hmm...

so, i can't write too long but wanted to type out some ponderings... i find it so interesting how in american christian culture we kind of paint this glorious picture of foreign missions, how it must be so exciting, etc. and it definitely is that, but i'm also beginning to see that there is some discouragement and hard times as well. that being said, i feel that after being here for a couple weeks now, i'm in this wierd place with the older kids. when i was just here for a week in november, i was considered a 'friend'. and coming back it was the same, the older kids would help me with my creole, always fighting over who got to sit next to me, etc. yesterday was the first time since coming here that i've had to act in an authoritative manner and it was hard. now i find i'm caught in this wierd place of not really being the friend anymore but also not being a true authoritative figure here... for those of you who know me well, you know that i hate the thought of someone not 'liking' me and i'm there, but i also know that there must be respect as well. i asked doris if she wanted me to take that role and she said she definitely did... so i'm not sure where to go from here and just a little disheartened. i love that preteen/teen age group and i love being their friend and want to be a mentor to them as well. so, i guess i'm just going to be praying that the Lord works it out... thanks for your prayers and encouragement. love, jill

***just an addition though, please don't think that i'm not still glad to be here, i truly am and God is still at work! it's just 'one of those days'! :)

hi! it's been a few days since i've last posted and a few 'busy' days at that! the one that i'll share that stands out most heavily in my mind happened last friday (i think it was friday...it's easy to lose track of the days!). i was over at the guest house (where i'm staying) and doris called me on the cell phone she loaned me. she said there'd been a little accident at the new school site and asked if i could come up and help her. i hurried up to the house and saw 15 year old 'peter' sitting on the porch with a bag of ice held to his head and blood running all down his face, etc. so, i went in and doris was preparing a suture kit so we could stitch his head up. they are currently in the process of building a school across the street and the older kids help out with carrying lumber, cement blocks etc. well, we were originally told that a steel bar had fallen and hit him in the head. so, when we got out to the porch and looked closer at the wound, it looked deeper than doris had originally thought, so we decided to run him up to the hospital in town. and let me just preface by saying, get rid of your preconceived american idea of what a hospital is like, b/c it's not exactly the same here in haiti! thank you God that there is one though, b/c it ended up being a miracle that we got him there in time. so, doris, peter & i climbed in the toyota with 2 other girls coming along. i was sitting in the back seat with peter holding pressure on the wound to help stop the bleeding. when we arrived at the hospital, doris jumped out and headed in to see where we should take him. peter and i got out and started walking toward the door. i had noticed at the house that he was really quiet, almost seemed to be in a daze and he had been walking very slowly and shuffling his feet. as we walked toward the door, i had a hold of his arm with one hand and was still holding pressure to his head with the other. looking down at his hand i noticed it was curled tightly as if holding a softball and i instantly thought 'seizure!'. sure enough, within seconds of that thought, he started seizing. i yelled for doris and tried to keep him from falling. a man ran out and helped me lift him onto a nearby bed. after the seizure stopped he would seize 2 more times within the next hour or so. the next couple hours flew by in a blur, he was confused and seemingly 'out of his mind'. he was screaming and fighting everything, screaming 'help', trying to get up off the table. eventually, along with others holding him down, i was stretched out across him, trying to use my body weight to help hold him. they were trying to start IV's in his arms, trying to look at and clean the head wound, etc. i was doused in sweat (mine and his) and his blood. the next day i commented to doris that muscles ached that i didn't even know existed! anyway, after 2 large doses of a sedative, he quieted down and slept while we got x-rays and got fluids running through an IV (finally!). the x-rays showed that he had actually fractured his skull. later we found out that it wasn't a steel rod, but a cement block that had been tossed from the roof and hit him in the head. doris and i were pondering the day later and couldn't say anything but THANK YOU JESUS for protecting peter. when i think how easily he could've died from having a cement block fall on his head... unbelieveable. then with the seizures, etc. i have to admit to being terrified. the whole time he was thrashing about on the bed, i just kept praying over and over, 'Jesus, protect his brain'. the doctor wanted to keep him overnight at the hospital to make sure he didn't have any more seizures and by the time we left him, he seemed to be more like his normal self. he's on an antibiotic, ibuprofen and iron and the doctor said he should stay home from school for a week to keep him safe. he still makes us a little nervous with the fear that he could bump his head, etc. and start the process over again, but we are praying for his protection. and as of yet, he seems like he is back to his normal self. we are so unbelieveably grateful to the Lord for protecting him and to the Holy Spirit for prompting us to take him into the hospital instead of trying to stitch his head ourselves. it was an unbelieveable day. i wish i could write the details more eloquently to paint a more accurate picture, but this will have to do for now! i know i'm a very 'wordy' girl! probably could've summed up the scenario in many fewer words, but oh well! :)

anyway, things are hopping here... so many of the kids are coming down with fevers, ear infections, diarrhea, etc. i'm running around passing out antibiotics, cough medicine, etc. a lot of the day, but i have to admit i love it! abraham is doing great, finally starting to sleep more during the night... he had his days & nights mixed up when i got here, sleeping most of the day and awake & fussy throughout the night. it's so nice to get a few consecutive hours of sleep now! if nothing else, it gives me a whole new level of compassion for new moms!!

alright, i suppose this is long enough! i should sign off for now! thank you to everyone who has been leaving me notes and comments! your encouragement and prayers mean so much to me!
love, jill

**and in case i don't get to write in the next couple days, HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY, AMY (on the 30th of april!)!!

this is abraham!

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this is me with some of the little kids. dahanna is sitting on my lap!

trip to port-au-prince

hello! so, today we left E.G.O. @ 6 a.m. to make the long journey into port-au-prince to drop elizabeth off. she was flying back home today. we left early so we could get groceries, etc. before dropping her off at the airport. it didn't exactly happen as we'd planned, so we were so thankful that we'd left as early as we did! shortly into the trip we ended up with a flat tire and since the spare was also flat we stopped a couple times to refill it with the air compressor, then we eventually stopped at a station and had the tires fixed. then we finally got into p.-au-p. and got rear-ended! on a sidenote...the traffic is unbelievably chaotic here! people seeming to drive wherever they please, swerving to miss potholes, people lining the streets selling their 'wares' and everyone else walking in the road...anyway, it's crazy! so, we got rear-ended without any damage to the vehicle (thanks God!). finally got to the city, got everything done and are spending the night at a beautiful place in the middle of the city! it's called FOHO (friends of haiti organization)... it has a beautiful 'island-villa' feel! stucco walls, open air galleria (where i'm currently sitting as i type!), gekkos (sp?) on the walls, warm tropical air and all the sounds of a city at night...people talking, horns honking, music playing, the hum of traffic nearby... sometimes i still can't believe i'm back in haiti!

oh yeah, and the orphanage got a new baby boy today... i don't know his name, only that his father (and some other people) brought him to e.g.o. yesterday and said that the mother died. we told them we needed a birth certificate for him and a death certificate for mom, as well as testing done on the babe (for AIDS, etc). they live further up in the mountains so they thought it would be a few days before they could get it all done, but apparently not b/c they brought the little guy back today already. on a sidenote for any medically interested people, he has polydactaly (an extra digit on each hand & foot, hanging by just a small piece of skin), so i will get the opportunity to tie off the extra digits! (sorry if that grosses anyone out!) i've seen it done by the docs in the NICU, but obviously have never done it myself. doris has done it many times though and will help me!

alrighty, it's been a long day & tomorrow's trip home to e.g.o. promises to be as well, so i'm heading to bed! 'good night' in haitian creole is 'bon nuit' (pronounced like 'bone-wheat'!) so i'll leave with that!

BON NUIT!

bonjour! didn't write yesterday as it wasn't sunny enough for the satellite (i don't understand everything here, but they do a lot with solar energy, so i'm assuming that was the issue!) abraham's fever broke yesterday afternoon while we were napping, so thanks God! he's so precious! all of the kids are... i don't know how'd i'd ever be able to choose one to adopt. i love them all and couldn't pick one over another. i guess it's a good thing that's not even an option at this point! but that's me, analyzing things that don't even exist! :)

this morning, doris and i went over to open up the clinic. we didn't open it up to the public, just went in to clean and organize things since the nurse has been out for quite a while. it was good to be able to familiarize myself with the surroundings, seeing what meds they have on hand, etc. now i just need to go study up on which antibiotics to give for what ailment, etc. doris also said that i may have to stitch up a cut or two while i'm here... that'll be interesting, to say the least!

i have no idea how i'll feel the longer i'm here, but it's interesting to me that somehow it feels strangely like 'home'. EGO is most definitely an 'oasis' here in haiti. apparently people consistently comment on that. it's peaceful and quiet and green... well, relatively peaceful, considering it's filled with bubbly children and crowing roosters, etc!

tomorrow i don't plan to post an update as i'll be riding back into port-au-prince with elizabeth, she's flying out. we'll go to a grocery store while we're there, so that'll be an experience i'm sure. and the ride in and of itself is always an experience as well! it's long, dusty & extremely bumpy! amazing how we complain about potholes in the streets in the U.S.! here they are more like 'craters'!

i'll update soon, and seriously, one of these days i'll actually bring my camera up to the main house and attempt to upload some pics!
love, jill

bonjour! so, i can't write much today as they are waiting for me to finish so we can run to the market. the word "market" has a completely different connotation in haiti than in america! don (dad here at E.G.O.) likes to tease the American's when they come here and ask them to pick him up some "sausage" from the market. it's basically pig intestine filled with who knows what and covered in flies and again, who knows what!! not very appealing to my american tastes, to say the least! the market is just a bunch of tents, etc. set up along side the road with haitians selling their "wares"... some fruit, hats, brooms, rope, old shoes, etc. it's a chaotic, loud, dusty place and not my favorite, but elizabeth (the other american who flew in with me!) wanted to see it, so off we go! i'll try to write more soon! again, thanks for reading and continuing to pray. oh, and on that note, please pray for little abraham as God brings him to your mind. he has had a fever since yesterday afternoon and is miserable...

hi all!! well, i got into haiti yesterday, got to the orphanage in the evening... my eyes teared up when i got out of the van... it's so good to be back! it's been great seeing the kids again! many of them remembered me which totally warmed my heart! they call me "Jo". little Dahanna (one of the girls i've sponsored since infancy) got a huge smile on her face, climbed into my lap & began touching my face, which is exactly what she would do when i was here last november! i love it!

late last night i have to admit feeling very overwhelmed with everything & at the prospect of being here for 3 whole months... it's just so out of my comfort zone in so many ways. God is awesome though and the Bible verse at the bottom of my journal page was from Hebrews and said "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. That is why we can say with absolute confidence, The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid."!!!

this morning, i woke up to the "haitian symphony"! a.k.a. birds chirping, pigs grunting, roosters crowing, hens clucking, goats bleating, people talking, kids yelling, trucks rumbling down the road! music to my ears! of course, that was after removing my earplugs... i learned last time that they are a necessity! amazingly enough, the 'symphony' never sleeps!

alrighty, i'll try to upload some pics next time! little abraham is asleep on my lap as i type... he is such a precious boy!

love you all and thank you so much for praying for me! please continue to pray that i won't be afraid or overwhelmed... i feel kind of childish typing that, but it's truly in my heart, so i'll just put it out there. we're organizing medications today and i believe i'll be in the clinic next week!
mali ("goodbye" in Creole, but probably spelled wrong!) for now! thanks for reading & praying! love, jill

a couple pics of abraham from March... i can't wait to meet him!!

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Here are some more pics along the road to dessalines...

here are some pictures from Port-au-Prince and the drive to Dessalines. it was so bizarre to see a UN tank rolling down the street...

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I LOVE THIS PICTURE! the first thing i saw after entering E.G.O...the kids sitting around the bath area awaiting their turns! they are so precious & innocent!

a week away...

hi all!! i'm new to the whole "blogging scene", but i'll do my best! i'm creating this blog to post updates for the 3 months i'm in haiti! i'm leaving in 8 DAYS!!!!!!!!! for those of you who don't know, here are the "haiti happenings" as of late...

last november i had the incredible opportunity to go to the EBENEZER GLENN ORPHANAGE in Dessalines, Haiti for a week. it was amazing!! i've been sponsoring 2 little girls from the orphanage for a few years and i got to meet them & love on them in person!it broke my heart to leave after just one week... while pouring my heart out to a 'mentor', she asked me if i'd consider returning for a longer period and so began the process. i was originally thinking that later this fall (of 2009) would work well. then in march i got together with Don & Doris (the 'builders'/'founders'/'mom & dad' of the orphanage) & they asked if i would consider coming at the beginning of april!!! considering my job, finances, etc., my first thought was "that's not even possible!", but by the end of the evening talking with them God had changed my heart & i began to not only see the possibility, but also become incredibly excited about it!! throughout that week i began trying to get myself organized, got my manager's approval for a 3-month leave of absence from work, began figuring out finances, etc. and now, here i am, one week away from leaving!

i'm obviously incredibly excited about going! there are some aspects that i'm nervous about, but am trying to trust that God will take care of everything, give me wisdom (& bravery!), etc. as i need it. i think i'd be fine if i was just going to play with & love on the kids, but the part that scares me the most is that i'll be working in the clinic, BY MYSELF... i.e. without a doctor or nurse practitioner to give me directions, make diagnoses, prescribe meds, etc. and i'll also be dealing with tropical diseases that i'm totally unfamiliar with (i.e. malaria, anthrax, dengue fever, etc.).

so, there's the update and the prayer requests for right now!! i'm going to attempt to upload some pictures of my last trip to haiti & the orphanage as well as a picture of the newest addition to E.G.O. (ebenezer glenn orphanage)! his name is abraham. his mother died in childbirth & he was 7 days old when he arrived at the orphanage... and for those of you who know me well, yes, i have already looked into adoption out of haiti! according to the strict adoption laws there though, you have to be 35 years old before adopting... and i'll only be 31 (i'll actually turn 31 at the end of may while i'm there!)

anyways, i'll do my best to update the blog while i'm there. i'm exactly sure how it will all happen with their internet access, etc. i guess we'll see!
thanks for reading & praying!
love, jill

**the picture at the top of this post is one i took of the orphanage from a distant 'mountain'. on sunday afternoon we trekked up to a fort and it overlooked E.G.O. You can see the big white 'tabernacle' (a.k.a. church!) on the right with a cross on the front... you can also see the 9-foot block wall that surrounds the grounds.