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!