Redondo, Yveson, and Cleiford

I want to share a bit of what I know of these three boys.  Basically, we have seen them around town for the past month or so, and we have given them water and food a few times, but we didn't realize initially that they were living on the street.  We thought that they, like many children in Jimani, were just left to their own a majority of the time.  About three weeks ago, we ran into them again at our regular grocery store, and with six weeks of Creole lessons under my belt tried to have a conversation with them, and from that conversation understood that they were living on the street.  We started to try to verify their story and the store owner said they were just always on the street.  I began praying for wisdom and guidance.  Well, we didn't see them again for the next two weeks or so, until last Friday when we were on our way to Port au Prince for the weekend.  We ran into them as I made a last stop to buy water to hand out to the border guards.  I decided to postpone our departure and took them to the facility to speak with Hostey, one of the facility staff that speaks English and Creole.  

We gave them money for food for the weekend and asked them to meet us on Monday after we returned from Port au Prince.  Well, yesterday they showed up with the clothes on their back, and an extra garment or two a piece.  We got more of their story, and their mom's died in the earthquake.  Two of them are cousins.  They worked for a bus-driver for a short time after the earthquake finding people to ride on his bus, and when they earned enough for their own fare, they managed to get across the border into Jimaní.

We don't yet have legal permission in place to take in children.  My biggest concern about taking them in without any permission is the potential impact to the future ministry, which led me to the meeting with CONANI, the Dominican Republic's government office for the protection of children and adolescents.  I met with a Reuben, a man specifically in charge of dealing with the increased number of street kids as a result of the earthquake.  He was very open to our working with these children and gave us temporary permission to house them, and scheduled a meeting with a coalition of organizations in Jimaní that oversees services for the area's children and adolescents.  At this meeting Melissa and I will be presenting plans for use of the facilities as a Children's Home.

We always knew that God would be the one to make this happen, and He seems to be putting the pieces together.

We appreciate your prayers as we prepare for the meeting and your prayers for these boys.

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Morning Assembly at Batey 41

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assembly.mp4 (4177 KB)

Melissa and I were at Batey 41 this morning, and once again we were confused on the time change.  While it take us 20 minutes to get there it because of the road conditions and not the distance, and since we don't cross an official border crossing, I always forget that they follow the time zone for Haiti which is one hour behind the DR.  However, it was nice to be there before school started to see all the kids on their way to school, and excited to be going.  It was also nice to catch the morning assembly as the kids line up, sing, and pray before starting their morning.

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Kate's Goat

This is Kate's as of yet unnamed Goat. You can send us any name suggestions.

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A Unique Clothes Dryer

We have a clothes line that we have hanging in our living room so we can dry our clothes without worrying if it is going to rain or not.  However, to take full advantage of the sun, we also have one that is hanging over a planter outside our back windows.  In order to hang or retrieve clothes Melissa has to climb out the window into the planter.  The planter connects to the room next the living room, which is what we use a TV room.  Tonight, she startled Michael and his friends, who were in there playing video games, when she decided to climb into that room from the windows instead of back-tracking to the living room!  It's not just laundry, it's a sport!

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A Fun Week

We have a group of nurses down this week, mostly from the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  They have seen all of our school students in the four programs in Sosúa.  This picture is a group of kids showing of their fingers that just got stuck for a blood test to check the iron levels in their blood which can be used as  part of a nutrition assessment.  Check out their blog http://projectassessment2010.wordpress.com/

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An Fun Game of Air Hockey at McDonald's

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We have Arrived

We'll after months of struggle, court paperwork, and government agencies we have finally begun our first visit to the States with Michael.  We are so excited.  Experiencing the United States through Michael's eyes has already been interesting.  Here are a few of my favorite moments so far.

1.  Michael asks, "Is there a bathroom in Nana and Poppo's house?"

2.  In the Miami Airport, he needs to go to the bathroom and I inform him, "Michael, just so you know, here they throw the toilet paper in the toilet to throw it away."  He looks at me with a very puzzled expression, and asks "Why?".  I tell him, "It's just the culture here."  I need to make sure he knows that I meant in all homes in the United States, and not just the Miami Airport.  I'm telling mom and dad this story on the way to their house, and my dad says, it's okay, I've made sure that there are plastic bags in all the trash cans in the bathrooms, because of Kate's visit in January, I evidently forgot re-entry cultural counselling for here, and she kept with the Dominican custom of throwing the paper in the trash can a few times.  Just a heads up for the homes we will be visiting!

3.  He was amazed when we passed a car transport truck on the interstate with 10 cars stacked up on it.

4.  His excited face on the plane for his first flight.

5.  Him trying to convince us that he is not going to be shy when he meets all the new people here, and he keeps reminding us that he, "Speakies Englesh"

6.  When we got to Nana and Poppo's and started settling in, he asked, "Do they have air conditioning?"  I said "Yes, but right now it is hot air that comes out to make the house warmer, because it is colder outside."  Another puzzled look from Michael.

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