Hello everyone!
Tonight is our last night in Haiti. We are excited to be heading back home (cold weather and all) but we are sad to say goodbye. We have met so many great people and fell in love with these kids! We have been so blessed to have had the opportunity to live in Haiti for a month and volunteer our time to love all the kids at GLA.
This morning we got a tour of the toddler school house and their rooms. We also got to hand out candy canes that Nicole got from Santa to all the toddlers. They were all so excited! They sang us a few songs in Creole and the sang us a goodbye song. It was so cute! When we were finished handing out the candy canes, we headed back to the main house to begin our last day with our kids. Every wednesday we took care of all the kids in the nurseries while the nannies attended a Bible study. We have all enjoyed the opportunity to play with all the kids... even when they were screaming because we couldn't pick them all up.
Today when we were in the nursery we were given some bad news by Holly, one of the staff members. A little one month old girl that came in last week had not been doing so good. She was severely malnourished and dehydrated. She had been stable, but in the past few days her health was heading down hill. This morning she had stopped breathing but nurse was able to get her breathing again. At lunch time she had been doing a bit better, but one of the volunteers that had been helping with her said it would take a miracle for her to live. She passed away this afternoon. It was sad to be here when a child died, but we are glad she does not have to suffer anymore. Please pray for the health of all the other children here!
We look forward to seeing you all soon!
Love team Haiti
The Team
Can't Be Tamed
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Saturday, 21 January 2012
The Adventures of "le Kaack"
"We're having cake tonight!" - unknown
"How would you say cake in French? Le kaack..." - Nicole
On Monday night last week, while three of us were doing dishes, a Haitian woman working in the kitchen was helping us to find where to put the dishes. She would point to the cupboard where something was supposed to go and we would try to figure it out. Once we finally understood where she was pointing for each thing and put them away she would say "Bravo! Bravo!". By the time we were finished drying all of the dishes and putting them away, she was killing herself laughing at us!
Last night we had some fun experimenting with the karaoke machine in our living room here. The evening started out with Nicole singing on her own. Eventually Katie, Janaya and Lindsay took their turns too with the other girls joining in when whoever had a microphone didn't know the part. We all slowly stopped singing along and started doing other things like going on the computer or playing dutch blitz. Lindsay ended up being the only one still singing! (for about 25 minutes...)
Today we had another opportunity to go to the Baptist Mission for a few hours. We ate lunch there at a cute little restaurant, looked around in the gift shop, and bartered with the vendors lining the street. Emma is such an amazing barter-er that she has decided to become a professional barter-er! Some other volunteers here have a much more difficult time bringing the prices that the vendors give down. Around noon the place started filling up with white people. It was really really strange to see so many Caucasian people in one place. The airports in the US are sure going to be weird.
When we were finished at the Mission, we went to the grocery store. We picked up a bunch of junk food and then the truck we came in stalled. Some friendly people, including the "hot" armed security guard, helped us to get it started again.
Emma is very proud of one of her little boys who can say her name and kisses her on the cheek whenever she leaves him in the nursery.
A few of us went for a walk on Thursday, and sat on a short wall (the beginnings of a building perimeter). While we were sitting and looking at the scenery, a phone rang a ways up the hill. As soon as we heard it, the girl who Ashalee was sitting with cupped her hand over her ear and said "Allo?". It was SO cute!
Sarah has had the privilege of watching one her little angels learn to crawl!
I guess that's all from us for now. Thank you so much for all of your love and prayer. We greatly appreciate that you read these stories and think of us! May God bless and keep you. See many of you very soon!!
"How would you say cake in French? Le kaack..." - Nicole
On Monday night last week, while three of us were doing dishes, a Haitian woman working in the kitchen was helping us to find where to put the dishes. She would point to the cupboard where something was supposed to go and we would try to figure it out. Once we finally understood where she was pointing for each thing and put them away she would say "Bravo! Bravo!". By the time we were finished drying all of the dishes and putting them away, she was killing herself laughing at us!
Last night we had some fun experimenting with the karaoke machine in our living room here. The evening started out with Nicole singing on her own. Eventually Katie, Janaya and Lindsay took their turns too with the other girls joining in when whoever had a microphone didn't know the part. We all slowly stopped singing along and started doing other things like going on the computer or playing dutch blitz. Lindsay ended up being the only one still singing! (for about 25 minutes...)
Today we had another opportunity to go to the Baptist Mission for a few hours. We ate lunch there at a cute little restaurant, looked around in the gift shop, and bartered with the vendors lining the street. Emma is such an amazing barter-er that she has decided to become a professional barter-er! Some other volunteers here have a much more difficult time bringing the prices that the vendors give down. Around noon the place started filling up with white people. It was really really strange to see so many Caucasian people in one place. The airports in the US are sure going to be weird.
When we were finished at the Mission, we went to the grocery store. We picked up a bunch of junk food and then the truck we came in stalled. Some friendly people, including the "hot" armed security guard, helped us to get it started again.
Emma is very proud of one of her little boys who can say her name and kisses her on the cheek whenever she leaves him in the nursery.
A few of us went for a walk on Thursday, and sat on a short wall (the beginnings of a building perimeter). While we were sitting and looking at the scenery, a phone rang a ways up the hill. As soon as we heard it, the girl who Ashalee was sitting with cupped her hand over her ear and said "Allo?". It was SO cute!
Sarah has had the privilege of watching one her little angels learn to crawl!
I guess that's all from us for now. Thank you so much for all of your love and prayer. We greatly appreciate that you read these stories and think of us! May God bless and keep you. See many of you very soon!!
Saturday, 14 January 2012
The Adventure of the Funny Shaped Tree
"Do you see that tree over there? By the dirt pile on the mountain?" Nicole
"...Which one?" Ashalee
"The one that is a stick with two branches, then a stick, then some more branches..." Nicole
Good morning everyone! It has now been just over 2 weeks here in Haiti. The time is going by so quickly I can't believe it. The past few days have been extremely HOT! Our faces are a little rosy, but it has been nice, we have had the kids pool out. The children really love it! They splashed water everywhere including on us, it was refreshing.
I guess we haven't blogged in awhile so we have a lot to talk about!
The first week we were here we were driven to the Main House because we didn't know how to get there from the Toddler House. Last week we started walking down. It has been quite an adventure because of the very interesting roads. The roads here are very, well lets say different, then the ones back home. They are very narrow with some very steep parts. There are also no street signs, no painted lines, and lots of weird intersections. They also are filled with pot holes. Actually, more like a ditch in the middle of the road. They also have speed bumps. Which seems kind of foolish because people here don't actually slow down. They usually speed up. Some time last week when we were walking down to the Main House Nicole was distracted by the lovely goat that lives next door, and well, tripped over the speed bump. Who knew speed bumps weren't just for cars? Nicole however was not the only one who fell. Janaya took a tumble and scrapped up her leg pretty bad. The Haitians were very worried about her. Ashalee also slipped on the hill, and thought she was going to get hit by a car! But she didn't, which we are very thankful for! Lets just say we really enjoy our walks in the morning.
Something that is quite common to see here are people walking their cows and goats down the street. On a leash non-the-less.
Last week during a very nice dinner we were all suddenly interrupted by a loud noise. It turns out that a rat started crawling up a wall. One of then older Haitian ladies took charge and started beating it with a broom. Hard. To say the least, it was very entertaining to watch! And the rat... well he didn't make it.
So we have mentioned that there are a lot of new volunteers here. Three of which we have become very good friends with and that we will miss a lot when we have to go home. There are also five new volunteers from Canada, two of which are from Alberta. We are having a great time getting to know them all.
The last few trips back to our house we have gotten the privilege to ride in what we call, 'the cattle truck'. Which in reality is a white truck with benches in the back. Oh and its all fenced in. We really enjoy riding in it! Despite the fact that when we are loading and unloading, we feel like a herd of cattle.
On Thursday we got the opportunity to go up to Fort Jacques which is a twenty five minute drive farther up the mountain. It is also the site where they are building a new Toddler House for the older kids. They are however having a difficult time due to the lack of water. They were expecting to find water on the land so that they would be able to have their own well. But unfortunately there was no water to be found. (If you guys have the time, you should pray for them to be able to find water.)
The older kids had a great time running around and playing with the dogs there. We also enjoyed the break from the Main House and playing with the kids.
Emma, Ashalee and Nicole were sitting up on a ledge overlooking a city... who would have guessed it was Port-Au-Prince! You see, driving up to the Main House took around two hours. It was a very long drive, and it felt like we were extremely far from the city. In reality, we were not far at all. We could see the airport from where we were sitting.
When we got back from Fort Jacques we were asked to sit in the nurseries while the Nannies attended a special service for the earthquake victims. While we were in there Nicole was holding her one little girl, when her one little boy started to have a fit... so now she had both of them on her lap. Then, her other little girl starting having a fit in her crib. To make all of them happy Nicole had to sit in a chair with her one little girl asleep in her arms, her little boy sitting on her knee, and holding the hand of her other little girl in her crib. She sure looked cute!
Also during that time, one of the girls that Ashalee was playing with needed to be changed. 20 minutes later, she needed to be changed, again. Then right before the Nannies returned, Ashalee felt something dripping down her leg. It turned out that the little girl had to pee yet again. This time on Ashalee.
So, as you may have guessed already, January 12 was the two year anniversary of the 2010 earthquake. In memory of the earthquake we had a service up on the balcony with the GLA staff. It was a very touching experience for all of us, and it was a good reminder of why we should be here. We got to watch a slideshow that one of the GLA staff had made. The slideshow was incredible. It showed pictures of the earthquake and some of the rebuilding that has been done since then. We recommend that you watch it!
http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/2012/01/exactly-2-years-ago-this-minute/
On a happier note, we see lots of lizards. They are small and fast and can jump really far. There was even an albino one on the wall outside of our living room. They are pretty neat to watch. Maybe we will catch one...
It has been a pretty long week but there were for sure some great times during it! Nicole has been teaching one little girl to walk, which she can now do with only holding one finger. And her other little girl is starting to crawl! It is amazing to see how these kids are growing and improving with us here.
Ashalee and Rosie were sick Thursday and Friday, but are now feeling a lot better! There is only one girl left who has not been sick since she has been here. Please pray that she stays healthy, she is kinda paranoid that she will get sick.
Thank you for your prayers! Our team is doing excellent!
Love, Team Haiti.
See you in 12 days!"
"...Which one?" Ashalee
"The one that is a stick with two branches, then a stick, then some more branches..." Nicole
Good morning everyone! It has now been just over 2 weeks here in Haiti. The time is going by so quickly I can't believe it. The past few days have been extremely HOT! Our faces are a little rosy, but it has been nice, we have had the kids pool out. The children really love it! They splashed water everywhere including on us, it was refreshing.
I guess we haven't blogged in awhile so we have a lot to talk about!
The first week we were here we were driven to the Main House because we didn't know how to get there from the Toddler House. Last week we started walking down. It has been quite an adventure because of the very interesting roads. The roads here are very, well lets say different, then the ones back home. They are very narrow with some very steep parts. There are also no street signs, no painted lines, and lots of weird intersections. They also are filled with pot holes. Actually, more like a ditch in the middle of the road. They also have speed bumps. Which seems kind of foolish because people here don't actually slow down. They usually speed up. Some time last week when we were walking down to the Main House Nicole was distracted by the lovely goat that lives next door, and well, tripped over the speed bump. Who knew speed bumps weren't just for cars? Nicole however was not the only one who fell. Janaya took a tumble and scrapped up her leg pretty bad. The Haitians were very worried about her. Ashalee also slipped on the hill, and thought she was going to get hit by a car! But she didn't, which we are very thankful for! Lets just say we really enjoy our walks in the morning.
Something that is quite common to see here are people walking their cows and goats down the street. On a leash non-the-less.
Last week during a very nice dinner we were all suddenly interrupted by a loud noise. It turns out that a rat started crawling up a wall. One of then older Haitian ladies took charge and started beating it with a broom. Hard. To say the least, it was very entertaining to watch! And the rat... well he didn't make it.
So we have mentioned that there are a lot of new volunteers here. Three of which we have become very good friends with and that we will miss a lot when we have to go home. There are also five new volunteers from Canada, two of which are from Alberta. We are having a great time getting to know them all.
The last few trips back to our house we have gotten the privilege to ride in what we call, 'the cattle truck'. Which in reality is a white truck with benches in the back. Oh and its all fenced in. We really enjoy riding in it! Despite the fact that when we are loading and unloading, we feel like a herd of cattle.
On Thursday we got the opportunity to go up to Fort Jacques which is a twenty five minute drive farther up the mountain. It is also the site where they are building a new Toddler House for the older kids. They are however having a difficult time due to the lack of water. They were expecting to find water on the land so that they would be able to have their own well. But unfortunately there was no water to be found. (If you guys have the time, you should pray for them to be able to find water.)
The older kids had a great time running around and playing with the dogs there. We also enjoyed the break from the Main House and playing with the kids.
Emma, Ashalee and Nicole were sitting up on a ledge overlooking a city... who would have guessed it was Port-Au-Prince! You see, driving up to the Main House took around two hours. It was a very long drive, and it felt like we were extremely far from the city. In reality, we were not far at all. We could see the airport from where we were sitting.
When we got back from Fort Jacques we were asked to sit in the nurseries while the Nannies attended a special service for the earthquake victims. While we were in there Nicole was holding her one little girl, when her one little boy started to have a fit... so now she had both of them on her lap. Then, her other little girl starting having a fit in her crib. To make all of them happy Nicole had to sit in a chair with her one little girl asleep in her arms, her little boy sitting on her knee, and holding the hand of her other little girl in her crib. She sure looked cute!
Also during that time, one of the girls that Ashalee was playing with needed to be changed. 20 minutes later, she needed to be changed, again. Then right before the Nannies returned, Ashalee felt something dripping down her leg. It turned out that the little girl had to pee yet again. This time on Ashalee.
So, as you may have guessed already, January 12 was the two year anniversary of the 2010 earthquake. In memory of the earthquake we had a service up on the balcony with the GLA staff. It was a very touching experience for all of us, and it was a good reminder of why we should be here. We got to watch a slideshow that one of the GLA staff had made. The slideshow was incredible. It showed pictures of the earthquake and some of the rebuilding that has been done since then. We recommend that you watch it!
http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/2012/01/exactly-2-years-ago-this-minute/
On a happier note, we see lots of lizards. They are small and fast and can jump really far. There was even an albino one on the wall outside of our living room. They are pretty neat to watch. Maybe we will catch one...
It has been a pretty long week but there were for sure some great times during it! Nicole has been teaching one little girl to walk, which she can now do with only holding one finger. And her other little girl is starting to crawl! It is amazing to see how these kids are growing and improving with us here.
Ashalee and Rosie were sick Thursday and Friday, but are now feeling a lot better! There is only one girl left who has not been sick since she has been here. Please pray that she stays healthy, she is kinda paranoid that she will get sick.
Thank you for your prayers! Our team is doing excellent!
Love, Team Haiti.
See you in 12 days!"
Sunday, 8 January 2012
The Adventures of the Optical Illusion.
"So either, the painting is crooked, the wall is crooked or the couch is crooked."- Nicole.
This is Emma. I finally got to play with the older kids! Yay! Seriously the best day ever! I went out and sat on the playground and started making bracelets. Before I knew it I had pretty much all the kids surrounding me watching what I was doing. There were two 12/13-ish girls and I started to show them how to make them! It was like camp! It was so great! One of the girls made me one! =) After, I played basketball with some of the kids. I was so happy to be with the older kids! Anyways, back to our team...
We experienced our first church service in Haiti this morning! It was in English so we were able to understand what was going on. Church was held on the balcony that we play with the kids on... it was HOT! We started with some really great worship led by some of the GLA staff. There were a few familiar songs, but we were introduced to some new ones. After church we had lunch at the main house and then headed back to the Toddler House where we are staying and hung out with the other volunteers.
Please pray for health for our team and the other volunteers... lots of people seem to be getting a two day flu.
This is Emma. I finally got to play with the older kids! Yay! Seriously the best day ever! I went out and sat on the playground and started making bracelets. Before I knew it I had pretty much all the kids surrounding me watching what I was doing. There were two 12/13-ish girls and I started to show them how to make them! It was like camp! It was so great! One of the girls made me one! =) After, I played basketball with some of the kids. I was so happy to be with the older kids! Anyways, back to our team...
We experienced our first church service in Haiti this morning! It was in English so we were able to understand what was going on. Church was held on the balcony that we play with the kids on... it was HOT! We started with some really great worship led by some of the GLA staff. There were a few familiar songs, but we were introduced to some new ones. After church we had lunch at the main house and then headed back to the Toddler House where we are staying and hung out with the other volunteers.
Please pray for health for our team and the other volunteers... lots of people seem to be getting a two day flu.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
We got scared...
A short story from our day,
We had just finished supper and were sitting at GLA for an hour waiting for our ride to show up and take us home When she finally arrived we went to sit in the vehicle where she then remembered she needed to run back in. Nicole, Ashalee and Emma, and the other three volunteers, Katie, Lindsey, and Rosey all started up on the topic of horror movies. We mentioned that we were all scared of the dark and were all getting a little freaked out. Even an innocent person passing by made us jump a little. Anyways, then our driver came back and decided to tell us about how foreigners would get kidnapped because the old President would feed kidnappers money and yeah... Then we got really scared! She did exagerate a little to freak us out. But it was funny! Then as we got back to our house two of the girls ran inside and Lindsey and Nicole very quickly ran the garbage out. For some reason they don't wanna watch a scary movie! Hmmm...
Oh, Nicole and Lindsey just killed two cockroaches! BAM!
We had just finished supper and were sitting at GLA for an hour waiting for our ride to show up and take us home When she finally arrived we went to sit in the vehicle where she then remembered she needed to run back in. Nicole, Ashalee and Emma, and the other three volunteers, Katie, Lindsey, and Rosey all started up on the topic of horror movies. We mentioned that we were all scared of the dark and were all getting a little freaked out. Even an innocent person passing by made us jump a little. Anyways, then our driver came back and decided to tell us about how foreigners would get kidnapped because the old President would feed kidnappers money and yeah... Then we got really scared! She did exagerate a little to freak us out. But it was funny! Then as we got back to our house two of the girls ran inside and Lindsey and Nicole very quickly ran the garbage out. For some reason they don't wanna watch a scary movie! Hmmm...
Oh, Nicole and Lindsey just killed two cockroaches! BAM!
The Adventures of Our Annoying Neighbour Goat
"I'm seriously going to throw a rock at it!" - Emma
But seriously, we wake up every morning (some of us earlier than others) to the sounds of the animals who live nearby. First of all there is a rooster. We think his vocal chords have been damaged in cock fights because his crow ("Cock-a-doodle-doo-ing" - Nicole) starts in a hiss and is very raspy! Second is our 'friend' goat. Last night it was screaming!! We don't know what's wrong with it. Emma thought that it was giving birth. Nicole thought that it was being attacked by a dog. (It's shrieks were interspersed with barking...but the dogs could have been just as annoyed as we were.)
Oh by the way, we've named our light-inhabiting lizard friend Pascale.
Yesterday Nicole and Emma stayed at Kay B (house B) all day because they were sick. They ended up sleeping a lot and watching the first season of Friends. The rest of us had a lot of fun at the main house playing with babies and cleaning all of the toys.
A lot of the kids are sick right now including two of the ones who Ashalee is responsible for. Normally we have eight hours to distribute between four kids but yesterday Ashalee had the same amount of time but only two babies. She got a little bored.
One of the little girls that Ashalee plays with is good at finding her own toys to play with. This little girl usually just points to a toy she wants to play with and Ashalee will get it for her. Yesterday Ashalee was sitting on the floor and the little girl pointed to a doll laying face down on the ground behind her. Ashalee picked it up and showed her and the little girl started screaming and backing up! (The doll is actually quite scary!!)
Nicole and Emma are both feeling a lot better today thankfully! We got taken down to the market this afternoon to do a bit of shopping. When we got out of the vehicle one of the staff at GLA, Joyce, told us to be careful crossing the street. It is not like Canada, the people driving will not stop... and if they hit you they will just keep going. Thankfully none of us were injured. The Haitian men at the stands were helpful in telling us when it was safe to cross the street... mostly because they wanted us to buy their stuff.
A lot of the staff here are from the US and we get a good laugh when they come down in the morning wearing jeans, sweaters with hoods up, socks and flip flops and mini mitts. Our whole team is usually wearing shorts, t-shirts and sunscreen. I guess we are a little more used to COLD.
Our weekends are pretty relaxed. On Saturday we will either be taken to the market by GLA staff, go for walks down to the waterfall with some of the locals or just hang out at the Toddler House (Kay B). On Sunday we go to church and then have the rest of the day to just relax.
Thank you for praying for our team. Please keep all the kids in your prayers also!
But seriously, we wake up every morning (some of us earlier than others) to the sounds of the animals who live nearby. First of all there is a rooster. We think his vocal chords have been damaged in cock fights because his crow ("Cock-a-doodle-doo-ing" - Nicole) starts in a hiss and is very raspy! Second is our 'friend' goat. Last night it was screaming!! We don't know what's wrong with it. Emma thought that it was giving birth. Nicole thought that it was being attacked by a dog. (It's shrieks were interspersed with barking...but the dogs could have been just as annoyed as we were.)
Oh by the way, we've named our light-inhabiting lizard friend Pascale.
Yesterday Nicole and Emma stayed at Kay B (house B) all day because they were sick. They ended up sleeping a lot and watching the first season of Friends. The rest of us had a lot of fun at the main house playing with babies and cleaning all of the toys.
A lot of the kids are sick right now including two of the ones who Ashalee is responsible for. Normally we have eight hours to distribute between four kids but yesterday Ashalee had the same amount of time but only two babies. She got a little bored.
One of the little girls that Ashalee plays with is good at finding her own toys to play with. This little girl usually just points to a toy she wants to play with and Ashalee will get it for her. Yesterday Ashalee was sitting on the floor and the little girl pointed to a doll laying face down on the ground behind her. Ashalee picked it up and showed her and the little girl started screaming and backing up! (The doll is actually quite scary!!)
Nicole and Emma are both feeling a lot better today thankfully! We got taken down to the market this afternoon to do a bit of shopping. When we got out of the vehicle one of the staff at GLA, Joyce, told us to be careful crossing the street. It is not like Canada, the people driving will not stop... and if they hit you they will just keep going. Thankfully none of us were injured. The Haitian men at the stands were helpful in telling us when it was safe to cross the street... mostly because they wanted us to buy their stuff.
A lot of the staff here are from the US and we get a good laugh when they come down in the morning wearing jeans, sweaters with hoods up, socks and flip flops and mini mitts. Our whole team is usually wearing shorts, t-shirts and sunscreen. I guess we are a little more used to COLD.
Our weekends are pretty relaxed. On Saturday we will either be taken to the market by GLA staff, go for walks down to the waterfall with some of the locals or just hang out at the Toddler House (Kay B). On Sunday we go to church and then have the rest of the day to just relax.
Thank you for praying for our team. Please keep all the kids in your prayers also!
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