Photo of the Day......Julien

He's going to hate me when he's 18 but I couldn't resist!!

Fitson at the Bon Samaritan!

Fitson has his own ministry going on in Ouanaminthe! Mami Heather takes him over to the Bon Samaritan Senior's home and he visits! He is such a happy boy that he makes the residents smile. They are so excited to see him. Mami Heather has her hands full because the residents try to tell her that he is hungry and thirsty so they need to feed him. Fitson has CP and does not speak, just giggles and laughs a lot so we're not sure who they are getting their info from. It's pretty cute to see a 100 year old little lady want to hold him. One gentleman came shuffling to us as quick as he could because he was so excited to see Fitson! Precious!

Bon Samaritan with the boys.............

We took a truckload of boys over to the Bon Samaritan on Saturday to help them start to clean their yard. BS is the senior's home in town and they love having people visit. Nutrition for the residents is a big problem so we took 2 Moringa plants and planted another 10 seeds in a bed we prepared. They also have some security concerns so we can return regularly and begin propegating some bougenville for them and plant it around their walls. The boys worked really hard helping to clean their yard, trim trees and clear away trash and stones. Check out the photos at my website! http://jeninhaiti.org/gallery.html

Photo of the Day......Julien

Cindy LuLu............

This how you roll to get an xray between the 2 countries!

Cindy taking her treatment like a trooper!

Day off today so I went to visit Cindy at Univers (Haitian hospital). We ended up taking her over the border to Dajabon, DR in order for her to get an xray. Sweet girl has pnuemonia. In the hospital for another night.

MORINGA SEEDS!!

We've found some seeds and started growing Moringa. Called the Tree of Life I hope to get as many growing as possible and incorporate it into our diet! Can you imagine being able to save lives with a tree?! Leaves, seeds, husks and flowers are all usable!

Dr. Snodgrass visit

We had a great visit from Dr. Snodgrass who along with his partner Dr. King and a friend, Dr. Wells came down from Nashville, TN to do dental work on our kids, community members and Pastor Daniel's kids! Thank you so much Docs!!! Check out the gallery at http://jeninhaiti.org/gallery.html

Thank you so much for the care beyond the dentistry that you gave for Louis and Franzi! And our adventures on the motorcycles will always be a highlight!!

My niece, Paige and the Canadian Red Cross.

	Paige Black, 2011 Young Humanitarian, Nova Scotia

Paige Black enjoys using her musical talent, leadership ability as well as her love of athletics to make a difference and inspire other youth to do the same. She finds much of her learning comes from the world around her. Seeing the world beyond Oxford, Nova Scotia, helps her gain perspective and encourages her to learn about global humanitarian issues and take action and help others.

An 18-year-old student at Oxford Regional Education Centre, Paige enjoys learning from the different people she encounters at camps, conferences and workshops. After attending the weeklong “Encounters with Canada” youth forum in Ottawa, she took an interest in the global community and turned it into a full-fledged passion. In 2009, she was selected to attend the “Move Your World” Youth Symposium co-hosted by the Canadian Red Cross, GPI Atlantic, UNICEF and Atlantic Council for International Cooperation where participants gained valuable information about issues like poverty, food security, children in armed conflict and other vulnerable people around the world. She returned home and organized a benefit concert titled “Music for Haiti” to raise funds for Danita’s Children, an orphanage in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, which supports over 400 children. The devastating earthquake in January, 2010, turned this fundraiser into an ongoing project. In the spring of 2010, Paige attended the Red Cross conference on Children in Armed Conflict.

As well as working to help people in other parts of the world, Paige coaches basketball and soccer, organizes sports activities for the Vacation Bible School at her local church, and helps co-ordinate the local Terry Fox Run. She also canvasses for both the Kidney Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cancer Society and is involved in fundraising for her sports teams, student council, 30 Hour Famine, Hoops for Heart and the LA Animal Shelter.

She received the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for best all around student in 2010. In athletics, she’s been awarded the Betty Rector Memorial Trophy as senior girls’ basketball MVP, as well as being honoured as Senior Female Athlete of the Year, Ron O'Flaherty Senior Female Scholar Athlete, Outstanding Contributions to OREC Athletics, and NSSAF Exemplary Participation (female).

This past July, after graduation, Paige travelled to Kenya with the KULE Foundation. The KULE Foundation operates in the village of Murang'a in Kenya and has completed such projects as a school library, orphanages as well as helping women through poultry farming. She worked as part of a team which continues to meet the needs of the village of Murang’a.

In the fall she plans to attend Dalhousie University and eventually obtain a degree in education so she can teach high school students with the hope of inspiring them to become global citizens.

Latest photos

Just spent a week at the Girl's house and now am back in Dajabon. Internet now! Time to catch up!

Posted another gallery of photos!

http://jeninhaiti.org/gallery.html

Enjoy!

J

New photos added!

http://jeninhaiti.org/gallery.html

Massacre River escapades.............

One of the things about having a house across in the Dominican Republic is that you have to get back across the border (a bridge with 2 metal gates) before it is closed. However, there have been people who shall remain nameless who have maybe found other ways to cross without the use of the bridge. There may be known "persons" who are able to help you cross the river on foot (or on their shoulders) for a nominal fee. So when we found ourselves at the gate on Saturday as it was being pulled closed and the "gentleman" smiling at us as he chained and locked the gate we decided to look at the alternatives. First we went around the outside of the bridge onto it and walked to the Dominican gate. No go. Closed and locked. We then returned via the outside of the bridge around the Haitian gate and were taken to the other, newer border which is only open 2 days a week. This was not one of the 2 days...........

We then proceeded to walk to the river's edge and pick our fella to help us. I chose to have my fella carry my laundry. NO WAY was I getting on someone's shoulders to be carried across a river. I managed to wade and when I joined our group of 4 there was some discussion about payment (as always) as well as discussion with the guards above about 'permission". We needed that? Apparently if you get permission from the guards at the OTHER border you can cross by foot/river at THIS border but not without permission. OH. Thank goodness Mami Mya speaks spanish because I had no idea what he was saying other than the shake of the head "NO". At one point Mami Mya threw out the "Really, what would they do if we just ran for it?" As we stood in the middle of the river, closer to the DR side than Haiti and debated for about 20 minutes. "Ummm, shoot us?" We found out afterwards that they would only have arrested us.......:0. So off we go to return to the Haiti side. Our friend Dan asked what the big deal was because there were so many people crossing the river. "Well............ they're going INTO Haiti and that's allowed." It's the other way that's the problem. "Oh, well I don't mind being hit a bit but I don't want to get shot". Says Dan. It's okay, Dan. Neither do we.............. Really, we only wanted to go 4 blocks to get to our house! Note to self for next time - GET PERMISSION or BE ON TIME.................................

Soccer, school and moving to Dajabon

It has been an eventful month! Mya, Heather and I have moved to Dajabon. Just across the border in the Dominican Republic. We cross into Haiti each day which is a bit chaotic. Setting up house in a town that does not have power 24/7 has been a bit of a challenge but we are settling in. With 35 girls on top of each other at the girl's house this gave them more room to spread out with us moving over to the DR.

School has begun in full force and the new kindergarten class has started. Those tiny kids (4 year olds) are hilarious. Nap time happens with heads on tables right around 11am. And the hair bows are back in full force!

We have been watching the boys playing soccer in a tournament that seems to go on forever. They are in the final on the 16th! The girls have started volleyball and are training 3 times a week.

We have started collecting supplies to build our chicken coop behind the school. The garden on the roof is ready for another crop of tomatoes! The basil is flourishing and the kids keep telling me they are going to teach me to make tea from it.

We've had a couple of brushes with the hurricanes however nothing has been really bad so far. Just hard hard rain and some thunder/lightening storms. Everyone in NA usually knows about them before we do!

If anyone is interested in being part of building our chicken coop, garden projects or general support for my work in Haiti you can donate here on my blog or check out my website @

http://jeninhaiti.org/donate.html

Thanks!

Back home in Haiti.... kind of.

Sitting at the Texaco in Dajabon (Dominican Republic) just across the border from our town of Ouanaminthe. Our internet is not working so we come here to get caught up. It is raining, thunder and lightening right now so loud that I can't even talk across the table to Mya! It is so good to be back with the kids! The heat, not so much! I need to remember to not garden in the middle of the day. Got a little dizzy doing that. The gardens are all looking great! Some of the teams that came down this summer were able to make more flower beds at the girls house and we are filling them with as many plants as we can get! The boys have been playing soccer and we now have 3 teams of different ages going! Loudridge celebrated her 18th birthday with a dance party on Wednesday night along with Pinguy and Moise. The medical centre is looking great and should move along quickly. Hopefully it will be ready in the spring! Pictures to follow! Gotta run..... apparently Tropical Storm Maria is hitting us .....................

Our dear sweet Jean...................

Our sweet Jean Jean passed away yesterday. He was so precious. Heaven has a new angel.

First year in Haiti....................

Dear Friends,

A year in Haiti! How fast that time went. As I contemplate the year I can’t believe everything I have seen and done and live with on a daily basis. It took me a bit to get used to the heat and the rhythm in Haiti. Although I’m not sure if rhythm is the right word because that indicates a nice flow and there is definitely no flow to things. It is a constant adjustment to what is going on around us, people showing up at the door that need help, medical emergencies, groups visiting as well as getting the day to day responsibilities taken care of.

One of my responsibilities is getting 32 girls up at 5am, dressed, fed and to school for 7:15am.

I have learned an advantage to getting up at 5am is that not only do I get a lot done before 10am but I am able to work on the gardens and grounds before it gets unbearably hot. A great deal of my focus has been developing gardens and teaching the children how to grow their own food. I have a roof top garden growing at the girl’s house where we have tomatoes, herbs, oranges, tangerines, limes, avocado, grapefruit, cherries, mangoes, bread fruit, passion fruit and more. I am hoping down the road to be able to buy a piece of land to begin growing food for the orphanage. We have a handful of kids interested and they have started their own little plots behind the school! Beans, corn, okra and squash are growing well! Next up – a chicken coop! Just before I came home to rest I was able to start composting! We use only leaves and ashes right now but it is a great start to rejuvenating our soil and teaching the kids.

Helping the boy’s soccer team has been a huge joy for me this past year. I developed their warm- up routine and had them working hard. They weren’t always happy about that J but did it and now see improvement. We have been very fortunate to have a Kenyan family arrive that will be developing soccer fields in our town and Christian played professionally in Kenya so he is coaching the boys now which is fantastic! I get to take pictures and cheer now!

There have been a number of times over the last year where I have asked myself “did that really just happen, am I really seeing this?” Anyone that has read my blog www.jeninhaiti.blogspot.com can look at posts to know that I am not a nurse nor will I ever be a nurse. Sweet little Givensky who is blind and fell into the fire at his home and had to have the toothpaste scraped off that his mother had put on before he could be treated or Julien who got pneumonia and spent 5 days in the hospital receiving over 30 needles. And precious Jean who has CP, is blind and deaf but we just got him a feeding tube to improve his life. I definitely find the medical issues the toughest deal with. We have lost some dear staff this past year as well as members of the community and it is so hard to not know why or not be able to get them the help we know is available elsewhere but not where we are. We are just months away from completing our pediatric medical centre which will have teams of doctors and nurses coming down to help. Every day we have a reason to say “I can’t wait for the medical centre to be ready.” Life is very intense in Haiti.

The joy of being with the kids out weighs all the difficulties combined. Seeing them learn, watching the kindergarten graduation ceremonies, having the soccer team win a big game, watching a family of five travelling on a motorcycle, the excitement of the kids starting to grow their own gardens and organizing our 1^st annual 3 on 3 basketball tournament are just some of the things that I am blessed to be a part of!

As I rest up for my next year in Haiti I reflect on all the people who have helped make it happen. I am so very fortunate to have so many people backing me and helping me every step of the way down there. It is comforting and encouraging. Especially on the tough days. So I say THANK YOU to all of you for being a part of my work in Haiti. If you are willing/able to continue to be a part of my work in Haiti please see the information below. I will be home over the next few weeks and hope to see as many of you as possible! If you are available Saturday, July 23^rd I will be having an Open House in Tsawwassen @ 4985 Weaver Dr. 1 – 5pm. Come hear about my year in Haiti. RSVP to jen@jeninhaiti.org Phone: 778-906-0621

JEN

Cheques payable to:

ISM Canada – Memo line Danita’s Children – Jen Wride 3466 150^th St Surrey, BC V4M 1R5

The Rooftop Garden!

Making the trade...............

Is it wrong to trade helping out Mami Jen for seeds?!!

Home for a rest............

Time to come home for a rest. It has been almost a year (just shy by 20 days) that I moved here! What a year. So many extremes. So much joy, laughter and growth. I will take some time to reflect on the year and try to put it into words here on the blog. While I am home I hope that I will get to see as many people as possible. I will send out details of a get together hosted by my aunt and uncle in Delta to share first hand the experiences that I have had this year. Hope to see you soon!

Jameson - graduation from Kindergarten!

Kindergarten graduation is a BIG deal here with a big procession and ceremony and gifts! The kids looked so cute!

Julien

It has taken me a couple of weeks to do this post. Sweet little Julien is probably the child I am closest to here at Hope for Haiti so this was a hard experience. I put Julien to bed every night so we have that special time and he has been watching the Vancouver Canucks with me as much as power/internet allows. His "Go Canucks Go!" is coming along quite well. I have posted lots of photos of him and have albums on my Facebook page of him. A little over 2 weeks ago he started having a fever and a bad cough. We took him to the doctor in Dajabon (across the border in the Dominican Republic) where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. To give some background, Julien had pneumonia very soon after coming to live with us from Port au Prince. He weighed 10 lbs at 1 year old and his little body had to fight hard. He spent 3 weeks in Santiago where there is better medical care. After coming back to Haiti this time he did not improve and we went back to Dajabon where he was admitted to the hospital. Julien spent 5 days getting medication, nebulizers, blood tests, NG tubes and IV's. In all over 30 needles. I readily admit I am not the best around needles/hospitals however I did not want to leave my JuJu. Thankfully Mami Heather came over each day so I could get a shower or run for food. Somehow it was mostly timed around when he would need IV's put in or blood tests done. :) Love you Mami Heather...

However there was many a time where my sweet boy had to get a "pickey" (what a needle is called in Creole although not sure if it's spelled that way) The doctors and nurses had a very difficult time getting an IV into him and one day tried 7 times without success. Holding him when he screamed in pain as they dug around with a needle to find a vein broke my heart over and over again. He was in tears, I was in tears - it was a long 5 days/nights.

When he was released to go home we had 3 different medications and a prescription for a pickey (shot) for the following 5 days. He is now scared of needles and the people he knows that gives them. :( And he's not too happy with Mami Heather since she holds him when he gets a pickey.

He has steadily improved and will be back running around with his buddies Stanleey and Marie Joy at top speed very soon.

I will be so thankful when hour medical centre is up and running and the care will be steps away instead of across the border.