Annoyances and Blessings

"I could be such a good missionary if it weren't for the natives."............ Otto Koning (of Pineapple Story fame) said that, I think.

There is a Murphy's Law for missionaries. In my experience it is this: As soon as you are unavailable, the most impatient person in the village will come to the door, and will knock and call incessantly until you answer the door (no matter how loudly or often you call out that you will be there as soon as you can). Today it was the girl who comes each day to pick up insulin shots (kept in our fridge, as they have none) for a diabetic lady. There had been no one at the door for perhaps 30 minutes, and I thought it would be a lovely time to get cleaned up, after painting at the hospital, working in the meds depot, cleaning our house, and etc. I was at the house alone and should have known better. As soon as I turned on the water in the shower, the knock came, and continued without ceasing and in spite of my answering (ok, it was more like shouting). When I got to the door, steam was pretty much rolling out of my ears, and the girl looked so surprised that I was unhappy with her. She got my little sermon about respect, manners, and the wisdom of stopping knocking long enough to listen for a response, only a little longer than I usually give it. I think God brought me to Haiti (at least in part) to teach me patience. I haven't graduated that class yet. And I think I now need a shower for my soul.

Thank God for blessings--they help to balance the annoyances. We've been without internet here for several days. Yesterday, Rich finally was able to talk to the company (they actually called us back!), and they gave us several things to try, and then pronounced our transmitter dead, and told us a new one would cost $550! At bedtime last night, Rich and I agreed that we (well, he and Tyler, really) should investigate everything else that could possibly be wrong, so starting on the easy end--it was dark up on the roof, anyway--he tore a cable end apart, redid it, plugged it back into the modem, and..........it worked. God is good.

Today we painted at the hospital; it's not that we love painting so much, but it's so nice to see things freshened and brightened up. Rich also provided transportation for some of the hospital staff who wanted to spend a day at the beach in Mole. We had Bibles to give to a couple of pastors down there, and meds to send to the clinic also, so he was able to combine the errands with helping the staff have some fun.

Tomorrow, I'll post photos.

Blessings,
Marj

Looking Like Home

Such a comfortable place.
Peaceful.
Never fear; Waldo the Ferocious Watchdog is on the job. =)

Widow's Home

Laurie and St. Eres
"I can't just sit around here; if I do that I'll get all stiff and not be able to move!" And believe me, she doesn't just sit around!
Ernelia is blind, but she knows her way around. Here she's showing Laurie how to dance properly. =) She has Laurie's footsteps memorized, and always knows when her friend is coming.

And MORE House Photos

The bathroom is pretty much finished, too; just have a bit of work to do on the shower.
This picture was of course followed by, "Mom!" Laurie loves her new room.

More House Progress

Saturday, Rich built these shelves in our storeroom, just off the kitchen. We're not too organized yet as you can see, but it's going to be a handy place.
The other corner of the room contains our power system.

Finished

The new kitchen is finished and it's wonderful.
Isn't it great?

Fun AND Useful!

This week when Steve and Rich were working to install solar panels on the hospital addition and our house, the "somewhat portable" (extremely heavy) welder/generator became fully portable when Rich discovered it fits in the trailer and can be loaded by one person, thanks to the trailer's tilt capabilities.
It worked wonderfully!

New Office

Sorry about the spots on the picture; I think those were raindrops. Rich and Steve installed the formica in the new hospital office last week. I'll get a picture of the completed office soon.

Kitchen

Jacob and Tyler admiring (or critiquing) the newly installed kitchen cabinets. Observe also that the kitchen is painted!

Thankful

Laurie twirling happily last Sunday afternoon on the newly sealed concrete floors at the house. They're going to be wonderful, so easy to sweep and mop

Wonderful Porch

This is the our porch, newly screened. I keep stopping to admire the screen door Rich built.:)

Docilia

This is Docilia, the new widow's home resident. Docilia loves to show ignorant folks like us how to weave palm leaf mats. I haven't tried it, but Laurie reports that it's harder than it looks.

Docilia needs the walker to get around, but can sit for hours on the cement (on one of her mats of course) weaving. Amazing.

Cistern Recipients

These two little people, twins, are the youngest of four children at one of the cistern sites. Their dad is so happy, both for the cistern, and for the leftover gravel from the concrete work. He plans to spread it around the yard to make it cleaner for his family.

Cisterns

These folks are ready for their cistern. Sand, gravel, and water are waiting in the yard.
Saul is the foreman of the cistern crew, and does a great job. He almost always has that smile on his face, too.
This is the owner of the house where the crew was working the day we went to take pictures.
And these are his children. You can see that a good supply of water will be beneficial to these little people. Notice the dirt floor behind them.
Mixing cement. Astrel (in the green shirt) is the master of this part of the work. What he says goes, and he loves his job.

Photos!

Baby Erlanda--she's doing great and has gone home with her mama.
Another one of Erlanda, just because we go a little camera-crazy when there's a baby around. Screens on the new hospital addition.
Rich and Tyler installing screens on the house.

I'm sorry..............

Blogger will NOT upload photos for me--I've been trying all week! (well, at least once a day). So you'll just have to take my few feeble words in place of photos.

Notes from the last week (or so) here at IMF in Bombardopolis, Haiti:

**Baby Erlanda is growing beautifully. She weighs 133% of what she did when she came a couple of weeks ago. (Sorry, Laurie has been studying percentages in her math, and since I like numbers anyway, I couldn't resist). What that means is that she now weighs 4 pounds, 9 ounces, up from 3 pounds, 7 ounces. I do have a photo or two of her to post.................soon, I hope.

**Faith was in Cap Haitien for a few days for some medical meetings. We're thankful she's back safely. By the way, things in Port au Prince are quieter after days of protests against rising prices. Conditions continue to grow more difficult in this country, where most of folks' income is spent on food, and prices have been rising steadily.

**We have a new resident in the widow's home. (Again, photo to follow asap). Docilia (I'm not at all sure that I've spelled that correctly), came to us when her daughter, who is raising several children alone, could no longer care for her mother properly. She seems to be fitting in well, and has added an interesting dimension to the activities at the home. She sits and braids palm leaf mats by the hour. This afternoon, Laurie took some video on our little digital camera--Docilia was thrilled.

**The hospital continues to be busy. Rich made two ambulance runs today--they seem to come in bunches.

**Cistern building is proceeding apace. Rich and I went out (on the new four-wheeler!) to the area where, this week, the crew built another four cisterns. It is wonderful to see how excited people are about having their very own cistern. Having had nothing to do with the planning of the cistern program, I feel free to say I think it is the best practical help program I've seen in this water-poor country. Each cistern recipient is required to provide water, sand, and gravel for the cistern, food for the crew while they work, and several workers to help the mission crew of four. Gifts from folks back home provide funds for the cement, rebar, pvc, guttering material (I'm sure I've missed something there) and wages for Saul, Astrel, Dalis, and Efilie (the "bosses", as they are called here). If you want to know more about the cistern program, visit the mission website at www.haitihospital.org , and click on the "water" link. Last year saw the building of the 100th cistern since the program started, and 25 more are planned for this season. Again, I have photos.......

**Two more rooms in the hospital addition are painted and the floors sealed. These are depots--badly needed storage rooms--and Steve has been building the shelves for them. The new office is ready for installations--cabinets, counters, and etc.

**The house is ready for paint!--well, it will be after Rich seals the last of the floors tomorrow. Rich hung the front door, built and hung a screen door, screened the porch, and we all worked together to clean and prep the floors for sealing. It's beginning to look like a mid-May move-in date might be feasible after all. We need to be moved by June, so the Leach family can move back into their own house when they get back from the states, and the guest house will be available for--well--guests. The "to-do" list is still long--installation of plumbing and fixtures, cabinets, electrical and lighting, paint, a simple "closet" for each bedroom....................but we're thankful things are moving along.

God bless you all,
Marj, for all of us here at IMF

Happenings

The "cabinet shop", where I've been working this week.

The cistern crew are out working, building the first four cisterns of the season this week. I'll try to get some pictures up soon, but for now here's one of Astrel and Saul installing guttering and pipe to get the rainwater to an already-built cistern. Cisterns are a great help to the people of this water-poor area.

Here's Rich installing the file drawers for the hospital office. Here's Rich, sealing the house roof.
Jacob and Steve are building and assembling window screen units today, both for the hospital and our house.

In other news...........there's a new temporary resident at the Leach house. Erlanda Danica probably won't be with us long, as she's gained 10 ounces already in her first week here. She came last Friday, weighing 3 lb., 7 oz. We'll be keeping her tomorrow while Faith is busy with a field clinic, and I'll try to get some pictures to post.

Since I last posted.................

................Bombarde has had rain! What a blessing, but I don't have any pictures of the rain. Cisterns are full, and folks are planting gardens.
At the house, Saul laid up a shower wall. It was more work than he expected since he had to fit around the plumbing Rich had assembled.
The windows are all installed, and the cement work around them finished. There's just the roof to seal, and a bit more cement work in the bathroom, and we can start painting!
Here the guys are pouring the slabs of concrete that will cover the septic tank.
Astrel is mixing concrete--it all gets done by hand here, and he has lots of practice!
Rich and Astrel relaxing together at the end of the work day.

Photos from the Hospital grounds

The hospital addition is being used, even though the building isn't yet completed. Here folks wait to see the doctor.
Kids in Haiti are out of school this week before Easter, so these two are working to clean up and beautify the hospital grounds. Here they're knocking the tops off some rocks to make it easier for people to walk between the old and new hospital buildings. Sorry about the ugly background. I just had to take the picture in front of the little storage depot at the end of the hospital. The rest of the hospital looks better---really.
They've gravelled the hospital driveway very nicely with "tet sab" (literally, "head of sand", it's what's left after sifting sand for cement work, and we have a lot of it right now!).
Tyler and Jacob got inspired to haul some gravel after school today, and the kids Steve had hired got worried that their job was being stolen, but it looks like we have plenty of gravel to go around!
Here they're knocking down sharp rocks preparatory to spreading their loads.

Windows!

Yesterday, the guys poured and finished the gallery floor.
Rich installed the first three window frames! This morning, Rich installed more windows, and the guys worked on finishing the cement work around the windows............. and smooth plastering the north outside wall of the house.
It's looking great!