Just An Average Day in Haiti

Family and Friends,

Day 103 of our Haiti Adventure!

Oftentimes people will ask us, “What exactly do you do in Haiti?” That's a good question. Sometimes it is hard to put your finger on an exact answer, and from time to time we even feel a bit guilty that we aren't completely changing the world on any given day. But we know we are here for a purpose, and we try to do as much as we can to impact the people around us. So maybe the best thing is just to share what we did yesterday, and that is what this post is about. It was just an average day. It had moments of excitement and also moments of down time. Today and tomorrow will be different, no doubt, but this is what we did yesterday...


6:00am- The family staying with us, Dan and Kari Elliot and their two children, get up and begin to ready themselves for the day. Lynn and I are still in bed half awake, but Cookie begins to get restless and starts to make annoying noises.

6:20- Cookie's noisiness becomes too much and I get up to take her out. Kester is supposed to do it, but he is “too tired.” There is always a vague notion at this point that I can crawl back in bed, but once you get up it sets off a chain reaction of chores that need to be done.

6:30- I fill the bucket which filters water into the Culligan jug, feed Cookie, get Lynn water for her bath, put up the children's beds, take DD to the outhouse (because she's arguing with Elizabeth...another story), empty and rinse Lynn's bowl from her indoor toilet, sweep the house, and make milk for the kids' breakfast.

6:45- We sit down with the kids at our little table on the porch to enjoy a bowl of cold cereal compliments of the Elliot family. Powdered milk doesn't bother us anymore. Put some water on to boil, and choose the easier option of instant coffee today. Sometimes we put in a little effort to make Haitian coffee, and it is worth it, but not today.

7:00- The kids head off to play in the yard with the orphanage kids before they leave for school. Lynn does devotions on the porch, and I go up on the roof to review Bible memorization.

7:30- Shave and shower...extremely cold water this morning...refreshing!

7:45- Sue (the nurse who lives here full-time) gets ready to leave for the clinic, and the Elliots get ready to go to the local schools to take pictures. Our family plays some cards and hangs out a little bit before starting homeschool. Ketia, our wash girl, shows up for the first time this week. We missed her on Monday and Wednesday, and today is Friday. She tells us her little boy was sick. However, we heard through the grapevine that she is hiding her work (and extra income) from her boyfriend, so some mornings she can't get away. Not sure what is going on.

8:00- We start homeschool. Everything goes well at first, but we hit a bump in the road when Kester doesn't want to review Bible verses. He is “too tired.” We tell him no soccer today so he can rest up and do better on his chores and school. He has a little fit. We finally get back on track and get things rolling again.

9:30- We wrap up the basic homeschool stuff and call it quits because we need to get ready to go to the High School to teach English. I teach there on Tuesdays and Fridays every week, and the family wants to go along today to help.

9:45- After bathroom breaks and some other little chores we are on the way to school. When we reach the end of our driveway at the main road we see a group of white people walking down the street. They are strangers to us. What a strange feeling! The temptation almost overcomes me to point and yell, “Blancs! Blancs!” They are ahead of us and we never did get a chance to talk to them today and find out where they were from.

9:55- We reach the school early and hang out a little bit. Zachary, the interim school director, pulls me aside and asks for help with getting computers for the school. I'm not sure what to say.

10:00- We start English class. Today we are working on learning and understanding the words to various praise songs. We have been working on “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord.” The highschool students are fascinated to have my family there in the classroom.

10:15- Lynn calls me over and whispers, “I have to go to the bathroom. Number 2.” This is not good. I'm picturing trying to go up the path on the mountain to the school's small, dirty outhouse, and that doesn't seem like a good idea. Then Lynn says, “Just have Franzou (he is a student in the class) push me home.” Sounds like a good plan, so they leave. Now I'm hoping Alexandra doesn't have a meltdown during the remainder of the class. That will be hard to translate into Creole or French.

11:00- Class finishes and it went well. The kids did a great job.

11:15- Arrive back at the compound and find Lynn talking with Francisco, the boy mentioned in the post, “Will You Adopt Me?” The kids start playing and I do a few more chores around the house. I notice the kids of the Elliots are back and their son is not feeling well. Happens to everyone here!

12:00- Lunch...spaghetti noodles with some oil and spices. We actually like this lunch a lot.

12:30- Lynn gets the kids ready for their “quiet time” after lunch. Today they are supposed to take a nap so they can stay up for the whole movie tonight. We often watch a movie with the kids in the orphanage on Friday nights. I head over to the clinic to talk to Adrian. We are working together to help Pam get everything set up for the team coming in early March.

1:00- Adrian and I head over to his house so I can check email and we can make other plans. Sue goes along to check her messages. Back home Lynn spends the early afternoon reading to Rose, who just got her tonsils out earlier this week.

1:30- I'm busy filing taxes online, and Adrian gets a phone call that someone has fallen out of a coconut tree on our property, and they want Sue to come back and look at him. At this point we don't know who it is who fell or how serious the situation is.

2:30- Wrap up my online efforts, including finishing with taxes. I figure if I made any mistakes the probably won't come down here to get me. Never know with the IRS, though.

3:00- Return to the compound to find out that it was Emmanuel who fell, and he had a concussion. Poor guy. He has been carrying water for Mission Haiti for many years, and he is a member of our core group and a great guy. It turns out he just missed the razor wire on our walls by a few inches, so a concussion was actually a better option. At the last second Patchouko stuck out his foot for Emmanuel's head to land on, so that helped too. The kids are awake and playing. Lynn and I gather laundry from the solar-powered dryer (clothesline). Some of it is dry and the other wet pieces we hang up under the meeting tent. Looks like it could rain.

3:30- Patchouko and I head out on foot to do some errands for Pam. We walk down to the new property by the ocean where an old folks' home will be built soon. We do some planning down there and then head back. On the way back we check with a woman whose teenage daughter has been dealing with extreme pain in her breast. They went to Les Cayes today to consult with a Doctor. There is some tissue in her chest that doesn't look good, and they want her to go to Port-au-Prince immediately. She is one of my students at school and I feel bad for her. Pretty girl. We tell them we'll talk to Pam and see if we can help. I call Pam and she tells us to go ahead and pay for it.

5:00- We arrive back at the compound and supper is nearly ready...peanut butter sandwiches with ramen noodles. During supper the drum lessons start nearby, and several of the orphanage boys bang away on drums up on the roof. We finish and clean up and prepare for the movie.

6:00- The orphanage kids are finishing up their supper, and the rest of us are in the eating area enjoying an impromptu dance party. The computer is hooked up to a little guitar amp for the movie, and we are rocking out. We also trying to do some research on the phone to find out how much the mammogram and other possible tests might cost for this girl in Port-au-Prince. We decide to send them with $1000 ($125 US) and keep careful records of what they pay for.

6:30- The movie “Spirit” is underway. Our kids, the Elliots, the kids and staff from the Orphanage, Patchouko's family, and a handful of neighborhoods kids are watching with rapt attention. Gertrude makes popcorn and passes it around.

7:00- Patchouko and I get our flashlights and head up the mountain to visit Emmanuel and his family. They are our closest neighbors up the hill, so not too far away. Emmanuel is sore but not doing too bad. He doesn't remember much from the fall. After banging his head the famous ants decided to attack and get a few free bites of flesh from his shoulder, so that is sore and itchy, too. The family members are sitting around a single candle, exhausted from the day.

7:45- We come back home in time for the end of the movie. Elizabeth and Alexandra have gotten bored with the movie, which they have seen many times, and are playing cards on the floor in the house. We have a single light on in there plugged in to our solar-powered battery. The electricity never came on tonight for more than a few minutes.

8:00- Movie ends and the get-ready-for-bed routine begins amidst complaining and whining, as usual. I seek out some stronger anti-fungal medicine to get rid of lingering ringworm. Fun. Finally we finish up, pray, and turn off the lights.

8:30- I start typing in my journal. After a few minutes Alexandra comes outside. “I just can't sleep.” She sits by me for awhile as I write. Pretty soon the cat sneaks over the wall and knocks over the garbage. I chase the cat away, and then Alexandra goes back to bed.

9:00- Now I'm finishing typing, and soon I'll head to bed. God has been good to us today! What a privilege to play some small role in God's ever-advancing kingdom and to try to serve and bless the people in some small ways. Forgot to bathe the kids today! Oh well, they'll still be dirty tomorrow. Soon we'll get up and see what adventure is waiting for us in the morning.

There you have it, just an average day in Haiti.  Check back tomrrow or the next day to read about the medical ministries of Mission Haiti.  I'm planning to interview Sue and share some of her insights.
 
Enjoy your adventure today!
-Grimm Family Adventurers