Work at the Clinic

The medical clinic here at Haiti Arise has been open for two months now.  It is open three days per week.  Diane from Canada has worked hard since March to get it up and running.  There is a great  staff of one doctor, male nurse, pharmacist, janitor, and an two young men who administrate the office. All of the staff are Haitian.  This is awesome as the goal of Haiti Arise - to raise up Haitian leaders and workers. 

Steeve and Diane

 

Pharmacy

Activites at the Church!

There are all kinds of activities going on at the church all through the week, but lately there has been some activities that haven't been welcomed......there were some honey bees trying to make a hive inside the walls of the sound booth and the most recent has been chickens trying to roost on top of it.
After checking the top of the sound booth, we discovered that there was an egg laying there!

Mother's Day in Haiti

Mother's Day is the last Sunday of May here in Haiti.  This year, the ladies of the church, decided to plan a few nights of revival meetings, inviting friends and anyone else who was interested in attending.  There was lots of inspiring music, testimonies, and messages from John 14:1-6. Forty-one people made the decision to start a new life with God.  On Sunday, even though the ladies held the service and provided the music, they had Wade preach on Proverbs 31 giving a tribute to the women.
One young couple, Anel and Jeneane, had their baby, Adell, dedicated.

Boat Trip

We all decided that it was time for a day trip somewhere where none of us had been before - not even Marc and Lisa.  So we found someone who could take us on a boat trip to the big island off the coast of mainland Haiti.  We drove to Meregoane at 5:30 a.m. where we boarded a  'Pirates of the Caribbean' style boat for what was an 8 hour ride (round trip) to a village on the island.  We had our lunch of peanut butter and jam sandwiches, boiled eggs and mangos in the church/school of the village, and then were taken to a beach where we had a swim before the boat picked us up to bring us back.  We arrived back to Haiti Arise at 8:30 p.m.  Quite an adventure!

Marc & Lisa and baby Austin

The town of Meregoane

Road through the village on the island

Sitting in the shade!



Our boat before the sails went up.

Work Continues...

 

Teams have been busy painting the Technical School.

The roof of the Medical Clinic has just been thatched to provide shade in the waiting and pharmacy areas.

Paint, Paint and more Paint!

These teams that are here now are painting the outside of the Technical School.  Here is Alex painting on the second storey ledge!  He's conquering his fear of heights!

Two New Teams

This past Monday, we welcomed this team from Martensville, SK.  The guy on the left is Alex...it is great to have him here for a visit and he is enjoying joining in with this team.

Also, this team from Briercrest College (Caronport, Sk) joined us on Monday.
These are two great teams working together and enjoying each other's company.

Helping Widows

Thanks to the generosity of those who have.....these widows each received a bag of food today after church.  They are very grateful.

Hard Workin' and Havin' Fun

Trisha from Montana has been wanting to dig a hole or shovel something around since she got here!  So we found her some gravel to shovel to fix up the pathway to the medical clinic one morning. She was so excited!  Then she was dared to do it in a dress.......
                                  

California and Montana Teams

New Covenant Team from Kalispell, Montana

Father's House Team from the San Francisco area

 

Last week, we welcomed these two teams to Haiti Arise.  They are hard working and a great deal of fun!  They are spending most of their time painting and then cleaning in the Technical School...........

 

 



Sponsor Kids

 

One of joys of being here is that I get to take pictures of some of the kids that have sponsors when they receive gifts.  This is a  very special time for them as they treasure everything they are given.  Yesterday, several received bags of food and a new dress outfit.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clean Up

Haiti Arise has received a couple of containers from Canada/US by ship.  They have a variety of items on them from clothes to furnishings to medical supplies and equipment.
This particular container had a lot of medical supplies on it, so our nurse had a couple of our team people help her clean it out and sort it.  There were many items useful for our clinic (which is now up and running three days / week).  Other items that we would not use here and extras were taken to our local hospital where they were most appreciative.


We are also starting to collect linens and clothing for the Children's Village which will be opening in 2014. They are kept safely in the container.

Our Own Market

Haiti Arise is blessed with lots of donations of clothing, shoes and some household items.  They are distributed regularly and every few months, we hold a market where the excess can be taken.  We invited the Haiti Arise staff on Saturday morning to 'shop' at the market.  We ask for a small amount (25 goudes or .60 US) per item and the proceeds to go the church fund.  The church fund is to help people who have unexpected needs come up - such as needing medical attention or paying for a funeral of a loved one.

Baptism Service

We had a baptism service yesterday at our water front property.  We met at the church to sing and have testimonies from the people who were getting baptized and then we walked to the ocean.  We sang songs and hymns all the way there and back.
Thirty-five Haitians and 4 Canadians were baptized....What an amazing experience.  Wade helped teach the baptism class with Marc.  He assisted with the baptisms -- a definite highlight for him.

Our friend Jhony

Walking to the property

 

Ladies Afternoon at the Beach

On Monday afternoon, the ladies from The Link Team (Medicine Hat), hosted an afternoon out for the church ladies at the Haiti Arise water front property.
We met at the church and walked to the beach together. Most of us went for a swim and played some games.  The men cooked a delicious supper for us and brought it to us and even served it. 
After supper, one of the ladies brought a devotional and we sang and prayed together.  What a great time...........

We had a relay race - running with a tub of mangoes on our heads.  The Haitian women won this 'hands down'.

Good Friday

For Good Friday, there was a program put on by the Sunday School.  This means most of the church, as young and old attend Sunday School and particiapted in the program.  It was 4 hours long, but was the best Good Friday service we have been to. 
It started with worship and singing.  Then several people sang songs on their own followed by a skit of the Easter story and one other skit.
Some of the girls did a dance and there was a Grand March style show with the teens. 
Everyone had such a great time. 
The highlight was the Bible quizzing that all ages participated in as a celebration of what they learned in Sunday School.  It is truly amazing how much of the Bible these people memorize.  They take memorization very seriously.
Along with the quizzing, was the giving of the gifts that people from North America had purchased from the Haiti Arise gift catalogue as gifts over the Christmas season.  There were goats, chickens, school supplies, tools, rice, food packs, baby packs, soccer balls,etc.



A very happy young girl with a new bike

Our family exchanged goats and food for Christmas gifts from the catalogue - here are some of the recipients of them. It was amazing to be here for this!

Short Hair!

It is starting to heat up here as April is right around the corner.  It is much more comfortable to have short hair and a cooler head so today was 'haircut day'.

We're Back

We arrived back in Haiti on Monday with two teams.  It was a long and busy week in Saskatchewan, but was nice to see our boys.

The Link Team from Medicine Hat

The Cornerstone Team from Saskatoon

 

Friends

These four ladies cook and clean for us six days a week.  They are so joyful and fun and have become very special to us.

The Things We Find in Haiti!

We went for a walk this afternoon and came across this fellow in a John Deere cultivating a field.  This is a very rare sight as most people would be doing this by hand.

Heading Home

Thursday we head back to Canada for ten days to take care of some business.  We likely won't be blogging, but will land back here on the 25th with two more teams and will resume then.

Distribution Day

Today is one of the days when monies that are donated for the various funds are distributed throughout the ministries.  Pastor Archonge has gone to the different schools in the area where children are sponsored to pay their school fees.  Lucianna has purchased and packaged rice to give to some widows in need.  I had the priviledge of taking their photo after receiving their bags of rice.  They were very excited to see themselves in the picture on the camera.  The lady in the green kept pointing to herself and saying, 'belle, belle' - meaning 'beautiful'!  All the ladies had a good chuckle.  Lucianna is in the back in the yellow dress.  She is the head housekeeper for us and a real sweetheart.

A young boy receives new jeans and shirt from his sponsor

 

 

New Arrivals

We welcomed two teams yesterday..........

The Crossroads Team from Red Deer, AB

The Saskatchewan Nurses Medical Team
This team is mostly from southern Sask. with a couple joining from Ontario and one from Manitoba.  This is a group shot with the tranlators and Haitian medical staff just before opening the cinic today.

Village

We often go for afternoon walks around the village just outside the walls of where we live. It is fun to get to know our neighbors, and it also keeps us aware of where we are and why we are here....

This home has a fence made of sticks with a coragated tin gate for privacy.

These are a couple of typical homes near by.  We have visited with the families that live in them.  They are happy, contented people - we leave smiling.....

Children's Village Progress

The first duplex parged

The foundation for the 2nd duplex

The children's village is progressing nicely. The floor for the 2nd duplex will be poured within a few days.