Christmas for the Kids

About a week before Christmas, Whitney Jackson (fellow NGCSU Alpha Gamma Delta alumni) contacted me to see if there was anything the girls at her school could do for people in Haiti for Christmas. Haiti needs so much, especially around the holidays, but with little time and slow shipping what would be the best thing for the girls to do? I thought about it for a little while and finally settled on an idea. Whitney and the girls of the GEMS club were more than glad to help.

Two Alpha Gamma Delta alumni founded the GEMS club (Girls Engaged in Meaningful Service), which is a service club for girls at Memorial Middle School in Covington, Georgia. Together, these 32 young women participate in local service projects, like reading to children at elementary schools, helping with Special Olympics, and collecting items at canned food drives. Last year they broadened their service to include international projects, too. For their last international project, they focused their time and energy on the African Water Crisis.  This year, they made Christmas possible for 40 orphans in the Port-Au-Prince area!

I told Whitney my idea, she talked to the girls, and they decided to donate enough money to buy Christmas gifts for 2 orphanages. After the money was donated, I called three great friends and got to work. Dokte Minaud was busy contacting one orphanage and compiling a list of much needed items while Wesley was busy contacting another. After that list was ready, Wilson and I went to a local store and got all the items needed to stuff Christmas stockings full of goodies. We bought everything from soap and notebooks to toothpaste and toys. After that, we picked up Wesley and went shopping in the street markets, buying two 55-pound bags of rice (one for each orphanage) and a whole bunch of toothbrushes. The next day was spent baking cookies and preparing the gifts for the children.

On the 23^rd, the gifts were delivered to the first orphanage. Everyone greeted us with big hugs and kisses. Although the children probably didn’t care too much about the rice, the directors were definitely grateful for it. The kids and directors alike were all excited to eat the cookies. When cookies are decorated like reindeer, snowflakes, and Christmas trees, who wouldn’t be excited? 

On the 24^th, the rice and stockings were delivered to the second orphanage. When we got there, the children were seated and ready to show us their Christmas presentation. It was so well done! After it was over, we passed out the stockings to the little boys and girls. At first, they didn’t even know what to do with the stockings. After I explained what a stocking was, I told the kids they could open them. Surprised, excited, and happy- those are only a few of the words I could use to describe the children that night. The boys were comparing cars while the girls fed their baby dolls. The toys weren’t the only big hit, though; the children seemed ecstatic about using their toothbrushes! I saw some of them trading colors while others practiced brushing their teeth. Oral hygiene- it’s popular these days! :D

Overall, the GEMS Christmas to the kids was a great success. This was a Christmas that none of the children will forget.

To the GEMS founders and to the parents of the girls, thank you for your passion to the youth of this generation. Even in their youth, these girls have the ability to change the future and I thank you for showing them the ways in which they can do so.

To the girls of the GEMS club, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. With your enthusiasm and commitment to service, you will not only impact others, but be impacted as well. I pray that your compassion and service to the world will not end after middle school, but carry on to every stage of your life.

Wilson, thank you for helping me shop. Those boys loved the gifts you chose.  Wesley, I also want to thank you for helping me shop, bake and decorate the cookies, and organize the delivery to the first orphanage. The two of you were, are, and will always be invaluable to me and to your country.

Dokte Minaud, thank you for getting the list of needed supplies and helping with the delivery of the gifts to the second orphanage. These children are not only happy, but healthy, and a large part of that is because of you.

Sarah and Rachael, thank you for allowing Christmas to explode in our living room. I appreciate you both helping me stuff the stockings and “test” the toys.  Rachael, thanks for finding the misfit toy. ;)

Here are a few pictures. I hope you enjoy....

The stockings before they were stuffed

 

My roommate, Rachael, playing with the toy cars that
Wilson picked out

Me passing out the stockings on Christmas Eve

Some of the boys opening their gifts

Dolls, pencils, and toothbrushes- not even half of the gifts

 

I think it's safe to say they liked what they got

Sonje Lavi [Remember Life]

I have so many talented students in my classes at KALMi and the church. However, there are two students in particular who are extremely talented. Vladimir and Pierre are not only teaching me how to make a new type of bracelet, but they're visiting my craft class to teach the women how to make it too. The week before I returned home to the U.S., they asked me to stay after class to translate a song for them and listen to them play it. Pierre's voice is so beautiful and the words are so honestly reflective of life in Haiti.

In English, here's how it went....

Remember life cannot be bought in a market,

Be courageous even if you have not succeeded.

Sometimes trouble comes from our own family.

Persevere, they will not stop you.

Sometimes you want to be discouraged,

You feel like you cannot continue with life.

You can't pay your rent.....

I hope one day it will change.

Wipe away your tears,

Do not let this hurt you.... tomorrow is a better day.

Your time is near,

Your star is going to shine.

Vladimir and Pierre writing the rest of the song

Thanksgiving Weekend

I forgot that Thanksgiving is solely an American holiday. Stores don't shut down in Haiti like they do back home; Friday isn't any more full of traffic or savings than Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; and British people and Australians don't celebrate this holiday (although they did join us for dinner to celebrate this year)!

This Thanksgiving was pretty difficult for me. It was the first year I've ever spent Thanksgiving away from my family and the first time in probably eight years that I haven't spent it with one of my best friends. I was homesick, to say the least. Luckily, my church family had big plans that day! The O'Kelley's were nice enough to open their home to 40-50 of the members of our congregation so we could celebrate Thanksgiving together, American style (minus the stuffing). It was even more awesome than I expected. I had sweet potato marshmallow casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, apple crumble, and pumpkin cheesecake all for the very first time! The night was spent with good friends and great food. A special thanks to the O'Kelley's for hosting us!

Before dinner, I was thinking of all the things I'm thankful for.... God and how wonderful and mighty He is; my amazing family and friends (both here and back home); the people who have donated to my past trips to Haiti and my current trip; those who have prayed over me; for 12Stone Church and my nameless Haitian house church; my two roommates, Sarah and Rachael; my boss, Thony, and his family; the country of Haiti and all of the people here (natives and ex-pats alike) who are joining together to bring forth change; for vegetables, coffee, Nutella, peanut butter M&Ms, Thanksgiving dinner, and so so so much more :)  

One of the many tables in the O'Kelley's kitchen

After getting home from Thanksgiving dinner, Rachael, Sarah, and I went to bed early so we could wake up somewhat rested for our trip to Bethany. We left Friday morning around 5:30 a.m. and got to the World Hope International sponsored school in Bethany around 12:30 p.m. In total, World Hope International sponsors over 70 children at the school there. We performed an audit, passed out Christmas cards and gifts sent from donors, and got a few group shots of the children.

Some of the World Hope International sponsored children in the village of Bethany

Although we made the trip to Bethany for the sponsored children,
we spent some time with other children from the village too.
Their smiles are so precious!

The drive to Bethany is not one that should be made round-trip in one day. Knowing that, Thony told us we'd be staying the night in the closest city nearby, the city of Cap-Haitian. He asked us if there was anything in particular we wanted to do there. Our joint response was going to the Citadel and riding up the mountain on donkeys. Being the wonderful person he is, he arranged that for us!

Twa Fi (aka me, Sarah, and Rachael) in front of King Henri Cristophe's palace

Twa fi and our donkeys with our guide and his horse

The Citadel :)

We met some Chilean UN trainees running up and down the mountain
waving their flag. You wave that flag, buddy. Represent your country!

Our guide telling us that King Henri Cristophe committed suicide
and was probably buried under that big piece of cement in the background

The view from the top. Mountains beyond mountains.

We felt like being tourists for the day.
All three of us bought a hat and took a billion pictures.

The king's palace. He had a giant mirror in that arch and when the sun hit it,
it was so bright that one could not see the palace at all. Talk about smart!

Looking at the ruins of a life Haiti once knew

I Get Creative with my Morning Coffee

To get what you want in Haiti, sometimes you just have to get a little more creative than you usually would. Improvisation works well here. I'm almost out of peppermint mocha coffee creamer..... but I did pick up some peppermint Hershey kisses in the States....

[Reverse] Culture Shock

Reverse Culture Shock- a term used to describe the feelings (of surprise, disorientation, confusion, etc.) experienced when an individual returns to his/her home country

So I’ve officially spent 90 days in Haiti! Since I don’t have a visa, I have to leave the country every 90 days.  I decided to return home to spend a few days with my family and friends. Here are some of the things I experienced that caught me off guard- some of them are reverse culture shock... others are just funny.

     The airport in Fort Lauderdale had carpet. I don’t remember the last time I saw carpet.

      There was a wide variety of salad selections in Ft. Lauderdale… and I knew I could eat every single piece of that salad without worrying about the aftermath it could cause.

      People were speaking English… and they weren’t all white. I could actually hear and understand about 5 different conversations around me. I’m used to tuning everything out because I can’t make sense of it all. This time it was like information overload.

      There was a WATER FOUNTAIN in the airport. Cold. Purified. WATER. A non-stop supply of it. After staring at it for about a minute or two, I went up to it, pressed the button, and drank it until I was not longer thirsty. Then I held the button down and just watched the water shoot out. I didn't even care that I was wasting water… it was great!

      The weather was really stinkin cold in Atlanta. Like heavy jacket cold. I hasn’t even gotten light jacket cold in Haiti at night. Definitely wasn’t prepared for that.

      See, the power goes off in Haiti often. We’re fortunate enough to have an inverter so we can keep power for a pretty long time after city power has shut off. However, if the water runs out and we don’t pump more water when city power is on, then when city power shuts off we will have no water to bath with, cook with, or use to wash dishes. There’s no telling when city power will come on again. We’ve gone at least two days without having water. But, in America, the power stays on ALL THE TIME! I could shower with hot water ALL THE TIME! In fact, I took a 45 minute shower at 2 a.m. because I could. People don’t understand how blessed they are. We have a reliable source of energy! Oh, it’s so great.

      You can’t punch for “blan” (white people) in the US…. Because they’re everywhere. I punched my brother when he was driving and he was kind of insulted, very taken aback, and looked at me like I was out of my mind. Sorry, Mo. It won't happen again ;) 

      Not every black person speaks Creole. In fact, hardly any of them do. I had to watch myself because it’s instinct to automatically switch to Creole when talking to a black person, especially at the airport and restaurants. 

     You can drive above 30 mph. You can drive without hitting potholes. You don’t have to worry about motos weaving in and out of traffic or cars randomly stopping in the middle of an unofficial lane. The roads were smooth and clean. We drove fast…. So fast. Sixty miles per hour felt a little too fast.

      So on Sunday, I walked in late to my church. The lights were dimmed and the worship band was playing. I walked into the auditorium to see 2,500 people with their hands in the air, singing and praising God. I almost had a panic attack. First, to see 2,500 people in one place was just overwhelming. Second, to have a body of believers that large is rare. Third, to see all of those people praising God was one of the most breath-taking sights. Our God is big. Words can’t even describe how big.

       I went to brush my teeth and couldn’t find any purified water. I was starting to freak out- I didn’t have a car, nobody was out on the town to bring me water, I needed to brush my teeth but couldn’t find any water…. It's terrible, that feeling you have when you can’t get something you need and your breath stinks, too. Then I saw my little brother walk past me and just stick his toothbrush under the faucet. “Oh yeah, I’m in the States, I can do that,” is exactly what I thought. We brushed our teeth together and it was a great bonding experience. 

       Wal-Mart, baby. Everything under one roof. Pure genius.

Earthquakes and Waterfalls

These past two weeks, I’ve had a lot of work to do in Jacmel. I needed to finish up some work with the sponsored kids in Terre Rouge, give a short message to the Wesleyenne Church on Sunday, and take measurements of the field that will possibly be used for the reforestation project. I decided it would be cheaper and more time efficient if I stayed in Jacmel and worked instead of returning back to PAP.

 I had no plans on Saturday and 3 friends were coming to Jacmel, so we made plans to visit Basin Bleu. Basin Bleu is a series of waterfalls that form 3 basins of water, ranging from 15-75 feet deep. I think it may actually be one of Haiti’s national parks. 

So Saturday afternoon, Kellyanne, Kylie, Wesley, Pastor Robert, Emmanuel, Hermanie, Migueline, the driver, and I made the 20 minute drive up the mountains to this little hidden treasure. We hiked into the woods with our guides, went over little rock bridges, up and down steps made of stone, walked through the tops of waterfalls, and made it to each of the 3 basins. 

Kellyanne, Kylie, Pastor Robert, Emmanuel, and our driver walking over one of the stone bridges

The first basin- 15 feet deep

 When we got to the top basin, which is 75 feet deep, the guides took us swimming. Kylie being the daredevil she is, jumped off the rocks about 30 feet tall near the waterfall. She did this 3 times, each time more epically than the last. Me, being terrified of heights, jumped off a big rock that made an island in the middle of the basin. It was probably only 5-8 feet above the water.

I jumped off this rock.... Kylie jumped off that big waterfall behind the rock

The third time I jumped, though, something happened that didn’t happen the first two times. There was so much pressure in my ears that I thought I busted my ear drums. When I came to the surface, my ears hurt so badly that I actually checked to make sure they weren’t bleeding. They were fine so we kept swimming and enjoying our time at the basins. 

Later that night, the 4 of us went to dinner to meet up with one of Kellyanne’s friends who is doing relief work in Jacmel. At dinner, I got a text message telling me about an earthquake that had happened in Jacmel earlier that day. At first I didn’t believe it, so I asked everyone else at the table if they knew anything about it. Kellyanne’s friend said that there had been an earthquake shortly after 2 p.m. that day and this earthquake was unusual because it caused the atmospheric pressure to change so much in a matter of seconds. She said the change was painful for her ears and head. Then our chauffer chimed in and said he had climbed up to the top of the rocks while we were swimming and when he got to the top, he had felt the earthquake. After he said that, it all made sense. I had been underwater during the earthquake.

Although the jolt was strong enough for most people in the city to feel, I haven’t heard any stories of people being hurt, thankfully. I did find out that 3 days before, there was a stronger earthquake that had hit Jacmel. According to the time frame, I would have been on a moto heading home from my last class. So I somehow managed not to feel 2 earthquakes in 1 week.

Handwashing 101

Friday, the 28th I went out to a World Hope International sponsored school in Terre Rouge to talk to them about the importance of washing their hands. We passed out Haitian-made soap that was donated to KALMI by the Kwa Rouj Ayisien (Haitian Red Cross). Here's a picture video of the day. Enjoy :)

You can share this video by selecting the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqBMgeRpmTQ

*sorry about the long picture transitions.... I'm just now learning to make movies with pictures*

The Name of the Game...

I would like to explain the rules of the games we play in Haiti. Here are the top two.

Where are they from?

Origin: We made it up

Played: Anywhere

Entertainment Level: Amusing, imaginitive, satisfying

Skills Needed: Deductive reasoning, knowledge of foreign countries and their stereotypes, eye for detail, ability to hear and identify foreign languages, a good imagination

Whenever we see a group of foreigners, we play this game. We ask three main questions...

1: Where are the foreigners from?

2: What are they doing in Haiti? 

3: What are they doing at their current location?

For example, Dokte took Rachael and I to a restaurant in Petionville. Once we got there, we noticed a large population of Blan (Creole for foreigner/white person) with a few Haitians, too. We couldn't hear them, but we could tell by the way they dressed that the blan were American. Question 1- Answered. We guessed they were relief workers, probably in the public health department and they had Haitians on staff. Question 2- Answered. We then decided that they were meeting at the restaurant to say goodbye to one of their long-time employees. Question 3- Answered.

Question 1: Correct

Question 2: Incorrect

They were from a Catholic group in Port-Au-Prince. We discovered this when we scouted out for their car in the parking lot. Creepers, it's what we are.

Question 3: We will never know if we were right or wrong.

This game is great because for 2 out of the 3 questions, we're always right. The game is pure imagination. We never ask the people where they're from, so they're from wherever we say they are. They are from wherever you think they are. Usually we can narrow it down based on the language they speak, but not always. They work wherever you think they work. They are who you want them to be.

For example, a French-speaking woman walks into Hot N Fresh. She's from France (not because we know she's French, but because she's speaking French and we say she's from France). She has boots on, so she works construction. Plus, the back of her shirt says something in French about construction. It was a dead give-away. She's eating lunch. We win!

Punch Blan

Origin: A derivative of punch buggy, modified and stolen from the Hawaiian man at the airport

Played:

For Chinwas, anywhere.

For Blan, anywhere except large grocery stores, the house church, and the airport

Entertainment Level: It's a riot, comical, amusing, stress relieving, and down right dirty

Skills Needed: Quick reflexes, long attention span, a strong arm, and the ability to see far

This game is great. It's our favorite. Whenever you see a Blan (foreigner/white person), you yell, "Punch Blan" and you get to punch the person next to you on the arm. It's punch bug with a twist.

Punches:

White person: 1 punch

White person with blonde hair: 1 punch and 1 slap

White person with red hair (aka- ginger): 1 punch, whisper "ginger", and dance

Chinwa (Creole for any person of Asian descent): 2 punches