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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Greetings from beautiful Haiti!

Yea, I’m still alive! I trust many of you that read this have Facebook, and so keep up a little with what I’m doing. For those that don’t, I’ll recap a little what has been happening with me.

Life has changed drastically for me. Both for the good, and also for the sad.

For awhile now, I have felt that my time at Canaanwas drawing to a close. It continually astounds me how God doesthis: I’mat a place without a timeframe – just till God leads me away, and somehow, when the time comes, I go. Sometimes (often) it is negativethings that let me know “you’re getting too comfortable”, or “too settled”, or anything else…. And God says it’s time. It does not always happen suddenly, and in my case it has basically been adding up since almost the beginning of the year. And neither is it always a pleasant thing. For me it’s been a great struggle. The end??? Now what??? I think that is the biggest fear – now what?

Quite awhile ago, I started looking around for another place to live. One of the reasons was that with adopting Caleb, I really needed myown home, where they could come do a “home study”. I am able to do the adoption as a Haitian Resident, which is really nice. Secure and safe residences are hard to find around here, especially for a single woman and child, so I decided to go ahead and rent a small apartmentat Club Indigo. It’s close to Canaan (1 mile) and of course a beautiful place to live (though very expensive for someonenot working).

Love the Sunsets!

It is now 4 weeks since I moved in,and the time has flown!!!! I just love it here. I don’t even mind doing my own cooking so far! It comes with housekeeping included, and I just LOVE that! After living in a house that was dirty ALL the time, it is wonderful to live in a place that is clean ALL the time (except when it’s not temporarily :)

Bones are so fun - this T-bone kept him busy quite awhile

Caleb also just loves this place.

He is such a happy fellow.

He enjoys seeing his friends at Canaan, but if I put him down, he screams.

He has started saying “bye bye”accompanied by waving. Hello and bye are the same waving. He is such a peopleperson. He will walk along and someone passes and he starts waving at them, or pointing to them to draw their attention. Everybody here loves him. His biggest joy is playing with the neighbor boy, and all their toys outside. That’s when I take my computer or other work outside and let him be.

"In front of our house, playing with neighbor boy, Judah Reeves"

I was thinking today, this is my transition time – not quite sodrastic going from Canaan to Canada to live. Honestly, I’m not very excited about going back to the North American life style. There are parts I really dread. Of course many things are easier, but I’m not sure if I won’t feel a little guilty living like that. I think the thing I fear most is that I will enjoy it too much and get too comfortable.

But meanwhile, I’m still here, and I’m going to enjoy my time here. As of end of this month, I don’t plan to work at the clinic anymore. That gives me a really sad feeling sometimes. I loved that work. I’m sad it came to an end. It doesn’t feel real yet. I am really still in Haiti, and not working there??? I have some projects to finish and someone to train, but otherwise, I’ve already stepped aside a lot.

I know a lot of people are probably asking “Why?” There are many reasons that I cannot write about. But the ones I can – Adopting Caleb is definitely one. The adoption is going very well. In fact, the lawyer said the Haitian part of it should be done next month. That would be incredible!!! 2 months or less! It’s not a done deal yet though, so we’ll see. I love the chance I’m having of staying home more and taking care of him – being a stay-at-home mom.

The Canadian side of it is a bit more complicated than I expected. Because I was not born in Canada myself, I cannot make him a Canadian citizen right away. I have to go the ‘Sponsoring him to Canada’ route, and getting him a Permanent Residency card first. Which means that we have to live in Canada as well. So I’m working hard trying to get that started, figuring what forms to fill out, etc.

Today the lawyer asked for more photos of Caleb, and I also need a bunch for the Sponsor application, so I packed up Caleb, walked to the road (10 min), and took a TapTap to St Marc. Caleb is a true Haitian!!! It did not take him 2 minutes to figure out you tap to stop. All he lacked was the coin to make noise (I couldn’t do that to the driver; he’d have had him stopping constantly J.) The truck would slow down to pick someone up and instantly he’d pretend to tap. So funny. He was oohing and trying to talk constantly. Haitians aren’t really used to that in babies I think – at least not in public. Anyway, he had the time of his life, sitting on the last seat in a crowded pickup truck. Arriving, I took a moto taxi to the photo place. That too was a novelty to him and he loved it. Taking the photos presented a new challenge for the photographer. I think he seldom had a toddler that he couldn’t get to stop smiling (the photos were suppose to be without smiling). Caleb is so photogenic. He’d be all serious looking around and then when we had him look at the camera, he’d sit and grin. He held still nicely but grinning. It was so funny.

We then walked to the grocery store, and I tried to gage how much would fit into my backpack.

Haven’t quite figured out how to do grocery shopping without a vehicle. There were so many things I needed. I finally got all my meats and things into the backpack and carried the eggs and bread. The mototaxi was not as fun this time. Holding Caleb in one arm and the eggs in the other, my backpack was top heavy, enough to lift my feet from the pedals at times; and of course I couldn’t hold on to the driver. I was so happy at the end that I hadn’t tumbled over backwards J Don’t think I’ll do that again. For some reason, at the end, the driver took off with out accepting payment. Still can’t quite figure out why. It wasn’t like he was flirting or anything like that. I’m wondering if he really was a taxi or if he just happened to be waiting outside the grocery store for someone and I just took him for one. I did kind of ask if he was a taxi… Anyway, an empty taptap was loading up, and as luck would have it, being the first, and having a baby, they let me ride in the front. Whew! My eggs were saved! Had a moment of confusion though when a well-dressed lady wanted to ride up front too. How she thought she would fit in the single seat with me and Caleb, I’m still not sure. She wanted me to move into the console area). No way possible. It was a kind of double cab (not nice back seats) and she ended up going there. Guess for her that was better than in the back. I would have preferred the back. I had left Caleb’s stroller at the guard house close to the road, so was able to use that for my heavy groceries. Caleb loves walking that stretch anyway. He got to see a rooster (first time??) and honestly got scared of it’s crowing.

Hey, I just thought you might like a glimpse into how people go grocery shopping in other countries. J Enjoy your grocery carts to your vehicles!

Last leg of my grocery shopping trip.

Though life is much more relaxed now, there are still alway issues to deal with. Please pray for me during this time of transition, and Caleb's adoption.

Sincerely,

Elsie

Adoptions

Hello,

Life here in Haiti continues, with it's ups and downs. My focus these days, besides the clinic, is getting all the paperwork ready for Caleb's adoption. I'm still waiting to move off of Canaan, so I can do the home study, but Sister Gladys has not been at home and available on a week day since the first week in May to sign the paper for me to take Caleb. It is suppose to happen this coming week, but we'll see if she made plans to take a group to a different part of Haiti for the week. They say Patience is a virtue. I hope that's right, because I'm definitely forced to build it.

I am doing the adoption through the "Giving Hope" Creshe. Run by Heather, it has become the only Creshe so far in our area; there are apparently only 16 in the country. In Haiti, a child has to belong to a Creshe in order to be adopted. Canaan is working on becoming one, but so far isn't. It is a long and strict process, requiring all kinds of things, like enough space per child, vaccinations for all your dogs (I wonder what Canaan will do with that???:).

Heather takes in only children that are up for adoption. At the moment, there are 23. Some have prospective parents, others are still waiting. They have hired an attorney that will work only with their Creshe. Because she has "connections" she says she can do the adoptions in about 6 months (which for Haiti is really really fast). Of course you're in Haiti, so you have to think a little flexibly when talking time. I think that is only the adoption part, not the immigration.

One of the reasons I'm saying all this is that if you or any one you know is looking at adopting from Haiti, this is a better way than a lot of others. Run in big part with volunteer service, it is a lot less expensive than other adoption agencies. One of Heather's passions is to allow children to be adopted without the corruption and high cost that many agencies charge. Of course, we are only starting with the first adoptions with this lawyer, but she has given us references, and has done over 20 adoptions since the earthquake.

They have the backup and support of "The Voice of The Orphans", with an American attorney working together with the Haitian attorney. In fact if I understand right, it's "The Voice of the Orphans" that is actually in charge of doing the adoptions, or that has hired the local attorney.

Here's some pictures of kids available for adoption.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.191493484247116.47816.100001593960971

(Hope you can open it ok).

If you are interested, contact me and I'll get you in touch with the right person and information.

Adoption

Hello,

I feel like a lot has happened since I last wrote. I was able to spend a week with my family in Costa Rica. Love going there! Beautiful weather, nice place, good food, home...

From there I went to NC, which was actually the reason for the trip in the first place. Had a "planning meeting" concerning Haiti. While there, I spent a day shopping. That was fun!

I was ready to come back to Caleb though. Missed him! I kept thinking what it would be like traveling with him.

He is such an active child. My focus with him now is some serious training. Typical toddler stuff but he sure has a stubborn will. Little by little.

Since I'm back, I've been focusing on getting the papers ready for the adoption. It's more difficult because Sister Gladys isn't here to sign him over to me. But there's ways. I can go ahead and start the paper work before she gets back. Just can't do the homestudy, since I need my "home" to do it. My plans are still to move out, as soon as Sister Gladys can sign the paper.

So Wednesday I went to pick up his birth mom to sign a paper to get it started. She and her aunt came and I took them to Heather's, through whose Creshe I'm doing it. As I was waiting for them, it seemed the whole neighborhood came to peer at him. They all seemed to know him orof him, which kind of surprised me, though I don't know why. They talked of him as the little baby. A year changes a baby. They were all so happy to see him. I found out he has a 14 yr old aunt too.

It seems every time I see her, I find out new stuff. This time they said they had been afraid the dad and his uncle would try to find him to kill him. Hard to imagine...

It was interesting to see how pleased they were that he knows me so well and loves me so much. The mom said they liked that I was the one adopting him, because he'd have a "doctor" as his mother. I guess that is only if I'm in Haiti. :) And she added that she's a teacher, so he should become very smart. :)

So I'm very positive right now about the adoption. The attorney has done 20 adoptions since the earthquake, and she says she can do them in 4-6 months. Because I'm living here, and I don't need a presidential waver (since I have no other kids), she says it should be on the shorter side of it. I'm so excited. That is of course the Haitian adoption, not the immigration. I've heard so many horror stories, that I can't believe it'll be that smooth, but who knows... Maybe mine will. She wants to start in July, but we need all my paperwork before. She takes care of all of Caleb's stuff, like tests, and exams, etc.

So if you remember, please pray that all goes well with the adoption in the next months!!!

On another note, our staff is turning around. 4 of the girls that have been here for months left this week - 2 for the summer, 2 for good. One is going into nursing school (inspired by all the needs here??) and one is coming back to Port later in the summer under a different mission. So of the two left besides me, one's leaving next week for the summer and one just came to fill in with Mamba for the summer.

So we got to take Cassie in yesterday, and we enjoyed Dominoes. We don't go there very often. Pizza's such a treat here. Then we went up to a lookout of the city. I can't believe I've been here over 3 yrs and just now found this place. It has such a perfect view of all of Port au Prince.

Pastor Henri had his pacemaker replaced today and Praise God, everything came out ok.

God bless you today, as you continue living for him, whereever you are.

Elsie

Witchcraft

Hello from Haiti again!

This blog may mostly be a prayer request. For some reason, there’s spiritual warfare going on like never before since I came here. Or maybe I’m just feeling it.

It has been a month of frustration in every area – kids, leadership, missionaries, clinic, even Caleb has started acting rebellious, openly defying me. (Too bad I can’t handle everyone like him. Ha!)

It wasn’t until this afternoon that it hit me – Spiritual attacks! It’s got to be that, or why else, in every area? I mean, my best employee up and openly defied me in a job I asked her to do! And today another one! I could go on of things in every area, but I don’t suppose that would help much.

What has made me think about this so much is something that happened at the clinic today.

Christerline is a baby of about 5 months, that we’ve been working hard to get ready to take to the States for surgery, with her mom Estherline accompanying her. Christerline was born without an anus. She was going for reconstructive surgery. The hospital, surgeons, hosts, and private plane has all been lined up and just today we got the final forms to fill out, hoping to take her end of the month, or beginning of June. She was also a Downs’ baby.

Today her mom came in, in tears. Last Thursday morning, about 5 a.m. she was playing with her baby when a turkey made a screeching noise outside (she says they don’t have turkeys in their village). Christerline also gave one big screech, and died. The mom felt her throat right away, and she was gone. A friend lent her money for a coffin, and they buried her in their yard. She says her mother in law told her not to tell people yet (they do that here sometimes), and she says that’s the last she remembers till yesterday (Sunday) when they found her by the ocean (they live maybe a mile or less from it). She doesn’t remember anything else.

WITCHCRAFT?

I think I don’t give enough credibility to witchcraft. Just because I believe in a God that is bigger than the devil, doesn’t mean that the devil doesn’t exist. And we are so surrounded by it here. I’ve gotten used to the negative feelings, the superstitions and almost just ignored them. But to these people it is real! I don’t know if there was a physical reason for Christerline’s death. She had been a little sick a week or two ago, but she was doing fine now. And this is not an uncommon or unheard of thing. There are witch doctors that do this.

Please pray for the mother, Estherline. I believe she is a Christian, but she is surrounded by people who aren’t and who are telling her all kinds of things. Pray she won’t be overcome with influences from them.

Pray for Canaan. Henri and Gladys are basically in the US for a few months and it is hard to run the place smoothly. Gladys came back for the first week of May for a week of ACE training, and now is back again for a few days to get the Visas ready for the kids going to convention on Wed. Which by the way is very difficult and will take God’s intervention (too bad they didn’t start this 5 months ago!).

Pray for the teachers in the school. They have been stepping down harder in the organization of the school and the kids are learning SOOOO much better, but years of neglect is hard to change and it gets frustrating for the ones in charge. They’re doing an awesome job though!!

Pray for the kids. Though this place is so much better than a lot of Haitian orphanages, the fact still remains that there are not enough “moms and dads” to mother them all, and that is hard for any kids.

Pray for the missionaries. Unity among us is essential, but difficult sometimes. Especially when there are more than two of us here. Right now there’s 6 or 7 of us. With all of us having our own way of doing things that needs to jive with the Haitian culture, as well as missing what we’re used to, it’s a challenge for anyone.

Pray for the clinic. I am still working with getting us all to work together smoothly in an unfinished place. The container that has the doors, file cabinets, some of the furniture, etc is still not out of customs. With Gladys gone so much, it just sits there. But more than that, pray that we can meet the spiritual needs as well as the physical in the patients that come. Pray for patience; especially since the weather is getting warmer. It’s amazing how that affects everyone’s dispositions. J

Pray for Caleb and me. Frustrated is putting it mildly, but we’re ok. I am still waiting on Sister Gladys to have time to go to the Judge with us, so we can take him out of Canaan, giving me the responsibility for him. I am praying this will happen tomorrow since Gladys is leaving on Wed. again, but we’ll see what will happen to the kids’ visa situation.

Then I want to focus more strongly on getting the adoption going. One of the holdups (the first one) was B.C., Canada not wanting to adopt from Haiti as of last May. They say this May they will revisit the case. Pray they will go ahead now. If not, it might mean making me go to Canada and changing my province. L

I also haven’t decided on which lawyer to use. Need wisdom there. Heard of a new one that can get adoptions done faster. PRAY that is true!!

Pray for my living situation. I have an apartment ‘on reserve’ for June 1^st. If Gladys will get to sign Caleb’s papers, I plan to move out on my own with Caleb. I am SO looking forward to it. I need that change here. But it doesn’t come without cost. Financially it’s really a little more than I can afford, so pray that that will all work out ok. I feel God’s peace about it, so trust He’ll provide a way, as well as transportation.

On Wednesday I am leaving for an almost 2 week break. I am going to Costa Rica for a week, and then a meeting in NC. I am so ready!!! I hadn’t realized that it’s almost a year since I had a longer break than a long weekend. Hopefully I can get refreshed a bit. It's hard to leave Caleb though.

Sorry if this whole blog sounds negative. I believe we’re in a Spiritual Warfare, so please fight with us. There will be a happier one coming, I am convinced.

But to include at least one very special even that happened in the last month – my youngest sister and her boyfriend came to visit. We had a great time together. They got to meet Caleb. On the weekend we drove to Cap Haitian. This gave us the chance to see more of the countryside, which is really beautiful through the mountains. And they even have mountains covered in trees there! We stayed at a nice hotel, supposedly where King Henri (Haiti’s first king) worked in the kitchen as a slave. (debatable J) We ‘horsed’ up to the Citadel. That’s worth visiting. Coming back we ran into numerous “Ra-Ra” groups, making the 5 hr trip into 6 hrs. This is a kind of celebration where groups are formed that danced down the road, sometimes peaceful, sometimes not. Many of them looked drunk. Some dress up in weird clothes, many of the women hiked up their tops all the way – who cares???

Sincerely,

Elsie

Canaan

Good morning!

It’s 6 A.M., and I’m starting this letter. That’s unheard of for me J but after struggling for 3 hours off and on to sleep, I might as well do something worthwhile. There are 3 reasons for that:

1) Caleb woke up a couple times

2) The inverter power went off, and the humidity and fighting off mosquitoes got me.

3) (and worst of all) there was a rat in my room, eating away at something – plastic? Shining my flashlight, I saw him a few times, but he was in no hurry to leave. What do you do with that at 3 o’clock in the morning?

I guess these reasons are part of why I am writing this specific letter. This is not a newsletter. To make up for this, I promise I will write one soon. J

It is over 3 years since I came to work and manage the clinic here in Haiti. It has been an awesome 3 years, seeing God work and dealing with so many people. I want to continue doing what I am doing, but after 3 years I think I’m starting to get burnt out – the heat and humidity, the rats, the lack of space and privacy (especially with a baby), the lack of electricity, tadpoles in water, and the difficulty in keeping supplied with good drinking water all are taking a toll on me. These are all doable for a while (I have been doing it for 3 years), but as time goes on you start wondering what normal, like what we would have in North America, would be like. I have been thinking about this for quite awhile, and have been keeping an eye out for a place I could rent not far from here, while continuing to work for Canaan and the clinic.

Now, looking for a place to rent here is not the same as in N.A. because you have to consider things like safety, electricity and water supply – besides the cost. So finding a place that would suit me and a baby has been almost impossible.

The costs of renting a house in Haiti has skyrocketed since the earthquake, due to so many NGO’s coming in and needing places. One place that was charging $1,000.00 a month is now charging $7,000.00 and I heard another organization is paying $15,000 a month (these are probably not small houses). But everything has gone up; plus you’re responsible for getting a generator and the gas and security (with a guard most likely) and all the other hassles of being responsible for a place here in Haiti. It has just seemed so overwhelming to me, I haven’t done anything about doing it.

Now, though, there’s a wonderful place (apartment) that has opened up as a possibility for me. It has almost everything I need.

100% secure and safe

Only a mile from Canaan

Electricity 24/7 and internet

No rats J

I can’t imagine a more ideal situation for me. It would be hassle free; only food to worry about – no generator/gas, or other things.

There are only 3 issues I need to deal with before I can do it.

1) Caleb’s custody (I don’t think this will be a problem. I’m hoping to work on this next week or so)

2) The cost of the place. Though the price may be reasonable for here and other places, it is still more than what I can do on my own. Up until now, I have lived off of an investment I made before I came, but that is not returning the same amount now, and it does not cover the cost of the rent, plus food at this place.

3) Transportation. Although it is only a mile or so, I feel it is too far to walk every day with a baby and it’s stuff, in all weather (heat and rain), plus I would need to go do my own shopping etc.

So I am writing this letter to let you all know where I stand, and if anyone would like to help me with my expenses here, it would be much appreciated. It would enable me to continue working in the clinic here.

I appreciate all the prayer support you’ve given me through the years. Without prayer, I know I could not do this.

Sincerely,

Elsie

Jan/Feb

Good afternoon from Haiti, on my favorite type of afternoon here. I’m on the hammock in my garden, with a view of the ocean and a wonderful breeze. I love these Feb/Mar breezes.

I was reminded the other day that I haven’t blogged since New Year’s. I couldn’t believe it, but since it’s true, I apologize! The older I get, the faster time seems to travel.

And of course it’s hard to remember all the interesting things that have happened this year already! Life never stands still here.

Our clinic construction has kept going. The men are working hard to finish it by April 4^th, the date we’ve set for the inauguration. They’re working on the outside porch right now, while we wait for out containers to get out of customs. That is a frustrating process here, but in the end, I’m sure it’ll work. It just takes time. On it we have the doors, all the furniture, cabinets, etc. so there’s still quite a lot to do before April 4. I’ve moved all my medicine and supplies down already, but still need to find places for it all. The pharmacy is not big enough to be storage as well. So a lot of my mornings get spent there.

Otherwise, the present clinic is going well. We are very pleased with the Haitian doctor the Lord provided for us. That takes a lot of medical responsibility off me. When you have to do something, you do it. But I’m glad there’s someone more knowledgeable now; And that we have a lot of the same values for the patients.

An unusual incident that happened in January was when one day I heard a lot of yelling going on (not so unusual) and investigating, found a man with a machete, threatening to kill another woman. Apparently she had picked up a thread of the man’s baby’s blanket, and he thought she was going to put a voodoo spell on the baby. Found out that he actually is a voodoo priest or something, into all kinds of evil things. He had a bad look in his eyes. I brought him into a room to talk to him but he wouldn’t listen. He did give me his machete. He went for the police, but they ended up not coming. We tried to get both parties seen quickly so they could be on their way. I called Pastor Henri down and he talked with both parties. We kept the lady forawhile, till someone in her family could come because we didn’t want him to be waiting for her somewhere down the road. As far as I know, everything worked out ok, but it was an unusual thing to be dealing with. I couldn’t imagine something like that back home. J

Feeding little babies continues to be a challenge. It seems every week there are more babies that need milk. Milk is such an expensive item here, they just can’t buy it. We have 8 babies under 6 month that we are providing milk for now – several are orphaned, 2 sets of twins, and a few others. They are too young for the Mamba program.

3-4 month old with Kwashiorkor. She looks very different now. All swelling in legs and arms and most in the face is gone. Worth it for $50.00 a month? Mother died soon after birth.

Last week, God blessed us with providing a lot of milk through CAM, the organization that gives us medicines every month. The one problem is that it is for 1-3 yr olds. I’m checking whether it can be given to younger ones by diluting it. If so, a lot of our problems would be over in that respect for this year. I also keep getting asked to take a lot of these babies. It makes me sad when we can’t… but right now we just don’t have room for them at Canaan. We want to build us a nice nursery that will have space for them but making a building is so expensive. Right now the 5 babies we have get moved from place to place. We need a house where they have room to sleep and play, and that has a little kitchenette, etc. It would make life a lot easier for the ones taking care of them. Anybody want to help?? (If so, donations can be sent to Chris Hlavacek at www.canaanchristiancommunity.com)

We’ve been enjoying a lot of people coming and going here. Right now there are 7 of us girls here. That is more long term people than we have ever had since I came 3 years ago. Most of them are in the school. Caroline is doing the Mamba program. Speaking of which, tomorrow we’re going to Rosseau to open up another mobile mamba program. It’s about half hour away, on bad roads.

Caleb is continuing to be a happy and growing baby. In January he started taking his first step and he learned his first word – Aleluya! A wonderful word to start with, eh? And usually when he says it, he raises both arms. And it’s alwayswhen he’s happy. It really does describe his emotions. Clapping is for singing, and sometimes when he hears all the kids come in for meals, he’ll start clapping, expecting them to sing. He’s also started hugging me spontaneously, which is enough to melt anybody’s heart. I thought that was something you teach babies. Not him. It’s just something he started on his own.

He turned a year in February. On his birthday, he took off walking and is quite good at it now. Two weeks ago he came down with pneumonia and pylonephritis (kidney infection) where I had to fight for 3 days to keep his fever under 103 F. Thankfully he has recuperated from that. His teething is keeping him congested though, to the point at night sometimes I’m afraid he’s going to choke himself to death with his coughing and phlegm. Hopefully the nasal lavage we plan to do tonight will help.

This next month is going to be a busy one for Canaan, as we prepare to celebrate it’s 20^th anniversary in April. We are going to set aside the 1^st ten days in April. We plan to have booths of various things, sports competitions, music groups, food to sell, etc.

Sorry this has become a bit general. I’ll try to make it more personal next time, and before 2 months.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Elsie

Christmas

Hello again from Haiti,

Hope this finds you all well. Sometimes I feel like when I write here, it’s just out there to the universe. Then people comment on what I say, and I realize again how many people read this and want to hear from happenings in Haiti. Thank you for that!! And I apologize again (seems I do that a lot; I better stop) for waiting so long to write. I didn’t even want to see how long, but I forgot what I wrote about last!

Yes, Chibelson! So I’ll start with an update on him. He is in Knoxville, TN, with Kendall. He’s had two surgeries to remove the stones in his ureters. The stone in his kidneys is not moving and I think they’re going to leave it (have to trust the doctors – me, I’d say take it out while he’s there). Apparently you can live with it. He’s doing very well – as been gaining weight and is sitting by himself. He turned a year this month, so hopefully he can soon catch up with his age groups. He’s coming back with Kendall on Jan. 5.

My Caleb is growing well and is a continued joy to me, and all of the people here. He’s so active and smiley all the time, which is probably why he also sleeps a lot. He loves rice and beans and is getting strong. He can hold onto fingers and be lifted up completely, and he’ll hold onto the top of the crib and walk up the sides. This week he’s also learned to stand without holding on to something. Guess he will soon be walking. He just turned 10 months old.

Our weather has turned beautiful. I didn’t remember December to be this cold already. (it’s a good time to visit –hint hint). People are looking for blankets at night. And I’m looking for warmer clothes for Caleb. It’s fun to be able to dress him up more – instead of having him go with only a diaper all day and night. Of course, it makes for lots more laundry.

We’ve had different teams here in the last couple months, and have gotten a lot of work done. The new clinic is in it’s last stages of completion. All the floors are tiled. We’re working at finishing the painting. Everything has a couple coats already, but what with tiling and all, it needs it’s final coat. The last team that was here (a team of 27 from Oregon) was able to move my existing pharmacy shelves to the new clinic, (though they pulled them all apart) and rebuilt them. I now have a thousand dollars’ worth of shelves in the new pharmacy – 5 shelves about 40 ft long. It’s getting its last coat of paint this weekend and hopefully next week I can start filling them. That is one ‘looked forward to’ project. Right now I have my meds scattered in so many places. It will be wonderful to have it all in one place and be able to see what we have. Hopefully we can keep the rats out of it, since the doors aren’t in yet. (We have steel doors in already.)

The container with all the furniture for the new clinic is enroute. It also has the wooden doors. Pray that customs won’t take long. Right now there’s a major hold up at customs, and they’ve basically stopped for this year. They say they’ll start again in Feb. That seems a long time to wait since we’re this close to done.

I don’t think I’ve written here about the way God blessed us with the needed clinic stuff. A friend, Dell, from Victoria works with getting stuff together for missions, and she filled a container for us. She had so many ‘Divine provisions’ it is awesome to hear. For example, a 5 room clinic called her up and said they’re remodeling the whole thing, and she has a day or so to come pick up anything she wants; including consultation tables, chairs, cupboards, dental chair, otoscopes, blood pressure machines, etc etc. SO awesome! Even a little used X-ray machine from a cruise ship, where of course you have to have the ultimate and change them every so often.

This has been a very slow month at the clinic, due to all the political unrest and, I imagine, the holidays, and everyone saving up their money. We’ve only had one day with over 60 patients. This isn’t a good month for it to happen, since in Haiti you have to pay your employees and extra month of wages in December for a bonus but God has and always will provide. We have added a guy to our staff that is an x-ray technician. Until we have the x-ray going, he is working in the pharmacy. Our doctor is working out real well too. He is perfect for our needs here. He understands the culture, teaches the nurses, and loves kids, so fits in at Canaan as well.

Yesterday we took the staff out to a little restaurant for a holiday celebration. They enjoyed it, especially after they got their gifts!! J We were blessed with friends that came down from Canada, and who brought good gifts for all of them.

We’re not doing a lot of Christmas celebration this year, but plan a big New Year’s celebration. (New Year is also Haiti’s Independence Day). We have a group coming on the 27^th, and they’re bringing turkey and ham, so it should be good.

Many of you have heard of the political unrest here. Right now things are calm again. The corruptness in the government is incredible. I don’t support the violence that went on but I can’t help applauding the people of Haiti trying to let their voice be heard. How can or should they react to this type of government and foreign control here? They have postponed further elections till after the holidays. Apparently now they’re deciding between 3 people for president. But basically everyone knows who’ll get in – the one that has the current government and foreign people backing him up; the one that put in millions of false ballots before people even started voting. The one that shouldn’t even have entered the top list if everything had been done legally. But, TIH! (This Is Haiti)

This year is almost over. What a year! I can’t believe how many things can happen in a country in one year. This has been such an eventful year in Haiti – the earthquake, which was an unbelievable and surreal happening, the hurricane (which was really scary for Haiti, because it had the potential to kill hundreds of thousands. Thankfully God spared the P au P area, which is where the majority of people in tents are), the cholera which killed over 2,000 people and sickened almost 100,000 thousand and continues in its deadly path, and then the elections, which turned deadly for many. And between all this, people suffering from hunger, loss of everything they had, loss of family, sickness, and discouragement. I know most of you reading this cannot grasp this kind of life. I cannot grasp it, and I drive by it all the time. Once in awhile it really hits me, but the helplessness that I feel in those times is not a “comfortable” feeling and I don’t think I have learned yet how to respond to it. How much do we avoid the “uncomfortableness” of a situation and therefore do not do anything? (just something to reflect on in our lives).

And yet, in spite of all this, the Haitian people still live and survive. The numbers in tents is slowing going down. From July to Dec it went from 1.5 million to 1.0 million. It’s good or rather better than nothing, but imagine a million people still living in a tent.

Let's pray this coming year will be a good year for Haiti. Pray for a better government. Pray for funds and jobs for the people. Pray for the people caring and trying to help. And thank God for His protection.

Hope you all have a good Christmas and a fruitfull and good new year.

Elsie