St. Teres, St. Annie, and Ernelia, much loved residents of the widow's home

This is St. Teres. She is very lively and full of mischief, also very helpful, loves to sweep, water the garden, and come up to our house on one errand or another, but mostly to see her friends, of whom Laurie is chief. Laurie is "zamni'm" (my friend) and I'm "mama zamni'm" (the mother of my friend).
St. Annie was the home's first resident. She had a rough time recently when she had problems with her meds and was very confused and disoriented. She's a sweetie, too, although quieter than St. Teres.
Ernelia is very patient and sweet. She is blind, so sits a lot, but St. Teres loves to help her. They go for walks sometimes, and St. Teres, who is a terrible tease, will sometimes let go of Ernelia's arm, and say, "I'm getting tired of leading you; why don't you walk by yourself!" Then she giggles and giggles, and Ernelia laughs, too, and they link arms again and march on!

Linda B., who doesn't like to have her picture taken, does a great job of supervising the widow's home. The ladies love her, and she likes to spoil them a bit.

The Cement Blocks are Finished and It's Raining!

The blocks for our house are all made now, 2100 of them, made one at a time by hand. Rich and the block makers are celebrating with some cookies and pop.
The last day's work.
It rained today (that's Linda Blankenship headed down past the widow's home to her house after lunch)...............................
so Rich, who has dengue fever, and has been working anyway, took a nap after lunch.............
and so did Keith----he has malaria, and is very glad this is his last day on chloroquine. (We don't really make him sleep on a bare mattress; his sheets were washed today.)

We're Back!

Family time at the end of the day.
Too bad you can't smell these; they're pretty, but smell even better.
We lived by the ocean down in Mole, and miss it, so on our way home from PAP, I had to take some pictures of that beautiful Caribbean blue.
Just getting home from a supply run to Port au Prince, with a full load on our pickup. You notice Rich put the tire changing tools and jack right beside the door. We were glad not to need them this trip.

We've been having some difficulties with our internet service; have only been able to do emails occasionally, so it's nice to find things working a bit better today. We think it's probably weather-related--hurricanes and such--but we shall see....

And now I shall publish this post quickly before I lose it.

God bless,
Marj, for the Byers gang

Hard Work

This huge root refused to be budged. Finally, using two jacks and a winch, (and after a lot of animated discussion, which always seems to accompany any project here), they were able to get it out of the hole.

These little girls were interested observers to the whole process.

this and that

The guys installed our water tanks on top of the cistern to replace the small one that had been up there. They act like a mini water tower to provide a bit of water pressure for the houses.
Working to clear the spot for our house.

Babies and Flowers

Sorry about the blurry picture. These healthy triplets were born at the hospital a month or so ago.
And this is a double hibiscus--beautiful!

Thank God for rain!

Photos from Our Trip Home to Bombarde

As we left Port au Prince, we were encouraged to see the mountains so green. Obviously, rain had fallen while we were in the states.

New house, anyone??
However, as we drove north, things looked drier and drier.
Northwest Haiti is parched.

We're Home!

We arrived in Bombardopolis a week ago tonight, and it's been a very busy week. We've been on the run pretty much since we arrived. Rich has been fixing this and that; keeping a close eye on the water situation--it's dry here, although we did have a little rain shower yesterday morning; making his first ambulance run....

We're getting settled in at the house, too. It's been interesting--nearly every day, we go down to the widow's home, where our belongings were stored (in no particular order) before we left, and rummage about to find needed or wanted items. We're living in the main mission house (Steve and Faith's house) for the time being. The gravel and sand to make blocks for our house was delivered over the last couple of days.

We're grateful for the help of the national mission staff in helping us to get oriented and started with the work God has for us here. Linda Blankenship is a great blessing to us, as well.

The guys got our satellite system re-installed yesterday, so I'll try to post some pics soon.

We also want to say a big "thank you" to all of you who welcomed, hosted, transported, prayed for, fed or otherwise helped us while we were home in the States this summer. It was great to see so many friends and brothers and sisters in the Lord. We thank God for you, and for your faithful support and prayers for us. We truly are all "laborers together".

Haiti

We go home next week, home to Haiti that is. We've had a good time in the states, but are anxious to get back, even if the roads do look like this......
and this.............
and this is the truck stop. :)

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.