This morning over coffee we spent time talking about some of the details of the child sponsorship program. Joline has already bought all the material for the children’s school uniforms for next year (no one can go to school in Haiti without a uniform—it’s a cultural thing). We’re going to give the parents the material and a ticket for a local seamstress to sew the uniforms, then the seamstress can redeem the ticket for cash with us. We’re also going to experiment with buying some classroom sets of books, because most of the kids do not end up with the math or history books they really need. We also talked a little more about the possibility of future feeding programs at the schools. We’ll have to try a pilot program soon, but when we were doing the photos, we saw a lot of soon-to-be first graders with the red hair indicative of malnourishment.

Speaking of photos, we went back to the school this morning to take a final few sponsorship photos. While there, I met with the pastors and jaks (deacons) from the various villages we are working with. It was a good opportunity to explain to them that we will get good things done in their villages, “moso pa moso” (little by little). I think the meeting made them feel even more like they are connected to us, and that we can “fe bon travay” (do good work) together.

When I got out of my meeting, Erin, Linda and Sally were busy passing out vitamins to the kids. THEN CAME THE FUN! At Joline’s request, Linda had brought bottles of bubbles, and during recess we all blew bubbles in the school courtyard with dozens of children around each of us. The kids laughed and jumped up to try and pop the bubbles. It was a blast!

One thing I learned on this trip was that my wife has a tremendous ability to keep these little faces straight. She was recognizing children that various friends of ours sponsor, then grabbing me and saying, “Take a picture of this little girl”. I get a bit overwhelmed with 50 little faces around me, but Linda seems to take in every one.

Tomorrow we head home. The week has flown by, and as always, our little team has had fun and really gotten to know each other. I am grateful that God has led us to this remote piece of His world, a place of beauty and poverty. May we be faithful to voice that calls us to love here, when it’s easy and when it’s not.

Yesterday we went to the school to take pictures of the new incoming first graders and to distribute vitamins to all of the kids in the school. We got to the school in time to watch them line up, say the national anthem and raise the flag. After the anthem the children sang a school song, and said a prayer verse before they went to their classes.

The new first graders were so cute. They all came with their mothers or grandmothers. The new first graders were so small. Most of them were scared to have their pictures taken and very unsure of the large group of white people. I had to stop and think about how many 5 and 6 year olds in the United States are nervous and unsure around strangers, and then compound that fear with people who are a different color, don’t speak their language and are trying to take a picture of them. The children were very, very sweet and after multiple attempts we got a good picture of almost everyone.

There was one child that came with his mother who really tugged at everyone’s heart. This little boy has downs syndrome. His mother wanted very badly for him to be in the program and while we were trying to take his picture she was very stern with him to put his hands down and to smile. It just wasn’t going to happen, but we took a nice picture of him standing with his mother. It is truly hard to image what this little boy’s life must be like now and what it will be like when he grows up. While this little boy will not be the typical child in the sponsorship program, we all decided that he needed to be in the sponsorship program and that his sponsorship would need to look a little different than the rest. What a sweet little boy.

Today we hiked up to Canton with Velix. It was a very long walk on a VERY hot day. We got about half way there and met a child, John Kelly Cheri, who is the grandson of the pastor in Canton. John Kelly is 12 and is in third grade in the Baptist School in Marfranc, he is in the sponsorship program, so we wanted to stop by his house, and see where he lived. His Dad came out of the garden to talk to us for a few minutes, we were very impressed with how attentive to his son he was and what a hard worker he seemed to be. The amazing thing to me was to realize that this little boy walks for at least a half hour each way to school and has to cross the river twice each way. It is hard to imagine an American child being willing to walk that far and cross the river twice to be able to go to school everyday.

We did make it to Canton, very hot and quite sweaty but we got there, and after a few minutes of sitting and some water (which we had to carry with us), we enjoyed a nice visit. The school in Canton is about 20’ by 60’ (which is actually the church). They have first through third grade in that one room school, with two small chalkboards and nothing else. We brought a world map and a set of alphabet cards for the school and it was fun to watch the pastor look at these things. He said that it will make the children excited to learn. It is hard to believe that such small things can make a difference, but I hope so.

Today is Thursday. We arrived in Port au Prince on schedule Tuesday afternoon. On this trip are my wife, Linda, Erin Inman (a good friend from church), and Sally Cook (I met Sally on an airplane a couple years ago, we talked about Haiti, became friends, and here she is with us!).

Getting out of Port au Prince was interesting, only because we had to wake up the guest house manager Wednesday morning to drive us to the small airport. I was worried we would miss our flight, but it all worked out. The 19 seat plane got us to Jeremie about 9:00 Wednesday morning, but did not bring ANY of our luggage (I keep clothes here, but the gals have been rewashing the same clothes and borrowing things from Joline).

Wednesday afternoon we walked through the market, and ran into many friends from the church here. I guess I’ve been here fairly often, because many children in the market called to me, “Paste Fran, Paste Fran.” You never think so many people live out here until you go into Marfranc like we did on market day, and it is wall-to-wall with thousands of people.

This morning we went up to the school and took photos of all the kids who are already in the child sponsorship program. It went really well. Joline and Vilex made sure each child was matched with the right information sheet, Linda helped with getting the kids ready, Sally walked them over and handed them the white board with their number on it, I held the sheet to reflect light, and Erin shot the photos (which turned out great!).

As always, the kids are adorable. A special treat was that each of us on the trip got to meet the child we are sponsoring and spend a few extra moments with them. It’s hard for us in the U.S. to imagine what it’s like to grow up with nothing, but that is the plight these kids face. Tomorrow we’re going to take pictures of a bunch of kids who will be in first grade next year. We do still have some kids from the first group who are not sponsored, so I hope we can get those and the new first graders sponsored in the next few months.

Well, that’s it for today. As we sat on the porch of the house by the river last night, I was enraptured by the beauty of a full moon shining through the leaves and stalks of the Papaya tree, and I remembered that God, who has none of the blindness which plagues the rest of us, sees all the beauty in this poor place—the beauty of misty mountains banking a clear flowing river, the beauty of big smiles on the faces of Haitian friends when we return, and the beauty in the searching, open, unsure eyes of little children.

Hi All,

Just wanted you to know that the team arrived safely...however, NO LUGGAGE except their carry ons...just one more reminder that anything important needs to be in the carryon luggage, including 1 change of clothes!!! ARGH!

Please pass this on to anyone that would want to know that they are here. I'm sure you'll be hearing from them tonight, just wanted you all to know!

Love,

Joline