Hi Friends!

I always wonder where my week has gone, don't you? And then, I realize that I'm not half as busy as most of you are and I wonder how you manage to get everything done in the week. I talk (IM) with my daughter, Robin, and she is so busy. She is in her 2nd year of her Master's Degree program for Social Work (MSW) and is also working full time and is in her first year of marriage! So much to do...plus this year and next year she will have an internship with lots of hours to add to her 2 night classes and 40 hour work week! Crazy. I know when I was younger I did a lot more, but not sure I was that busy. We have the luxury here of having more time and living in a society that takes it's time doing things! What doesn't get done today, will most certainly still be there tomorrow and can be done then.....I've gotten used to that, but my weeks still fly by!

We have added some more things to our yard, plant wise, which is kind of exciting. The Haitian's do a lot of "grafting" of trees. For example, we have a grapefruit tree in the yard that is not real old, but old enough that it will start baring fruit in the next year or so. Last fall, an man that has gone to agricultural school, came and grafted on 2 branches of sweet oranges that the call, zoranj gref (or grafted oranges). They are larger than the other sweet oranges and really, really sweet. Can't wait for them to have fruit. Then we have another sour orange tree that is small too, but has started to have fruit. He is grafting on a mandarin and a sweet orange onto it. This will be wonderful to have 2 trees with 6 kinds of fruit...wild huh? Then we have an avacado tree that is bearing fruit for the first time. He has prepared it for 2 other kinds of avocado's so that we will have them longer during the year. I've never done anything like this so I'm anxious to see how it works. We also ate "salad" out of our garden on Friday! We have missed eating lettuce salad, it was nice to have it as part of our meal again...now, if we only had some cucumbers and tomatoes, ha! Actually the same agriculture guy showed Dis how to prepare the dirt a little better and gave us some cabbage seeds which we planted along with some broccoli, watermelon and cucumbers....we'll see! Also had a gentleman from the church come by and bring us some Night Blooming Jasmine plants, they smell wonderful and we can't wait for them to get big enough to start smelling good!

The kitchen depot is moving right along. The building crew got a lot done on it this week. Blocks were made and the walls are mostly put up. They will probably get the walls finished, maybe the basic floor (not the finished one) and the roof prepared this week. The wall is finished and just needs to have the finish coat of cement put on the posts and rocks....that will be one of the last things they do. There will be a concrete covering between the house and the depot which will also serve as a bridge to go across to the main part of the house from the roof of the depot. In the future, we will be able to put another couple of bedrooms on the top floor and the stairs will be on the back edge of the depot and you'll walk across on that connection between the depot and the house. The walkway will also act as a cover so that you don't get wet by the kitchen door! It will be great. They are working really fast on this, but I don't think it will be done before the first work team comes on the 23rd! rats!

We heard some news yesterday that will make me scramble for a few things for this first team. We heard from several sources that the reason the boat from Port has not come into Jeremie for the last 2 weeks is because there is too much sand in the harbor, or at least where the wharf is. There is a large ship that is stuck in the sand and has been for about a month. Apparently other shippers are now afraid that they too may get stuck...so are not coming into Jeremie. This means that nothing will get here via boat, which is how we get 95% of our stuff. This affects not only Steve's building materials, paint etc. but really affects our food supply. Everything except local produce is brought by boat from Port-au-Prince....carrots, potatoes, onions, plus all dry goods, like sugar, flour, rice, tomato paste, butter etc....everything. We have heard that they expect the government to bring over their boat or platform that moves the sand out of the harbor.....ha! When???? Not soon, we are betting! So, tomorrow (Monday) we are going into Jeremie and I'm going to see what all I can buy in bulk that I will need for the team. I figure if I can still find anything, I can get most things that are canned or don't spoil now instead of in a few weeks, when I would have gone shopping. I just wasn't ready to do that yet...am now though! ha! Seems like life here just keeps taking one turn after another. You have to be ready to just punt and take things as they come.

I'll make sure that I let people know that our menu may vary...ha! Depends on what I can find and if any of the boats decide to get brave and come to Jeremie! It will definitely be interesting. I'll keep you posted.

I don't know how many of you are animal lovers....we definitely are. Those of you that are will understand when I talk about Sejan and how much we love him. He will be 11 in July and that is old for a German Shepherd. He has been sick the last couple of months and we have been giving him some really strong antibiotics for the last few days, we hope it is helping. He is also taking some prednisone for what is wrong and it makes him very thirsty. His back hips are getting old and sometimes they just don’t want to work right. Please pray for him, yeah I know he's a dog, but he is a part of our family and we love him. Many of you have met Sejan and you know how attached we are to him. Just pray that this infection goes away and that he can be with us for a little longer. It's hard when the animals you love get old. We talked today about what a great life he has had. He has lived in 5 houses in Haiti and gone to the US two different times with us. He has traveled across the US (from Florida to Idaho) twice...once traveling for an entire month in the truck and stayed in many motels! He's been a trooper and gone everywhere with us! We'd love to have your prayers for his good health!

I want to wish you a blessed Easter season. I really miss being in the US during Easter time. Today, Palm Sunday, Pastor Plaisir did a regular sermon. I was really hoping to hear the Palm Sunday story of Jesus coming into Jerusalem and wished that I was at home to hear it. I miss the Ash Wednesday service as well as the Maudy Thursday and Good Friday services. We'll see if the sermon this coming Sunday reflects the Easter Story! We will be going to have a late lunch with friends from HHF in Jeremie on Sunday and are looking forward to that.

May all of you have a blessed week and be able to take time to read the Easter story from the Bible, I know I will.

God bless,

Joline

Hi Friends,

Last week was a really tough week for us and there isn't really a good place to start. Those of you that get our updates via e-mail already know the news, but many of you only read about us on this journal site, so this will be the first you hear of it. Our wonderful German Shepherd of almost 11 years, Sejan, died last Thursday afternoon. He had been sick for quite awhile with what we were afraid was a tumor in his nasal cavity. Because there is no capability for x-raying an animal here, we weren't sure, but the vets we could talk to via phone and e-mail suspected that's what it was. He started getting sick with it last September and it had gotten gradually worse. The week before he died, he didn't get around much, went outside to pee...lay in the grass and that was about it. He was still eating until that last Sunday, then he quit eating. We had just started giving him shots of a strong antibiotic in hopes it would help...but it only made him throw up. By Thursday morning, he hadn't eaten in 4 days, and was not voluntarily drinking any water and he couldn't get up, so we knew it was close to the end. After talking to our vet friend, in Cayes, he suggested just making him comfortable and to quit fighting him to drink even water. That was so very, very hard, but in hindsight the best thing we could do. Steve held him while he passed on and we all cried. He had a great impact on everyone he met in his life....he helped us host over 1,000 visitors to Haiti in the various places that we lived. The Haitians that took the time (and were not afraid of our big, 110 lb. dog) grew to love him as we did. The house help that met him over those 11 years took really good care of him and he is really missed. The day after he died, our cook stood in the middle of the kitchen after fixing our meal, just shaking her head. When I asked her what was wrong, she said, "it just isn't right without Sejan here, he always came to the kitchen to get something to eat after we ate." She wasn't sure what to do with herself. It is just a great testament to how he affected people. Once they got over how big he was, they grew to love him. We buried him in the side of the yard, with large stones as markers and I planted some flower seed around the rocks. I'm hoping it will be a beautiful spot someday! We miss him horribly....it will be awhile before we get over the fact that he is gone. For those of you that knew him, you understand and for those of you that are animal lovers you will too! We'll get a puppy again and love it with all of our hearts! Sejan would approve! Thanks for letting me talk about him, it helps! If you want to see some pictures of Sejan, go back to our picture on the partners page and click under the picture where it says newsletters....your see memorial to Sejan....click there!

On another sad note, we got an e-mail on Saturday night that a friend of ours died in a small plane crash in Illinois. Randy Hougham visited with a team last summer and worked hard and got to know several of the Haitian youth. He and his wife helped to support 3 of the high school students that they met....Randy was thrilled with Haiti and enthralled by it. He was a great person, worked hard and loved being here. We will miss seeing Randy again in Haiti. Please pray for his wife, Nancy and their 2 sons that have lost their husband and father. I can not even imagine the shock of such an accident or the loss!

We have been working very hard on getting the house ready for the next team that is coming on the 23rd. They leave Chicago on the 22nd, arriving in Port-au-Prince and spending the night, coming out here the next morning. We got our bedroom door done...looks a lot like the picture of the other doors, so won't send a picture of it, ha! Almost have the screen door done for our bedroom too. Just have to get the outside bars over the screen and stain the plywood for the bottom where the cat door will go! Almost done. Steve worked on the bathroom in the front dorm room and will try to get more done on it tomorrow. Will have to wait for Thursday to get a couple of fittings before he can finish it all, but it should be done by the weekend. With that done, the rooms will be ready to go! That is really exciting. This team has lots planned, it is the largest team we have had so far for NLH, 10 people. Five of them have been here before and 5 have not, we are really looking forward to this group! They will be painting the second school building, making screens for the grand room windows, and hopefully screen doors for the front and back doors. Plus, the women are putting together a women's day for the pastor's wives and President of the Dorcas (women's) group at our house, for fellowship, craft and lunch. This will be a first for me and I'm really excited about it. Also, Jason Clements (Rick Clements son) will be doing his Eagle Project here! He has collected supplies and gifts for the 40 elderly people at Asile, the retirement home in Marfranc. So we will go and do that one afternoon as well. Lots to do! I'll tell you all about it and send pictures when they leave!

My kitchen depot is getting done! They got a lot done last week. the walls are all up and they are putting up the stuff to pour the roof this week. Last week they poured the cement between the depot and kitchen and Monday poured the cement slab that will extend out one side of the depot to put the washing machine and an outdoor sink/wash area. It will have a corrugated metal roof and that will be nice. The stairs to go onto the roof will also be on that side. The crew is working really fast, so hopefully the roof will be done this week! More pictures to come.

Vilex showed the DVD, "Jesus" at 4 different churches the week before Easter. We borrowed a small generator for him and he took it and the screen, DVD projector and his laptop and went to Chameau (in the mountains), Moron (about 10 miles away) and Marfranc to show the film. He took the film, screen and projector to Jeremie and showed the film on Palm Sunday. He said that each of the churches were packed with people and that it was well received. The Pastor's at each of the churches talked at the end and asked people to invite Jesus into their lives. Vilex said that it was the first time that anyone had done anything like that in Chameau. Vilex has a great heart for this ministry and we are very happy to help him with it.

Well, friends, that is it for this week. I know that my heart is heavy for now, but that God will lighten it and give us peace about Sejan and Randy's death.

May God continue to love you and give you peace,

have a blessed week.......

Joline

Dear friends!

What a good week last week was! It was hectic and crazy and unpredictable...but that seems to be life here! It went so quickly...the weeks just seem to fly by!

We are getting ready for a team that arrives in 2 days. They actually leave the Chicago airport tomorrow (Wed), but don't get to us until Thursday morning. And of course, typical of our Haiti that we love, our Digicel cell phones are out. Seems something is wrong with our tower out here, so we are totally unconnected to anyone in Port, which means that normally when the team arrives, they let us know, then they call us when they are settled for the night, then the call us when they get on the little plane to come to Jeremie, so we know exactly when to pick them up! Well...guess what? Can't do any of that. Thankfully 5 of the people have been here before and Thom and Laurie McCluskey, who are leading the group, have been here many times, they are veterans and will be just fine! Have several plans of people they can call if there is a problem, plus some internet relays set up so that we know all is well! It will be just fine, a great beginning to an adventure in Haiti! It always seems to be that and more! I know you'll hear more next week as to their adventures. In the meantime we are preparing for them, getting rooms ready, bathrooms finished, supplies gathered, food prepared etc.

PLUS....on top of all that activity....they poured our cement roof today. I'll include a picture of the depot as it was on Friday.....then next week I'll post a picture of the roof done! I'm so excited about this, however, when they pour the roof, they put sticks or poles to hold up the plywood that molds the cements (holds it up) and those are in the way of the backdoor...great huh? So the backdoor does not open all the way, which just means less air and light! Oh well....plus, the chatado (or 400 gallon black plastic drum) that we put water in on the roof, didn't come in. The boat hasn't come in for a week or two again...so supplies aren't getting here. We have a 300 gallon chatado on the roof, but it won't last too long with 12 people, flushing toilets, taking showers etc.....so we were really counting on having another tank so that we wouldn't have to go and get water too many times. But, ain't going to happen, so this team will get the experience of going to the sous (spring) and getting the water, maybe more than once! ha! OR they will learn to conserve the water we have. It will be fun!.

Steve and I did get the screen door done for our bedroom and it is beautiful! it has a beautiful cat door in it and will be the model for the back door and double front doors to the grand room. The team is going to be working on those and the screens while they are here...expect to see some great pictures! It will totally change what the house looks like! I'm excited about them.

Okay, now for the big news!!!!! The Zurita's (Brian and Leslie) have been looking for a new puppy for us. They asked us what kind we want and after talking a lot decided not to get another German Shepherd, but to get a Lab. They do okay in the heat and are very easy to get along with and that is important with all of our visitors! We just don't want him to friendly with the thieves that live near by! Hope he can discern who is who!!!! Anyway, after several disappointments, when they thought they found the perfect puppy (5-6 mo. old, house broken, total shots, spayed, crate trained), but had already been adopted.....the found Bouki!!!!! Okay, you say his name like this Boo key only it's spelled Bouki. Bouki is a character in Haitian children's story books. Bouki and Ti-Malice are friends, they go on many adventures together! Ti-Malice thinks up all kinds of things to do (and to get them in trouble) and Bouki carries them out, and usually gets caught. He is kind of known as the one that gets in trouble and not the brains of the outfit, if you get what I mean!!!!! Sounds like a lab puppy doesn’t it! ha! Anyway, we thought it would be perfect for a chocolate lab. Bouki is 1/2 Chocolate English Labrador and 1/2 German Shorthair. I had to find what those looked like online. The English Labradors are very similar to the US Labrador Retrievers, except they are heavier in body and bulkier and more square in head and body. They are really pretty, the ones we saw pictures of were chocolate colored as well. German Shorthair dogs are bird hunting dogs...they come in black and brown (as far as I know) and are more solid on head and front and speckled in white on the back 1/2. Our good friends, the Taulbee's in Lewiston, have a beautiful German Shorthair! She is wonderful, intelligent and has a great disposition! Both of Bouki's parents are chocolate color and Bouki is beautiful.

He is 6 weeks old and when he went to the vet for his first visit on Monday, he weighed a little over 7 lbs. Zurita's have posted video's on YouTube, if you want to see them, so to YouTube, in the search box, type...Bouki01 up to Bouki10 and it will pop up! Brian made short segments for us so we could download them and look at them easier! Anyway, he is soooo cute and looks so cuddly. Zurita's say he is a keeper and will be a great dog (if they give him to us...ha!). Brian is planning on delivering Bouki himself, probably around the first of May! We are so excited.

Hope you enjoy the pictures! Can't wait for many of you to meet him when you come and visit.

Guess that's enough for one week.....have lots to do yet, not sure if I'll get a journal done on Monday, due to the team being here...but check the front page of the NLH website for journal entries from the team when they write as they visit here!

We love you all, and thank you for all the support you give us! It is so awesome working with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ for the good of the Kingdom!

Blessings to you all......Bondieu beni ou.

Love,

Joline