Since the last blog last night we have had a great day on Saturday. We spent the day at the NWHM and got to see the entire facility. Janiel has a great heart (he runs the mission). Here is what he has in his Saint Louise mission site (this is the main campus). 1) Baby Orphanage-this holds kids from babies to around 3 years old. After 3 years old, the kids then go out to the new facility in the country around 2 1/2 hour drive. 2) Senior Center-on the facility is a center for older people that cannot take care of themselves. They have rock in chairs like Cracker Barrel and they do different things to keep them busy. This was awesome to see this people group that in the Haitian society would not be much use, find worth. Some of the seniors are blind and have other issues. 3) Birthing Center-There is a center for women to have babies in a clean setting. Before the center, the women were having babies on the ground and getting sick after delivering the babies and in a lot of cases dying and leaving kids orphaned. Now they can have their baby in a clean sterile setting. There were two babies that needed to oxygenate to survive. One was 2 1/2 pounds and the other came in last night as was 4 1/2 pounds. Janeil kept the generators running to keep the babies oxygen running so the babies did not die. They had a baby die a few days ago that was premature, that made all of us very sad. They facilitate 3-4 births a day. 4) Special needs orphanage-The have around 10-13 kids that have special needs. You can imagine that these kids in Haiti are really just left out in society to just die. The kids had a variety of issues, from mental health to physical needs. We discussed a vision from some conversation we had to have physical and occupational therapist from the US come in and work to help these kids' to help them develop. Janiel believes that if they get this type of therapy, some of them can possible get jobs like brick laying (this would be for some, not all, but they can still have a purpose in their lives). The mission could take more special needs kids, but they currently need more space. 5) Medical Facility-they are building a full medical facility, they have a air condition lab as well. They are not too far off get this completed, but they would be able to do surgeries and emergency services. There is not one in the area doing this at all, especially free. It was really cool. 6) Eye Examination Center-They have eye examination rooms that doctors come in a do basic eye care, but also will do cataract surgery. 7) Dentist Facility-They do root canals and other procedures to help people with oral teeth issues. The say the Haitians have a high tolerance for pain during these procedures. I think they are all just happy to have this service. 8) Auto Shop-Since they have HORRIBLE roads, they have to have people (volunteers from the US) come in a rebuild and maintain their automobiles. It was pretty complex, especially for NW part of Haiti.
We did devotionals last night and this morning with the group from the states that were in along with the missionaries that live at the mission. We sang hymns which was really awesome. We left the mission after lunch and then took the hour or so drive back to the airport. The run way in Port-Au-Paix was a street with houses on it. When the plane takes off we pass cars that are on the side of the run way and people are watching on the roadside as we take off. We just cleared the houses (really) when we took off. We landed in Port-Au-Prince around 3pm and then went to another orphanage outside of Port-Au-Prince. I will talk more about that tomorrow, there was a lot more God stuff at the small orphanage we saw after our flight. The good thing is that we got to hook up with Rob again, he is doing fine and had a great time when we were gone. Rob got to hand out "Love Bundles" to the kids at the Christian Lifeline Mission and also got to see two cows slaughtered for the third night of the revival that is taking place tonight (I won't post pictures of the cow being slaughtered, ha, ha). There were also many couples that got married tonight at the mission, it is raining now, and most of us are very tired and beat up from the bad, bad roads.
We love you all, thanks for reading our blog, especially our families. We miss them and can't wait to come back home and kiss them all.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Our Day Up in North West Haiti
Our day started out early. We had to be up at 5:30am to head to the airport. We had to leave one of our team members (Rob) back due to an issue with his stomach (may have had some bad water).
Got to the airport and our flight was delayed one hour. The runway was filled with waste from an overspill that happened due to hard rains the night before. We final got up in the air on a 20 seat prop plane and flew up to NW Haiti, specifically Port-au-paix. We were pick up by Janiel who runs the NW Haiti Mission. Our first stop was to a small sea town and a mission location for NW Haiti Mission (NWHM) that they had just started a few years ago. This area had gotten hit hard by a CAT-4 Hurricane last September that wiped out most of the lower houses in the town along with 400 animals and 10 people that got swept out to sea and died. We pick up a young missionary that is from Lexington, Curtis, and he went with us to see the feeding location. The food that got feed to the kids was the food that NWHM received from Kids Against Hunger (Larry B) and that Orphans Promise helped with the shipping. The took at least 1 1/2 hours and was on the roughest road that most of us had ever been on. We had to drive through a river, yes, you heard me, right through a river. We also saw people walking on the roadside, riding donkeys and a ton of kids waved at us and yelled "Bloncs" which means white during our entire driving trip. The kids do not seem to see too many white people so they were so excited to see us drive by and all of us waved at them.
When we got the NWHM campus (one of many), we saw the kids and they were getting feed rice from Kids Against Hunger. It was very sad to see them lined up and as their name was called, they would head up and get their food. Some of the kids do not eat but once a day! We did our video interview with a women that has seven kids she is responsible for, most of them are her grandchildren since her own children cannot afford to take care of them and have to go to another city to find work. This lady only eats once a day if she is lucky and most of that food comes from the feeding centers. She was only 41 and she looked at least 61.
After we did our filming, we ate lunch and then went to head to an orphanage that NWHM runs. We drove at least one hour and hit a road that has too wet and muddy to head down or back up. We had to drive back and could not go. We did get to see a market (this was incredible). The market was packed and the people looked at us and yelled and waved. Only a few people seemed to have an issue with us, but most were waving and also asking for money. The drive was really a blast, it was like driving through the African ride at Animal Kingdom, but real, and much more exciting.
Finally we ended the night in the city of St. Louie. this is the main campus for NWHM. We will see a baby orphanage and a birthing center tomorrow and then head back to Port-Au-Prince. I will include some photos as well later. We love you all and miss our family. God is so good, this is such a great experience and the need for these people and especially the kids is so great.
Got to the airport and our flight was delayed one hour. The runway was filled with waste from an overspill that happened due to hard rains the night before. We final got up in the air on a 20 seat prop plane and flew up to NW Haiti, specifically Port-au-paix. We were pick up by Janiel who runs the NW Haiti Mission. Our first stop was to a small sea town and a mission location for NW Haiti Mission (NWHM) that they had just started a few years ago. This area had gotten hit hard by a CAT-4 Hurricane last September that wiped out most of the lower houses in the town along with 400 animals and 10 people that got swept out to sea and died. We pick up a young missionary that is from Lexington, Curtis, and he went with us to see the feeding location. The food that got feed to the kids was the food that NWHM received from Kids Against Hunger (Larry B) and that Orphans Promise helped with the shipping. The took at least 1 1/2 hours and was on the roughest road that most of us had ever been on. We had to drive through a river, yes, you heard me, right through a river. We also saw people walking on the roadside, riding donkeys and a ton of kids waved at us and yelled "Bloncs" which means white during our entire driving trip. The kids do not seem to see too many white people so they were so excited to see us drive by and all of us waved at them.
When we got the NWHM campus (one of many), we saw the kids and they were getting feed rice from Kids Against Hunger. It was very sad to see them lined up and as their name was called, they would head up and get their food. Some of the kids do not eat but once a day! We did our video interview with a women that has seven kids she is responsible for, most of them are her grandchildren since her own children cannot afford to take care of them and have to go to another city to find work. This lady only eats once a day if she is lucky and most of that food comes from the feeding centers. She was only 41 and she looked at least 61.
After we did our filming, we ate lunch and then went to head to an orphanage that NWHM runs. We drove at least one hour and hit a road that has too wet and muddy to head down or back up. We had to drive back and could not go. We did get to see a market (this was incredible). The market was packed and the people looked at us and yelled and waved. Only a few people seemed to have an issue with us, but most were waving and also asking for money. The drive was really a blast, it was like driving through the African ride at Animal Kingdom, but real, and much more exciting.
Finally we ended the night in the city of St. Louie. this is the main campus for NWHM. We will see a baby orphanage and a birthing center tomorrow and then head back to Port-Au-Prince. I will include some photos as well later. We love you all and miss our family. God is so good, this is such a great experience and the need for these people and especially the kids is so great.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Working hard for the stories and getting details
John has had his pad and pen by his side all day long. Here is a photo of him writing down his thoughts for a good story. My job tomorrow is to get more pictures of Yuri, he is always on the move getting photos.
Video from the Conference Service Tonight
These girls came down from the mountians 5 hours to sing at the revival.
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