More Photos from our November Trip

For more photos from the November trip, click here.

Photos from November Trip

For more photos from the November trip, click here.

Message from Rev Kesner Ajax

Date:December 20, 2010
Subject: Haiti
Dearest friends and partners of the Diocese of Haiti
2010 has been one of the darkest years in Haiti's history. The earthquake,
Hurricane Tomas, the cholera epidemic and political unrest have shocked the
Haitian people. Their hope for a better tomorrow has been weakened. However,
their determination to fight will allow them to overcome any obstacle presented.

On behalf of the Diocese of Haiti, and the Partnership Program I would like to
Thank you for your immeasurable support. 2010 has also been a year of great
friendship and partnership, and because of this it has been a year of promise
for Haiti.
Haiti, of course is not the only country in the world with problems. And yet,
the passion and investment you all have shown for Haiti reveals that, God has
not forgotten the people of Haiti and that he will indeed support each of us
through his trials.
On behalf of the Diocese of Haiti, and the Partnership Program, I wish a Happy
New Year to all of you – our very special friends and partners! Let this be a
fruitful New Year of peace, love, prosperity, and collaboration!
Love and Thanks during this Holy Holiday season!

Très Chers amis et partenaires du diocèse d'Haïti,
L'année 2010 aura été l'une  des plus sombres pour le pays : tremblement de
terre, cyclone, cholera et troubles politiques ont traumatisé le peuple haïtien
jusqu'à vraiment affaiblir son espoir en des lendemains meilleurs. Cependant,
son acharnement à lutter et à combattre va lui permettre de triompher de tout obstacle.

Au nom du diocèse d'Haïti, la coordination du programme de partenariat vous
remercie de votre support impossible à mesurer. L'année 2010 a été aussi une
année consacrée à l'amitié, au partenariat, donc c'était une année d'ouverture
sur Haïti.

Et pourtant, on n'est pas le seul pays dans le monde qui a des difficultés.
Cela nous montre qu' à  travers vos œuvres de bienfaisance, Dieu n'a pas oublié
le peuple haïtien et qu'il le supporte à travers ses épreuves.

The Rev. Kesner Ajax
Executive Director, Bishop Tharp Institute
Partnership program coordinator, Episcopal Diocese of Haiti

Mailing address:
c/o Agape Flights acc# 2519
100 Airport Ave
Venice, FL 34285
Tels. 011-509-3445-3346
011-509-3724-8376

St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral - Memphis - Sermon by Rev. Drew Woodruff - Dec. 12, 2010, 8 AM service

Follow this link to a sermon by Drew Woodruff at St Marys Cathedral in Memphis on December 12, 2010 at 8 AM service. He preaches about Advent and being in Haiti.
http://www.stmarysmemphis.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=177&Itemid=198

In Memoriam

On our recent trip to St Vincent's we learned one of the children had died this summer. Her name was Yolande Jean Baptiste.
Apparently she had pneumonia and went to the hospital, but was very sick and did not recover. We were shocked and saddened by this news. I guess we all thought that after the earthquake, nothing else bad could happen to our children. We also had the selfish feeling that someone should have told us about it, that somehow we have a special relationship with those children and we deserve to know when one of them is sick or goes to the hospital. We Americans really don't understand how sickness and death are part of everyday life in Haiti. Although our hearts and minds are at St Vincent's every day, reality means we are only with them 2 weeks out of every year.
Yolande is in many of our photos with her big smile and pretty hair bows. I remember she could not speak but always greeted us with a friendly smile and bright eyes. She was there in Montrouis with the children who were evacuated from the school after the earthquake. Drew sat with her under a tree by the ocean, playing with the "Four Musketeers"' Yolande, Yolende, Auguste and Diana. These four children are crippled and confined to a wheelchair. None of them can speak. Auguste is blind and deaf. Yet they love attention and Drew has spent endless hours playing with them, hugging them and holding them in his lap. These children are always together; one of my memories from our April trip is seeing them sleeping together on the floor of a tent, guarded by Madame Merita who is their faithful caregiver.
This trip when Drew went to check on them, shortly after our arrival, there was someone missing. Now there are "Three Musketeers".
I wondered to myself if something could have been done to save this child. I have treated several children for pneumonia on previous trips, including baby Diana who was so sick the first time we met her she couldn't hold her head up off the pillow. Lifesaving antibiotics did their magic, and now Diana is growing up so we have to stop calling her baby Diana.
Always there will be this question of what else could be done to help these children. Even in America, children die from pneumonia, but somehow that doesn't make me feel any better.

Haiti memories from Diane Reddoch

On a warm December afternoon, I had the privilege to know what it feels like to be part of " Dancing with the Stars ".
Precious Dieumene asked me if I could dance, I said sure and she then asked me to teach her a dance. I first did a little of the Charleston, but quickly decided that was not the dance for us. I chose the waltz, and as I placed my hands on her shoulder I began to count, " One, two,three,one,two,three". She picked it up quickly and soon I was humming the Blue Danube waltz! We even tried a twirl!!. Her sense of rhythm and eagerness to dance made this a joy. There we were, following one another's lead, and having a wonderful time. We used the parts God gave each of us, and we became one. I'll always cherish this opportunity, especially since I didn't get to know her well the year before.
Another special memory was playing "bat the balloon" with Samuel. We tapped this half filled balloon all over the room and laughed out loud at the sudden moves of the other person. It was like tennis/badmitton/volleyball all rolled into one. After a long time, I noticed Yolene smiling and indicating that she wanted something. I tried several things unsuccessfully and then finally sat down next to her and place a small plastic toy in her hand. Her eyes lit up! She let it slip through her fingers onto the bed. I picked it up, placed it in her hands and she repeated the drop. She and I were doing what I had done with Samuel, only tailor-made for her, She loved it! As we played, I saw her happiness blossom and my heart overflowed with joy. We were sharing something just between us. Her smile said it all. I'm so glad I didn't miss this chance to be fully engaged with her. Miracles like that don't come along very often! I was in the right place at the right time and hold this memory close to my heart.
sent in by Diane Reddoch

Yeowch!

One of the important things we do in our medical clinic is check hemoglobins (iron counts) on many of the patients. We try to check all the adults and any kid who is sick with fever or who looks undernourished This means just about everybody. The unfortunate soul who gets to stick everybody's finger is John Mutin. For such a nice man and big teddy bear who loves kids, it doesn't seem fair.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Sherye was a big hit with the deaf kids and staff. I realized as I watched her that I don't think many visitors to St Vincents can sign to the deaf. Imagine how isolating that is. It was clear that the deaf students, especially the teenagers, were thrilled to be able to communicate. Sherye was a little overwhelmed, I believe, with all the attention at first. Also the rush of clinic can be confusing, with translators trying to be everywhere at once, patients crowding the door, children running everywhere and multiple languages spoken (and signed!) I tend to get into my "zone" I call it. Focusing on the patient in front of me. Trying to use my Kreyol. Kisa m'kapab fe pou ou? What can I do for you? Depi kile ou gen pwoblem? How long have you had this problem? Gen tous? do you have cough? And so on. I find that the question of when or how long seems to be irrelevant to most Haitians. Even with a good translator, I can't get people to tell me how many days or weeks they have had a sore throat or rash. They just repeat the complaint. Do you have cough? Yes. How long? I have cough. Yes, but how many days? You know, cough. Sherye and I got tickled after she kept asking the deaf patients these questions. She would look at me after several attempts and say, He has a cough! Yeah, I got that part...
So while I'm in my zone, I don't pay much attention to what goes on outside the door. John Mutin, bless him, comes by frequently to remind me to drink water and to refill my water bottle. On our second day in clinic, Sherye had discovered the power of using one of the teenage girls to help her. No one can organize and boss people around like a teenage girl. Sherye enlisted the help of Blenda, a deaf girl who attached herself to Sherye very quickly. Sherye explained to Blenda that we needed patients to line up in order; each patient is given an index card with a number to make this easier and try to reduce the amount of "cutting in line". Blenda went right to work in the crowd and soon had everyone seated, in order, waiting their turn.
Sherye was so impressed with Blenda that she kept bragging about her all day. John, however, kept asking if we could get someone else to help with bringing patients into the clinic. Finally we got Sherye and John together to sort out the problem. John explained that when he stuck Blenda's finger for the hemoglobin test, she hollered like she was dying! Thereafter she told every kid, in the dramatic sign language she is so good at, how much that test was going to hurt! John would greet a small child with his big friendly grin, and the child would erupt into screams! Before he even touched their finger with an alcohol swab, they were terrified. After we all got a good laugh, Sherye assured John she would take care of it. Apparently Blenda got the message, because after that John's patients were a lot more cooperative.
The next day John told me all the deaf kids came up to him and held their index finger out.
Susan Nelson

Bits and Pieces from our week in Haiti

Every mission team has it's own particular personality. This trip I was delighted to have along one of my best friends in the world, Sherye Fairbanks. Sherye is fluent in American Sign Language, and was an instant celebrity with the deaf kids and staff at St Vincents. I don't think she believed me all these years when I told her how much good she could do at the school.
Sherye also has the ability to see humor in almost anything, and she kept us laughing all week. At the end of our trip, she helped me make a list of some funny sayings that commemorate our experience. Some of these may not make sense to anyone outside the mission team, but I offer them here for the team members as a humorous remembrance of our week together in Haiti.

Flushing the toilet in Haiti is an act of faith.

There are 3 trash cans in Haiti.

Have you met our friend in the sink?

Laughing Geckos.

In a Haitian restaurant we greet the owner, "Hello!" He responds, "Shalom!"
In this same restaurant we try to order off the Kreyol menu, with Jean Robert's help. He explains one menu item this way: "You know, when you cook your goat with bananas...and then you add piclise (hot Haitian relish)". We decided to have the chicken and rice. (Of course despite our earnest efforts to order off the menu, we were all served the same thing anyway).

Amazing things said by Bev, our guest house manager, include: "Back when I got my pilot's license...". and "Back when I was searching for babies in abandoned ravines..."

Working with Sherye in the clinic one day, I commented on one of the children I recognized, who was wearing a name tag that said "Samuel", I said "I could have sworn this kid's name used to be Peter" . IT WAS. I never have been able to figure out Haitian names!

After talking to a kid for 5 minutes in her earnest Kreyol, Sienna is told by JoJo, "He is deaf!"

Blind kids put their hands on Tim's stomach and exclaim, "Teem!"

Kiesha, our pharmacist, says to Tim, her assistant, in the chaotic rush of trying to fill prescriptions, "Hold on, I'm trying not to kill anybody!"

Kiesha was known for her calm demeanor and serene expression throughout the week. At the end of a 2hour ride in the back of a pick up truck over Port au Prince pothole crazy roads, she gets up and pulls out a rolled towel from underneath her. "Kiesha, you're brilliant!" everyone exclaims. 10 people riding for 3 days couldn't figure that out.

Also in the back of the truck, we have frequent visitors asking for money or food. "Pa gen lajan" or "Pa gen manje" says Sienna, about 50 times. "Pa gen lanje" says Tim. (there is no such Kreyol word). Then when the crowd starts to disperse and leave us alone, Tim tries English. " We're not traveling in the back of this truck because we have MONEY!" Of course the only word they understand is MONEY so they all crowd around the truck again. This makes for very long rides in heavy traffic.

The kids name for John Mutin is "gwo gason". (big boy)

Kiesha had a LARGE bag she carried back and forth with her every day. One day she said "You all make fun of me because of my bag, but everyone asks me to put stuff in it"

Another Kiesha story. There was a local bar some of us would go to in the evenings after dinner. it was basically a small store which sold beer and juice and set up chairs outside for its customers, since the store itself was about 10 by 10 feet. It also had a boom box playing ?Haitian ?Dominican music at jet engine decibels. Our first night there, when I mentioned I thought it was time to go, Kiesha who had not said more than 2 words all day responded "OH THANK GOD"

And the last memory which will truly be understood only by team members:
"I too was attacked by two men with machetes, when I was in Tanzania"
Susan Nelson