Back in with Both Feet then Down for a Week

Tuesday April 13 I flew back to Haiti on Missionary Flights International (MFI). It was not one of the days that MFI was flying into Pignon, so HAFF driver, Elizert met me at the Cap Haitien airport. Barb and Gabi Van Schoyck and Gabriel Mompremier had come to town as well to start the process of working a shipping container through customs. More on that later. Elizert and I met them in town, finshed up the errands and had a late lunch then drove the 44 miles back to Bohoc -- about a 3 1/2 hour trip -- arriving about 7 pm. We were all pretty tired.

The next few days were very busy. Wednesday morning I was in the eyeglass clinic by myself for most of the morning, since Becky was helping Barb with a milk baby weigh-in. That kept me busy till lunch. Right after lunch was the Wednesday afternoon staff prayer time. And then for the rest of the afternoon, I helped Barb with some budget calculations to help her get ready for the HAFF board meeting. That evening the American staff met for Bible Study.

The rest of the week centered around the shipping container in Cap Haitien. The kind folks in Rome, Georgia had put together a 40 foot container filled head high with donated items for people in the area. They sent clothing, shoes, toiletries, soup, snacks, water and other items for distribution. Colin and Elizert and Gabriel spent Wednesday and a good bit of Thursday finally getting the contents of the container released. They came home with the Mitsubishi Canter and Elizert's full size Ford dump truck full of about half the container load. They got in to Bohoc just after dark Thursday evening and we unloaded the trucks in about an hour or so.

The guys started out Friday before day to go back down to Cap Haitien for the rest of the load. The rest of the American staff started sorting what had already arrived and packed over 90 boxes to be distributed. Those boxes were moved to a second depot to make room for the second half of the load. I did not spend as much time sorting as the rest, since I spent the morning going to the bank and then getting payroll ready for the end of the week workers' pay. The men arrived again just after dark with trucks, if anything, even more heavily laden than Thursday. The boxes were unloaded, the depot secured and thanks returned for everyone's safe arrival.

Saturday Barb and Gabi spent some time working on the new boxes that had come in while I spent some time getting the dorm porch ready for the Pignon Area Missionary Ladies gathering at noon. There were about 25 women and children (plus Colin) at lunch on the porch. It was a good time of catching up with everyone and a chance to get to know a new Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) staffer who is spending time in Pignon learning Creole.

And that was the last productive time I had till now! By the late afternoon Saturday, I had a deep cough -- my allergies caught up with me. I did not sleep much Saturday night due to the coughing and woke Sunday with a headache. And I didn't leave the house again till last evening. The allergies tried to become pneumonia, I and Mme Telius, the HAFF nurse and Mme Niclaude, my cook fought tooth and nail with antibiotics and a local herbal tea, to stay ahead of the cough and the fever. Today, finally, I feel like I am on the mend and I finally slept well for a good part of last night -- the first time in a week.

In the mean time, Barb went to the States for today's board meeting and the rest of the staff went about their normal work and continued to sort the contents of the container. There are another 130 boxes packed in addition to the original 90. The boxes will be distributed starting Friday. There was also a meeting with community leaders about a cash for work project to fix the road -- another big rain or two and Bohoc/LaJeune and points south will be cut off from Pignon and points north. Hopefully I will be able to be back to my normal activities and participate in the community projects during the next week.

An Easter Monday gift

This morning I got an unexpected bonus of spending part of my break on the west coast of Florida.
It started as a red glow in the dark sky on the horizon. Soon we could see the bright orange, yellow glow rising through trees. The Space Shuttle Discovery was being launched from Kennedy Space Center and I was in North Fort Myers -- all the way across the state -- watching in the pre-dawn coolness with Martin and Bonnie Price. The following link takes you to photos (including the one posted at the left) from the Fox station in Tampa Bay, FL, north of Fort Myers. These are professional photos, taken from much closer, but still, the later photos give an idea of what we saw this morning.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/generic/photos/space-shuttle-discovery-sts-131-launch-photos-040510

R & R

I flew to Florida on Tuesday for 2 weeks break. I am in Fort Myers now and will be in Naples next week, then back to Haiti on the 13th. We have all been taking turns being out for a break and this is my turn. I have been sleeping a lot and will probably sleep more.

In the mean time, ministry in Haiti continues. Please keep the Wilsons and Jonathan Fischer in your prayers as they hold down the fort till Barb and Gabi get back on Saturday. Greg will be working on HAFF business in the US until after the board meeting at the end of April. Keep the Van Schoycks in your prayers as well as they launch back into ministry after their break.

And please keep the Haitian members of the Community Relief Committee in prayer as they minister tirelessly without the option of taking a break. They are enduring the persecution of people misunderstanding them and lying about what they are doing, but they are holding firm and doing the best they can to assure that the relief money and relief items are getting to the people who need them. We are very very pleased and proud to be working with these Godly men.

A Morning Call

My phone rang at 7:00 this morning. It was my former student, Jean Robert Joseph, on the right in the photo at the left. He is now attending university in Limbe, near Cap Haitien in the north of Haiti with a partial scholarship from HAFF. He was calling to let me know that he and our other former students at the university in Limbe are all well and hadn't felt the earthquake that hit Cap Haitien last night.

I have only been able to find one small story on the internet about the supposed earthquake that brought down a house in Cap Haitian overnight. Apparently geophysicists did not register any quake, but might not have if it was less than 4.5 on the Richter Scale. I was not 100% clear if the building that came down in Cap had people from our area living in it. I think, from what Jean Robert said, that it might have, but it wasn't clear. The story on the Washington Post website said that 2 were killed, and that they were still looking for survivors.

This morning in church Jean Jean Mompremier, the pastor, spoke about the earthquake and said that the only people who survived were those on the top floor of the 3 story building. He also warned that the people need to be ready to receive more refugees, this time fleeing the perceived threat of buildings collapsing in Cap Haitien. Please pray for this country. People all over the nation are living in fear of buildings falling on them. And the rainy season is getting ready to start and many many people still do not even have the shelter of a tent. There is still a great need in this country.

I talked on the phone to a woman yesterday in Port-au-Prince who just recently got a tarp to cover them since their house collapsed in the 12 January quake. When I asked why her family didn't just come back to this area to their family that wants them to come home, she answered that they would lose everything if they left. She said if they want to be able to hold on to their property so they can rebuild later, they have to stay there or someone else will just move in and start building.

And yet this morning, in the midst of all the questions of how much more these folks can handle, there was great encouragement in church. A woman got up to speak about her experience in the earthquake in Port. She shared a story we have heard many other share. She said she cried out, "Jesus save me" as the building started to shake, and the next thing she knew, she was outside in the street and the house was collapsed behind her. She was thanking and praising the Lord that she had kept her life clean and that her family was all saved from the quake and they were all back home in the area where she had been raised and back at the church where she first learned to know Jesus. She encouraged all the young people to guard their reputations and to be proud of the place they were raised. And above all, to trust in Christ.

The Fashionista Syndrome

It is everywhere! Everyone likes to look nice, sometimes even more than they want to see well.
We have been noticing a trend in the eyeglass clinic. There are certain people -- you can often tell who they will be by how they are dressed and the accessories they carry -- who will be able to see just fine with a prescription in the trial lens frame, but when you bring that prescription in a pair of glasses which are maybe a bit out of style, "I can't see anything" or "I see all black," they say! What they are actually saying is that they don't like the style of those glasses!

Today a woman came to me who had broken her glasses in the earthquake. She had come early in February to replace her glasses. She barely needs glasses -- her prescription is quite low and we don't have many glasses in her strength that don't also have a fairly strong bifocal or astigmatism that she did not need. Thankfully I was able to find her a pair of glasses that she could see well with and that were small and fashionable. But they weren't perfect so, she came back today to exchange them. I had no more glasses in that prescription and so I showed her selection of glasses that were very close. Again, I don't have a large variety of glasses in that strength, so her choices were limited. She wasn't impressed with what I had to offer.

It took a while to convince her that the glasses I had out were really the only ones I had. I did have others, but they had not been stylish since the 1980's (she agreed that she didn't want them) or they had bifocals (after insisting that she could manage with the cute pair with bifocals, she realized she couldn't) or an astigmatism. So, she finally found a pair of the ones I had out for her that she thought she could wear.

The classic comment that she made towards the end of the process was, "But I have seen so many pairs of pretty glasses that have come from this eyeglass clinic!" I have heard that before. Two people come to the clinic together and one just needs reading glasses in a strength that I have lots of styles available. The friend needs bifocals or has different prescriptions for each eye and has a limited selection of what will work for him or her and they don't like the style of any of them. But they will say, "can't you just give me a pair like my friend's?" And it is so hard to say no! One girl brought a pair of glasses back (the only one I had that was even close to what she needed) saying that her mother had told her not to like them! And she wanted me to give her something more fashionable, even though I had already explained to her that I only had the one pair in her prescription. Thankfully she did not need glasses badly, because she left without glasses. Even in fitting people with eyeglasses, I am still teaching science -- both physics and biology some days!

Not every person who comes to the clinic has the fashionista syndrome. I have had some folks who, when presented with the choice of reading glass styles will say, "I'll take whatever you give me. It doesn't matter what they look like, as long as I can see!" It is hard to convince those people that they can see well and look nice at the same time! But the greatest joy is when someone comes in with a real need for glasses and we find just what they need in a style they like and that suits their face. That is satisfaction.

Since the earthquake the clinic has been even busier. Becky and I see a minimum of 5 people each Wednesday. This last Wednesday we saw 8 and sometimes, like today, I make extra appointments for people. Each week there is at least one person who has come back to the area from Port-au-Prince. This Wednesday, a former student, Mimose came to replace the glasses lost in the quake and for her and her son to be treated for dry eyes irritated by the dry weather and the dust in Port. She had injured her right hand in the quake -- I didn't ask if it was broken or just badly bruised or what. But Wednesday, her hand was still swollen and the skin peeling.

The eyeglass clinic has become a real joy for me. I enjoy seeing people from all over the area and I believe we are providing a needed service. I find satisfaction in learning to do it well. I am grateful for the tools and glasses that have been donated by so many and for the knowledge that has been passed on so freely. Thank you for your prayers for Becky and me for wisdom, patience and compassion as we strive to help people see with their physical eyes. And help us also to shine the light of Christ in all we do, so that people's spiritual eyes can see Him as well.

It's Not Easy to Write about Meetings

And that is what I have been spending a lot of time in. Since the last post, I have attended at least 16 meetings! Barb, seen below with the Community Relief Committee (CRC), has been in even more than I have.
There is on-going revison of the refugee censuses as more people come in to the area from Port-au-Prince, others return to Port and as people move within the area. Some folks are staying with several people -- a few days at Aunt So-and-So's house and then some at their brother's house and finally some at their parents' home. Some folks have made the decision to remain in the area and are looking into renting locally. All of that needs to be figured out as we do our best to get the relief items to the people who need them.

Wednesday I had the fun of spending the afternoon photographing the distribution of the food that came in from World Food Program. I went with the loaded UCI school bus to LaJeune and LaPila -- sitting on top of the bags in the seats was a challenge as the bus lumbered from side to side down the road. But seeing the folks receive a good sized gift of food was the fun. There were many who asked us to send their thanks to the people "on the other side" (of the ocean) who had made the gift possible.

Earlier that morning, I had been grateful for the gift of the Tono-Pen. In the eyeglass clinic, a gentleman from Coupeal (about an hour or so walk from HAFF) had a very high intra-occular pressure and I was able to start him on glaucoma medication. I have him down on the list for the next Pignon eye team as well to be evaluated for any damage to his optic nerve from the high pressure. But I think he came in in time. His distance vision was fine and he just needed the normal strength reading glasses for someone his age. What a blessing!

But the most time consuming meetings this past couple of weeks have been the meetings to calculate salaries using the new minimum wage set by the Haitian government. The calculations and issues weren't straight-forward, and in the process of confirming details for one aspect of the change, we learned about another change. And each time we thought we had figured out how to do it, we would look at it again and realize that we had done something wrong. Finally, thankfully, Friday we had it all figured out, met with the employees and got the changes made. Now we still have to meet with the teachers and others who were not covered by the minimum wage hike -- that will be hard. Please keep us in your prayers for that.

New Tool for Eye Clinic

Two weeks ago, Saturday February 6th, I was privileged to spend part of the morning with the eye surgery team from Des Moines Iowa who were working at the Pignon hospital. They had graciously allowed me to refer about 40 people to them for cataract surgery and other consultation and treatment that is beyond me. And now they had offered to train me to use a Tono-pen – a portable, simple-to-use instrument for measuring intra-ocular pressure to see if someone might possibly have glaucoma.
Virgil and Linda were my teachers and explained the care and use of the Tono-pen and showed how to use it

and then coached me as I learned. They were kind enough to say that I did a very good job. If they were not being just kind, it is as simple to use as was advertised.

One of the most poignant parts of the morning was that I got to test a young woman who had lost part of her left arm in the earthquake. She needed help walking to the place we were working and her face had a very frozen aspect the whole time we worked with her. After I checked her pressure, I asked if I could pray with her. After she was seen at the next exam station, they called us over to pray with her again. It was good to see her later in the snack bar after she had gotten a pair of glasses. She had an energy drink mixed with evaporated milk and was talking and smiling and animated. Please keep Carline Pierre and other earthquake victims in your prayers.

The team was working with 2 Tono-pens and when they left they gave HAFF one of them as well as a supply of glaucoma medication. So now Becky and I will be able to offer another service to the people coming to the HAFF eye clinic. Please pray that I would use the instrument properly, that I interpret the results wisely and that it would be a blessing to the folks who come.

School is Back in Session

Monday school opened. While the students did not come in uniform, and there were only about a third of the them at devotions, school has started. Met Phanes said in devotions that morning that the next day the students could come in uniform – always a good thing since it lends official authorization to the opening and lets everyone know that things are getting back to normal.

Please continue to pray for the schools throughout Haiti, including HAFF's Bohoc Training Institute. The Ministry of Eduction has yet to determine how to help those students whose schools have been destroyed by the quake. The local inspector for this area seems to think that our headmaster will be able to submit a form for those students transferring into our school. Pray that it is so. Also there are still questions about how the national exams will be done, if the school year will be extended, and, if so, will the time be taken from the Easter break, other national holidays or added on in June and July or some of each.

Continue to pray also for those people who were in Port-au-Prince during the earthquake. Many of them still have the tendency to run when they hear sudden noises and they are still having trouble sleeping. Pray that the Lord, the Father of all comfort, would lay His healing hand on each of these people.

A Busy Week

Well, it has over a week since I have posted anything! I am so sorry. But it has been a week busy with meetings and details. I spent 2 days getting letters out to 41 people as “passports” to see the Des Moines eye surgery team that is coming to Pignon Thursday. And, since last night, I have had a struggle to get photos to up load to the blog site, so, I will only be able to post two of the photos!


There were also many meetings during the week with the CRC – Community Leaders' Committee – and the young people. The CRC provided 133 families with a box, tote, bucket or bag of clothing, toiletries and other items yesterday from 6 locations. The distribution was very well organized. The committee had lists of families for each location and a representative of each family was invited to be present at a certain time. Each family had a card, and as their names were called, they came, presented their card and received their box.

The young people's meetings have been about mobilizing the youth of the area to help those around them. In the second meeting, there were over 120 youth present. There was a very moving moment when all the young people were asked to stand up who were in Port-au-Prince at the time of the earthquake. As you can see in the upper right part of the collage, it was about half the group of young people. The two photos of the young men, Pastor Jean Claude and Louine, are just 2 of those spared to us. At the third meeting, the youth committed to inviting people to a 3 day evangelistic crusade and to planning a VBS for the children. Some also volunteered to visit homes with refugees to pray with them. And they organized themselves by areas to motivate the young people in their area to become involved in the community activities to help others.

Met Claude, HAFF's Project Healthy Family coordinator has also been busy. Each time the HAFF generator is running, he gets out his wonderful machine, mixes salt and water and pours the salt water through the machine 7 times for the electrical charge to convert the salt water to a chlorine solution suitable for purifying water. He is making more of the solution than usual these days to provide for the increased needs of local families for clean drinking water for the additional people at their home. Met Claude said that a regular sized box of salt will make one gallon of solution which will be able to treat many many gallons of water.

And finally, on a light note, you have heard of farm fresh eggs, but have you ever heard of office fresh eggs? A couple of weeks ago, Colin walked into the office and found things on the desk to be in a bit of disarray. Then, as he was straightening things up, he discovered an egg on the desk! He brought it home for breakfast. A few days later, he was rummaging in the trash can looking for something he had mistakenly thrown away and found 3 eggs! I am not sure how many eggs the office chicken has laid at this point, but right now, she is sitting on 2 in the trash basket. Friday Colin and Greg and Met Telius and I were all working in the office and she was sitting on her eggs. Each time someone moved, or someone new walked in or Greg's dog got too close, she would squawk! We have had a good time and some lightened days with the office chicken.

Cape Coral Florida Shipments

There's been a whole lot of sorting going on at HAFF. And more will be done!

This photo collage shows three boxes of medical supplies being sent to doctors in Hinche and many boxes of clothing, shoes, toiletries and other items being readied by Gabi, Barb, Mme Destorel, Carla and Rachel with two of Rachel's friends. There were 41 boxes and counting when I was last at the depot! These supplies were sent in by small private plane yesterday directly to Pignon from Cape Coral Florida. They are the gift of at least 2 of HAFF's supporting churches in the area. And this was only half the shipment! The other half was given to Jean Jean and Kristie at UCI. The boxes will be made available to the families who have received refugees.


But wait! There's more! Another plane came in today. And another will come tomorrow. Colin was sorting boxes in the back of the truck while Carla and Rachel's friends Evens and Wilnot start sorting more medical supplies and toiletries.

These items will be a huge blessing to the refugees who have often come with a small back pack or even just the clothes on their back. This is the start of normalcy for so many. Thank you all who helped and thank you all who are helping in similar ways in other areas.

In the mean time I have been working on getting over 30 letters out to the people that we are sending to see the eye surgery team at the Pignon hospital in February. The letters will single out the people we have made prior arrangements for from the people who have just walked in that day. This is a great privilege the Des Moines eye team has given us and a great blessing to the people in the communities we serve.