Haiti 2009 Pictures #2

Getting ready to leave Port-au-Prince airport.

Jonathan & I

A view of part of Mierbalais.

Jonathan & I with Pastor Vogley & his family. We spent last Sunday afternoon with them.

Another beautiful sunset.

VBS...boy's side. Later that day there were actually more kids than these pictures show.

VBS...girl's side.

Church in Despinos.

April Hess with Michael

The Mobile Clinic team

On our way to Mobile Clinic in Mierbalais.

Haiti 2009 Pictures

Michael's 1st Birthday
Haitian Sunset

Helping in the Clinic

4th of July Dinner...Quesadillas

Haiti Beach

I love the view of the mountains from the beach!

Where you can catch a motorcycle if you need a ride.

Road Side Vendors. They were selling melons, etc.

The front yard at the compound in Despinos.

~Haiti 2009~

Well I'm back in the states now. It was real hard for me to leave Haiti, but I had to get back for school & work, etc. My trip was really great! I got to do many different things. I helped in the clinic, went and helped with a mobile clinic, helped with a VBS, helped with 2 newborn babies, almost got to help deliver a baby and so much more! I found out on my way home on Wednesday that Maxine, the guy that got burnt, died last Tuesday morning. Please continue to pray for his family as they are going through the loss of a loved one. Last Saturday and Sunday I went with Jonathan up to the church where he helps with the youth, children and sometimes Sunday school. It was good getting to see the ministry he has. :) Sunday we spent the day with one of the pastors at the church there. It was very nice getting to know he and his lovely family! His wife made Jonathan & I a wonderful meal! For some reason almost every time I went to the church, it decided to rain...lol. Every time we had to hurry back to the orphanage in the rain because the one bridge there in town easily floods and breaks since the hurricane. Even though we got soaked several different times, I'll have to admit I was thankful for the rain because it made the day so much cooler. :) I'm finally posting pictures of my trip. Sorry I could not put any on here until now due to slow Internet, etc. Enjoy!

We arrived at the orphanage yesterday morning. Soon after arriving, Pat & Melinda had to take Michael to the hospital. He's been sick for a few days now and they thought it was mono, but the tests for mono came back negative. They are still trying to figure out what is wrong. Jonathan & I are supposed to go to Beladere today for a children's service, but we will see what happens.
Its hard for me to believe that three weeks have almost already gone by. It's going to be really hard for me to leave!
Oh, while I was in Despinos, April and I went and visited Maxine again. It seems like everyday he is getting worse in some ways. Please pray that God will help him and give him the strength he needs. Please also pray for his family, because he may not have long to live.

This week...

Wow, how the time has flown by! I cannot believe how fast this week has gone! Monday and Tuesday was spent working in the clinic. Thursday we went to Mierbalais for a mobile clinic. This was the first mobile clinic that I had been to. It was an interesting experience, and it's an awesome way to help and reach out to other communities. Friday April & Joel took all the school teachers to the beach for a special day and also for a meeting, so Jojo and I stayed and watched Michael. VBS is coming up here in the local church, so much preparation has been going on for when it starts on Monday. :) Today was a really interesting day. It was the first day that I drove down to Port-au-Prince. I have to say it wasn't as bad as what I thought it would be. :) There are much worse drivers in the states. :) I will be leaving on Wednesday sometime for Mierbalais, so I don't know when I'll be able to make another post.

Happy 4th of July!!

Saturday:: We had a good 4th of July here in Haiti. On Saturday morning we decided to take a trip to the beach for some R & R and to celebrate the day! :) The water was very nice, but the view of the mountains, palm trees and Haitian boats was awesome! Hopefully maybe this evening or asap I'll post pictures. We got to the beach at just the right time, bc a few hours later the crowd started coming and that's when we decided to leave. Instead of hamburgers, hot dogs, ect. the guys were hungry for April's quesidillas, so that is what we had for our 4th of July dinner. I'll have to say that they were much better than a hamburger or hot dog would have been. :)
Sunday:: Sunday was filled with lots of activities around here. Church in the morning and then lunch. After we finished lunch, April and I went and cleaned up Maxine's burns. After lunch, April received a call from Reynold, one of the workers here, saying that there was a lady near the clinic who was ready to give birth. Upon arriving to her house, we discovered that she had a new baby boy. The local "midwife" was there for the delivery. When asked who the father was, no one knew and the girl, only 16 years old, didn't know either.
Jeemps, a good friend from Cap-Haitian arrived yesterday also. He had been visiting his family in Cap-Haitian for a few weeks. It was good seeing him again and finding out how everyone up north was doing. :) Jonathan also came yesterday afternoon. :) It has been good to have him finally here. He came at the perfect time too, because he was able to interpret when Jesse preached in the evening service. :) By the way, please pray for the church here. There is a new pastor, etc. and some people aren't taking the changes real well. Please help pray that God will once again move in the church here and help bring this community together.

Off to Market We Go

Today 4 of us girls decided to check out a local market which we had yet to visit. It was a typical outdoor Haitian market, except there seemed to me a lot more clothing and shoes for sale compared to some of the other markets I have been to in the past. A few items were bought...and of course we had to buy a few drinks, and then we decided to leave. Joel took us to the market on his way to town for supplies. Well we finished before he returned, so we were fortunate enough that Jonathan was nearby picking some people up from the airport! He was graciously willing to give us a ride back to the house on their way back to Mierbalais. :) (Thanks honey!)
We had bible study this morning with two new converts, one who is a witch doctor's daughter. Please keep them in your prayers and please pray that God will continue to speak with her family and hopfully soon they too will become Christians. :)
On our way back from Bible study April & I decided to stop and check on Maxine (the guy I mentioned yesterday who burnt himself). He is doing pretty good, but still needs prayer and time for healing.
I can't help but continually notice that the needs here and the need for extra working hands are very much needed! I cannot wait until I am finished with school and can return to Haiti to work! Please help me pray that God will continue to show His will!
Once again, sorry that there aren't any pictures...hopefully soon. Tomorrow we are planning a fun and hopefully relaxing day at the beach for the 4th of July! Hopefully it is a cooler day!
Hope Each of you have a HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!

Finally back in Haiti!!!

After about 4 1/2 hours in the air and about 12+ hours in the airport, I finally arrived in Haiti yesterday. Jonathan surprised me and came with Joel Hess (HGM missionary) to the airport to be there when I flew in. It was a pleasant surprise even though he had to return home yesterday afternoon. :)
Today was my first day helping in the clinic. It went well. I was able to do some paperwork, filing, admitting, etc. that I hadn't done before...so that was a good experience. I also helped get the patient's vitals while waiting on the doctor and dentist to arrive. :) There was a dentist here today. For some reason she has yet to have a patient come, but we are still hopefully seeing that it is very needed in this area. :)
One man nearby burnt himself quite badly on his chest, etc. on purpose not long ago. He has some problems mentally also. I was able to go and help/observe April as he let her clean up his burns.
Another cool thing I got to do was watch April try to start an IV. There were some complications because the man was so dehydrated. He has been vomiting/diarrhea sick since Sunday and hasn't been able to keep anything down, etc. Finally today one of the helpers here mentioned something about him being sick. April went and talked to him and they agreed to let her start an IV to help with his dehydration. To make a kind of long story shorter, because he was so dehydrated it was so difficult to start the IV. Finally the wife got upset that it wasn't going fast enough I guess you could say, so she called for another lady to come and put the IV in. The lady that she called is not certified, etc., but proceeded to say a bunch of things that didn't make any sense at all. So to say the least it was quite frustrating to April and myself! Sometimes situations like this come up and can be extremely frustrating to missionaries, bc you're trying your best to help someone and they don't really appreciate it. This doesn't happen all the time, but still it's just some of the small frustrations dealt with as a missionary. :)
I am having a wonderful time here and am enjoying my time here back in Haiti! It feels SO AWESOME to be back! I really can't wait for the day to return to live and help the people here! Well the internet is kinda of slow right now and someone else needs the computer, but I will try to post another update as soon as possible as long as I can if Internet, etc. premits. :)