A busy Day!

Each day from about 11:00 am to 3:30 the sun gets very very hot and all the lovely breeze seems to disappear. That is the time for a dip in the pool. You can see me here in the above picture (click on it to enlarge) - I'm the undertanned one!

We've had some interesting guests in the last week. Waldo took a reservation over the phone one day for last night - he could hardly hear b/c of the static and most of it was said in either Creole or French - at times it is hard to tell for these novice blancs to distinguish - in any event by 7:30 pm last night no one had showed up yet. However at about 8:00pm a Haitian bride and groom walked in with their attendents - in full tuxes and wedding dress with long train. So we hurried to try to give our newlyweds a room with a double bed - we only have one (All others are single beds) and to feed them - they wanted a full meal at 9:00 pm - likely too busy to eat at their reception. Get this - they are also spending their honeymoon here. So we will need to start advertising Wall's International Guest House as a preferred location for honeymooners!


This is a picture of Patrick - he grew up around the Guest House and indeed lived in a small apartment at the rear of the property for a few years - his mother had died and his father, who works at the GuestHouse had remarried so the Walls' had taken a liking to him (Jack used to call him his adopted son) and allowed him to live there. Patrick directed us to church today as we drove a half ton 5 speed disel truck up and down main roads and back roads to church. Yep - Waldo is driving here - has ventured out a few times and is learning how to use his horn, not be quite as polite and how not to leave as much room between vehicles. This will be a useful skill since he can then be available to help drive guests back and forth to the airport - is taking a group of 12 in that truck tomorrow a.m.
The church we attended today is an International Church, whose service is conducted in English. It was very similar to the kind of service we are used to, even recognized the hymnbook. We probably saw about 40% expats and the rest Haitians - the Haitians were very friendly - they love to have the chance to practise their English.


This lady is Helen - try to say it as if it is French! She has a "shop" outside the guest house and is holding us her wooden globes as an example of her wares. There are a few regular merchants outside the WIGH walls - they have been hurting in the last months as Haiti has seen very few guests. They make their livlihood this way - from tourists and guests wanting souviniers before they go home. We spend time talking with Helen, Tony and a few other regulars because while they would love to sell some products, they mostly just want to talk. Haitians have their priorities straight - they are all about relationships!



Now just in case you're still feeling sorry for us, look at this view taken right outside our bedroom on the second floor patio! We want you to get this picture firmly imbedded in your mind so you can think about us when the snow is blowing and the temperatures are dropping. Better still - plan now to come see us. Things have definitely settled down here - will address that issue in a later entry - and we do have lots of room - at least 50 beds.

HOPE WITHIN

We had the opportunity to visit the sisters of Charity Orphange yesterday. Picture a modest building with 5 of the seven rooms holding dozens and dozens of cribs. Each small crib holds an even tinier child, most who are vastly underweight and underheight for their age. Walls are bare and floors are cement.

We wandered from room to room trying to coax a smile from some of the bright little faces that were watching us. It was lunch time and we observed generous portions of rice and bean stew being dished out by the workers, usually one per room. Young and old alike received the same meal. We watched in one room as a worker placed 5 seemingly very young toddlers on a sheet on the floor. They all sat with their bowl of rice and spoon adeptly feeding themselves. My nursing experience caused me to recognize some rashes like impetigo and scabies. One tiny child had an obvious broken shoulder judging by her bandage. I tried in vain to comfort her or at least to get her to stop crying, but was unsuccessful. Likely ibuprofen elixer is hard to come by here. We stopped longer in the older children's room. Most of them were the size of preschoolers but we realized by their language ability that some were likely older. Waldo soon had several little boys hanging on to him vying for his attention. Children who were less shy held up their arms to be picked up. I sat down on a bench in between two little girls and put my arm around one of them. She leaned into me, hungry for affection and soon laid her head against my chest . Most of this age group laughed easily and wanted to play or just be close to us.

The experience for me emotionally was like sucking in my breath when I hear a very sad story. But I would like to relate 2 observations of the afternoon.

One was a little girl (about the size of a 4 yr old but likely about 7) that I observed standing in the hallway. She was sobbing and covering her face with her arm the way children do when they have been hurt. One little boy noticed her then a second one and they stopped to question her about who had hurt her and what had happened. She explained through through tears but eventually stopped crying. I did not understand their creole but it became obvious by their actions and concern that they were reassuring her offering their comfort. Soon she ran off to play with one of them. The second boy paused to return a hug from a young toddler who was wanting some affection and then he left the scene as well. I was amazed to see how these young children had solved their own problem and responded to each others' needs.

Besides the regular workers, there were about 5-6 volunteers spooning food into babies' mouths. Two were white and spoke English so we quickly began conversing. They eagarly accepted an invitation for lunch and a swim at our Guest House after their shift. Kaitlyn was a newly graduated nurse from Boston. Louis was a 23 yr.old business student from Paris, France. He had wanted to do something totally different for the summer before returning to his studies at the University in Paris. He was a remarkable young man because he spent all the extra money he had to come to Haiti and work in the orphanage for 6 weeks. He needed to pay for his own lodging - an unairconditioned room without electricity. He also had to buy and prepare his own food, but stated that it was an adventure to take the "tap-tap" to the local market to buy food. He talked about arriving several weeks earlier and walking into the orphanage to begin his assignment. No one welcomed him, no one asked his name or gave him an orientation. He realized quite quickly that he would simply have to dive in and begin to help feed, change and care for the children. And that is what this finance student did - 5 days a week. We asked him what he did on weekends. On Saturdays, he said, I wash wounds. He would go with some of the Sisters to wash and change dressings. He spoke about how he found this somehow a good change after all week with the children and that if a wound was too badly infected, he had learned just to say "this one I cannot do". These volunteers encouraged us far more than we them and inspired me a great deal

We've arrived!

We have now been in Haiti for 2 nights and 1 day! Already in this short time we have had 3 creole lessons! We know that we are incredibly slow in learning a new language (our anxiety in regards to the language has accelerated some)and we have experienced that it takes these 50 yr plus minds an inordinate amount of time to "get" or remember words and phrases. The language itself seems fairly straightforward and simple in the structure of it. Our pronouciation is at best mediocre. The most difficult seems to be in Listening, ie actually understanding what is spoken quickly in Creole.

There are 2 guests at the Guest House right now, but none scheduled for the rest of August - we are hoping and praying for more guests for the simple reason that then the staff will not have to be layed off. There is loyal and long-standing staff here, who have already been put on a rotating schedule with less pay. None of them could hope to get a job elsewhere if they were to lose this one. Haiti (or Ayiti as it is called in Creole), has an 80 to 85% unemployment rate at this point, and the need for reliable employment is acute.

We have 2 items of GOOD NEWS!

The first is that the weather is great here! It was certainly as bad or worse to be in southern Ontario in the last few weeks of summer. Although temperatures are ranging around low 30's, the humidity is quite pleasant and the breeze is wonderful. We observed a brief thunderstorm last night which was wild and wonderful from our perch on the second floor partially covered patio.

The second piece of good news is that while politically things are still unstable, the violence and kidnappings that were making the international world nervous earlier this year, seem to be on the downswing. The locals all admit that it is not as bad now. This is likely due to the police having made their presence very obvious in some of the troubled areas. This will hopefully also continue as time goes on.

Today we will get orientated in some of our duties though the lack of guests here makes the timeline less urgent.

Nawe peta (see you later)!
Pamela - (now my official name as it is easier for the Haitians to "hear")

Departure Date

The date has been set - we're leaving for Port-au-Prince, Haiti on AUG 16th,2005






Besides having time to sit by the Niagara River, we've also been blessed to spend time with friends and relatives.





We've kept busy during the delay with maintenance projects
around the house and yard as well as attending
numerous family picnics/reunions (Waldo and I each have
about 50 first cousins - can you imagine how many
aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews that adds up to??).

Of course, our time has also included getting together for farewells with wonderful friends!

Thank-you for the wonderful meal Joan and David!

The hard part will be saying good-bye to our children!

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