New Life for Haiti-Joline's January 2008 Journal

We had a nice, quiet Christmas here in Jérémie. Christmas is not a big deal here so we spent a regular Christmas Eve quietly at home. We read the Christmas story together in Luke and had been doing a devotional about Joseph the week leading up to Christmas, so the Christmas story was a wonderful way to do Christmas Eve.

I was also able to talk to my daughter, Robin, on Instant Message which was great. It really made me miss our family, kids and friends, but it was wonderful to at least talk to her via internet.

It is a hard time of year for many of us that have lost loved ones the past year or two. My mother passed away on the Dec. 26, two years ago, so I was missing her a lot on Christmas Eve, but also smiled when remembering that last Christmas with her. It was a wonderful evening spent opening presents, going to Christmas Eve service at our church and having coffee and pie afterwards. I missed my Dad as well, since it was the first Christmas since he died. Knowing that they are with our Father in Heaven is a great blessing to me and it was good to talk about their wonderful memories.

At. 7:00 AM on Christmas morning, we went to a small Catholic chapel that is a part of HHF (Haitian Health Foundation) where I volunteer a few days a week. There were maybe 30 people there, the chapel was simply decorated, but beautiful. The homily was a wonderful reminder of Jesus simple, lowly birth and was perfect for Christmas morning. After mass we came home, ate our traditional breakfast and opened our few presents that had been mailed to us.

We spent the rest of the day talking, reading and counting our blessings. It was nice. Robin called us on the phone later in the day to wish us a Merry Christmas. Many friends and the rest of our kids wrote e-mails to wish us a Merry Christmas, it was a great day.

We missed everyone and know that some day we will be back in the states, talking on the phone and spending time with the family that we can pull together and our friends. I'm sure that when we do that we will miss the simplicity and quiet of our Haitian Christmas's.

January 1 and 2 or holidays here in Haiti. Jan. 1 is Independence Day...and the 2nd? is another holiday that I can't pronounce! ha!.

These are probably the biggest holidays of the year and are celebrated by taking the week off...visiting family and friends and eating pumpkin soup (Soup Joumou). The soup has to do with Independence day and is the traditional meal served to those that visit you during this time of year. It's a creamy soup...and good.

So, next week, there will be a lot of visiting going on...lots of soup eaten and the houses and yards will be cleaned up...sometimes painted so that everything is pretty for the holiday.

We have had many trials this year and the loss of my Dad as well, but we have been so, so blessed. I am continually amazed at the beautiful children I have and how much love they have for those around them. We are blessed in so many ways, with so many friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. It was a good year, full of so many new things and there is so much more to look forward to for next year.

We wish you a Happy New Year 2008. May it be filled with peace, joy, love, laughter, happiness and the love of the Lord.

It's saturday....and we find ourselves back to work like everyone else after the New Year has begun and the holidays are all finished. Our Christmas decorations are all put away, except we just can't bring ourselves to get rid of the little white lights on the front and back porch...they are pretty, they may end up staying up all year long!

Yesterday some of our US missionary friends came back after an 8 month furlough. They were only supposed to be gone for 4 months, but Ruby had to have abdominal surgery so they were delayed by a few months. It is nice to have them back, but a surprise to hear and American voice speaking English when I answer the phone. They will be busy for a few days getting their home back in order after being gone for so long.

Steve is off this morning hauling cement to finish the floors at the elementary school in Marfranc. The Boss Mason there isn't a very fast worker, which is fine. Steve thought this would have been done in December, but there were holidays and I think he got sick.....you know.....it will get done soon. The team that is coming in March for a week will be charged with painting the 3 rooms inside and out...we'll see how far they get! I think part of the crew will begin working on the foundation of the second set of rooms as well. I'll attach a picture or two next week when the floors are finished.

Steve has another crew working at the property where the guesthouse will be. Pastor Fran and I got tired of calling it 'the guesthouse/missionary house' and have dubbed it Kay Rivye 'the River House'. We aren't actually ON the river, but you see it when you drive in and will be able to see part of it from the house, it seemed like a good name. The road to Kay Rivye had partially washed out and the large trucks with rock, sand and gravel weren't able to get by, so the first thing this crew did was build a retaining wall and and fill in the road. Then before the holidays the crew got the foundation and metel in for the storage depot that will be built. Steve is hoping that by the end of next week, the walls will be up and the roof can be put on. It is exciting to see things being done there. We can't wait to live out there instead of in the city.

We pray you had a great holiday season. Seems like the older I get the more mixed up my Christmas feelings are....don't get me wrong, not about the Birth of our Lord or the season of his birth....but family feelings. This Christmas, being away from family hit me harder for some reason and I missed my children, grandchildren and especially my mom and dad that have passed away. So it was a season filled with joy, wonder, happiness, and contentment, but also a season filled with missing those that I love.

Have a good week, look forward to talking to you next week.

It's Saturday morning and the sun is shining and a slight breeze is blowing to keep the temperature down, it's beautiful. Okay, so maybe it's cold at your house and sometimes I really miss the snow, rain, sleet, slushy roads...a fire in the fireplace (if I had one) and a cup of something hot to drink! However....most of the time, its nice to not be cold. December, January and February are great months here, a wonderful time to visit and work here, nice and warm, not too hot.

We had some sad news this week, a dear, dear friend of ours, Meg (Margaret) Davis, passed away. We first met Meg and her husband, Merrill on a work team that came to Pierre Payen, probably about 7 or more years ago. They were such a cute couple, probably the oldest couple that have ever been on a work team with us. The were energetic and prayed for us during the week as we worked. They were great encouragers and always there to do what was needed. Over the years, we have kept in contact with them, they belonged to Columbia Church of God in PA and we had the opportunity to visit them this summer on our trip to Florida. We even stayed in their lovely apartment and Meg cooked us a wonderful supper. Meg and Merrill are prayer warriors plus, whenever we needed extra prayers and support they were there. Merrill raised enough money for us to buy a propane refrigerator (which we are getting in Feb.) by selling bread, cakes and pop and asking for donations. He and Meg would sit and memorize scripture and quiz each other.

We will miss Meg so much, but know that she is now with her Father in Heaven, looking down on us and continuing to be by our side. It was just a sad day on Thursday when we heard the news and realized that we would not get to see Meg again on this earth. One day, she along with all of those that we love that have gone before us, will greet us at the Gates of Heaven...what a day, huh?

Caught a picture of Sejan and KC this morning that made us laugh, so thought I'd send it along. Sejan weighs about 110 lbs and KC weighs maybe 2 lbs.....they frequently greet each other by touching noses...it is cute and so funny! I was amazed that I caught the picture. Enjoy.

Steve's depot is moving right along, he has almost worn himself out this week driving back and forth from Jérémie to Marfranc, delivering cement blocks for the wall, cement and the heavy metal doors. On Wednesday, he made the trip 3 times. Although it is only 12 miles, it is a nasty, bumpy, rutted road and jars the heck out of you when you drive and takes about 45 min. one way to drive! He is only making 1 trip today....so won't be so bad. The picture I'm sending along is of the large door that is being put in. The walls are done, the floor needs to be finished and the tin roof put on....almost there.

I hope you enjoy your weekend (even if it is cold!), enjoy your families, friends and worshiping with your church family. We hope to relax a little and not do much tomorrow.

We had a nice, restful weekend, hope everyone else did too. We went out to Marfranc to the Baptist church there where the school is being built. It is the church we will attend when we move to Marfranc, so we have been trying to go out there at least twice a month so that we get to know people. It has been fun seeing faces again and again and now people are starting to come up to us with recognition in their faces, which is nice. We enjoy worshipping there and Pastor Plaisir always has a little something for us to eat after church, which is nice. Usually it isn't a full blown dinner, but some fried kabrit (goat), boiled yams and some sauce to put over them. Sometimes fried plantains (bannann pezi)too. It is nice to sit and enjoy eating with hi after church is over.

Things are moving right along. The depot at the Kay Rivye property is almost done. This picture is from last week and as of today, the tin roof is on and starting tomorrow the mason will be working on a rough finish on the outside and then the floor...we're getting there, almost done. When I was out there on Thursday, I could actually picture where the house will be, it is getting exciting.

On Thursday, I went to the elementary school at the Baptist church in Marfranc, where the school is being built. Last November when a team was here, they brought with them some cards that were made by the Sunday School classes at LifeSpring Community Church. The kids made them to share with the kids at Marfranc, they also learned a song in Creole for their Christmas program and had fun singing it for the congregation. The cards had stickers on them and the older kids did greetings in Creole and put their names on them etc. My job was to deliver the cards and suckers and bubble gum, then use the construction paper and colored pencils provided by LifeSpring kids, to have the Marfranc students make cards for the LifeSpring kids. How fun and total chaos! There were 3 times as many Haitian kids then US kids...so the US kids will be receiving tons of cards. I had some stickers so I gave each student some stickers to put on their cards and some of the little ones peeled off stickers from their cards and included those on the cards for the LifeSpring kids. All in all, it was hectic, but so much fun. The kids loved it and had fun being creative.

The chaos comes from 3 classes being in the sanctuary of the church, that is where they have to go to school, until the 2nd school building is finished. There are 150 children plus.....sitting on the church benches doing school....no desks to write on, just their laps, so most of them sat on the floor and used the benches for desks. It was so noisy.....once I started with the 1st grade, I couldn't hear myself talk when I got to the 3rd grade because of all the noise. Despite that....it got done! I have almost 300 cards to send back to the US when Pastor Fran comes to visit next month. A great project.

Hope you enjoy the pictures included. If there was room, I'd send lots more!

Have a great week......Ke Bon Dieu beni ou. (God Bless you)

What a week. I don't know about you, but some of my weeks just whiz by and when I think back on the week, I'm not sure I accomplished anything, ha! That was what this week was like. I was busy, busy, busy...today (Sat.) when I look back on it, I wonder what if anything I got accomplished.

I volunteer at HHF (Haiti Health Foundation) an organization in Connecticut that has had a clinic and community health outreach for women and children here in Jérémie for the last 18 years. Last year, I visited and asked if there was anything I could do....they put me to work. Normally I do mundane things, like data entry and scanning of documents that they don't want to lose (like death certificates and stats). Not very exciting, but a necessary job. Well, this week, they wanted things organized and cleaned, something I am capable of doing, ha! So I helped Johnny (head of the computer dept.) organize and clean files, file cabinets, organize software, make lists and clean out a storage room that has been collecting good and bad computer and copy machine parts. Dirty work, but kept me busy and not as boring as scanning. Had the opportunity to work with a new guy who is from Dame Marie (furthest point west on the end of the peninsula). He is a computer tech...and actually volunteering at HHF, just like I am. He is the first Haitian Volunteer I have met! Encouraging.

I had time this week to sew a new out fit, but then when I finished the skirt, realized that I didn't have 8 buttons alike to put on it. My mission this afternoon when Steve gets back is to go to the outdoor market and find buttons. I also want to buy some lace material to make curtains for one of the bedrooms. I checked last week for material and found some that is about $3.50 US a yard, seems like a lot here, but not bad by US standards, so will probably get it today.

Sat. Evening.....went to the outdoor market...found buttons! yes! Something so simple...but wasn't sure if I would find any. I probably wouldn't have bought them in the States, but not a lot of choice here, they will be fine. At least I can finish my skirt tomorrow, that will be nice. The fabric section of the outdoor market is great. Unfortunately Haiti doesn't make any fabric or have any fabric that they design like in other countries, for example Africa. I was really disappointed when we first moved here because I thought I would find great original printed fabric. Nope! Most of their fabric has polyester in it, strange for a hot country to not use all cotton, so I don't usually buy my fabric here, I bring it from the States. In this market in Jeremie, there is a covered area where all of the fabric vendors have their bolts of fabric. Most of it is the same and all of their prices are the same, so not sure how they all co-exist. I imagine you find a person you like...and buy from them. The first lady I happened to go to was very nice, took $10 Haitian off of the entire price (not much really, only about $1.25 US), it was the thought that counted. She took me to a friend that I bought the buttons from, 8 for 50 cents US...so that was a great deal. Anyway, I was a happy camper...got what I needed so it was a good shopping day.

The picture that I am sending along is from a market at Pierre Payen, not here in Jeremie, but in the picture you can see the covered patio like building on the right side of the picture, that is what the covered area looked like in the market I was in today in Jeremie. Our market here is on the coast and it is greener and not so dry here, but the market is the same...just as crowded, crazy with tons of people. However, because it is more of a city, we have to watch out for little motos instead of donkey's trying to run you down. I just thought you might like to see a market picture.