Roller Coaster Day

Going Up

Riding in the back of the truck

We started for Chedner's at 8:00 a.m. as planned.  He was ready to go when we arrived.  We arrived at the hardware store about 10:00 o'clock or so . . . we encountered just a tiny "blokis" around the American embassy.  I was impressed with the hardware store, primarily because it had quality looking materials in it: lawn furniture, faucets, toilets, paint on the shelves.  It looked familiar (read American).  We were able to find pretty much everything we needed except rags and small containers to hold paint.  I think the concept of a "rag"' is alien to Haitians.  I guess I should say the concept of buying rags.  Why pay money for things that you can make at home by recycling the clothes no longer good to wear?  It makes sense--all the rags we had as kids came from old, cut up t-shirts.

Shopping

We got extra brushes and rollers because the older boys wanted to help.  Don't know that that turned out to be such a good idea!  More on that later.

Yes!  Under our limit!

We kept the cost to under $300 which was good.  The hardest part was picking out the color!  For some reason Chedner didn't want to pick the color!  And, I have no ability to color coordinate--I wore pink and green on the plane and Rhonda and Susan questioned my outfit.  Susan came to the rescue and chose Pastel Green.  Unfortunately, they didn't carry that color in 5 gallon buckets.  So, we went back to the color wheel and settled on "peche," or peach.  It still went with the chocolate for the door accents, so we were good to go.  

Coming Down

Upon return to Chedner's we hoped to begin painting.  No such luck.  The walls still had to be sanded (so why did we wash the walls yesterday if they still needed to be sanded today?).  Within minutes the air was filled with a fine dust.  We explained to Chedner that we couldn't begin painting the ceiling while the boys were sanding because there would be too much dust in the air.  I was growing worried because we were concerned about being able to get all the painting done, having already lost precious hours this morning.  So, we walked back to Gertrude's for lunch with Chedner's promise that the sanding would be done when we returned at 1:00.  

As we approached Chedner's after lunch, we could still hear the sounds of sandpaper ringing in the air.  We looked at each other and shook our heads.  The boys were "sorta" done with the job, but we were determined to begin on the ceilings.  Chaos.

Upswing

The tiniest of positives come right before the ceiling fiasco.  We called the little kids upstairs and handed out their gifts: a lunch box filled with toys and school supplies.  Smiles all around!

Plummet

After the paint fight

Not sure who won or lost the fight

We opened the ceiling paint, and you'da thought that they boys had been given a sugar I.V.!  We poured it into the paint tray, and before we knew it, the five older boys had pretty much all the rollers and were slopping it everywhere!  We had put down a drop cloth, but they paid no head of that.  White ceiling paint was on the floor, the table, and parts of the walls before it got on the ceiling.  It was 30 minutes of chaos, and I just about lost it.  I felt sick to my stomach because all I could think was that I was totally screwing this up.  And, to top it off, various neighbors felt the need to stop in and view the work.  Kids on their way home from school poked their heads in.  I felt as if I were in a three-ring circus!  

Up, Up, Up!

Eventually Chedner moved the boys on to ceiling in the back rooms which left Rhonda, Susan, and I to paint the walls in the front room.  I have to admit, the first rolls of wall paint dropped all our stomachs.  It went on like white wash.  No kidding, I thought we would have to put on about 15 coats.  The paint was thin, not stirred well enough, and the walls just soaked it up.  Not all places on the walls had been prepped well enough, so in spots it bubbled.  I have to admit, at moments I felt as if we were just creating a huge mess.  However, after about an hour, the room actually started to look okay.  I'd even venture that it looked decent.  While Rhonda and Susan did some touch-up work in the front room, I moved on to the hallway.  By the time we left, the front room looked pretty much finished and the hallway area had a good first coat on it.  

Tomorrow our plan is to start bright and early at 8:00, paint until noon, break for lunch, and then paint another 3-4 hours.  

We headed back to clean up, tired and sweaty, but feeling as if we had accomplished something.

That's the painting saga. 

 I wanna go back to the "upswing" portion.  The kids loved receiving their lunch boxes.  I think the thought that someone had thought to bring them a gift blew them away.  I think that they had something of their own blew them away.  I think that they had a gift blew them away.  I forget how much I have in the States and how much I take for granted.  It's not right or wrong or good or bad.  It's the reality of the world we live in.  

But, I need to hold onto the reality that so many others live in and figure out ways to walk with them as equals.  

I think tomorrow's blog will be less about what happens and more about thoughts.  I have so much that I want to share, but my battery power is running low.  As is my brain power!

Taking care of the kids

Getting Started

Another "first"day in Haiti.  Lots of good stuff happened along with lots of typical Haiti stuff.  Like time issues.  I have to admit I really don't understand the Haitian concept of time.  It makes it so hard to plan stuff.  Like, if you say you're going to meet someone at noon, then meet them at noon.  Not at 1:00.  Not whenever.  Or worse, not ever!  Oh, well.  At least I got drive again in Haiti!  I think Gertrude may even allow me to take the truck out on my own more often.

That's it for the rant about typical Haiti stuff.  Now on to the good stuff.  Like meeting all the new kids at Notre Maison. Like seeing the "babies" all grown up--okay, so they're really only three, but they talk and they walk and they feed themselves.  It's so cool.  Like holding Alexandria who looks so much better than when I last saw her.

Chedner

One of Chedner's new boys hard at work

 Like getting started right away at Chedner's.  Lots of good things going on.

Chedner has new kids at the orphanage.  I understand that he has taken in five older boys from Cite Soleil.  Cite is a VERY rough and VERY poor area not far from where we are.  In fact, Cite Soleil is one of the poorest  areas in the Western Hemisphere.  These guys have seen the hard side of life in every way.  I'm not sure why they were sent to Chedner's, but at least they are getting three meals a day and have a roof over their heads.  They, too, will be coming with us to the beach on Thursday.  Should be interesting.

Storage/play room while we prepped the walls

The little guy in the bed to the left is Chi Chi.  He has a beautiful smile and a huge personality.  Even though his body doesn't work so well, he's an awesome little boy.  I love seeing him light up when someone pays him a bit of attention!

Cliff--new boy at Chedner's

    The boy to the right, Cliff, is new to me.  He doesn't seem to do much except lie there.  I'd like to spend more time with him tomorrow when I can take a break from painting.




I also enjoyed seeing some of the new road construction in the neighborhood.  Progress is happening, albeit slowly.





Okay.  So, I have to go back to a bit of venting about all things typical of Haiti.  Rhonda, Susan, and I sent money to Chedner about three weeks ago so that he could be the paint so that we would be all ready to paint first thing tomorrow morning.  Guess where the paint is?  That's right--still at the hardware store!  He hasn't bought it yet.  I worry only because the last time I tried to buy paint in Haiti it took three hours.  So, if that holds true again, then we will have lost some valuable painting time.


We'll just have to wait and see!

Great Day, Hard Night (pt. Two)

You may think I'm crazy if you read the last post (I just published it this morning).  The internet was being goofy--go figure, I know--and I couldn't post the first part of Great Day, Hard Night, and the website wouldn't let me continue typing either.  That's the first part just ends with misspelled words.

So, to pick up where I left off  . . .

 . . . Wolton caught me on my way upstairs after the "getting ready for bed" chaos, and he begged me to bring the matchbox cars down.  I said "No." He asked again.  I said "No" again with every excuse running through my mind: I'm tired, the noise will kill me, the kids will get wound up.  But, he looked at me with adorable face of his, and I thought "Why not?  Will it kill me to give 30 minutes of my time?"  I said, "Yes."  Pretty soon 15 kids were playing with the cars on the floor.  Was it loud?  Yes.  Was there crying and screaming? Was it worth it?  Yes.  It really was so easy to spend 30 minutes supervising the chaos and managing who had how many cars and consoling the crying kids who had their car taken from them.

Then came time to go to say prayers and put the cars away.  That went okay.  But then I had to tell the girls to go out back and sing their prayers.  Mimose wouldn't go.  No matter what Alix and I said, she refused to move.  Even when I told her that if she didn't move I would discipline her, she didn't move (she thought I was joking, not being jerky).  I had to follow through on what I said, so I pointed upstairs and said, "Mete sou jenou." --"On your knees."  She looked at me in shock, and suddenly the kids behaved.  All except Michael--he had been naughty quite a bit.  So, both Michael and Mimose went upstairs to kneel.

I have mixed feelings about having the kids kneel as punishment only because they are often left for hours to kneel.  Now, they don't kneel that whole time because the person punishing them leaves, does other things, and the kids end up talking and just sitting.  I think, though, that 10 minutes of real kneeling would be more of a punishment than hours of just sitting and still being involved in what's going on.  I put on my "tough face" and made the kids kneel on the steps facing Gertrude's office (I didn't want them to be able to watch T.V.).  I told them 10 minutes and that every time they turned around I would add 1 minute.  I then plopped myself down next to them (discipling kids is a pain because you really end up discipling yourself!  Yuck.).  Mimose understood, served her 10 minutes, and went on her way, albeit a bit slowly at first due to still knees.  Michael, however, still thought it was a joke.  He kept turning around and smiling or making faces to see what I would do.  Thirty minutes later he finally was able to go downstairs!

As an aunt, I've never really had to discipline my nieces and nephew, and even as a teacher when I give kids a detention it's not bad because I would be there anyway and I am able to get work done.  This is the first time I was inconvenienced by disciplining children.  I wanted to be downstairs and be a part of the prayers because it was my last night there.  I wanted to read my book, but if I was doing that I couldn't keep on eye on the kids to make sure they weren't watching T.V.  And, sitting on a hard stairs for 30 minutes is the most comfortable.

It's not the way I wanted to spend my last night, but it needed to be done.  I don't know that the kids learned much (other than I will now discipline them and follow through on what I say), but I know I learned some stuff.  Maybe that was the whole point--for me to learn.

Great Day, Hard Night

I was too tired to post last night, so you're getting it this morning.

Horse therapy was amazing, as always.  The kids are doing so much better!  I wish I could post some of the video here so that you could see, but I can't figure it out with my iPad.  Cade doesn't scream anymore and sits up straight in the saddle.  He sits well on the horse, like an actual rider.  Rosaline's increased strength is amazing.  She sits up without much support, and she continues to smile brightly the entire time she's there.

Yesterday Elizabeth and I fitted the kids with riding boots that she had donated.  The kids look pretty snazzy in them!  She's also looking for riding pants for them.  The push to get them decked out in riding clothes is because as part of the dressage competition she is organizing for the Equestrian Club is a lead-line class for special-needs folks.  Cade, Jean-Daniel, and Christina will be a part of that.  It will be a great experience for them (as long as Cade doesn't panic with the crowds) and great exposure for the Notre Maison horse therapy.  Wouldn't it be great if it could bring in more financial support for the horse therapy???

After therapy Alix, Will, Sony, Roberto, and I went to Croix des Boquets because I had never been there.  I bought a couple of small pieces of iron work, but the coolest part for me was listening to the sounds of the artisans tapping at the tin as they worked.  You'll have to go to my Facebook site to hear it, though.  Can't upload it here.  Maybe I'll try to add when I get back to the States.  Lunch was some fried plantains and pikliz bought on the street.  Good stuff.

Before I left in May, I wanted to get out to the memorial for the mass burial of people who died in the earthquake.  I know how to get there and planned to take the motorcycle, but I wasn't sure I wanted to go by myself.  Well, Will has a motorcycle, so I asked him he would be willing to go out there with me.  He took Alix on the back of his cycle, and I followed on mine.  Great time!  Traffice was heavy, but fullblown "blokis."  It was great practice for me, and I finally go out to the memorial.  Riding out on the "highway" wasn't too bad; I was surprised at how the wind blew the bike, but I handled it well.   We took a wrong turn on the way back, so we saw a bit more of PAP than anticipated.

It was after supper that the night became a bit more difficult.  See, for whatever reason, a number of the nannies didn't come to work.  I don't know whether they're sick, need to be at home to take care of their own kids, or didn't come in because they know Gertrude is gone.  No matter what the reason, it's hard for two nannies to care for 20+ special-needs kids.  Supper was complete chaos!  Again, I don't know the reason for this, but supper the last two nights has been cold cereal--corn flakes.  The problem is that each child only gets about one cup of cereal.  They were all hungry, and the special-needs kids were putting up a fuss.  The food grabbers were in full form, and even the other kids were having a hard time not trying to get as much food as they could.

We went from that to getting the kids ready for bed.  Oh boy.  Ever tried to change the diapers of 10 special-needs kids with a two nine-year-old girls in charge???  Getting the diapers changed was a battle because the kids didn't necessarily want to go to bed.  The kids who can walk kept taking off.  Cade decided to make a game out of throwing wet diapers at people.  Jephte opted to run around butt naked.  There was poweder all over the floor.  The older boys came in just to watch (we finally told them that if they were going to be in the room they had to change diapers.  Yea, they left).  Brilner wouldn't stay in bed.  Just when I thought we were done, Mimose looked at me at said, "Jamie, poko fini"--"Jamie, we're not finished yet."  We still had Alain, Joesph, Woodmeyer, and a couple others to go.  I was ready to scream, and I would have if Cade had hit me in the face with a wet diaper!  Alix had that privelege.

The kids were finally all freshly diapered and relatively ready for bed.  I headed upstairs, but Wolton coucouth

Afternoon News

If you read the blog from earlier today, you know that I spent the afternoon relaxing at the Caribbean Lodge after swim therapy.  It was great.  When I returned (I had taken the motorcycle there so that I could stay late), the kids wanted to go to the school.  While the playground was open, it was just about time for me to eat, and Mimose gets upset if folks don't eat pretty much as soon as the food is ready.  I understand that--the longer I wait to eat, the later she has to wait to clean up!  So, we had to nix the playing at the school.

Turns out there was another soccer game across the way tonight--I guess there was a game last night, too.  The older boys wanted to know whether they could go again after eating (they went last night with Alix).  These boys--Wolton, Jameson, Keloke, and Edson--actually watch the game and are interested in it, so it was no problem to take them.  Alx joined us.  Soccer's not my favorite game, but it is fun to watch and feel the energy of the crowd.  Loud music blares from a jerry-rigged sound system, the crowd stands right on the edges of the field lines, and little boys chase after the balls when they get booted out of the area.  Talk about being right in the middle of things!

The big news for the afternoon is the call I received from Elizabeth.  Her friend Danielle from the states has taken a HUGE interest in the kids at horse therapy.  Well, Elizabeth and the equestrian club have organized a dressage show for August 31.  They want to have three of our kids ride in it as a part of the lead-line competition!  Danielle is going to arrange for the kids to get riding clothes.  In fact, tomorrow, Elizabeth and I will fit the kids with riding boots for the show.  The kids will each get a ribbon for participating!  I hope somebody from here can go and take pictures so that they can be posted onsite--the more exposure the better!  If nothing else, Elizabeth said that they will have somebody taking pictures and shooting video, so I can get images from her.

Elizabeth has another friend who wants to come visit the orphanage to meet the kids and get a better understanding of the kids and their day to day lives.  They are going to come on Saturday.  I am continually amazed at how the network of folks interested in making the horse therapy a permanent part of these kids lives continues to grow!  God is so good.