What's for Dinner?

Hello friends!

I am sure you are all wondering what we have for dinner...well let me tell you.

We eat lots of different types of food, american, creole, french, mexican and others. Some of my favorite dishes are Creole dishes. They consist of rice and beans (the best part), some meat (goat, chicken, beef), vegetables, bread (always), and then this amazing sauce (pretty much the gravy of Haiti...its so good. Another favorite dish of everyone in the house is pumpkin soup. It has a lot of vegetables, potatoes, beef, and some sort of pumpkin sauce. It is delicious.

I often find it interesting how we talk about food as if it is just another days routine. However, it is a completely different mind set for some of the Haitian people. They do not know where their food is coming from next. Last week I worked in a hospital clinic. It was an amazing experience. The team of doctors we had were able to see almost 300 people a day and they worked for four days to help people. One of the nurses came into the pharmacy where I was working and asked me if we had any baby formula. A woman with a baby came in and in order for her to get the medicine into her child she needed food. She was not then going to give her child any medicine. We were able to give her a few crackers that we found so that her child could get the medicine she needed.

At the end of last week and the beginning of this week we were able to do a teacher training. We visited two different schools and about 8 teachers came. We taught the teachers how to use a pocket chart calendars, other fun math materials, a lesson in geography, and more. While we were with the teachers in the morning the students were out in the fields playing futbol (soccer)! They loved playing and the Americans that ran it, enjoyed played with the children. Then the teachers were able to practice what they learned in the morning, later in the afternoon when the students came back in. How incredible it was to watch as the Haitian teachers teach their students alongside me. The Haitian teachers have a passion to teach these children because they want a better future for Haiti.

Haiti, a nation not of wealth but a nation of hope.

All my love to you from Haiti!

The Start of Something Wonderful

So much has happened since I was last able to write. But I will attempt to cover some of the cool events.

As interns we met with Randy (our director) on Sunday and we were able to begin talking through our Luly project. Luly is a province to the north of Port au Prince. If you try to look it up on the map you won't find it, we've tried. However, it does exist and that is where our focus will be this summer. Currently in Luly we are connected with a school/church (they are the same building). The Lord has opened up amazing opportunities for us and we are now building a new school with 6 classrooms, that will hold 32 students each. Another exciting project we are working on is the garden. We need 35 families to participate in the gardening project. They will learn how to care and maintain a garden and then they will be able to take produce from the garden to feed their families. There hopefully will be enough produce to sell in a co-op or market, but we won't know that for a few months. The other neat project happening in Luly is the bio-digester. This is a machine created by some of the engineering students at the UofM; it allows people to place their poop in it and it then creates methane gas which can be used for cooking and a soil enrichment product which will be placed in the garden. There is much more happening in Luly and I am excited to continue investing in the people there. Pray for a bilingual female so we can work with her and she can translate. Pray that we can find 35 families to be involved in our gardening project, and pray for safety as we are there for many days.

One of the other places we have been is at a children's home. We have been putting a roof over the kitchen of their home. The team from St. Paul has been working hard on helping the Haitian construction team to get the roof up. It has been a learning experience for both groups. The children at the home are always excited to see us. On Tuesday when we were working there I met a little boy named Wesley. He spoke french pretty well and so I was able to communicate with him-as long as he spoke slowly. He is 11 years old and is always smiling. He told me on Tuesday that he hoped one day he would be my child. It broke my heart. He wants someone to care and love for him. I am not sure if he has a family here or not. Most of the children in the home have families, but their families just can't take care of them. It is sad but in these homes they are at least able to get an education, food and water.

The Lord continues to give hope to the people of Haiti. There is still a lot to be accomplished but God is good and He will continue to love and care for His people in His ways.


Check out this video on: www.povertycure.org It's worth the time.

All my love to you...

Je suis arrive en Haiti!

I arrived in Haiti last night! It was quite an experience traveling throught the airport. Many people were trying to carry my bags, but we found our driver Alexi and he helped us through. He took us to a white SUV and we piled in and took off driving, or more like weaving through the streets of Port Au Prince. There were vendors lined up on the sides of the streets and vehicles weaving in and out. The "roads" had pot holes everywhere. We arrived in our Village of Theodat and I got a tour of our grand house. The house is wonderful and filled with fun people. For dinner I got to experience real Haitian food: salad, rice and beans, chicken and goat, and other sauces and toppings that I am unsure of. The food was delicious and I enjoyed eating with the interns and staff.

Today I will get to experience a trip through town and to visit my first childrens home. The children are in so much need here, they are malnourished, without shoes, they all lack clean water, their building structures often consist of piles of rubble on three corners a stick for the fourth and a ripped tarp over top.

Continue praying for our team of interns and the team that came in today. The interns will be moving into a new house soon and setting up the main office there. We are just waiting for internet to get connected and the place to be "bug bombed."

My computer is currently broken right now, so I am borrowing internet from a friend. If you want to read a more up to date blog you can follow my friend Breanna's: http://aladyinhaiti.blogspot.com/ . She does a great job of keeping it current and filled with pictures.

All my love to you...

My Journey begins!

Welcome to my blog! As I travel to Haiti I feel like this is the most appropriate way to communicate with everyone, so here we go!

I will leave June 9th from Minneapolis and fly to Miami where I will meet up with another group and we will travel to Port-au-Prince together and then through customs. Once I arrive in Port-au-Prince I know I will be working with children in cities about thirty miles north of Port-au-Prince. I am not sure exactly how this will look, but I think I will get to do activities with the children and show them love, which sounds great to me!

I am excited to get there and start serving the Lord. Some days I have nervous spots and most days I just want to leave and be there, but I know everything will come together in due time. Here are some prayer requests as I begin this journey:

• Safe travel- Pray that the group I am with and myself make it through customs without any delays. Pray that our flights are on time and fly smoothly. 
• Good health- I know I will have clean, running water and good food. Pray that the Lord will protect me from disease so that I can continue to serve Him. 
• Relationships- Pray that I can establish good relationships with the other interns and teams. Pray that I can continue to stay connected with friends and family back home while I am away. 
• The Haitian people- Pray that they will continue to find hope through these rough times. Pray that they will be open to us as we come to serve them and that we can build relationships with them. 
• My heart's attitude- Pray that I would be humbled by my experiences, Pray that the Lord would break me free of myself so that I can be used by Him even more.

Let's start praising the Lord now!

• Financial- All my support came in and some, so I was able to help another intern out. Praise the Lord!
• Goodwill has treated me well and I officially have enough clothes for Haiti!
• I will be flying into Haiti with a group, so I do not have to go through customs alone!
• And simply because the Lord is worthy of praise!

Thanks everyone for your continued prayer and support! 15 days and counting!