Thankful

I hear a lot of complaining about our country, and I've done some of it myself. I have to say, though---until we can go live in our real Home, we have it pretty nice as American citizens.

We flew back to the US on June 7th. Here is my list of things to be thankful for here at home.

Good roads; ease of travel
US prices--don't laugh; in Haiti gas is nearly $6 a gallon, USD
Store shelves that are full of choices
Communication--phone, internet, and etc available wherever you go
Close contact with family and friends
Electricity
Air conditioning and heating
Hot water
Clean cities and communities
Our government and law enforcement systems --they may be far from perfect, but others are much, much worse

That's enough for now; I could go on and on, but I'll spare you that. :)

Rich and Keith are safely back home..........

This is the typical "just got home from Port au Prince" look. =)

More Well Pictures

Rich is mixing a bucketful of cement to pour down the well around the casing.....
Keith is pouring it in......
and I thought you might like to see a picture of the modern rig that drilled the well. Just goes to show---never judge by appearances. =)

In other news...Rich and Keith are on their way home from Port au Prince, today. They've been gone five days, so we're eager to see them again. They had some trouble on the way down--flat tires, hot brakes and rear axle--and we're praying they have a better trip home.

They have a good load on the big truck; they're hauling materials for building projects at Bombard, fuel and propane, and the goods which arrived on the crate. The crate was an answer to prayer; it was released on Tuesday, and they were able to pick it up Wednesday morning. We're especially thankful, because it means we can take the pickup in when we leave for furlough, and have a bit more comfortable trip. It doesn't take the bumps out of the road, but we can make a little better time, and have a seat for everyone.

The Well at Bombardopolis

Rich has been working up at Bombarde this week, helping put the casing in the new well that will help provide water for the mission compound there. In the background, you can see the education building and behind it, the hospital.
Steve Leach (red shirt), Steve Revis (well driller, and missionary to Haiti) and unidentified worker.
Up.......

ready...........
and down.

Rich and Keith are in Bombarde again today, pouring cement around the top fifty feet of casing to seal the hole. They took the camera, so maybe I can post more pictures of the work soon.

Work is starting on the new hospital expansion at Bombarde, also. Rich was able to help Steve a bit yesterday with staking out the foundation--it's a busy time up there.

For those of you who've asked if our house is started yet---no, that comes after the hospital project, as the Lord provides the funds. We do have a floor plan.:)

And a few pictures from our outing to the beach.....

"The ship"--it's been aground for years, and is slowly rusting apart, but it's still a landmark
The shoreline, with La Presque Isle in the background.
A fishing boat on the horizon.
Beach's end.
Crossing the little river coming back home at the end of the afternoon. This little guy had worriedly run across to make sure we didn't hit the donkey standing in our way.

I Know Mother's Day is Past.........

.............but I'm still stuck there, not because I think I'm so special. Maybe it's because this year, for the first time since I became a mother almost 21 years ago, our family isn't all together in one place for special occasions like this.

Anyway............I just want to say thanks to my family for making yesterday special. I didn't have to cook---or do much of anything---all day, and mid-afternoon, we went to the beach for awhile. The clouds had come up, cooling things down nicely, and it was peaceful and refreshing out there.

Mike and Kent, we missed you guys even more than usual yesterday.

A few random thoughts about motherhood.

--It's the hardest job.........and the most rewarding.........I've ever undertaken. (And once undertaken, it must be finished.

--The longer I'm a mother, the more I appreciate my own mom. She never complained, but willingly served her family.

--The early years of motherhood, when the work is hard physically, are easier than the later years--the letting go is hard, but it's also rewarding to see the adults those little people become.

--It never ends. It just moves into different stages. I call this one (young adults just leaving home) the "pray and wait" stage. =)

God bless!
Marj

The Future Medical Center of Mole St. Nicolas

The work of filling in the foundation with rock is being done by hand. It's taking a lot of rocks to fill in all these deep holes. It should be a firm foundation!

Just in Case You Ever Wonder What We Do When We're Not Working

Laurie and I like puzzles.
Keith and Ty are inventing stuff out of some of the scrap wood that Rich didn't give away.
We all like books and movies.
Laurie loves crocheting and crafty sorts of activities.
And we all like to eat!

Garden Beauty

Tomatoes are ripening beautifully now.............
and more are on the way..................
and this is just because we've gotten this far with the cabbages and nothing has started eating them. I hope we make it this time.

It's a Dirty Job..........

.................but someone's got to do it! Rich is checking the front hubs after crossing the river a couple of times when he went over near Port de Paix to pick up the well casing for the new well at Bombarde. He found everything looking pretty healthy, so just repacked the bearings and put it all back together

Dragging a Bit....

Well, summertime has definitely arrived in Mole. It's very hot and muggy, and we're dragging a bit, except for Rich, who thrives in hot weather. He just drinks an extra gallon or so, and keeps right on going.

Let's see---what have we been doing lately? We've been busy, but with a lot of scattered activities. The cement blocks for the hospital expansion project at Bombarde were made here in Mole, so Rich has been keeping an eye on that project, and helping load whenever the truck came for another load. The last load went up to Bombarde Saturday evening, probably a good thing, as Rich is now nursing a sore back.

Rich spent a few hours another day last week hauling block for a building project for a local school teacher. We'd found out he was hauling block, five at a time, in a wheelbarrow, to his building site, half a mile or so uphill from where the blocks had been made. That sort of thing is not all that uncommon here in Haiti, but it was fun to help him out. He'd shown a lot of uncomplaining initiative, and it's always good to encourage that.

Using our faithful workhorse again (the Nissan truck), Rich hauled a bunch of huge rocks for the guys who are filling in the foundation spaces on the future Mole medical center. It's going to be a big building, the foundation is massive, and they're actually digging huge rocks out of the bay to help fill it in. I'll have to post some pictures; maybe I can send Keith over there with the camera soon.

We have several garden spots picked out now for the shade houses that are planned for this fall. There are many who want them; the hard part for us is finding those who need them the most, and will do the hard work necessary to make them worthwhile.

Our gardens here are producing tomatoes, and some greens. I spaded up a bed yesterday, and transplanted baby cabbages. They look good this morning; nothing has attacked them yet!

Inbetween other activities, we're already getting ready to move---sorting, condensing and etc. Rich has been methodically cleaning out his depots (storage rooms, for you Americans). It's amazing how many odds and ends accumulate after only a couple years worth of projects. Yesterday, he gave away a wheelbarrow load of scrap wood to four ladies cleaning fish on the beach, and thought for a minute, he'd started a brawl. In the end, they each got some, and were extremely happy.

The bread dough is probably over the edge of the bowl, so I'll quit chattering for now. I'll try to post some pictures this afternoon or tomorrow.

MIKE IS HEADED OUT FINALLY

Mike is headed for Iraq now; think he got a bit tired of all the waiting. We'll probably not find out why the delay, but they did ship out yesterday, and he should be in Baghdad within the next week to ten days. He appreciates everyone's prayers.

Mike has started a blog to keep folks up-to-date. You'll find him added to my links, if you'd like to follow his adventures.

He did get an unexpected bonus out of this delay--a short visit to ND. He got to see all the family, and Mary, of course. :)

Kent is planning a trip to ND while we're there--can't wait to see him!

AND A CLOSEUP SO YOU CAN SEE THE ARTWORK

Basketball Court

Installing the new pole, hoop and backboard at the basketball court. The players are very happy!

MORE RECENT PICTURES

Our house---okay, not quite yet, but this is the chosen location for our house in Bombard. The finished product may be awhile yet.
This messy job...........
is necessary because of this. The original grout keeps breaking out of our tile floor, and unless Rich patches regularly, the tile starts breaking up.
The biggest cucumber yet from my garden. This one was eight inches long.

EASTER WEEKEND IN BOMBARD

The almost-completed widow's home where Rich helped Steve Leach with some kitchen installations on Saturday.
Tyler and Jacob---need I say more?
Rich and Steve at work.
Books on display in the pastor's library.......
and the librarians "du jour"

Rich installed the last few screens last week; all of our windows are screened now--what a blessing! The innovative scaffold system you see here looked a bit precarious to me, but it worked just fine.
Our expanded family of last week--Grace Leach, Laurie, Tyler, Jacob Leach, and Keith. They had just finished a tennis ball war; thus the hot, bedraggled look.
The guys--so peaceful aren't they?
And the girls.
And Rich, enjoying the fracas, I think.

THIS AND THAT

There are seven in our family again!--well, temporarily. Grace and Jacob Leach are spending the week with us while their parents are in Port au Prince buying meds and supplies. We're enjoying having them here, and plan to spend Easter weekend with them at their place in Bombard.

For those of you who don't get our newsletter (if you'd like to receive it, let me know), we've made our decision. We're moving to Bombard in October to join the work there. You can check out the Haiti Hospital-IMF link to learn more about the work. We have peace, knowing that God wants us there, but you can still pray for us as we make the transition.

In family news....Mike, our oldest son, is headed to Iraq. His unit leaves on April 20th for a six month deployment. Kent does not yet have his orders, but it sounds as though he could follow Mike shortly. Of course, they and we appreciate your prayers for them and for the situation over there.

Those of you interested in the basketball court in Mole will want to know that the new pole and backboard project is underway--thanks for the contributions! The welding is done, and Rich has been prepping and painting. It should be installed in a week or two, and I'll post pictures. Rich also has most of the screens on our house now; what a blessing that is! He'll be finished with that project very soon. Down here we have to put rat wire over the screening, or the rodents just chew their way right on in, so it's a bit time-consuming, but worth it.

I harvested more cucumbers, and pruned the tomatoes to encourage them to set fruit. Rich put screening on the end of our shadehouse to cut down the wind and keep the pine needles out. The plants look better already. By the way, do any of you know how to extract the oil from neem tree seed pods to make an insect repellent we can use on plants and ourselves, and maybe introduce to Haitian gardeners? There are certainly enough neem trees here! I've been doing research online, and can find all kinds of products for sale, and even information for sale, but no helpful (and free) recipes. Maybe I'll have to experiment.

Enough rambling for now. Until next time............God bless!

Marj

MORE PICTURES FROM MOLE

Enjoying the Mole winds.
Rich is helping me do the laundry while the kids do their school work. If we work at it together, we can get done faster, so we don't use too much power.
And the dryer..........solar and wind powered.
Waldo, basking in the sun.
It was very windy yesterday, and these big black birds were floating on the wind currents most of the day. Tyler took a bunch of pictures---trying to capture the feeling, I guess.

BACK HOME

These pictures are for those of you who are interested in the gardening experiment here in Mole. We have some successes and some failures to report. Cucumbers love the shade house, and are climbing--and producing--quite happily.
Tomatoes also are doing well, and the pepper plants look healthy, but haven't started blooming yet, so don't know what they'll do. Unfortunately, the carrots are all tops and no carrots, the beets are quite runty, and cabbages haven't done really well either.

These gardens (above and below) aren't in Mole--we wish we could have brought them with us. Rich helped to supervise the mission gardens at BHM while we there; they have beautiful terraced beds, and great soil.