Monday, August 31, 2009

Haiti Post

Whenever I travel to Haiti I am usually overcome with emotion. I know that this is my children's country, their home, and home to the beautiful people I hope they grow to love and raise up as their own. I want my children to have a sense of Pride about where they come from, to say HAITIAN and KNOW what it means. Every time I go to Haiti, I take a little bit of it with me back here and leave a little bit of myself there.

When I go to Haiti I often go with the American mindset-life here is hard, the economy is hard, I am crabby at the person in front of me in line blah, blah, blah. When I leave Haiti I begin to see how petty and little MY problems really are and how everything around me is rich in American wealth, even the poor people here are wealthy by Haitian standards.

I saw a 15 year old mother begging for money, selling herself to anyone who came by, to feed herself and her starving child. She and her child had a hunger like I have never felt. We spoke to this mother about what the Lord can do for her and how if she came to the creche she could set her child up for adoption, or at least get her a few good meals, medical tests and schooling for herself, no strings attached. We, and I mean me and the Orphan teens and Claudette, gave her money and the address to the Creche and spoke to her about what the Creche was and how it could help her and her child...begged her to make the decision to at least come and check it out.
You see, at first I passed her off like every other beggar type person who comes to the window anytime you stop. But when the teens and Claudette took note of her, we heard her cry and beg us to help her baby, it made me take notice. For Orphan teens to dig into THEIR wallets to give to her made my world get smaller as I listened to her explain what she had been doing to feed her young baby.
The mother was thin, hair was somewhat orangish, but she was beautiful under all the sadness and hunger. Her daughter was sweet as well, but very skinny, little chicken legs poking out from the long shirt she wore. Her head was mostly bald except for a few patches of orange tufts poking out....Kwashiokors is not far off for her, this little girl was starving to death. She lay listless across her mothers shoulder and stared at us like we were not there. I wanted so desperately to take a picture of them, to show them to you and to remember her forever, but I would not ask...fear that I would come off as an American tourist clicking my camera at her sadness. Instead I hold her face, and the face of her daughter in my soul.
I hope and Pray that she comes to the Creche, that she begs for the Lord to help her and that he will hear her, and she will hear him.

She, and all of Haiti remind me of the quote on my blog by Bono~Where is God~ He is indeed in the slums.

Haiti Picture Post






Road to the NLL orphanage in Carrefour



Children danced for me to the Chocolate Song


View from the Orphanage balcony




Rooftop playground for the kids





Street market in Carrefour


View from the balcony-you can see the ocean in the distance






A woman walking to market





Group one of NLL kids~yes, I bribed them with piwhili's (suckers)









Group 2 NLL






Group 3 NLL kids








Monday, August 24, 2009

I am Back..I Think...

It has been an eternity since I have been on here. Between summer stuff with kids, work and fights I have little time or desire to do anything but TRY to sleep.

Had a few things this usmmer that have bene frustrating for me that has added to the stress of this thing I call my life.

I have a cousin, whom I love very much, come out as pretty much an addict. Well, she didn't COME OUT per se, she Overdosed....She spent a little time in the hospital but was not able to be committed for any type of rehab because she is an adult, an adult addict, but an adult. I fear for her as I know that my family on that side has a history of addiction, wether we want to face it or not.
EVERY member of the family has an addiction to one thing or another-food, cigarettes, alcohol or prescription drugs. I can say that here because I know that I am part of that....I have a food addiction that I work with every day. Knowing I have an addictive history and make up reminds me (read FEAR) that if I smoked, drank or tried drugs even once, that I would be an addict and lose everything. Knowing that, I do not typically drink (very rare occasion where a margarita is nice..) and only take prescription drugs given to me by my one and only Doctor. I hope and pray for my cousin as she fights her addiction to prescription drugs and hope that she can be convinced to seek the help she needs in time....I see my biological Dad, Rick, happening all over again unfortunately.

Also, as of today (Aug 24th) I am off to Haiti for a whirl wind trip to escort a sweetie home to her Forever Family. I am taking the camera and extra batteries so I am hoping to get some good pictures.....I will post when I get back here.

I hope to be back here more that school is now in session ( yes, ALL the kids are in school!) Hunter is now in 7th (Jr. High...yikes) Demi is in 4th, Kai 2nd and Nikaya hit the big Kindergarten...got a pic of her first day on the school bus and the first day of school I will post here soon!