The Office: an Update

My office is no longer haunted by Madam Poul. The insertion of some linen in the space above my door blocked her from entry. Apparently she moved to the next room where visiting groups stay. We've heard from some individuals that they regularly find eggs on their pillows. They say they have to throw out at least an egg a day… I say waste not - let's have omelettes!
The office, while beginning to feel comfortable, was crowded with the large room occupied by 5 big bunk-beds… so we’ve found another home
I’ve moved from the blue building to the purple building. I consider it a definite move up in terms of quality of office. The interior is a bright pink. I deeply appreciate that it is not a bubble gum pink (personal preference). Plus there are no bunk-beds. Obviously moving up in the orphanage!

My amazing helpers. They helped me with my big clean up this week.

 So if you come to Hope Village in the late morning or throughout the afternoon, come to room 17 in the purple building to say ‘Hi’ we love visitors.


:D

Community Health

Last week I completed my contribution to the Community Health Program here at MOH.
I had been asked to do some simple drawings for the teaching module for use with the Haitian health educators as well as for the educators to use within the communities where they will be teaching about health and disease prevention.
You may be wondering what kind of drawings would be needed for a program such as this. Well, let me tell you, they were not like any drawings I'd ever done before. I have now drawn men pooping both on dry and wet land, children sitting in their own diarrhea, dehydrated babies, animals spreading feces, families with illnesses, food infested with insects and more.
Below are two less graphic illustrations to be used to spur on discussion about penning animals:

Wandering Pig.
Where's he been? We don't know!
What did he do there? How can we tell?
Where's he going? Wherever he wants!

Penned Pig.
Pretty sure we're all feeling just a little bit safer.
Even the pig.

*okay, they may not use my script for the teaching...

Babies!

Toddlers, actually.

Being away from my nephew Noah has been the most difficult part of being in Haiti. The last many many months of his life, before I came to MOH, I spent 2 or 3 days a month with him. Just the two of us building our relationship and bond. It is amazing to chat with people online, to Skype, to email, to text even. Noah's not so into those things though. He will be two in July and I will miss his birthday and that already feels like a roundhouse to my left kidney (I've been doing kickboxing here... which may merit another post).
I can not replace that missed time with Noah but I can at least be distracted by the 5 babies here. I say babies because they're still in the baby group room, but really they are toddlers. And they are amazing and crazy and full of joy and strong opinions and they are starting to have things to say!
It seems like everyone here does a blog post at some point about the babies. I guess it's unavoidable!
Each one has a different story, well, except for the twins - their story is very similar... but I'll get to that.
Pierre is a boy who is maybe 3... we're not sure as he was left here over a year ago. If I am recalling info correctly (as a disclaimer, the following facts are to my best knowledge and with a heart of love for these kids) he was abandoned at the mission following the earthquake. Angelie was also left at our gate after Jan 12/10. Pierre's age is not known as he is very underdeveloped in pretty much every area. We guess that he is 3 or more by the full set of teeth he has. He has cysts in his brain that have prevented brain development and prevented growth. His body is frail, his immune system is very weak, and he has difficulty even holding his head up. When I first came in January Pierre would lay around all day. He was in a crib or in the arms of adults or older children, but he just lay there on his back, waving arms or legs awkwardly. Currently, with the love and attention of dozens of Haitians and North Americans Pierre is longer and stronger. His grip has improved, he can be propped up in a seated position and hold his head up for short amounts of time, he is more responsive to facial expressions and touch, and last week I saw him wave - back! He was laying in church and one of his Mommies was waving at him and Pierre waved back at her. It's now my most favourite game. He will likely never walk, be toilet-trained or have a converstaion. He will likely need to be fed, transported, cared for as an infant for the rest of his life. He is a boy who brings such joy to others, including his siblings in the baby room. They call him Ti Pye (little Pierre) and they love him to bits - like the rest of us.
Angelie, as I mentioned, was also abandoned here after the earthquake. She is probably 2 and is the craziest baby of all. She could not walk when she arrived but had learned to scoot herself around on the floor in a seated position, legs out in front. She started to walk just before I came in January, but, at the time, still preferred the scoot. She now, with her wee bowed legs, runs around with the rest of the babies. She is the biggest, a fact I realized in church when she fell asleep in my arms during worship (Haitian babies sleep through anything). She enjoys singing anything, including Justin Bieber's 'baby, baby, baby, ooooooooh'! and has the best laugh.
Matthew is a boy of maybe 2.5 years. He was brought from another nearby orphanage when some American MOH supporters were touring local ministries. They found him in a corner of the orphanage nearly dead and brought him here. He is now healthy, strong, sometimes bossy, often hilarious with his little jokes, and has the most developed vocabulary. He says my name without missing a beat when we ask him to - and lots of adults struggle to say my name here.
That leaves the twins: Jeremiah and Hannah. These are two more miracle babies. They're the youngest at almost 2 years and have been here almost from birth. Their story is amazing and heart breaking as they were born to a very young mother who refused to care for them and made it difficult for the mission to officially bring them into the orphanage, but they came and were named and are now chubby, joyful, healthy little 'nugs' as my friend Abby calls them.
I could go on about all of these sweet babes, but I'll leave it at that for today and just give you some snaps.


Hannah and Pierre



Clockwise from rear left: Angelie, Jeremiah, Matthew, Hannah

2 Things

1. She came back. Jeff removed her and I'm working on a chicken-proofing plan. Adding this photo is against my better judgement but if it placates her, maybe she'll get out of my hair...

2. Decided to white-wash the blog... it felt cluttered. One can't wear the same thing for ever.

An Office!

OK, I have to preface this post with the following: IT WILL BE DISGUSTING. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT YUCKY STUFF, THEN DON'T READ THIS POST.
Seriously.
I wanted to share about my new office space the minute I was told I it was mine (except for 2 weeks in May when I will have to move out and let some team use it to sleep because we are overbooked - sigh of frustration here).
Previously I had been meeting with young people in Rachel's office or in Abby's classroom (whichever was free at the time I needed it). Things here require lots of adaptation on a daily basis.
Anyhow, I was told 2 weeks ago I could finally start to use my office. Unfortunately, there was no key for the lock on the door so I waited another week for a new lock and then, in the middle of last week, began moving stuff into the room.
I had gone in the week before to clean the washroom, sweep the floors, re-arrange the bulky bunk beds that have to remain there until after May. It was dusty but not so bad. In the washroom I found a chicken who seems to enjoy room 14. She has been known to lay eggs on the beds. I decided she would make a suitable secretary.

I was given the new key to room 14 and excitedly gathered my first load of art supplies for the office. As happens in an area with any of 61 kids wandering around, I quickly had some helpers who wanted to carry items to the new office. We opened the door and found a pile of animal poop. Rotting in the heat as though it had been there a while.

Please note the stain from liquid run-off. This will help you to imagine the smell of this welcoming sight.

I remember thinking wow, this poop smells really bad. Almost like a dead animal. Then I remembered Mdme Poul, my creepy washroom secretary, and went to look for her. She was sitting on her shelf, looking, frankly, quite stupid, and on the floor below were the remains of 3 eggs that she had, I can only surmise, laid and then let roll off the shelf. Another layer of the odor in the office.

I recall thinking wow, it smells like a sketchy dairy aisle... but somehow worse... and not just because I could still smell poop.

By this time the kids were squealing and laughing at the discoveries. I was deep in thought, formulating a plan of action that included firing Mdme Poul, when, as I walked back into the main area in the room, I sensed an intense cloud of decay. I was pretty much right between the washroom and the entrance, smack in the middle of rotten eggs and nasty poop... but the air was just a little bit thicker in a way that eggs and feces just don't add up to. For some reason, probably the Spirit's leading, I thought to look under the shelves in the main room. And that's where I found it, deep in the darkest corner of the room, lifeless in the shadows, a dead rat.

Now I'm going to post a picture of the rat. It is still in the trap and doesn't look too big in the photo. Using a broom one of the girls got it outside and that's where I took the picture, so you could get a better sense of the decay. You're welcome. Keep in mind that the rat trap is as big as my shoe - it's not little like a mouse trap.

What you can't see in this photo are the tufts of fur that were scattered around the rat under the shelves. Many thanks to our plentiful ants who will, within minutes, find anything dead and begin to disassemble it - promoting the decay process. Apparently they don't want the fur, and so leave it behind, scattered around the carcass.

And so, that is how my move into my new office began. Under the heavy cover of stank, and with the trills of kids (me included) losing it at each new discovery of grossness, I began my move in :)

A couple of end notes:

- Photos were taken on my blackberry and so have lower resolution. You're welcome again.

- I hired 7 kids for 4 candies a piece to do the cleaning (those who followed through got 6 candies each). It's true, labour is one of Haiti's greatest resources.

- Mdme Poul was removed by brave, but slightly nauseous (note the face covering), Monsado using a Mickey Mouse sheet. Apparently she belongs to Jeanson. She was asked not to return to the office. We will have her belongings sent to her new address. I considered adding a photo of her but decided not to give her the satisfaction.

*this post is dedicated to Jenn Mitchell. Jenn, please use your considerable library on poop to help us determine who left the 'gift' - if possible. Keep in mind we have many wandering goats and dogs around the orphanage. I know because they, and the roosters, yell at each other all night.