewer days I have to spend with my family.
I've been making plans with friends for January, trying to fit in as many as possible, knowing that those visits will include a goodbye hug or kiss that will need to last a while.
Internally, I'm oscillating between staying focused on my goals and 'to-do' lists and trying to soak in every moment. Which, and you may know this already, is actually how I regularly live - it's just amped up right now. My boss says "we're scattered" and if you aren't a scattered person - or if you are but haven't come to terms with it - then it might not sound like the compliment it is. She said to me the other day that that was one of the things that make us "great counsellors". I've been thinking about her words this week. Looking at it all while looking at all the bits, distracted by it all while focused on it all. It makes total sense to me. Plus it's a huge compliment to me to be lumped in any category with a woman that inspires, encourages and loves me like my boss.

Tonight is New Year's Eve. Goodbye Old Year! Hello New!
I remember watching cartoons of Baby New Year booting the wrinkled and withered Old Year out of the way so that he could march in and take over. It was always such a strangely aggressive thing for a baby to do. I knew it was coming each time the cartoon would run on TV, but it just seemed so mean to the old man. Like we're supposed to sing Auld Lang Syne, count backwards from 10, magically forget about him and be so excited about this new baby of a year. Spoiled brat. No respect.
But really, time and change don't show a lot of mercy. And they don't have to because they don't care about us. These thoughts, while sounding a bit like a rain cloud, are actually very hopeful to me. These thoughts bring my mind back to the One who cares the most. The One who has The Plan.The Plan for everything AND The Plan for little ol' me.
What comfort, what care and consideration, what Love that dreamed it all up and then made it so!

So, my prayer for you (and me) is that this night and the days and nights to follow will be a time to celebrate the changes that have come as well as the ones ahead - known or unknown. By us. Because the path is well known by Him. I pray that we would seek with every bit of ourselves the path and then work to embrace whatever is there, knowing that we are not alone; we are, in fact, being embraced, held, led and kept by our Maker. I pray that we are filled with the Holy Spirit and that, as we are, we will understand more the hugeness of Christ's love for us. And that with that understanding, that filling up (and tapping down and filling up), we will overflow - flow over - onto others. A big mess. Messy, messy, messy. Go make a mess. Many, many messes (as my nephew would say).

Merry Christmas and Metamorphosis New Year!