I learned how to cook beans--Haitian style--and how to make bean sauce, too. Our family is fortunate to have Loude here helping out so much for lots of reasons but I can tell you for sure if it weren't for her, we'd probably be having beans with no bean sauce! So.Much.Work.For.Just.A.Little.Sauce!!! Whew!
I see more and more why lots of people here have the great arm muscles I've always wanted. With all I'm learning, there's hope for me, yet! Ha!
We had our first real meeting with the Pastor and 6 or 7 others from the church here about "feeding the masses". (Our peeps back home at LifeBridge Church will love the fact that John and I are, now, supposed to attend all of the "Committee" meetings.) :) I think the meeting went well and we left very encouraged! We let them know that our main goal for being here was to offer help where help was needed. They had lots of questions and we assured them that we were not here to tell them how things needed to be done but that we were depending on them to let us know how we can best help. We shared our desire to help feed and clothe those that are going without. They wanted to know how many people we were interesested in helping. We told them we would love to help everyone but since we can't do that right away, we are anxious to start as soon as possible reaching as many as we can. We spent a good bit of time going through questions about logistics and costs...what food is best, how much $ it would take for food, what the cost would be for building a cookhouse, how many people we would need to cook, etc. (Our intent is to employ local workers so that we can help support their families, as well.) The men and women from the meeting are working on getting us some numbers and then we will meet again to "get the ball rolling". We agreed that our goal would be to start by feeding (100) people and pray for God to multiply from there. While we are fully aware of our limitations, we are excited about starting-- knowing God is limitless.
We also celebrated 3 birthdays this week. For over a year now I've dreamed of doing birthday parties for the orphans. My mom always did an incredible job of making us feel special on OUR day growing up and I hope to do the same for each of these kids, here. I asked for a list of all the birthdays that they knew of and I got the list last week. One birthday had already passed so we threw a surprise party to celebrate that one and had another party to celebrate (2) others. For those that didn't know their birthdays, we let them draw a month and a day out of a bowl and now they have a birthdate to celebrate, too! :):):) (I can hear one of the boys downstairs now singing 'Happy Birthday' in English while the kids are riding bikes!)
Kinley had a weird fever virus thing earlier this week that gave us quite a scare but she is doing much better and still running us 90 to nothing! (She wants more goldfish, Ms Meghan! Ha!)
Someone came to look at the truck yesterday and is supposed to be back tomorrow with an estimate for initial work. The guy was saying that he'd have to take it to Santiago in the Dominican Republic to do the body work. He should be able to replace the radiator here for just under $200 (unless he tells us different tomorrow). We are anxiously awaiting the final estimate.
We had some packages being delivered in Cap Haitien (an hour and a half drive from here) this week. We tried to delay the delivery since we are without a vehicle but the plane was previously loaded meaning our things were coming whether we were there to receive them or not. John was able to find a ride for $100 and he and Yehn Yehn went into town to avoid losing our packages. Here is the sweet ride that they got the privilege (literally) of riding in...
We really were saying, "Thank you, Jesus"! The love my husband has for me and our family is truly amazing! Did I mention that he and Yehn Yehn had to ride in the back of the truck all the way there and back?!?
I know, he totally rocks! He was hot and dirty from the roads when he returned but we were all so excited to get some items from home (despite the constant charges from customs) and while they were in town they were able to go to the market, too. The cupboard has been bare and John even found cake mix for the surprise birthday party! :) No icing, but they did have cake mix which meant I got to improvise and explore my 'Betty Crocker' side or lack there-of! Heehee... Mom and "my" Michelles would have been so proud! I scraped and scrounged and made some chocolate icing from scratch! :) It was good if I do say so myself! Made the malaria medicine a little sweeter this week, too!
We got an area cleared for a garden, the wall is 90% complete and I made a new friend. Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen????
I could eat him up! He kept getting so teased and he'd hide his face. I played peek-a-boo with him for a while and then he flashed that precious grin and came to play. His dad was working here this week so like a lot of kids have to do, he joined him.
Well, I hear the evening crew arriving so I need to wrap up... I barely scratched the surface of updates but I promise to continue soon. I'll be working on pictures to share, too!
Until later, we send our love from Haiti!
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