Cory's Haiti trip: Part One

The flight to Chicago on the way to Haiti was cancelled but flights the next two days went well, I loaded up the truck and drove to Delice with Gener after one night at Fauche. 

Moringa leaf solar dryer

After one night at Delice I went to LaGonave for the WISH 50th anniversary celebration.

Organic moringa leaf powder from LaGonave

It was good to see the gardens that we started 20 years ago still producing moringa leaf powder and being expanded and improved.

We hope to bring this experience to many more areas of Haiti. 

The search has started for land to  develop a demonstration farm and moringa leaf powder production center near the coast below Delice.

Jeantiny and four of his children

We hope local farmers will at least grow leaves to sell for processing or even produce leaf powder themselves to sell in Haiti and eventually to the USA.

Third trip..

Sorry for not blogging last week but we were busy, busy. I returned home with a head cold but did not want to delay a little update.

Travel on Wednesday went well and we enjoyed spending some time with friends and meeting a visiting dental team. Anna and I enjoyed a swim in the sea.

Thursday we crossed the sea with the Stephens family to join the rest of the team for meetings that started after lunch. Great having music and the little ones blowing bubbles on the trip across.

Friday morning we once again attended team meetings while Anna watched the younger children, as she did on Thursday as well. Friday afternoon while some individual meetings occurred we split up: Anna and I watching different sets of children, Cory talking to Jeantiny and seeing the garden, and each of us found a few minutes to meet with our friendly dentist Dr. Bill.

Then we met again for meetings before and after supper. Saturday morning Cory, Dustin, and I crossed the sea planning to head up to see a newly purchased site for agriculture that the national church wants to develop. Car trouble kept Dustin home but we joined up with Pastor Doucet (the national superintendent of the Wesleyan Church of Haiti) and Pastor Clotare.

After a couple hours on bumpy roads Cory asked if we were close. They pointed across a large valley to a mountain peak covered by a white cloud! Yes, we headed to the top of the mountain where the national land is resting in the shadow of Fort Drouet and the historic ruins of a coffee plantation. The views of the mountains and country were wonderful!

We briefly met with local missionaries Stephen and Autumn, friends of Dustin and Nancy. Thankfully  we pulled into the Ortlip Center driveway about 9 p.m. For Sunday we enjoyed a quiet day without travel as the national elections occurred. Anna crossed on the boat in the early hours with Robin, Nancy, and the girls.

Monday traffic was still limited due to the potential for protests over the preliminary election results so we were advised not to head south. So instead we returned to the mountain top, this time with Dustin driving their new truck [a hard test run], Robin [WISH director who had planned to go on the trip south] and Anna.

Arriving much earlier than we did on Saturday, we had time to explore more of the Wesleyan church’s land as well as the coffee planation ruins and the fort. We once again visited the missionary family and enjoyed getting to know them a bit better as well.

Many factors came together to cause the delay of the trip south to select a second base for distribution of post hurricane aid. So we headed home Tuesday morning, and as soon as we crossed the biggest mountain into the north the rains started up again. Cap Haitian has received more than 40 inches in November, basically as much as they normally receive in a year.

As I write this it is still raining. Flooding, and  mudslides continue to rob people of their homes and gardens. People are getting sick from not eating well and being damp. Please pray.

Protests occurred before and after the elections in some areas but we have not heard of large demonstrations. We did not have any problems on our travels but did see large convoys of 20+ UN vehicles heading to and returning from the north.

Rains, cow, trip three..prayers.

Our area and the north continues to have rain on and off, every day for the last 9 days. Total at the mission for November is 33.5 inches, nearly half of it falling on Nov. 8. We have heard 22" for the Cap Haitian area.  Several of the Wesleyan churches in and around Cap Haitian have many members suffering from the flooding and mudslides.

As we suspected, the court day for F's family did not happen last Tuesday; we have not heard a new date. Praying for forward movement.

Cory had to deal with cow damage again this weekend. Being a repeat offender, the cow was turned over directly to the local livestock authority. At least the peach palm trees weren't killed and the two most damaged are probably only set back about a year. The cow "guardian" and then the cow owner came to discuss the payment of damages and negotiate the release of the cow.



 While important to impress on people respect of other's gardens, fences and property, one must also think of being neighborly, forgiving, and a good witness. It was good to have ripe peach palm fruit to share with the owner and authority. Fruits were passed around to friends for sampling and positive comments made. We have a good relationship with the owner and the fee was paid so things appear to be OK with them. We haven't seen the guardian since his first visit and hear he is upset.

 
Eli would appreciate prayers: Calculus test tomorrow morning at 8 am with final Monday night 6-9. Major research paper to work on along with lots of other-physics, computer science, engineering class and exercise. We and Eli thank you for your prayers

Travel: On Wednesday we plan to hit the road again with three major goals: 2 days of missionary team meetings on LaGonave; visit to national church land to advise about agricultural possibilities; and third visit to South Haiti to help pick a location for a base to continue to distribute hurricane Matthew assistance.

We will likely be gone a week for this trip. Sunday travel will be limited due to Presidential elections, the second attempt.

We sent out a short questionnaire to the pastors of churches affected by the flooding in the north. Once these return we will be able to better know how to help.

LaGonave Trip

Weeding Moringa in the Life Garden.

We enjoyed a good trip to LaGonave.

The hospital meetings mainly consisted of talking about the leadership structure and how to split the hospital board into two.

A general board of directors to provide oversight, supervision of CEO, ensure faithfulness to mission and vision and budget.

A second operational board which will meet much more frequently to oversee the daily tasks of the hospital, work on communications, policies, protocols and address conflicts.

Anna enjoyed joining the visiting DecAid team on their last day up to Nan Mango and spending time with the other missionary kids.

Cory visited the gardens, talked to the guys who used to work with him and did some computer work.

He shared some trees and fruits with another organization on the mainland, as well as egg fruit with: the guest house, Fauche's children's club last week and some of the adults from the church this week.

Kris connected with all the members of the mission team.

We managed to walk around town a bit and see some of the changes as well.

Both the trip there and back home went well.

While we were on LaGonave, the Konsey books for Children arrived in Haiti. We are very thankful that our staff could make the arrangements to transport the books to Fauche. Some children will be receiving a copy for Christmas.

Egg fruit.

We heard from one of the men at the hospital meeting how during a trip on the public ferry that runs between LaGonave and mainland Haiti, a man was promoting and selling the medical Konsey book...claiming he wrote it.  I didn't hear what he said when our friend notified him that he knew the authors, and he didn't write it.

Glad to know that someone thinks the book is satisfactory, enough to want to claim authorship.

The guesthouse manager also noted how thankful he was for the book. Only taking the pills for his heart burn was not sufficient treatment, but the lifestyle changes talked about in the book helped.

LaGonave Life Garden

In addition, we  enjoyed seeing the progress of transforming the old guesthouse into a pharmacy/central supply area.

Although it still does not feel like Christmas time for us we look forward to picking up Eli and Kris's folks at the airport on Saturday. Praying for Eli's finals this week and continuing to pray for our adoption chart to exit IBESR, children's social services before the holidays.

I'm back...sorry for the silence.

Thankful that work on Route National One did not close the road.

I apologize for the week without news.

The week filled up fast with travel, meetings, and celebrations.

Monday we left home early for our four-hour drive to catch the ferry to LaGonave.

The trip went well, and we were joined with another of our team's families on the ferry.

Friends.

The most surreal moment of the week occurred on the ferry.

They played the Terminator movie loudly in French on the ferry and during a couple of very violent parts a group of Haitian church ladies sang just as loud, that 'we all need Jesus'.

Sometimes you just shake your head....and agree.

Monday night we visited with a few of our team mates and went to bed early.

Tuesday and Wednesday the adults of the team gathered for meetings.

We enjoyed eating together, along with the children.

Tuesday night the teenage gals and women joined for a baby shower for our newest missionary child, due to arrive in mid-February.

Wednesday night we enjoyed a large Thanksgiving supper, and then the missionary children provided the entertainment.

Thursday the four families who live on the mainland crossed the sea, along with one of the LaGonave families heading into Port-au-Prince for shopping and family time.

The trip from the LaGonave Wesleyan campus to our Fauche campus took seven hours.

We were tired but found our propane tank empty, so needed to clean up some of the refrigerator.

Thankfully only the milk spoiled.

Friday we worked on a few things and rested because Saturday we took a short trip to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of our missionary friends in the North.

I plan to share more about the encouraging message we heard on our adoption blog.

Because of the bigger celebrations and because it just does not feel right to celebrate family Thanksgiving with three of us, we will be postponing it along with decorating for Christmas until we number more than three.

Saturday night I enjoyed reading a paper Eli's working on for his engineering class.

Thankful that I can still make some suggestions and help a bit!

Yesterday we worshiped and rested up for the week. We haven't planned many specific events this week but will focus on school and planting the new land.

Home Again

Sorry for the break in blogs but the Haitian Internet remained slow and the days busy with meetings, talking in small groups, and visiting friends.

While we hoped to stay on LaGonave yesterday to have additional time with the missionaries the talk about a transportation strike even bigger than last week's sent us home yesterday.

We did not see any problems and only noticed a larger number of fuel trucks heading back toward Port-au-Prince.

The third LaGonave Summit attended by faith-based groups and organizations working on LaGonave consisted of presentations that included: adult literacy, clean water, agriculture, small business, rural medical clinics, the hospital transition, and the spiritual aspect.

 Both days then concluded with smaller discussion groups to further talk about these issues.

During meals, before and after the talks people formed new relationships and continued to explore details, ideas and goals of expanding the impact of the different projects on LaGonave.

The over riding theme of this summit is to connect people to help in the work, avoid overlapping and wasting of resources and expand the networks to include the whole island.

One of the groups we worked with on home visits last year talked about the Konsey book which was wonderful and we sold close to 140 copies and one box of 36 of the second Konsey book that is not yet in Haiti.

Great to see a few of the nurses and see the new hospital being used.

Did not have enough time to see the old guest house now pharmacy or as many friends and staff as we would have liked.

Eli and Anna enjoyed spending time with some of the other missionary kids.

Obligated to Play....

I can think of several times in my missionary career when I felt obligated to do something outside my comfort zone: cutting the hair of missionary women being one!

Today will be one of those times for Cory. The married men of our Fauche church will travel down the road to Port Margot to take on their married men in a friendly soccer match.

Following the first announcement in church Cory didn't think he would participate being very busy with the book, not knowing if all the physical effects of Chikungunia were gone, not being very athletic.

But in a small church one often feels obligated to participate. Then there's the fact that we own one of the few vehicles that could transport the team to the game.

But the final point is the most important. Kingdom Building!! The major reason for the game - to evangelize. Now Cory will not be the best player, the youngest or the oldest player. But he will be the only foreigner.

Our French tutor, who lives near Port Margot reported yesterday that the pre-game talk and publicity centered around Cory playing!

So we pray for safety and for more folks to enter the Lord's Family.

Haiti celebrates today the Battle of Vertierre, the final decisive battle in their war for Independence, 211 years ago.

Pastor spoke Sunday of all the people still in bondage to sin, fear, and Satan. Please pray for Haiti.

Today some areas of Haiti will be filled with angry people protesting the recent increase in fuel and food prices (beans went up 25% here this week due to govt. tax on food imports from the Dominican Republic),  lack of national elections, current government policies and more.

We rejoice with the Haitian church for all those who put their trust in the Lord, breaking the chains of sin. We join them in praying for the Haitian church, the campus, district and national ministries, for the country and Haitians living abroad.

Please remember to pray tomorrow for the LaGonave Nursing School as government officials will be visiting to determine accreditation.

Christmas decorations and Praises

A crisp clear sunny morning with the smell of hot chocolate in the air mingling with the sounds of birds, children and traffic.

Last week Thursday we traveled back home taking the public ferry from LaGonave.

 A smooth ride during which a pastor took the opportunity provided by a captive audience to preach the gospel.

After finishing his short message in Creole he stood close to us and started in English.

 I appreciated the fact that he did not assume we already knew the Lord and let him know we're already family members!

Rejoicing with the LaGonave folks in the release from customs of 2 new Land Rovers [in customs close to 3 years] as well as a container of equipment for the new hospital!

Keep praying for the 40 hospital beds.

Friday we jumped back into yard work and school but finished the day with family night and Christmas decorating.

Today we'll finish up our school week while the district pastor's meet in the guest house.



Will share some bananas and Christmas cookies with them while asking them to pray with their congregations for our adoption referral.

E-mail updates and Christmas / New Year's greetings heading out today!

Christmas here does not include: family get-togethers, snowy drives, Christmas carols on the radio [not for us as our house does not pick up radio well], shopping amongst busy crowds, Christmas parties with friends.

We will enjoy some special meals that we normally do not eat, make gift bags for our neighbors on campus and the staff, spend time as a family watching Christmas videos, exchange gifts, play games, and focus on our Lord and Savior, celebrating Christ.

Thankful we focus on how He came to Earth to open the door for us to join God's family!

Anna's Nan Mango pictures and one from surgery.

Only Anna is standing on the step.

Mountain House Calls on LaGonave

Enjoyed the home visits. Sitting outside and chatting, giving advice very enjoyable for me. At each house we identified who actually lived there, if they had a latrine, any history of cholera in the last few months and then did a short history and physical exam.

After we finished with the exams and giving out any needed medications that we brought with us the paper cart was photographed and returned to the patient to hold on to for future medical visits.

The adults received toothbrush and toothpaste while the children received in addition a small bag containing some additional health items like soap, a toy, a bracket.

We prayed with each family before moving on to the next house.

DecAid plans to visit each house in the area over a two year time frame working along with CHE group.

Some soccer balls and jump ropes and other items for the local schools brought big smiles.

Following lunch the team allowed Eli, Anna and I to stop in at the church my dad built for a few pictures. Cory left for a garden tour so did not visit with us. A small crack occurred with the 2010 earthquake so additional cement pillars help to strengthen the corners.

Interesting to visit with the families. One house folks did know the value of eating chaya but the neighbors did not.

I saw 2 ladies, my first 2 in 15 years in Haiti who admitted to chronic smoking habits. One lady started before she reached 10 years old and smoked for over 65 years! They reported that some of the young people in the area also smoke so this will be an educational topic for further visits.

As part of the program the families will received one of the  Creole health books.

Talking along with the second lady smoker and her 4 sons the time crept away from me and our team delayed the return to town enough that the last of the journey occurred in the dark. Sorry team.

I consulted 3 missionaries while on LaGonave, thankfully nothing to major and all left Haiti for the holidays and can follow up as needed.

[Knowing some sharp eyes will notice the scub pants. I'll admit it felt weird being off campus in pants.

I asked our field director's wife and the hospital administrator knowing that often medical teams wear 'uniform' of scubs while on medical visits about what would be acceptable.

Fashions change here more slowly in the mountain villages away from the cities. You'll notice that Miss Vero also wore scrubs. Time changes things. ]