home at last...

well, my Haitian adventure is over for the time-being, and i'm currently sitting in my sister's kitchen while i type... it's so good to be home... funny how, to steal a line from dorothy, "there's no place like it"!

i currently am without "residence"... slightly displaced for the next couple months... staying first with my sister & bro-in-law for a couple weeks and then with my friend kristy who graciously offered! even in the 'displacement' period, God is providing!

i was journaling & praying this morning and was just marveling at God's faithfulness to me over the last couple years. so, i'm going to be transparent right now and share something that is humbling to me, but is a testimony to His faithfulness... over the last couple years i've really struggled with hopeless & subsequently, depression... i'm not sure of the exact moment it happened, but it seemed as though my hope slowly just ebbed away. now, looking back, i can see that prior to the 'ebbing away of my hope', i had taken my eyes off of Christ and stopped putting my trust in Him... over the last few months though, God has restored me and renewed me and once again filled me with hope in Him!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm reminded of Psalm 40, in which David testifies..."I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and [in His time] He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire [that had dragged me down and held me there]. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I waked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God! Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord!" I thank God for that testimony of His faithfulness and I pray that the result would be the same, that "many will see what He has done" in my life, how He has been gracious & faithful to me [His emotionally weak & needy daughter] and they will "put their trust in Him" to rescue them from the 'pit of despair' as well...
anyway, i was just dwelling on that hope and joy this morning, and had to share! it's so amazing to once again be "filled with both of them"! it's been a while!

so, for a final update on my trip! the last couple weeks i was there was without internet connection, so i wasn't able to update... and so many things happened! so i think in my last update, i had mentioned that people from my hometown had come to dessalines to work at a clinic in a nearby town... that was such an "it's a small world afterall" moment! one of the women on the team works for the same hospital as I do and she & one of the other guys on the team attend the same church that my sis & bro-in-law attend! so bizarre to have a "piece of home" there in haiti when i felt so far removed! it was such a blessing to be able to talk with them about home when i was missing it! after they left, i got the opportunity to go for another road-trip into the nearby city of Gonaives. if any of you remember, last year haiti was hit by a pretty intense hurricane season and the result was extremely heavy flooding. the primary city hurt by the flooding, with many resulting deaths, was Gonaives. aside from the deaths, there were many stories of people fleeing to their rooves to escape the flooding and being stranded there for many days without food or clean water. the city is still under repair this year and still struggling with much flooding. the main road into the city was still under water from last year... it was an unbelieveable sight. it was on this day trip that i experienced the worst roads of my entire 3 months in haiti! there were moments that i was trying not to laugh as we bounced along, almost banging our heads on the ceiling of the vehicle...which also frequently broke down and then had a flat tire on the way home! it was also on this trip that i received my first marriage proposal from a random, man on the street! he said that he 'felt something when he saw me' and 'knew that he wanted to marry me'... the thought crossed my mind that perhaps what he 'felt' was a free-ride to the states via my american citizenship! am i being cynical?! anyway, my friend, Frans, put a stop to the enticing offer and said it was time for us to go!

then in my last week there, i spent a memorable and feverish week with Malaria... yep... if there's anything worse than the Malaria itself though, it's got to be the treatment with Chloroquine... nausea, dizziness, ugh. my friend rachelle came over to the guesthouse though and kept me company (and watched me sleep) for the days i was the worst. she made me fresh-squeezed juice and soup and made sure that i didn't get dehydrated! when she wasn't at the house with me, she was calling me on the phone, "jill, ou mange counya?" ['jill, are you eating now?"], or "jill, ou bwell anpil?" ['jill, are you drinking a lot?"]. what a blessing she was in that last week when i felt horrible and was anxious to get home! just when i started to get better, however, she developed a fever and ended up with malaria herself... we must've been in the same pack of infested mosquitos...

oh, and i miss abraham already! i thought of him on the plane coming home, wishing i could've had him there with me... i saw pictures of him smiling at me on my camera yesterday, so precious... but i know that God was preparing me & the situation before i even got to E.G.O. by having rachelle be the other person taking care of Abraham along with me. i still miss him, but it didn't rip my heart out to leave him, because i know she's taking such good care of him and loving him! God knew what i needed & took care of the situation before i even knew it existed!

before i left, everyone kept asking me when i was going to return... all i could say was, "i want to and will, 'si Bondye vle'", which literally means, "if God wants". at this point in time, i have no idea where He will lead me... but i'm content right now, sitting in my sister's kitchen, my stuff still in suitcases and the remainder in a storage unit... i'm at a peaceful and exciting new place in life, walking day by day with God, trusting that He will lead me and use me as He wills, when He wills!

Thank you all so much for following my journey and especially for your continued prayers and encouragement along the way! It was a trip filled with ups and downs, but through it all, God blessed me with the knowledge that He was with me... we are never alone!! There's another passage in Psalms that I will end the blog with...

Psalms 143:8-11, "Let me hear of Your unfailing love every morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to You...Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing..."

love, jill

2 weeks left...

so, i've only got 2 weeks left here at EGO... i leave for port-au-prince 2 weeks from monday... nothing really new to write about so i thought i'd upload some photos...



*********
i love this picture of little carla! she was so excited to get her rice... she kept following the worker around clapping her chubby little hands in glee until she set finally set the bowl on the table!


*********
this is me & anne carvel taken after church today... she has a twin brother named kevens who also lives here!

*********

i absolutely LOVE this picture of dahanna & marco looking up at me! so precious!

*********
this is Rikelson, the kid from the tractor accident, sitting in the clinic after i'd changed his bandages the other morning... he wouldn't smile for the picture and then his mom said something to him and he started laughing! i love it! he's a great kid!

*********
this is a pic of me and ketla from a few weeks ago... when the team was here she helped out with cooking the dinner meal and cleaning up afterward, so she spent most evenings in the guesthouse.

chillin' in the sun...longing for ice cream!

Hi all! Things have been going okay here at E.G.O. This past Sunday as children were celebrated world-wide, we celebrated our own here! “Bonne Fete, TiMoun!” A bunch of tables were moved under a big tree and some of the women spent all morning preparing a delicious meal for everyone! It included some special treats from a donor organization that the children especially enjoyed; Pringles potato crisps and Oreo cookies!

Yesterday, I was really struggling with physical and emotional exhaustion… Sometimes I don’t know how Don and Doris continue to do it! Anyway, I decided to just take the afternoon and spend by myself reading and praying and just being quiet! I sometimes feel ‘guilty’ taking time away because I don’t want to waste my time here, but I guess Jesus gave us the example of isolated time alone to pray, so I shouldn’t feel guilty for doing the same! Anyway, in the evening, feeling much better, I came back over to Don and Doris’s to make dinner. The kids must've seen me coming, b/c a huge group of them came up wanting medicine for one ailment or another! Their antics made me smile though, especially when a little toddler, Carla, came wandering up holding her hand out for medicine like the big kids!

We all really miss Doris! She’s still in the states for therapy on her leg and it sounds like she is making some good strides in walking on her own again. She has been busy there with therapy as well as coordinating everything for the little girl with the tumor to come to the U.S. for surgery. She and her mom and E.G.O.’s director, Ruben, are in Port-au-Prince currently trying to get emergency medical VISA’s, etc. It can be a long and frustrating process to get everything coordinated here in Haiti.

Rikelson, the 9 year old from town, still comes to the clinic every other day for me to clean and bandage his feet. I actually look forward to his coming! His mom brings him in, carrying him on her back, and they are both so jovial! His mom told me that he ‘loves me’! That made me feel good considering what i do causes him pain everytime he sees me!

Don took me on a tour of Dessalines the other day… even took me by the Nazarene Church in town (since my dad is a Nazarene minister) so I could see it. We drove past the prison, the hotel and stopped in for a “tour” of the town’s bakery! “Tour” is kind of a humorous word to use considering it’s a small room (probably smaller than most of your kitchens!) with a huge wood stove in the middle. The owner was kneading huge amounts of dough preparing for the next morning. One of the other workers there kept asking Don for food, saying he was hungry, all the while chowing on a juicy, ripe mango! That seems to be somewhat typical in some areas! Kind of makes me laugh!

Anyway, nothing else out of the E.G.O. norm is really going on for me to write about, so I’ll end here! Hope you are all doing well! I still love being here, but have to admit, I’m getting excited to see everyone at home again too! That, and enjoying a big bowl of ice cream!!

more photos...

i think this is one of my favorite shots so far, it will always remind me of haiti... we went for a walk a couple sundays ago and these kids passed us on the road...

this is a picture of Rikelson, the little boy in the tractor accident, getting x-rays at the albert schweitzer hospital. he spent about a week there. they performed a skin graft on his right foot. he's now home and comes to the E.G.O. clinic every morning for me to clean the wounds and change his dressings... the risk of infection makes me so nervous here...

this is my friend & abraham's other "mom", Rachelle! i've written some things about her previously and my mom thought from some comments that i'd made that she was only 12 years old. so, just in case anyone else is under the same assumption, allow me to clear the record! she's actually 34! she's wonderful, kids & adults alike all love her! :)

this is my girl, dahanna! she's such a sweetie, but got a lot of spunk as well! here she's all dressed up for church with ribbons in her hair!

my bilingual little guy, Abraham! rachelle and i laugh that he's going to be able to speak both english & creole fluently since his american & haitian moms are speaking to him in different languages! he's smiling a lot and starting to "talk" to me, he's gotten so much more interactive these days! it's going to make it harder to leave him in a few weeks...


here's a pic of wadson & john sony getting the rat out of the bathroom window for me with a rag & a broom handle... interesting tactics, but it worked!

this is jack & jeanne (from FOHO in port-au-prince) at Chez Woo, the chinese restaurant they took me to for my birthday! it was beautiful & clean & the food was delicious!

a picture of jon & steve riding in the back of the pick-up on the way to the airport! i thought it was kind of a fun pic and pretty typical travel, Haitian-style!

this is a picture at the haiti baptist mission! wish my camera could've done it justice... it was kind of a hazy day, but absolutely beautiful!

BONJOUR! It’s been a while since I’ve written… to catch everyone up to speed, I was inadvertently stuck in Port-au-Prince for 6 & ½ days! (I got home to E.G.O. last night around 6pm). Last Thursday we brought the American team down from E.G.O. to Port-au-Prince. In the afternoon we headed up the mountain to the Haiti Baptist Mission for a little excursion. Well, about half way up the mountain the transmission went out on the van (again, not an auto-savy girl… “went out” is the best description I can come up with!). Anyway, they ended up having the van towed up to the mission to work on it. So, 7 days later and the van is still in Port waiting to be fixed… after 6 days there I was ready to come back to E.G.O., but it really was a nice “vacation” staying at the FOHO mission in Port. The missionaries there, Jack & Pastor Jeanne, are wonderful and I enjoyed getting to spend some time with them! They took me to a Chinese restaurant for my birthday, which was actually an amazing place! I thought a Chinese restaurant in Haiti might be a little on the ‘sketchy’ side, but it was beautiful and clean and the food was great! With the calming atmosphere, I almost forgot I was in Haiti for while! I also went to a church in Port with them on Sunday and Pastor Jeanne preached the message via a translator. That was the first sermon I’ve heard in English since I’ve been here and it was great being able to understand! Pastor Jeanne was speaking in Creole at the beginning of the message and she introduced her husband and me. She had me stand up and told them that I was a nurse, etc. Well, apparently, the word “nurse” in French/Creole sounds similar to the word for “smoking a cigarette” and she got a little confused! She quickly realized what she’d said and explained, and everyone got a laugh out of it!

It was good to get back “home” to E.G.O. last night though! It was so good seeing the kids again, even after just a week away… I know it’s going to be hard leaving them at the end of the month. I don’t know if I’ve talked about my new friend, Rachelle, or not. She & her brother (Ruben) & sister (Ruth) [they’re triplets] were some of the first orphans with Don & Doris. Anyway, she speaks enough English that we’ve been able to get to know each other a bit. She’s great! She always has a smile on her face and is laughing about something! I think the term “jovial” describes her well! Anyway, she gave me a birthday gift when I got home last night. She’d copied a book on learning Creole for me and also gave me a tablecloth & set of napkins that another of the girls had made! it’s beautiful!! I’ll try to post a picture of that later too (aunt gwen-- miraleine made it, so I’m sure you’ll want to see it!).

Interestingly enough, the spiders, bugs & small woodland creatures seemed to be somewhat rare findings in the guesthouse while the team was there, but apparently they are back… woo-hoo! This morning I wandered into the bathroom and on the floor was a big cockroach (they call them ‘palmetto bugs’ in florida…practically sounds sweet, doesn’t it? Ugh.), then I looked up above the door only to discover 2 beady-little eyes staring back at me… There are rat traps set everywhere in there, but apparently the Haitian rats are more intelligent than the American variety b/c the peanut butter is eaten off of all the traps without any other evidence of their visit… well, either that or the ants got it first! J anyway, 2 of the older boys came over, caught and ‘disposed’ of the rat for me! Of course I had to get a picture with them & the rat, I’m sure they think I’m insane… but, what’s new?!

So, we got some amazing news while I was in Port!! Dr. Enrique, the doctor who came to visit and work in the clinic a month-ish ago, was able to find a surgeon to perform surgery on Chrislee, the little 2 year old girl from Dessalines with the tumor on her face. So, now the race is on to get passports, VISA’s, plane tickets, etc. for her and her mom! I’m so excited! Wish I could hug Dr. Enrique! J

Alrighty, I’m sure that there’s more I could write, but I’ll try to post again soon! Thanks everyone for everything!! Love, jill

tractor accidents and machete fights...

okay...so this is going to be a long blog, i can tell you that right now! Hmm…how do I even begin to start… yesterday was quite the eventful day around here to say the least and I ended up getting to experience the renown Albert Schwietzer Hospital. I guess I’ll start by explaining some of the culture here. I don’t want to be presumptuous since I’ve only been here for a month & a half, but to preface the story, I’ll just say that anything going on draws a crowd. There are many people who just seem to stand around on the streets all day, so i guess it gives them some entertainment. Well, in the process of mixing the cement for the new school, much water is needed. So, the boys have been driving the tractor through town to the local spring (where people bathe, do laundry, swim, you name it…) and gather water in large barrels and then drive it back to the school ground. Everytime they leave, a crowd of people from town follow them and watch. So yesterday at La Suse (the name of the spring, and I have no idea how it’s really spelled) the boys did what they always do. They shut the tractor off, got off and started filling the barrels by hand. Well, yesterday while they were filling the buckets, apparently a person from town reached into the tractor and messed with the switch that operates raising and lowering the bucket and the bucket fell onto a little 9 year old boy’s feet. This was the story I got when they brought him to the clinic anyway. Of course, I only got bits and pieces that I could actually understand in Creole. So, they called me over to the clinic and I unwrapped the shirt that was around his feet and instantly knew we had to get him to the hospital. Working in the NICU I’m not really used to seeing traumatic injuries, etc. I won’t go into the gory details, but suffice it to say that I could actually see his bones in his feet. So I wrapped them tightly with gauze to provide pressure for the bleeding and we got him to the hospital here in Dessalines where they said that we needed to drive him to the Albert Schwietzer hospital in Des Chappel. So two hours later we arrived there. They debrieded his feet last night and are determining today if they need to do a skin graft or what they will do. They are planning to keep him there for at least 3 days. Oh yeah, and we got home around 9pm... and let me tell you that riding down haitian roads in a rickety old van, after dark, and in the pouring rain is an interesting experience in and of itself!!

That’s the basic story, but so many interesting details happened along the way. First of all, I described the crowd that gathers around anything out of the ordinary. It drove me crazy yesterday while we had him in the clinic b/c everybody “and their brother” from town were hovering around to watch. Then this one lady comes in and starts screaming, of course, I assume it’s his mom. She’s yelling and trying to grab the kid, he’s bawling, a couple of the people that work at EGO were trying to calm her down, while i was trying to calm him. Finally the van comes and she picks him up and climbs into the van. Well, apparently she wasn’t even his mom or any relation b/c his mom shows up then and the two women are fighting over who is going to take him to the hospital. Meanwhile, the poor little guy is getting pulled in every direction, crying b/c of his feet, etc. So, I reached around from the front seat and carried him/pulled him up onto my lap while the 2 ladies went at it. Finally the women stopped fighting and the mom came with and the other got out. So, we get to the hospital and I went in with him (i'm not sure where his mom went) and while they were giving him shots for pain and antibiotics he was crying. I leaned down close to his face to talk quietly to him, telling him that it was going to be alright and he was a good boy, and he reached up and wrapped his free arm around my neck and just started hugging me. It just about broke my heart. I can still hear his ‘little boy voice’ crying and asking me something that I couldn’t understand… I just kept saying in Creole, "Ou Cone, Jezi renme ou anpil, anpil, anpil?" Which is, "Do you know that Jesus loves you so, so, much?"

When we got to the A.S. Hospital, we stood around for a while waiting amongst many sick people(although they did give us an empty bed for Rickelson, so no one had to stand holding him). We saw a ‘white girl’ walk through and the two people from the orphanage told me to talk to her and see if we could get help. Her name was Marianne and she was a nurse educator from Switzerland. She was very sweet and gave me her phone number in case I needed her to translate anything for me. Anyway, apparently she went and found a doctor for us and that got the ball rolling. Don said today that usually Americans get waited on right away. It doesn’t seem right, and I'm sure it’s probably “money related”, but ultimately & selfishly, I was glad for Rickelson’s sake and ours that we didn't have to wait around any longer for him to be seen.

Another funny story from yesterday… actually not humerous at all, but to give you a little glimpse of the difference here… apparently, 2 men from town had been working on the school. One loaned the other one of his gloves, and when he asked for it back they started to fight, which of course drew a large crowd. Fights probably aren’t that different here, but the weapons these guys used were! One had a machete and the other had 2 large rocks! Crazy! Anyway, apparently the issue was solved without anyone drawing blood! Thank you, God! I can't begin to imagine the wounds they would've inflicted with those weapons!

Anyway, tomorrow, I'm heading to P.A.P. with the team. We are going to try to get up to the Haiti Baptist Mission, which is apparently absolutely beautiful. I'm excited to get to go along! Then the team flies out friday morning. It'll be pretty quiet (and probably a little lonely!) at the guesthouse without them! It's been fun to have them here!

second series of pics...

i thought this was a beautiful shot from the fort...

the top of the school (taken from the walk to the fort)...

a sweet shot of EGO...

Marco...what can i say? he's so precious.... (this pic is for you, sherrie!)

this is one of my favorite pics of some of the kids so far... it captures their personalities perfectly!

you can't see it well in this picture, but dennison has an upside-down smiley-face sticker on his forehead!

some random pics...

some beautiful kids calling, "blanc, blanc!" for me to take their picture...


the road between the orphanage & the school...

Abraham is starting to "talk" and smile more!

a 'market day' scene on the road from port-au-prince...

not the greatest quality b/c it was taken out of the toyota window, but i thought it was beautiful nonetheless...

happy post-memorial day!

Jon S. teaching one of the guys how to use one of the finishing tools... (do i sound like i know what i'm talking about?!)


the bucket brigade...

the guys on the roof (don is in the red shirt)...

the whole production...

hi! so, a friend wrote me yesterday and mentioned her disappointment at having to work a holiday and for the life of me i couldn't think of what holiday it was! i usually look forward to memorial day and this year it completely slipped by me! haiti seems to have a funny way of doing that, time seems different here somehow... in some ways i can't believe that i only have a month left here, in other ways i can't believe that i've only been here for a month & a half! it seems like i've been here forever!

the guys have been working on pouring cement at the school yesterday and today... it's quite the production to say the least! people on the ground shoveling and carrying buckets of rocks, some shoveling sand, some dumping the concoction into the cement mixer, some gathering up the cement into buckets, then there's the "bucket brigade" that pass the bucket of cement up the ladder and those who send the empty buckets back down via a rope... it's interesting to watch! our american guys are up on top of the building with trowels & various "machines" doing their thing... obviously i'm not a knowledgeable concrete girl! anyway, it's hard work... blisters, sunburns, the intense sun/heat, etc.

sunday i got the opportunity to sing a couple songs in creole with 2 girls (ti-rose & ketla) for church... we sang 2 in creole and then one in english, it was fun to get to participate and i love harmony, so that was great too! talante, the nurse i work with in the clinic, said that if she hadn't seen me she would've thought it was a haitian singing! i'm not sure if she was being serious or just trying to encourage me, but it was sweet regardless! :)

i'm going to try to post some more pics later... we hiked up to the closest fort (there are 4 or 5 total) on sunday afternoon. it was beautiful! then we walked down one of the roads out of town toward the rice fields. at one point we had to jump a little creek, and me in my usual coordinated way ended up practically sitting down in the mud after jumping across... the kids thought it was pretty funny as i walked back into EGO with mud covering the back of my skirt! good times... anyway, it was a fun day!

hi all! just wanted to send out a quick update! we made it back from p.a.p. with the american team and doris made it safely to florida. she is heading to the doctor today... we're all anxious to hear the diagnosis.

the american team is great! it's been a lot of fun already! the only girl on the team is 23 and is such a sweetheart! and it's been fun having another girl that i can talk to in english! :) although, i have to say that today one of my favorite memories of the trip happened! while the team is here, some of the older girls that work here (most of them are around my age) are cooking for them every night. so i just went over to the guesthouse and it was like a crazy party going on! tons of laughter and singing, we were all joking around and having a great time and the language wasn't even a barrier! it really struck me how much i've missed 'comraderie' since i've been here!

anyway, i'll post more later! thanks for the continued encouragement and postings and e-mails, it means so much to me to hear from all of you!
love, jill

so, i can't write long but wanted to update b/4 i go into port tomorrow b/c i don't know if i'll be able to for a couple days. we're going in to pick up the american team! the bad news is that doris has injured her leg and so now will be traveling with us so she can catch a flight into florida... she's been in extreme pain all day, so she needs to have an MRI or scope of her knee in the states. she will be traveling to port with us tomorrow and then flying to florida on thursday. so, as of right now it looks like i will be here without her for the rest of my time here. if you had told me that last week i probably would have freaked out, but i guess God has prepared my heart, b/c although i will miss her dearly (i love her so much!), i'm really not nervous about being here without her. just a little sad! but i know that she needs to go and i'm glad that i will be here to help out with stuff in her absence. i guess it's pretty cool that our omniscient (i think that's how it's spelled!) God knew in advance that this was going to happen and maybe that's partly why i'm here...only He knows, I guess! it's also amazing b/c the nurse that was on maternity leave is now back, so i will still have help in the clinic. she is great at what she does and is a great teacher as well! i know i'll learn a lot from her!

anyway, i'd better get going... still have lots to do b/4 leaving at 5am! thank you for praying!
love, jill

hello all!

so, this morning i got to help doris do stitches for the first time! we were going to stitch up Peter's head a few weeks ago, but took him to the hospital instead because it was so deep. so this was the actual first time... one of the boys came in yesterday to have his thumb cleaned and bandaged b/c he cut it while he was out working, then today he came up to the porch holding a towel around the same hand. apparently he was cutting something in the shop and he cut his hand! it was pretty deep, so i called doris up and i held while she stitched. she offered to let me try, but i told her i'd rather watch her do it this time! :) call me a chicken if you will, but his hand was so callused i don't know how she got the needle through it! it was a challenge... poor kid! we did insert some lidocaine under his skin to help numb it, but according to his reaction it didn't help much!

well, apparently we are heading into the 'rainy season' here in haiti, so it's been raining most afternoons/evenings which i have to say has been amazing!! but then, i've always loved a good storm! :) it brings in wonderful cool air which makes sleeping much more enjoyable! usually i stay indoors while it's raining, but yesterday i decided to venture out to deliver the evening medications before the rain came and i didn't quite make it in time! i was in the girl's dorm when it hit and rachelle lent me her umbrella to head over to the baby dorm. i gave out the rest of the meds and decided to stay & play with the little ones for a while under the cover of the porch. then i saw a couple of the guys carrying my drinking water thermos over to the guesthouse for me and they needed me to unlock the gate. so, i headed over and the sky just opened up and poured! it was hillarious! i ended up getting drenched, but i couldn't stop smiling! it seems like a few other people enjoy the rain just as much, one lady came running into the baby dorm sopping wet with the biggest grin on her face, she looked like a little kid! and apparently the boys like to play soccer while it's raining, so they were all out in the field playing! so, on my way back from the guesthouse to don & doris's i decided to just forego the umbrella (which by that point was pretty much pointless anyway) and just enjoy being soaked! :)

i love this picture of a few of the kids getting their baths! the 3 little boys on the left were having a great time playing & laughing together while they waited! i love that the one little guy has his arm around the middle one! they are all so precious!



and here is a picture of the outside of the baby/toddler dormitory...

hello!

so i was just sitting here wanting to send out an update & couldn't think of anything to write when don called me out to the back porch. a few of the guys from EGO left this morning to take the van into port-au-prince to try to get it fixed... it's in pretty bad shape. anyway, i guess they got to "city soleil" (i have no idea where that is or how it's spelled!) and somehow the motor 'died' (my auto-ignorant way of saying that something's wrong with it!) and they can't get it started again. so they are stuck there for the time being... they were hoping to get the van fixed before the American team comes in next week to pick them up from the airport. SO, since i'm on the subject, please pray for a van (& also a large truck while you're at it!) for EGO.

okay & since i'm in prayer request mode anyway, i'm just gonna throw another one out there for you! please be in prayer for Don & Doris. they just have a lot going on this week, and especially today. pray that the Lord will give them wisdom, strength, encouragement & endurance!

so, on an unrelated note, yesterday i found out that EGO has 112 kids right now!!! i was thinking that the count was in the 70's, but counting the kids that are in school in port-au-prince there are over 100! included in that are 38 babies/toddlers from 0-3 years old!!! it's so amazing to me how God is working here! the kids are all so precious! when i go out to the baby/toddler 'dorm' to give a couple kids their medications, all of the little ones swarm around for hugs! i posted a picture of the baby/toddler dorm today so you could see how cute & colorful it is!

alrighty, i'm going to sign off for now! thanks again for all of the comments here and over e-mail! they are so encouraging and it means so much to me to know you are praying & thinking of me! love you all!

baking bread with Doris in the small solar oven...

this is part of the beautiful view from Don & Doris's porch!

so, i decided that i'm going to start taking and posting a few pictures of the beautiful landscape here for all of you to see. i really haven't been taking very many pictures this time. i feel like i pretty much took pictures of everything i wanted when i was here last november (over 900 pictures in 1 week!!). but it's just so beautiful that i wanted you all to see where i am and get to enjoy it a little too! so here is one... Dessalines is located in the mountains and the orphanage is surrounded by them! it's amazing, sometimes i am looking at the mountains on my walk over from the guesthouse and still can't believe i'm here! i wonder if i'll every fully comprehend it before i leave!

anyway, we had a surprise visit this morning from E.G.O.'s veterinarian. he's an american vet who's been here for many years. he brought with him 2 men from the u.s. dept. of agriculture, one man from haiti's ministry of agriculture and another haitian vet. they talked mostly of the anthrax issues in haiti. all of E.G.O.'s animals are vaccinated against anthrax. it's fun to have visitors here!

this afternoon Doris invited the little girl with the facial tumor and her mother to come up for a visit. she talked with her about Jesus and then prayed with them. the little girl is 2 & 1/2 and is so precious and her mother has such a sweet smile. we are praying and BELIEVING for a miracle on her behalf!!! Thank you, Lord!

so, i'm not sure if i'll be able to get on the internet tomorrow, so:

MOM - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! i wish i could be there to say it in person, but know that I LOVE YOU & miss you!!!

DEE & TIM - HAPPY 1ST ANNIVERSARY!! love you guys! i can't believe it's been a year already! "i have a brother?!" :) woo-hoo!!

the new school is being built across the road from the tabernacle. this is the building from the front...


this is a picture of the back of the school. Don(in the hat) and some other guys are working on the roof...

and this is a picture of the front taken from the far corner...

well, not much to say today except... THE ITCHING IS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO-HOO!! i'm so thankful to God for that answered prayer! it's amazing how something so seemingly minor can disrupt your life... the things we take for granted!

so, i've got to say that i was missing home yesterday... i really do love it here, don't get me wrong, it's just...well, i think it's probably normal for missionaries to occasionally feel like "outsiders", right? (i'm not sure if i qualify as a "missionary", but it's the best word i could come up with!) the word "outsider" sounds really negative and it's not exactly like that, but it's the best description i can come up with. i think not speaking or understanding much of the language makes it difficult and then there are all of the "cultural" differences that i don't quite understand either. it's probably my own insecurities, but sometimes i walk past a bunch of the girls sitting on the bench talking and i have no doubt that they are talking about me & i hate not knowing what they are saying or thinking! i "have no doubt" because i hear them using the word "blanc"... that's the creole word for "white" and it's how many of the Haitians refer to any white person. i was playing basketball with the kids one day and they kept calling me 'blanc', so i finally commented (as nicely as i could!) that "my name is Jill, not blanc!" maybe that was inappropriate, maybe i should just accept it as part of the culture, but i said it nonetheless! and in reality, most of them probably didn't understand my bumbling creole anyway! although, a few do speak & understand English really well (thank the Lord)! anyway... i thank God immensely for Don and Doris because they are already like family to me (have been from the start!) and i can't imagine what it would be like here without them! i truly believe that God coordinated this time with them, He's teaching me so much more about prayer and praise especially, just by their example. they are humble and would never consider themselves great, but i will say that they are definitely amazing in my opinion and i think that God is pretty thrilled with them too! :)

there is an american team coming in a couple weeks, i'm excited about that! they are from Iowa and are coming to work on pouring the cement for the school's second story floor. which i've posted pictures of, by the way. it looks a lot different than when i was here last november! they are really making great progress. they currently have a few classrooms on the orphanage grounds for younger kids, but the older kids (grades 3 & above, i think) go to school in town. so, it'll be really great to have the school built!

alrighty, i'm gonna go! so much for "not having much to say in this post"! ha! what can i say? i'm a "wordy" girl! adios! (oh wait, that's spanish! what can i say, i'm trying to keep too many languages straight!)

i'm trying to think of anything new to update about, but my mind is coming to a blank! seems like things are settling into somewhat of a routine lately... we open the clinic mondays and thursdays, and everyday i go over there to give 4 kids with anthrax their penicillin injections. otherwise, we've still got sick kids of our own here as well. seems like everyday i'm adding another one or two to my list of meds to pass out. fevers, coughs and scabies abound!

i'm taking abraham tonight. i'm currently "sharing" responsibility of him with 2 others, which i must admit is really nice. i still get to love on him a lot, but have some free time as well. (and some free nights of good sleep!) he is really changing and getting so chubby! he crossed over the 3 month mark last week and has started smiling occasionally! but he's usually such a serious little man. he almost always has a little "scowl" on his face like he's really studying something indepthly! his other caretaker, Rachelle, is wonderful! i absolutely love her! she is always laughing about something and just has the most jovial personality! she's teaching me a lot of creole and speaks english well. she was laughing the other day at abraham's scowling saying that he must be confused by his two different colored mommies! one black mom and one white mom!

i'm posting a picture of a few of the girls on sunday morning... they are so cute! on sunday mornings, the kids all dress in their best clothes with ribbons galore for church! the third little girl in is my precious, Dahanna! she is such a sweet heart! she imitates whatever i say to her, apparently i've said "hi" to her, b/c now whenever she sees me she calls out, "Blanc, Hiiiiii!" she's only 3 and is already such an intelligent little girl!

alrighty, that's all for now! things are going okay here, i'm still itching, but doris found this amazing lotion that has been helping immensely and i'm able to focus and sleep again! Thank you, Jesus! it's amazing the little things we take for granted on a daily basis! thanks again for reading and praying! love, jill

more of the same...

so it's monday, we opened the clinic today... saw more of the same. another case of anthrax in a little boy. that's the fourth kid we're treating on a daily basis. one of the reasons i appreciate working with neonates instead of older kids... their memories are so short! the minute the older kids come in they start crying knowing that they're about to get a shot... and we have to give them for about 10 days in a row. i know it's necessary for them, but i still feel bad.

the other thing that seems rather prevalent here are cases of shingles (or 'zona' as it's called here). i guess i didn't realize that it was so common. we've seen quite a few cases in the couple days that we've been open to the public.

alrighty, not much new to share, so i'll go! thanks for reading and praying!
love, jill

this is the little girl with the tumor... the doctor's wife gave her a little doll which seemed to make her happy. i took a few pictures of her with the doll so she'd be a little more comfortable with the camera before taking some close-up pics for the doctor. he wanted some pictures to show his surgeon friend back in the states to see if surgery could be a possibility for her.

this is the little guy with anthrax... as miserable as he looks, apparently it isn't painful. anthrax is found on goats, sheep and cattle here in northern haiti. a person can obtain it on their skin, in their lungs or their Gastrointestinal tract after coming into contact with the sick animal or meat.

**********************************************************************
pictures of the clinic...

my first patients waiting outside the clinic... baaaa...

so, it's been a full week and i'm so thankful that it is saturday and sunday is on it's way!! i got a beautiful nap today and am hopeful for another tomorrow! i don't know if it's the busy schedule here or because of the heat, but by the end of the week i am so tired and just mentally exhausted!

thursday was actually my first day in the clinic with the townspeople. doris is amazing! she knows so much and has been teaching me so much. we treated 3 little kids with anthrax. two of them had the lesions and edema on their faces and one had it on his arm. we'll be giving them shots of penicillin for approximately 10 days. we treated them on thursday and then when they came in for their shots on friday the doctor saw them. he was astounded as he'd never seen anthrax before. we also saw a little girl with a horribly disfigured face from a tumor. she's not even 3 yet. it's so sad to think of the reconstructive surgery that could be done in the u.s., but because of the lack of resources here it's not possible. the doctor did see her though and said that he knows a doc in florida that might be able to operate. so we're praying that it can all happen!

yesterday was also doris's 77th birthday, so the kids threw a big celebration in the tabernacle. many of the townspeople and kids from EGO from years ago showed up. it's obvious that she and don have impacted so many people over the years and are continuing to do so.

things are better with the teens... the 'ring leader' even told me he wasn't mad at me anymore! that kind of made me laugh a little inside, but i'm actually so glad that things are back to normal and half of the EGO population is no longer ignoring me! :) i was able to listen to a sermon on my ipod this morning that taught that instead of praying for God to change our circumstances we should be praying that He will change us... give us wisdom to deal with an issue, grow endurance or perseverance in us, etc. so, i guess that the next time it happens, (b/c realistically i don't doubt it will) i will be praying that God will be growing me 'tougher skin' ! (thanks dad!!)

more kids are sick these days, one with what is presumably scabies, one with multiple spider bites in his armpit (and a high fever - probably related to it?), more ear infections, kids cutting their big toes open while kicking a big rock... the list goes on! i've had to make a chart so i know who gets what med and when... the older ones come up to don & doris's porch for me to dispense them, but i have to go in search of the little ones. i really do enjoy it though, i've got to admit! oh yeah, and my legs are covered in some kind of little bug bites that are itching like mad!!! nothing seems to take away the itching expect for ice packs at night...which of course leaked all over my bed by the next morning!

alrighty, i'm gonna go! love and miss everybody! --j