Friday, April 24, 2009

A lot has happened since our last post! We had internet problems and nasty computer viruses. I'm still not sure if we are done with all of them. But here's a chance to give a little update.
The house is STILL not ready! But yesterday, there was good news!! We finally had the container and truck released. It was an all day process! It's been an all day process for the past couple months! But finally about 3:30 the inspector released it after we had gone around to multiple offices for yet another piece of paperwork, or a correction or just to give someone else a little more money.
Anyway, if any of you guys who helped up load the U-Haul in Charlotte remember how big that U-Haul was and how tightly you packed it, you would be amazed at the size truck these guys loaded and how tightly it was packed. Of course you guys didn't break anything. The furniture and stuff doesn't look the same now as it did when we put it on the truck in Charlotte!
Tip of the day: If you ever move to Haiti, do not bring anything with you! We could have bought the truck and household furnishings here and even upgraded a little for the money that has been paid out! Not to mention all the headaches of dealing with customs.
But I have to say, we (Tim& Debbie) really did not deal with the customs officials. The guys who volunteer for HFHC here handled this from the beginning to the end. It pretty much consumed their lives! So we are greatly indebted to Pierre Andre and Jean Baptiste for all they have put into this! I hope they get their lives back soon!
But today, Friday, April 24, we are not done yet. We got all the stuff loaded on the truck and took it to the orphanage for the night. It was too late to go to Thomazeau with it by the time we got away from the port. Ths morning we still have to try to get the assurance (insurance) and plates for the truck before we are truly free.
Tim is back in the States for a couple of weeks, so he missed the joy of all this. He went back to help Myrlene get surgery scheduled. We found out that she can't have the surgery right now due to unforeseen issues. I was going to go back yesterday, but we decided I should stay in case the container was released.
Bijou is ready to be out of this hotel! Poor puppy. She was in her crate for 8 hours straight yesterday - a record for her. She has started having little spaz attacks from time to time. I think she is just absolutely stir-crazy!
I went to the orphanage on Tuesday to visit. Sonia was gone to the clinic with a couple of the kids when I arrived. They came back shortly thereafter and we had a nice visit. Two of the kids, Cesar and Betty have Typhoid. We are blessed in so many ways to have Sonia as our house mother at the orphanage. She is also a nurse,s o the clinic sent her back with an IV set up for Cesar, for rehydration. Sonia very obviously loves these kids and takes really good care of them both physically and spiritually. This is a huge job she has! Keep her in your prayers.
APRIL 25
Today is Tim's 51st birthday. Our kids are taking him out to breakfast back in Charlotte. We got the stuff moved out to the house yesterday and I now have transportation!The house is still not ready to live in - no water, appliances not hooked up, etc. But I will probably go ahead and move out there tomorrow. Gusman is going with me this morning to move things around. Bijou should have a good day of freedom. Hopefully she'll be in a better mood after that. She bit me this morning when I tried to get her out from under the bed (yes, she can still get under there by flattening herself out and wiggling under).
I took no pictures yesterday. It seems silly to stand around and take pictures of things sometimes. But I did take some a few days ago. There's some progress on the kitchen and we got the stove last week. Exciting, huh?
Hopefully I can get to doing the work I was sent here to do very soon!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Several folks have asked about updates to this blog. Well, we don't really have anything new to say and no new photos! We're still in the hotel, waiting. We did have some activity with the container. They gave us the amount we owe for taxes. We paid that yesterday morning (April 15 -how appropriate). Now we wait for more paperwork to be sent to other offices, etc, etc. We were at the house yesterday too, trying to prod the work along! It's still not ready, but a little closer. We let Bijou off-leash at the house yesterday and the previous day we were out there. She was in puppy heaven - to be able to run around with no one pulling her back. When we were ready to leave, she ran to hide. I had to chase her down and carry her into the car. She wanted to stay so badly and not go back to the hotel room prison! Tim is still looking for work to do. As my "personal volunteer" he has made some photocopies. His hardest job was screwing in some light bulbs out at the house. Thanks to all of you who are diligently praying for us and for the house/container to be ready! We appreciate you and your prayers!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Friday morning we left for the villages to distribute food to all the kids in the program. We arrived in Brajirois around 9 AM. A big cloud had settled on the mountain and it was quite chilly! I know some of you would have enjoyed this, but I came to Haiti hoping to flee the cold! The sun did come out for a while and it warmed a little, but the cloud came back. Food Distribution at Brajirois Repairs being done to Brajirois building Food Distribution at Brajirois
School is out for Spring/Easter break. They kids finished testing for this quarter on Thursday. Most of the kids at Brajirois showed up for food. The ones who couldn't come will get their food later. It is being held for them.
We went up to Robert next. The food was distributed from Frantz Jean's home. His wife then fixed a feast for us. I think Tim was impressed with this family. Most people are!
Then we travelled on to Dubuisson and Mirebalais. The kids from Pageste crossed the river and met us at Mirebalais to receive their food. By the time we finished it was about 5 PM, but we decided to make it on to Hinche for the night.
Food Distribution at Brajirois My little buddy James at Dubuisson
Did I mention that Bijou went with us? Some of you who read this have been to the mountain might wonder how a not so little puppy did on such a trek?? She did great! Of course I made a bad wardrobe decision for the day - black skirt and black top. I looked like a dog too by the time we got to the first location. She decided that she needed to sit on me most of the way and then when we picked up another rider she had to sit on me. But she got to do something I think she has always wanted to do while riding in the car - stick her head out the window and feel the wind in her hair! She's learning not to bark at everything she sees. Now she only barks at 75% of what she sees. She was somewhat of a hit with the folks she met. For some reason they thought her name was hilarious.
Something in the room at the hotel in Hinche really freaked her out. I'm not sure what it was, but she was sure ready to leave that room!
The Maguana Hotel at Hinche Tim & Bijou at Visa Lodge
This morning we ended up going early to the market to buy the food for the Hinche kids. We had found out that the paperwork for the invertor batteries for our house was in the truck we were driving. The place closed at noon today, so we had to get back to PAP before noon to deliver the paperwork so the batteries could be installed today. We got the food and delivered it to the school. We were on the road to PAP at 9:00, but had to go back to Hinche for gas. In unbelief I called the internet installers and canceled the installation for Monday morning. It takes about 5 hours to get from Hinche to PAP. We made it into PAP at 12:00! They got the batteries before the store closed. I should have more faith!
Jeantyrard said we had some more setbacks on the house and the container. We have quit speculating as to when we will actually move in. It will be when it is.
Romans 8:25 ("For if we hope for what we don't yet have, we wait for it patiently"), has become our motto.