South Africa!

I am off to South Africa this afternoon. This trip has been in the works for a while…more in the dream stage than anything. Since leaving Malawi (the first time) Isabelle, Rhona and I knew we were going to get together again. We just didn’t know when or where. They have been able to get together a few times in England and in Luxembourg and I’ve seen each of them separately when they came back to Nkhoma. During one of their weekends together in Europe they decided that the reunion would be in South Africa around March. Of course, it then took some doing with all of our schedules—Rhona’s rounds as a doctor training for a specialty, Isabelle’s work and school schedule, and my being who knows where at the time. We tried to rope a few more people into coming along but we weren’t successful. The plans (well at least all the plane tickets) came together only about a month ago. I leave Haiti on the 15th to fly to NYC to London where I’ll meet up with Rhona and fly down to Cape Town. Isabelle leaves on the 15th so she’ll beat us to SA by a day. We will spend some time in Cape Town meeting with Will (one of the eye surgeons who was in Nkhoma and is now working in England but down for a visit with his family and some friends) and Bertus (he was teaching science in Nkhoma for a couple of months my first time down). I also get the added bonus to see Ken and Colleen (the couple who helped at Ebenezer during my second tour) and Natasha (UN doctor in Nkhoma the second year). Then we will take a roadtrip to Bloemfontein to see the Veitch family…
I am super excited for the trip and hope you are all doing well this March! (my next blog probably won’t happen until April when I’ve returned)

The Raindrop

Consider the life of the raindrop.
He is born into this world cold and alone.
Falling downward toward the dark earth below,
He is uncertain about the purpose of his existence.
What did he do to deserve such a life?
He feels solitary and forgotten.
He sees the other raindrops falling around him.
But he is too concerned with his own problems, to think much about them.
He spends his entire life as a raindrop trying to slow his descent or at least make it more comfortable.
But there is something the raindrop doesn't know.
Below him is The Ocean.
And what happens to the raindrop when he finally reaches The Ocean?
Well, he stops being a raindrop,
And he becomes The Ocean itself.
It is at this moment that the raindrop realizes he was never just a raindrop.
He is and has always been something much greater and much more wonderful.
Matt, the volunteer coordinator here at HOM, uses this for a devotion with the teams. (not every week but often enough) It made me think the first couple of times I heard it…how we often feel alone but really we are surrounded by so many who love us and want to help or be let in. And there are times in our lives when we remember that and we don’t feel small and alone but a part of God’s bigger picture. That is what we have to keep in mind—that there is a bigger picture and we have a part to play in it.
Then I continued to think about water/rain…the water cycle when it all happens again. The drop gets evaporated into the sky-away from the ocean and forms a cloud and then falls again…and I figured he thinks the same thing again—how it is alone and falling…People are the same way. It is so easy to forget even after we see that we are a part of the bigger plan…Something ‘bad’ happens and we feel alone again…But there is always that bigger picture if we can remember it…Of course, it helps to have people who can remind us of that as well.

church painting

The rest of the painted instructions/reminders in the church
TO SERVE OUR NEIGHBOR
TO MAKE DISCIPLES
TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD

La Reserve

Thanks to a long time friend of HOM, Bill, who has been here for the last month (He’s been coming down for many years.), I have found an escape. Bill came down to get the second school building at our Repatriate compound started so that it will be ready by the beginning of the next school year. He took some of us to the restaurant/hotel/escape called La Reserve. It is in Petionville which is a richer part of Port au Prince as you head up the surrounding mountains. Driving up on the main road, you turn off and into their walled premises and it is like you’ve just been transported into a tropical forest, trees all around, vines hanging down and the temperature is cooler as soon as you get out of your car. Climb some stairs to the patio where there are many different seating areas (with cushions!*). Chilled background music and no rush. Bill knows the head waiter (I think that is who it was). We sat down and ordered our drinks and chatted for a while. Then we moved to our table and got some pretty good food. It was so nice to be out and in a different place. I just wish it were a bit closer to where I’m staying because I’m not sure I’ll be getting there very easily once Bill leaves…(sorry no pics of la reserve) This is me, Katie and Patty at the beach)

School inspiration

Similar to the church, around the school courtyard there are also inspirational sayings about education. These had faded over the years (they are outside) and the school has recently been painted so we have been the sayings back up. The ledge to sit on is wide enough that as long as you remember where you are you have plenty of room to maneuver. Getting there can be a challenge (remember not to go over where there is wet paint!) As the school kids walk by they love to touch you (straight lines can be a challenge) and get your attention reaching over the wall. One girl just stood there staring at me and it took me a while to see her—and was startled when I did. It’s satisfying to see what you’ve done (as opposed to teaching where the signs are less visible—though it is so fun to hear the teachers speaking to each other especially when they know that I’m around)
If money makes man happy, education makes him lord.

Work & play

A group from Jasper, Indiana, was down a couple of weeks ago. They are a very strong force in the ‘orphanage’ that Nadege runs called House of Hope. There are 11 girls there aged 3-13. They all come to the school here except for the oldest one who is in 7th grade and so goes to another school. Most of the girls have 1 parent living but who cannot support them. There is a house mother, cook, guard and cleaner employed there to take care of the girls. The Jasper team was here to work on getting the second floor in order so that more children can be helped. They spent the week sanding and painting the second floor. I went and helped by taking all the light and plug plates off the wall so that the painting could go faster…and sanding the walls so they would be ready for paint.After church on Sunday, they took the girls to the beach (and us staff). We went to Wahoo Beach (I’d never been before). It was beautiful. Kind of busy but not overly. Many of the girls had never been to the beach before, but they all seemed to love it. They started shivering as soon as they entered the water but they didn’t want to get out at all. They people jumped in between all of us and sometimes wanted to go to complete strangers. We thought that was strange until we realized that is what they get used to being in an HOM school and an orphanage where many blancs go to visit only once. It was a great day and all of the girls fell asleep on the ride home.

Church inspiration

We come together to strengthen ourselves and we leave to serve.In the church there are instructions painted in large block letters around the walls (alternating blue and red—colors of the flag). A reminder of what we are called to do. OUR MISSION : IT IS TO LOVE GOD