Let's look a bit closer.

So, here is Haiti. You can see the capital, Port-au-Prince where the southern penninsula joins the rest of the island. And you can see Cap Haitien on the north coast. I usually fly in and out of Cap Haitien when I come and go from the United States. Sometimes I fly through Port-au-Prince, but I prefer not to.Bohoc is located about 88 miles north and east of Port-au-Prince and about 44 miles almost due south of Cap Haitien.
Notice the town of Petite Riviere de l'Artibonite written across the center of the country. That town will also appear in the next map all the way on the left side of it. Bohoc is north and east of there.


 

And now for an even closer look.....

This map even shows our little rural area of Bohoc (it is spelled Boroc in the middle of the map). The brownish green lines are the roads. The road Bohoc is on is National Route 3 -- the 3rd major "highway" in Haiti. It is a 2 lane dirt (now mud) road. If you follow the National Route 3 south from Bohoc and take the first left, that puts you on the road to Cerca Carvajal. About half way along the Cera Carvajal road is where we took the team to the medical clinic at La Boc -- the clinic we couldn't get to beacuse of too much mud! The mud photos from the previous post were taken about half way along Route 3 between Bohoc and the turn-off for Cerca Carvajal. Pignon, just north of Bohoc on Route 3 is our closest town and closest airport -- a lovely (really it is) grass landing strip. This is where I live.  

Visitors

Today our visitors left. Last Tuesday a group of 8 people from Covenant Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, TN came. Today they left. They came in the rain, it rained almost the whole time they were here and now they are on their way back to the States today through the mud. Today the sun is finally shining. This photo and the following photos were taken other years with other teams, but they illustrate some of the things the Chattanooga team did while they were in soggy Bohoc!

This photo is of a group of students having an English conversation with some of the BTI students last year. The Chattanooga team had 2 ladies who taught 7th and 12th grade English for Barb Van Schoyck. The team also had a doctor and a nurse who held clinic 2 days at our HAFF clinic and 2 days at churches at a distance from HAFF or any other source of medical help. The doctor is also a black belt in karate and he did 2 karate demostrations for some of our school boys!

The team also included a Pastor and a former US Army officer who held a Pastor's seminar on Saturday. The Pastor also preached at a church a few miles away on Sunday morning.

And the team did some work projects. They cleaned out a store room and the wood shop. They built a new swing and painted some boards ready to make some new benches for the new gazebo. And they had lots of time to visit and interact with the Haitian people. Once I get my photos back, I'll post some of them to show you exactly what the team did. In the mean time, here are some other old photos to give you an idea of what teams of visitors have done over the last few years at HAFF.
 

Pastors' Seminar

This team from Chattanooga had former HAFF board member Pastor Eric Mullinax and his wife Boo as the leaders. Eric and one of the other team members spent a good part of Saturday with about 70 pastors and church leaders from a number of churches and communities surrounding Bohoc. I had the privilege of translating for the seminar. Some of the men (and one woman) walked several hours through terrible mud (see next article) to come. One man even forded a chest high flooding river. When asked how he arrived with clean, dry clothing after fording the river, he said he took off his clothes and carried them on his head! The leaders came to hear Eric teach about the 9 part Fruit of the Spirit -- What are the weeds we need to root out for each of parts to be able to grow, what are the false fruit to be detected that can choke out the true fruit and finally what is the true fruit of the Spirit. Eric's team mate, Bob taught the leaders about leadership. He showed them 3 principles of leadership and then showed how those principles were expressed in the life of Joshua. It was a rich time of learning and fellowship. 

MUD!!!

This photo and the next were taken several years ago, but this is pretty much the way this road looked Friday when we went to a church in La Boc for a mobile medical clinic. We had some pretty scary times in the back of the Mitsubishi Canter since the 4 wheel drive is not functioning. We were not even able to get all the way to the church. We had to walk the last almost quarter mile through sticky mud, carrying the medical supplies. My feet were a sight! Going home we were racing more rain which would have made the roads even more impassable. We didn't totally beat the rain, but the worst rain waited till were were on the "better" roads -- more rock, less mud. We were all soaked to the skin when we got back. And then the next day, the pastor of the church in LaBoc walked 4 hours through that same awful mud to come to the pastors' and church leaders' seminar at HAFF!!!

How a truck can get lost in the mud

 

Gazebo benches

This is the original bench and the original bench makers from several years ago. Billy Greenleif from Florida and Sonny Edwards and Freddy Greenlief from West Virginia came and taught several of the local welders how to make these benches. Then they made several for the school and Greg and the welders made some more. Later we painted the wood green and the legs rust red. These are the benches we want to have for the gazebo. The Chattanooga team painted some of the wood for making the gazebo benches. They couldn't do too much painting since it rained practically the whole time they were here!!! 

Replaced the swing

This is a team from last spring sitting on the old swing near the dorm. It is a popular place for teams and for HAFF staff as well as visiting Haitians to sit. The swing was a gift to HAFF from the Pakistani unit of UN soldiers who were stationed in Hinche in the 1990's. They dropped it off for us as they were leaving to pull out of Haiti. We've had the swing for about 10 years. The Pakistani soldiers probably had it 3 or 4 years before that. It was falling apart. The Chattanooga team built and hung a new one for us and it is even more comfortable than the old one!!! Thanks team!!! 

So What Does Connie Do, Anyway?

Indeed, what HAVE I been up to for the last 20 years? I won't bore you with a detailed list from the whole 20 years, but here is mostly what I do now.
I am Co-Field director, along with Greg Van Schoyck. What does that mean? It means that Greg and I are the only ones left from the old Management Team (MT). The MT responsibilities used to be spread out between about 5 of us. Those responsibilites are, to put it simply, making the day to day decisions about what happens at HAFF other than major policy decisions. The major policy decisions are made by the U. S. board of Directors, based on input from all the staff on the field.
So, what does that look like on a day to day basis? About 4 times a month, Greg and I get the money out of the safe and make up the pay packets for the Haitian employees. The salaried workers are paid on or about the 15th and 30th. The daily workers are paid every other Friday. And once a month we do a complete money count for book keeping purposes. We are also the only ones who can put things into or take things out of the HAFF safe. That includes documents and money. We also sign all the checks written on the field and do most of the ordering for HAFF supplies from the States.
Once a year, Greg and I also need to make the contracts for the teachers and, with the board, negotiate contract changes and salary changes. We make decisions about who borrows what from HAFF and who can use HAFF facilities and equipment. And any other official type decision, that does not need to be referred to the board, gets made by Greg and me. Thankfully, we have very helpfull input from the rest of the HAFF staff as we need it.
As Co-Field directors, Greg and I also serve as the administrators of the school. We will be notified of, and probably participate in, parent/teacher/director meetings regarding student discipline.
I type up all the minutes of all the staff, field director and teacher meetings. And I do all the meal scheduling and menu planning and work with our Haitian cooks to make the market list for all visiting teams.
In addition to my duties as a Co-Field Director, I teach in the school. Over the years I have taught Science, English and Learning Skills. I developed an upper elementary level science class to be taught in 8th, 9th and 10th grade. The students come to us from elementary school with very little science knowledge. They have had no labs or demonstrations or any kind of discovery. My classes strive to explain the basics of Astronomy, Geology, Biology, Physics and Chemistry with as many simple labs and demonstrations as I can have. For the last couple of years, I have only taught the 9th grade Biology class. Former students of mine, who are now teachers for BTI are teaching the 8th grade Astronomy and Geology and the 10th grade Physics and Chemistry. I also developed and still teach a Learning Skills course based on one taught to incoming freshmen at the State Universtiy of New York at Potsdam. I have not taught English for a couple of years now.
One of the joys of working in the school is the opportunity to share my faith in Jesus Christ with the students. Teaching Science provides many wonderful chances to point out the wonders of God's creation. And numerous times during the year, I get called on to share at the school's morning devotions. Tomorrow morning I'll be sharing how our salvation is by faith alone in Christ and was accomplished completely by His work on the cross and in our lives. This culture is a very works based culture. People think they have to do enough good deeds to earn their way to Heaven. It is my privilege to share that Christ did all the work. We only need to receive His gift of salvation.
With Barb Van Schoyck and a Haitian colleague, Mme Gesson, I also coordinate the Godly Woman class described below. We publicise the class, test the applicants and chose the applicants. We establish the schedule, chose the trainers (like Mme Bibine teaching rug braiding below), plan and deliver the devotions and teach several of the sessions. So what is The Godly Woman class? Check out the article following. 

Godly Woman Class

The Klas Bon Fanm Tout Bon is a part of the Non-Formal Education division of HAFF. The class is based on the godly woman of Proverbs 31 and the name of the class is the title in the Creole Bible just before Proverbs 31:10. In many English Bibles this same section is titled The Woman of Noble Character.
Each year 12 women are chosen from churches from the communities surrounding Bohoc. Some of the women walk many hours to attend the class 2 Tuesdays a month. One year we had a woman who walked a certain distance on Monday, walked the rest of the way on Tuesday, walked back part way Tuesday afternoon and finally got back home Wednesday!
Each year, the class starts with a study of Proverbs 31:10-31. Then each session begins with devotions. Usually the topic is a godly woman from the Bible who can serve as an example and encouragement to the women. Sometimes it is a study of a character trait to be exhibited by a Proverbs 31 woman. There are also entire sessions dedicated to some of the more vital subjects like purity and conflict resolution. There is also a session on Bible study techniques.
The rest of the time is spent learning the basics of some craft or other skill. The women learn to bake cakes (and to decorate them), pies, cookies, yeast breads, quick breads and sweet bread, muffins and biscuits. They learn to cook lasagna, pizza, omelets and fried Haitian meat pastries. They learn to make mayonaise and salads.
The women sew aprons, headscarves, tote bags and a skirt. They learn to do embroidery, swedish weaving (a type of embroidery) and applique. They make baskets and hot pads from palm fronds and hot pads like braided rugs. They learn to make tissue paper flowers and garlands. They learn calligraphy and make greeting cards.
They are also taught some new techniques like solar cooking. They make soap, dry fruit, graft trees. They are given information about nutrition and nutritional deficiencies, health and first aid. All sorts of things to help them make their home a home set apart for the Lord and to help them find ways to make do with what they have to provide for their families.
The new class is due to start November 8 with 12 new women. There will be an entrance exam October 18th. We need to be sure that the women chosen for the class can read, write and do some basic calculating as well as follow basic instructions. We also look at 2 essays about why they want to take the class and what they will do with what they learn. Last year we had over 40 women come to test for the 12 places for the year! Please pray that the Lord would be selecting those women He would want in the class, even now. Those who would benefit the most from the class and who will pass the information on to the others in their home areas.