Since I was a really little girl I always looked forward to driving. I would pretend to drive all the time and once, I was probably 7, I even made a steering wheel and petals to install in the back seat. I would practice as mom would press the gas and the brake. My dad used to drive a standard car so I would pretend to do the clutch and shift as well. The day I got my drivers' liscense I thought I would never be happier. Not to brag and boast, but I'm relatively certain I am one of the world's top female drivers. Yes, I've run a few red lights, sped a few more times, and had a tiny graze incident with an 18-wheeler, but that was not my fault. I learned how to drive on a Ford F-250. And after driving it for a few years could parallel park it like it was no big deal. Ok. Enough bragging. I'm really just trying establish in your mind that when I'm driving there is no reason to fear for your life...
... Tonight I made my maiden voyage driving in Haiti. We had to run an errand to Bas Limbe to get some supplies for our camp coming up. We've talked about me driving before and everyone seems to be impressed that I have such a cool skill. So we started our journey. Me, Guerline, Boss Varis, Boss Mervil, Johnny, and Windel. Before we got out of the drive way I had a small run-in with a large rock. In my defense, I am not used to large overly monstrous rocks causing me to bottom out... we typically don't have that problem on FM 249. But I did think that maybe not being behind the wheel for 2 months may have made me a little rusty. Whatever, I shook it off.
Once we got on the road that familiar smile came back. The one that I got when I drove for the first time. It kinda creeps up on me and by the time I realize I'm smiling I can't stop. Its actually kindof embarrasing and childish. Whatever, I'm a child. I'm fine with it. We were on the road. I was driving on the wrong side of the road, mainly because there were potholes on my side, and partly because it made me feel like a rebel.
Then the backseat driving began... "Sound your horn." "Go faster!" "See that hole?" "Watch out for the girl on the bike." "slow down." "Don't drive on the shoulder of you'll flip the car over." "Sound your horn." "Sound your horn." "SOUND YOUR HORN." All of this usually would have made me pull the car over and sarcastically offer for them to drive the car if they think they are so good at it. But here, in a car full of 5 other people that don't know how to drive... that didn't seem like a good idea. Before we even got in the car they all expressed to me the fact that they thought I was going to kill them, except Johnny, he trusted me . I tried to be as sweet as possible and follow their back-seat commands. While we were in our village all the children ran behind us shouting, 'Norel can drive!! NoRel can drive!!" it was adorable. Once we left our village I started getting all the "Blanc" comments. "Haow aaar hough Blanc?" etc.
On the way back from Bas Limbe everyone made comments about how I was a good driver and they weren't scared anymore, but this didn't stop them from back-seat driving . All in all, it was a fun little outing with my friends. I was a little nervous, but I think I did well. There was not much traffic, but it was dark on my way back. So next all I have to do is learn how to manuver in traffic. (I'll let you know how it goes.)
..... AND....Everyone seems to love, (and comment) on the frog stories, so I'll leave you with the last detail of my day. I had just parked the car and everyone was ooing and awing at my parking job (at least that's what they were saying in my head... I wasn't really translating Kreyol at that point...) Everyone had gotten out of the car and I leaned my head out the window to say something and... WET... on my nose. I tried not to panic, and brushed it away a little bit. Laughed to myself, stuck my head back out the window. WET... and crawling... on my nose. Then the panic-startled laugher started. I couldn't figure out what it was or where it when when I flicked it off. Turns out it was a little froggie that loves me. I continued to laugh to myself for about a minute or two thinking how incredibly scared my friend who is afraid of frogs would have been. I'm sure she would have died. So here are my words of widsom for the night... next time you drive, watch out for frogs who decide to jump on your face. And be nice to those in the back-seat... even if they are bossy.
And to all of you who are back-seat drivers.... please stop. Unless you are litterally scared for your life... and speaking Kreyol.
2.28.2011
2.25.2011
February Update
So much has happened this month! Just looking at the calendar I would have never expected that so much would happen here. It is such a priveledge for me to be here and get a front row seat to all that is going on. AND to be able to tell you all about it. Sometimes the Valcins get so busy with all that they do in their ministry that it is too hard to sit and write a newsletter about it because it would take all month!! Thankfully, God has brought me here, and given me a semi-reliable internet system in order that I can update you on what is going on in the Valcin ministry here in the North. (Now we just need someone to talk about all that is going on in Port Au Prince!)
Church: This month, as I've mentioned before, a lot of things happened in the church. Please continue to pray for those who attended the class that Gersan was teaching about the foundations of Christianity. Please continue to pray for Tolem as Gersan prayerfully considers starting to mentor him into becoming one of the church leaders. Pray also as he tries to start a small buisiness of selling minutes for the telephone, so he can support himself in his ministry. Pray for the current pastor, that he will have a teachable spirit and start acting like a man of integrity as the leader of the church.
Voodoo: Please continue to pray for those who are living in fear and bondage to Satan. There has been a voodoo ceremony going on this entire month almost, and they are still going on, morning, afternoon, evening, night, dawn. You name the time, and they are chanting, shreiking, beating the drums etc. Here is what I know about the ceremony... They have somewhere around 20 chickens 11 goats and at least one cow. They are going to be sacrificing and eating these until the end of the ceremony. The word in the gossip circle around the village is that the voodoo preist is getting rid of all of his voodoo stuff by having a huge ceremony in order that he can become a Christian at the end. However, this is not a good plan. I wish someone would tell him that He needs to just come to Christ if he is going to do that. Please pray that he will come to Jesus. And not wait another minute, because his soul is at stake. (Not to mention that I'm sure those goats,chickens and cows wouldn't mind living longer. AND I could use a decent nights' sleep!)
Click here to read background info on the church and voodoo.
Medical happenings: Last week I asked for prayer for Lèlène and her leg. She went to the hospital in Cap Haitian and spent at least 2 days there. They decided not to do the graft surgery after all because the doctors thought they could save her leg without doing that surgery. As far as I know she is back at home and visiting a nurse daily for wound care. Thank you for your prayers for her! Also, I believe I had mentioned Bebelove and her severely infected eyes.
I saw her yesterday and her eyes looked beautiful! Praise God! (sorry I didn't get a picture of her beautiful eyes and smile. Next time!)
One of the men who works here full-time told me last week that his little baby had a burn. When I asked follow-up questions I discovered that she had fallen in some boiling milk and her entire bottom and the back of her thighs were burnt. I told him to call his wife and bring her that afternoon. Thank the Lord for His provision! Last year, He gave me the opportunity to work at Global Outreach International in Titaynen, Haiti. There is a specialty burn clinic there, and I got one day of burn experience before the earthquake, which then gave me lots more burn experience. Little did I know I would be doing much the same thing, without the earthquake setting here in Little Guinea. I have been taking care Krystena (I don't really know how to spell it...), or as we call her NaNa, for about a week now. She is making progress every day!
I was able to call Sheryl, the nurse at Global Outreach and she sent me some more burn supplies, because I was running low on them. Thank God for His goodness and grace. I think NaNa is going to recover well. We are about 2 weeks past the day of the burn and no infection. She is starting to get some of her skin back as well and it is no longer raw and red.
Nana was somewhat unhappy with me when this picture was taken. Burns are incredibly painful and I had just finished soaking and removing some of the dead skin from her burn. But recently she has been much happier. We are not best friends, but I think we might get there one day! Madam Tchaly is adorable. I love her. She is one of those people that I can tell is a good mom! Please continue to pray for NaNa as she heals.
Community projects: A lot has been going on in our village too. Water Missions Haiti has built latrines for several families in the community. This past week the director came and brought some of his team to have a formal ceremony of giving the toilets and doing my favorite thing... Health Education!! They had a wonderful presentation on cholera and general sanitation.
This girl was very articulate and did a wonderful job of explaining throughly and clearly what she wanted to communicate, but also expressing it in a way that someone could understand even without any type of education.
She explained how water gets contaminated with microbes, she explained what microbes were, and what the bad ones will do to you if you get them inside of you, and how to properly wash hands!
I was so happy that this education happened. I haven't been able to do much health ed like I had hoped because my language isn't quite that far along. I have been able to talk to NaNa's mom a lot about the burn, but she is very gracious with me and re-translates things back to me in CORRECT Kreyol, to make sure she understood what I was saying.
On top of doing health education there was a short presentation on the care and keeping of a toilet. Each person recieved a bucket to put clean water in and wash thier hands after they use the toilet, and to use to pour in the toilet to flush it. They were given toilet brushes, soap, a water carrier pouch to drink in the fields or at work, and a containter to carry water in and leave on the counter to drink. A lot of times people here get water in 5 gallon buckets which stay open and stagnant and go bad, but they still drink it.
I'm so glad that these people have this education and the tools to have better drinking water! The drinking water distribution site is here at Jacob's Well and it has been a joy to see people coming to fill their buckets!
Also:
We gave this man a house at the beginning of the month.
I'm not exactly sure how this came about, but he is one of our security guards here. He and his wife live in his house along with 7 other people. His house is smaller than the master bathrooms of most of you who are reading this. 10 feet by 10 feet maybe?
You can't tell very well from the picture but total in the house there about 4 beds all shoved together. I'm talking like beds without mattresses. Just the frames with wood or wire holding the rags that used to be sheets. People shouldn't live this way, but they do. Praise God that we were able to help this man and his family! The house we are giving him is a lot nicer, and will keep the rain out. And it will not be made of rags. Its still small for 9 people to live in, but it is a gift that they are very thankful for. We have all the materials ready to begin building, but don't currently have money for a slab. The slab will cost about $550 USD.
In conclusion: God has done so very much this month in our village. There is so much I want to tell you about, but I think this post is about 7 times longer than it should be already. Bottom line... Pray for us. Pray for these people. Pray for their hearts. Pray for their souls. Pray for their bodies. Haiti never ceases to amaze me. And neither do the prayers that our God answers!!!
Church: This month, as I've mentioned before, a lot of things happened in the church. Please continue to pray for those who attended the class that Gersan was teaching about the foundations of Christianity. Please continue to pray for Tolem as Gersan prayerfully considers starting to mentor him into becoming one of the church leaders. Pray also as he tries to start a small buisiness of selling minutes for the telephone, so he can support himself in his ministry. Pray for the current pastor, that he will have a teachable spirit and start acting like a man of integrity as the leader of the church.
Voodoo: Please continue to pray for those who are living in fear and bondage to Satan. There has been a voodoo ceremony going on this entire month almost, and they are still going on, morning, afternoon, evening, night, dawn. You name the time, and they are chanting, shreiking, beating the drums etc. Here is what I know about the ceremony... They have somewhere around 20 chickens 11 goats and at least one cow. They are going to be sacrificing and eating these until the end of the ceremony. The word in the gossip circle around the village is that the voodoo preist is getting rid of all of his voodoo stuff by having a huge ceremony in order that he can become a Christian at the end. However, this is not a good plan. I wish someone would tell him that He needs to just come to Christ if he is going to do that. Please pray that he will come to Jesus. And not wait another minute, because his soul is at stake. (Not to mention that I'm sure those goats,chickens and cows wouldn't mind living longer. AND I could use a decent nights' sleep!)
Click here to read background info on the church and voodoo.
Medical happenings: Last week I asked for prayer for Lèlène and her leg. She went to the hospital in Cap Haitian and spent at least 2 days there. They decided not to do the graft surgery after all because the doctors thought they could save her leg without doing that surgery. As far as I know she is back at home and visiting a nurse daily for wound care. Thank you for your prayers for her! Also, I believe I had mentioned Bebelove and her severely infected eyes.
I saw her yesterday and her eyes looked beautiful! Praise God! (sorry I didn't get a picture of her beautiful eyes and smile. Next time!)
One of the men who works here full-time told me last week that his little baby had a burn. When I asked follow-up questions I discovered that she had fallen in some boiling milk and her entire bottom and the back of her thighs were burnt. I told him to call his wife and bring her that afternoon. Thank the Lord for His provision! Last year, He gave me the opportunity to work at Global Outreach International in Titaynen, Haiti. There is a specialty burn clinic there, and I got one day of burn experience before the earthquake, which then gave me lots more burn experience. Little did I know I would be doing much the same thing, without the earthquake setting here in Little Guinea. I have been taking care Krystena (I don't really know how to spell it...), or as we call her NaNa, for about a week now. She is making progress every day!
I was able to call Sheryl, the nurse at Global Outreach and she sent me some more burn supplies, because I was running low on them. Thank God for His goodness and grace. I think NaNa is going to recover well. We are about 2 weeks past the day of the burn and no infection. She is starting to get some of her skin back as well and it is no longer raw and red.
Nana was somewhat unhappy with me when this picture was taken. Burns are incredibly painful and I had just finished soaking and removing some of the dead skin from her burn. But recently she has been much happier. We are not best friends, but I think we might get there one day! Madam Tchaly is adorable. I love her. She is one of those people that I can tell is a good mom! Please continue to pray for NaNa as she heals.
Community projects: A lot has been going on in our village too. Water Missions Haiti has built latrines for several families in the community. This past week the director came and brought some of his team to have a formal ceremony of giving the toilets and doing my favorite thing... Health Education!! They had a wonderful presentation on cholera and general sanitation.
This girl was very articulate and did a wonderful job of explaining throughly and clearly what she wanted to communicate, but also expressing it in a way that someone could understand even without any type of education.
She explained how water gets contaminated with microbes, she explained what microbes were, and what the bad ones will do to you if you get them inside of you, and how to properly wash hands!
I was so happy that this education happened. I haven't been able to do much health ed like I had hoped because my language isn't quite that far along. I have been able to talk to NaNa's mom a lot about the burn, but she is very gracious with me and re-translates things back to me in CORRECT Kreyol, to make sure she understood what I was saying.
On top of doing health education there was a short presentation on the care and keeping of a toilet. Each person recieved a bucket to put clean water in and wash thier hands after they use the toilet, and to use to pour in the toilet to flush it. They were given toilet brushes, soap, a water carrier pouch to drink in the fields or at work, and a containter to carry water in and leave on the counter to drink. A lot of times people here get water in 5 gallon buckets which stay open and stagnant and go bad, but they still drink it.
This is the group shot of everyone who recieve a Each person recieved a latrine.
I'm so glad that these people have this education and the tools to have better drinking water! The drinking water distribution site is here at Jacob's Well and it has been a joy to see people coming to fill their buckets!
We gave this man a house at the beginning of the month.
I'm not exactly sure how this came about, but he is one of our security guards here. He and his wife live in his house along with 7 other people. His house is smaller than the master bathrooms of most of you who are reading this. 10 feet by 10 feet maybe?
9 people live here.
And sleep here.
In conclusion: God has done so very much this month in our village. There is so much I want to tell you about, but I think this post is about 7 times longer than it should be already. Bottom line... Pray for us. Pray for these people. Pray for their hearts. Pray for their souls. Pray for their bodies. Haiti never ceases to amaze me. And neither do the prayers that our God answers!!!
If you are interested in donating to our ministry for the slab for this man's house or any of the other projects that we are involved in currently then please email me and I will send you more details: noelle.gonzalez11@gmail.com
I will be writing again soon about some of the other projects that you could donate to if you are interested. Please check back for details!
2.23.2011
He's SO good to me!
Sometimes God really blows my mind. Sometimes it doesn't take much for Him to do it. And then I realize that I don't give Him enough credit for being God. I mean, being God is no small responsibility.
So here's what happened today that made me praise my King.
Actually, I'll come back to that.
First... let me tell you about yesterday.
So yesterday I was finishing the last peice of my nursing application. It comes in two parts, if you pass the first part you get the second, and then they tell you if you are in or if you are out. This was the last peice of the second part. Yes I let it hang over my head for this long. Not smart, I know. So this last part of the application is the triple check that I have all my prerequisite classes.... I'll spare you all the gory details and summarize it for you... I realize that I'm MISSING a prereq. Panicked. Panicked some more. Had a minor breakdown on skype with my friend that understands what a pain applications can be. Realized that I had already submitted the part of the application that says I'm not planning on taking classes before nursing school starts. Which disqualifies me from... well everything. The night ended and the best case scenario in my head was that I come home early from Haiti and take a mini-mester of a silly class before nursing school... IF I got accepted, IF I could somehow indicate that I was going to take this class...
It was all very complicated. And I was very dissapointed. This meant that it was very possible that after May 23 I had ZERO plans, I wouldn't be able to be roommies with my long-time roomie and best friend as she planned her beautiful wedding, I wouldn't be able to be in College Station with many of my other friends. I would have no job. I would have no future. etc etc etc.
This led to me considering what God was doing in this situation. He knew before the foundations of the world that I would be having this crisis at this time. He planned for it to happen. He was going to use it for His glory. Maybe I should be considering what He was trying to say. Was it, "Nursing school is not your thing." or, "Try again later." or, "You should look into so-and-so career." or, "Just trust me.... And for heaven's sake please stop freaking out about everything, you psycho!"
I went to bed feeling somewhat dissapointed, but knowing it would work out in the long run.
Ok, back to today...
Today, I got a text from my mom saying, "Your speech class fulfills the requirement for English that you are missing so you are good!!" WHOOP!!!! Praise the Lord!
I had a few follow up questions, so I decided to call the school myself just to be absolutely sure. I'll paraphrase our conversation... "Yes, she is correct. You are all set on prerequisites. And because your mom told me that your iternet is sketchy I went ahead and filled out the rest of your prerequisites on the form and submitted the application for you. So you are all set and don't have to worry about a thing!" (I LOVE this girl! I say girl because she must be young and hip-happenin' to say 'sketchy'.)
God had it all worked out. There was no reason whatsoever to panic. There never is. God is God and He is good! This was a very small thing, but it reminded me of how Faithful He is.
Taste and see that the Lord is good! Psalm 34:8
So here's what happened today that made me praise my King.
Actually, I'll come back to that.
First... let me tell you about yesterday.
So yesterday I was finishing the last peice of my nursing application. It comes in two parts, if you pass the first part you get the second, and then they tell you if you are in or if you are out. This was the last peice of the second part. Yes I let it hang over my head for this long. Not smart, I know. So this last part of the application is the triple check that I have all my prerequisite classes.... I'll spare you all the gory details and summarize it for you... I realize that I'm MISSING a prereq. Panicked. Panicked some more. Had a minor breakdown on skype with my friend that understands what a pain applications can be. Realized that I had already submitted the part of the application that says I'm not planning on taking classes before nursing school starts. Which disqualifies me from... well everything. The night ended and the best case scenario in my head was that I come home early from Haiti and take a mini-mester of a silly class before nursing school... IF I got accepted, IF I could somehow indicate that I was going to take this class...
It was all very complicated. And I was very dissapointed. This meant that it was very possible that after May 23 I had ZERO plans, I wouldn't be able to be roommies with my long-time roomie and best friend as she planned her beautiful wedding, I wouldn't be able to be in College Station with many of my other friends. I would have no job. I would have no future. etc etc etc.
This led to me considering what God was doing in this situation. He knew before the foundations of the world that I would be having this crisis at this time. He planned for it to happen. He was going to use it for His glory. Maybe I should be considering what He was trying to say. Was it, "Nursing school is not your thing." or, "Try again later." or, "You should look into so-and-so career." or, "Just trust me.... And for heaven's sake please stop freaking out about everything, you psycho!"
I went to bed feeling somewhat dissapointed, but knowing it would work out in the long run.
Ok, back to today...
Today, I got a text from my mom saying, "Your speech class fulfills the requirement for English that you are missing so you are good!!" WHOOP!!!! Praise the Lord!
I had a few follow up questions, so I decided to call the school myself just to be absolutely sure. I'll paraphrase our conversation... "Yes, she is correct. You are all set on prerequisites. And because your mom told me that your iternet is sketchy I went ahead and filled out the rest of your prerequisites on the form and submitted the application for you. So you are all set and don't have to worry about a thing!" (I LOVE this girl! I say girl because she must be young and hip-happenin' to say 'sketchy'.)
God had it all worked out. There was no reason whatsoever to panic. There never is. God is God and He is good! This was a very small thing, but it reminded me of how Faithful He is.
Taste and see that the Lord is good! Psalm 34:8
2.22.2011
The Never Ending Rollercoaster...
Matthew 6: 25-27;33-34... 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ...33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Romans 8:28 " 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Meditating on these verses today. And trying not to worry. He knows my future. Even when it feels like a never-ending bad roller coaster.
Romans 8:28 " 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Meditating on these verses today. And trying not to worry. He knows my future. Even when it feels like a never-ending bad roller coaster.
PrayUpdated: Bodies [Urgent]
Pray for Léléne Celestin today. Right now. Léléne is 25 years old, lives in Port Au Prince, but is currently undergoing life saving surgery here in Cap Haitian. Pray that the Doctors will have wisdom and she will come through free of infection.
The details: After almost a month of not doing any clinical stuff or first aid, God has brought opportunities to my doorstep to help some girls in the village. Honestly, I was not really looking for these opportunites. I am NOT advertising myself as a clinic or anything, mainly because I know if I do I will have 900 (Not an exaggeration) people at my doorstep with various maladies. Last week, while walking through the village I saw a little 10 year old girl rubbing her eyes. She removed her hands to reveal not one, but two very red, infected eyes. I found out her name, bebe love (I'm thinking this is more of a nickname than actual name.) And told her I would return with some Gentomycin for her eyes. After digging through about 6 suitcases I finally found it and was able to deliver it to her on Friday. On Sunday, I went to go look for her in the village and see how she was doing. I came across a girl, Erline (age 18), who was limping and had some minor cuts and scrapes on her leg. I asked her what happened and if she had been cleaning it. She told me she was in a motorcycle accident, and no, she wasn't really doing anything about it. So I asked her to stop by later and I would put some bacitratin on it and clean it well. She immediately asked if she could bring her sister, Léléne, who was much worse off than she was. Expecting more cuts and scrapes I said, "Sure! Bring her! See you both later."
Here is their story:
These girls were born in this village. Erline is 18 and has a 2 year old. Léléne is 25. She is finished with school, she has no money, and no job. She currently lives in Port Au Prince, but she was here visiting her family. The girls were fooling around with some guys and riding on their motorcycles, which led to an accident, because usually when boys show off things get dangerous. Erline just had some cuts and scrapes, but nothing major. Léléne got hit directly with the other motorcycle. It looks like a chunk of her leg is just missing and the other parts needed lots of stitches. They went to the hospital in Limbe the day of the accident and she got some stitches there. There is a line of stitches above the main wound and a line of stitches below. The accident happened on Tuesday (so 7days ago.) On Friday they got it cleaned and dressed again. On Sunday, I saw Erline in the village walking with a limp and I asked her what happened. She told me that she had been in a moto accident and showed me her scrapes, which looked like they needed to be washed well. I told her to come see me that afternoon and she said that her sister was much worse, so could she bring her as well? So I told her to come along with her sister.
When they got there I saw Léléne's foot. It was very swollen and looked extremely painful. I took off the dressings and immediately knew, not only was it out of my scope of knowledge, but she needed some real help. The more I looked at it, the worse it looked. It smelled very bad, and was obviously infected. It was incredibly painful for her when I was cleaning it, and since I didn't have the right equiptment, or knowledge, or sterilization, I didn't want it to get worse. I decided to put an incredible amount of bacitracin on it and told her that I would talk to the doctor's I know and get back with her. But then as I thought about it, I realized she needed to just go to the real hospital. So I told her this is very serious and explained that she needed to go to the hospital first thing in the morning. But I was worried tha because of their money situation they wouldn't do so, but if they didn't I knew she would be indanger of losing her foot. I went and reported to Gersan what I thought and he walked up and said, "She thinks you will have to have your foot amputated."
Immediate fear. I couldn't believe he said that straight out to her, but then he explained to me that she needed to be scared in order for her to actually take us seriously and go to the hospital. After he walked away they said, "Do you really think I need my leg amputated?!" I told her that I didn't think that she would for sure need to get it amputated, but if she didn't go to the hospital it is likely she would lose her foot. I explained to her that she had a serious infection and it could travel further up her leg and get into her blood, and that if it got into her blood she would die. So while I didn't want her to panic, I kindof did. She neede REAL help. Lots of it. I slathered bacitracin on it and we took her home for the night. Sunday morning Gersan drove her to the Good Samaritan Hospital, a Baptist hospital in Limbe. He sent her with Windel, one of the guys that works here at camp. Windel, is the sportscaster for limbe and a local celebrity, and because he was with her, the hospital took her right away. Gersan said that the hospital was very full today, but because of our local celeb affiliation they treated her immediately and gave her their attention. The doctor gave her some antibiotics for the infection as well as some pain medicine. They cleaned it and dressed the wound again and asked that we take her to the General Hospital in Cap Haitian. But by this time it was getting late and Gersan was not able to take her to Cap Haitian (which is about an hour drive).
They had spent all day at the hospital. Gersan had taken them very early in the morning and didn't pick them up until late. As I mentioned before this is a very poor family, and the reason they didnt go back to the hospital in the first place is because they have no money. They spent ALL DAY at the hospital with nothing to eat because they have no money at all. When Gersan went to pick them up tonight he gave Windel money to go buy food for them. Then Gersan took the hospital bill and drove them home for the night. She needed to be spending the night in the hospital so she could be monitored and given pain medicine, but more often than not, what you need in this country isn't what actually happens. This morning, before I even thought about being awake, Gersan took Léléne to the General Hospital in Cap Haitian and left her with enough money to pay for her hospital stay and a ride back home. tomorrow. Today, probably right now, she is undergoing surgery to remove all the dead and infected skin from the wound. They will also be taking a skin graft from her upper thigh to place on her leg to reduce scarring and help it heal.
This surgery is saving her life.
The village is very impressed with the way that we handled this situation. They had all been talking about the girl, but doing nothing because they knew the family had absolutely nothing. Gersan already held a tremendous amount of respect from the people here, but I think this guesture, really showed them a new part of his heart. And God's heart. Praise Him that we were able to help.
-Pray for the doctors
-Pray for Léléne
-Pray for her family
The details: After almost a month of not doing any clinical stuff or first aid, God has brought opportunities to my doorstep to help some girls in the village. Honestly, I was not really looking for these opportunites. I am NOT advertising myself as a clinic or anything, mainly because I know if I do I will have 900 (Not an exaggeration) people at my doorstep with various maladies. Last week, while walking through the village I saw a little 10 year old girl rubbing her eyes. She removed her hands to reveal not one, but two very red, infected eyes. I found out her name, bebe love (I'm thinking this is more of a nickname than actual name.) And told her I would return with some Gentomycin for her eyes. After digging through about 6 suitcases I finally found it and was able to deliver it to her on Friday. On Sunday, I went to go look for her in the village and see how she was doing. I came across a girl, Erline (age 18), who was limping and had some minor cuts and scrapes on her leg. I asked her what happened and if she had been cleaning it. She told me she was in a motorcycle accident, and no, she wasn't really doing anything about it. So I asked her to stop by later and I would put some bacitratin on it and clean it well. She immediately asked if she could bring her sister, Léléne, who was much worse off than she was. Expecting more cuts and scrapes I said, "Sure! Bring her! See you both later."
Here is their story:
These girls were born in this village. Erline is 18 and has a 2 year old. Léléne is 25. She is finished with school, she has no money, and no job. She currently lives in Port Au Prince, but she was here visiting her family. The girls were fooling around with some guys and riding on their motorcycles, which led to an accident, because usually when boys show off things get dangerous. Erline just had some cuts and scrapes, but nothing major. Léléne got hit directly with the other motorcycle. It looks like a chunk of her leg is just missing and the other parts needed lots of stitches. They went to the hospital in Limbe the day of the accident and she got some stitches there. There is a line of stitches above the main wound and a line of stitches below. The accident happened on Tuesday (so 7days ago.) On Friday they got it cleaned and dressed again. On Sunday, I saw Erline in the village walking with a limp and I asked her what happened. She told me that she had been in a moto accident and showed me her scrapes, which looked like they needed to be washed well. I told her to come see me that afternoon and she said that her sister was much worse, so could she bring her as well? So I told her to come along with her sister.
When they got there I saw Léléne's foot. It was very swollen and looked extremely painful. I took off the dressings and immediately knew, not only was it out of my scope of knowledge, but she needed some real help. The more I looked at it, the worse it looked. It smelled very bad, and was obviously infected. It was incredibly painful for her when I was cleaning it, and since I didn't have the right equiptment, or knowledge, or sterilization, I didn't want it to get worse. I decided to put an incredible amount of bacitracin on it and told her that I would talk to the doctor's I know and get back with her. But then as I thought about it, I realized she needed to just go to the real hospital. So I told her this is very serious and explained that she needed to go to the hospital first thing in the morning. But I was worried tha because of their money situation they wouldn't do so, but if they didn't I knew she would be indanger of losing her foot. I went and reported to Gersan what I thought and he walked up and said, "She thinks you will have to have your foot amputated."
Immediate fear. I couldn't believe he said that straight out to her, but then he explained to me that she needed to be scared in order for her to actually take us seriously and go to the hospital. After he walked away they said, "Do you really think I need my leg amputated?!" I told her that I didn't think that she would for sure need to get it amputated, but if she didn't go to the hospital it is likely she would lose her foot. I explained to her that she had a serious infection and it could travel further up her leg and get into her blood, and that if it got into her blood she would die. So while I didn't want her to panic, I kindof did. She neede REAL help. Lots of it. I slathered bacitracin on it and we took her home for the night. Sunday morning Gersan drove her to the Good Samaritan Hospital, a Baptist hospital in Limbe. He sent her with Windel, one of the guys that works here at camp. Windel, is the sportscaster for limbe and a local celebrity, and because he was with her, the hospital took her right away. Gersan said that the hospital was very full today, but because of our local celeb affiliation they treated her immediately and gave her their attention. The doctor gave her some antibiotics for the infection as well as some pain medicine. They cleaned it and dressed the wound again and asked that we take her to the General Hospital in Cap Haitian. But by this time it was getting late and Gersan was not able to take her to Cap Haitian (which is about an hour drive).
They had spent all day at the hospital. Gersan had taken them very early in the morning and didn't pick them up until late. As I mentioned before this is a very poor family, and the reason they didnt go back to the hospital in the first place is because they have no money. They spent ALL DAY at the hospital with nothing to eat because they have no money at all. When Gersan went to pick them up tonight he gave Windel money to go buy food for them. Then Gersan took the hospital bill and drove them home for the night. She needed to be spending the night in the hospital so she could be monitored and given pain medicine, but more often than not, what you need in this country isn't what actually happens. This morning, before I even thought about being awake, Gersan took Léléne to the General Hospital in Cap Haitian and left her with enough money to pay for her hospital stay and a ride back home. tomorrow. Today, probably right now, she is undergoing surgery to remove all the dead and infected skin from the wound. They will also be taking a skin graft from her upper thigh to place on her leg to reduce scarring and help it heal.
This surgery is saving her life.
The village is very impressed with the way that we handled this situation. They had all been talking about the girl, but doing nothing because they knew the family had absolutely nothing. Gersan already held a tremendous amount of respect from the people here, but I think this guesture, really showed them a new part of his heart. And God's heart. Praise Him that we were able to help.
-Pray for the doctors
-Pray for Léléne
-Pray for her family
2.21.2011
Prayer Update: Souls
So much has happened this week that I barely know where to begin.
Since I've already talked about the church and the voodoo drums I'll start there.
Church: Gersan's class has gone so well! Praise the Lord! Thank you for all your prayers! However, it is not over so please keep praying, as it is always a struggle here to speak truth into the lies that they have believed for so long! Gersan had taught them about Eternal Security and they understand it in the classroom, but then when you apply it and say, "If you got angry and went to bed angry and you died in the night. What would happen to you?" They will all respond that you've lost your salvation.Pray that we can break through the traditional thoughts with the truth.
There were, on average about 20 people that were attending the class. The core-group of the church. They are committed to learning and gowing, but there are daily struggles in life, and with the class. For example, the pastor of the church here has not been attending, and is therefore not learning the same things as the people. In this culture, it is very common to teach Bible plus tradition. The pastor here is doing just that. Pray that he will begin attending these classes so that he will learn and have a better foundation to speak only the truth. The plan was to have an all-day class this past Saturday, but there was a death in the village. In this village almost everyone is related in some way to the Colas family. On Friday, Grandpa Colas passed away, which meant that 98% of the class was attending the funeral because they are all his grandchildren. This caused the class to be cut short a little bit, but God is still being glorified... On Sunday, Gersan was a little bit late to the foundations class, and he said when he showed up one of the young men was doing a review of everything they had learned in the two previous classes. Including answering questions and drawing diagrams that Gersan taught with. This man's name is Tolem, he is 24 years old and has a hunger for the truth of the gospel. Pray that God will continue to grow him into a leader of integrity and truth. He is already doing so much for the church, he leads a prayer meeting every morning, he works with the kids on Sunday afternoons, and helps lead worship on Sunday mornings. He has enormous potential and Gersan is hoping to start discipling him into becoming a more godly, and strongly rooted, leader.
-Pray for Tolem.
-Pray for the class and the truths they are learning.
-Pray for the Colas family as they mourn their loss. (I'm not 100% sure, but I do think he was a believer, so Praise God for that!)
Voodoo: A lot of you have sent me messages and questions about the voodoo priest and the ceremony that has been going on. To be truthful, I'm not really sure what is going on. But, I'll tell you what I do know, and what I think. The ceremony started on Monday afternoon. The voodoo priest was doing this ceremony for himself, but those from the village came to participate. He had somewhere around 20 chickens, 10 goats and a cow that he was going to offer to the spirits. Not to mention lots and lots of rum and alcohol. This is why the village attended! They offer the animals to the spirits, but my understanding is that they still eat the animals. In a country where everyone is suffering from protien deficient malnutrition, they are not silly enough to totally waste that much meat! The ceremony lasted all week long. There were many nights that the drums and chanting didn't stop until around 5am, and there were a few nights that they didn't stop at all.
There was speculation in the village about why? Why did he do that? Why was it all week? Why did he offer EVERYTHING he had and now has nothing left? Is it because he wants to come to Christ? He's been telling Gersan for a long time now that he wants to become a Christian, but he is being held back by fear and lack of faith. Fear of the spirits and what they will do to him if he leaves them for Jesus. And lack of faith that God can not only protect him, but provide what he needs without the income of voodoo. People in the village said that he was about to become a Christian, but he wanted to make the spirits happy first. He wanted them to be full of meat and drunk, so they would not bother him anymore and they would willingly let him go. But that is not the way to become a Christian. Jesus takes you right where you are. You don't need to clean your life up, you don't need to appease the spirits. They are going to be unhappy no matter what you do, because they do not love you and they do not care about you. Gersan was planning on saying all of this to him this week, but then things came up, and got busy, and Gersan also decided that he didn't want to be seen around the vicinity of the ceremonies. Gersan said another possibility is that this man will die soon if he doesn't come to Christ. Now he has fattened up the spirits and given them lots of things, but now that they have more they will expect more. He gave away everything he had for this ceremony, so if the spirits come back asking for more he will have nothing to give, except his life.
-Pray for this man. Pray for his heart. Pray that God gets him. Pray that he gets Jesus!
-Pray for this village. That they will be released, one soul at a time, from the fear that grips them so tightly!
There are so many more things to talk about, but I realize that most of you have not read many of the words in this post. This was much longer and wordier than I would have liked, but I wanted you to have the details!
Please pray for these people. And look for my other updates coming in the morning!
Since I've already talked about the church and the voodoo drums I'll start there.
Church: Gersan's class has gone so well! Praise the Lord! Thank you for all your prayers! However, it is not over so please keep praying, as it is always a struggle here to speak truth into the lies that they have believed for so long! Gersan had taught them about Eternal Security and they understand it in the classroom, but then when you apply it and say, "If you got angry and went to bed angry and you died in the night. What would happen to you?" They will all respond that you've lost your salvation.Pray that we can break through the traditional thoughts with the truth.
There were, on average about 20 people that were attending the class. The core-group of the church. They are committed to learning and gowing, but there are daily struggles in life, and with the class. For example, the pastor of the church here has not been attending, and is therefore not learning the same things as the people. In this culture, it is very common to teach Bible plus tradition. The pastor here is doing just that. Pray that he will begin attending these classes so that he will learn and have a better foundation to speak only the truth. The plan was to have an all-day class this past Saturday, but there was a death in the village. In this village almost everyone is related in some way to the Colas family. On Friday, Grandpa Colas passed away, which meant that 98% of the class was attending the funeral because they are all his grandchildren. This caused the class to be cut short a little bit, but God is still being glorified... On Sunday, Gersan was a little bit late to the foundations class, and he said when he showed up one of the young men was doing a review of everything they had learned in the two previous classes. Including answering questions and drawing diagrams that Gersan taught with. This man's name is Tolem, he is 24 years old and has a hunger for the truth of the gospel. Pray that God will continue to grow him into a leader of integrity and truth. He is already doing so much for the church, he leads a prayer meeting every morning, he works with the kids on Sunday afternoons, and helps lead worship on Sunday mornings. He has enormous potential and Gersan is hoping to start discipling him into becoming a more godly, and strongly rooted, leader.
-Pray for Tolem.
-Pray for the class and the truths they are learning.
-Pray for the Colas family as they mourn their loss. (I'm not 100% sure, but I do think he was a believer, so Praise God for that!)
Voodoo: A lot of you have sent me messages and questions about the voodoo priest and the ceremony that has been going on. To be truthful, I'm not really sure what is going on. But, I'll tell you what I do know, and what I think. The ceremony started on Monday afternoon. The voodoo priest was doing this ceremony for himself, but those from the village came to participate. He had somewhere around 20 chickens, 10 goats and a cow that he was going to offer to the spirits. Not to mention lots and lots of rum and alcohol. This is why the village attended! They offer the animals to the spirits, but my understanding is that they still eat the animals. In a country where everyone is suffering from protien deficient malnutrition, they are not silly enough to totally waste that much meat! The ceremony lasted all week long. There were many nights that the drums and chanting didn't stop until around 5am, and there were a few nights that they didn't stop at all.
There was speculation in the village about why? Why did he do that? Why was it all week? Why did he offer EVERYTHING he had and now has nothing left? Is it because he wants to come to Christ? He's been telling Gersan for a long time now that he wants to become a Christian, but he is being held back by fear and lack of faith. Fear of the spirits and what they will do to him if he leaves them for Jesus. And lack of faith that God can not only protect him, but provide what he needs without the income of voodoo. People in the village said that he was about to become a Christian, but he wanted to make the spirits happy first. He wanted them to be full of meat and drunk, so they would not bother him anymore and they would willingly let him go. But that is not the way to become a Christian. Jesus takes you right where you are. You don't need to clean your life up, you don't need to appease the spirits. They are going to be unhappy no matter what you do, because they do not love you and they do not care about you. Gersan was planning on saying all of this to him this week, but then things came up, and got busy, and Gersan also decided that he didn't want to be seen around the vicinity of the ceremonies. Gersan said another possibility is that this man will die soon if he doesn't come to Christ. Now he has fattened up the spirits and given them lots of things, but now that they have more they will expect more. He gave away everything he had for this ceremony, so if the spirits come back asking for more he will have nothing to give, except his life.
-Pray for this man. Pray for his heart. Pray that God gets him. Pray that he gets Jesus!
-Pray for this village. That they will be released, one soul at a time, from the fear that grips them so tightly!
There are so many more things to talk about, but I realize that most of you have not read many of the words in this post. This was much longer and wordier than I would have liked, but I wanted you to have the details!
Please pray for these people. And look for my other updates coming in the morning!
2.19.2011
Saturday: Week in Review
Well I haven't been online much this week because my internet has been so painfully slow. Also, my dad and sister, Grace have been here all week, so we've been hanging out too! I've enjoyed them being here so much. They brought a little bit of home with them along with lots of laughs.... and chips and salsa!!
The weather has been strange this week. Pouring rain. It has made lots of mud that slowly and steadily crept into my house. This morning I did some major cleaning because I just couldn't handle it anymore.
My dad has been such a help around camp. He built 5 amazing picnic tables, some really awesome shelves for our storage area, and designed a linen closet for all the sheets and blankets that we are beginning to accumulate. I'm so glad that he got to come and meet the people I spend my time with and see where I am and what is actually going on here. Unfortunately, because of the rain, the school was closed or finished early every day, so I only had class once this week. They got to meet my older, and much smaller class and observe me teaching a class.
Gracie has been so fun to have around too! He has been helping me with random things that need to be done, and provides the humor to get me though the day. Today at breakfast she made me laugh so hard I almost choked on my peanut butter. She happily made valentines for my entire class on Wednesday afternoon, but then when we showed up for school all the kids were gone. I am planning on giving them their valentines on Monday, but I wish they could all formally meet Gracie and my dad too! The other nice thing about Gracie being here is that she is taking lots of pictures!! Which I love!
Last Saturday I traveled to Port Au Prince, so that I could be there to pick them up from the Airport. I think this was my first time to travel solo in this country, but it went really well. Thankfully my Kreyol is getting better. While we were waiting for my plane to leave I decided to bust out the camera and take some photos. Last week I printed some pictures that I had on my camera of me, and some of the other team members with some of the Haitian Staff here. I didn't realize how everyone else would get jealous... or at least pretend to be. So here is the picture I'll be printing out for Boss Varis... along with the one from when he retrieved my keys!
On Sunday afternoon after getting Daddy and Gracie from the airport. Gracie ran so fast to hug me that she forgot to not headbutt me in the process. Although it gave me a headache, I took it as a compliment, and a sign that she missed me!
This is Tuesday afternoon preparing for school. I made Daddy and Gracie help me make Valentines for my students. I printed out a few Bible verses on paper and then we decorated!!
Jan 3:16 "Paske, Bondye sitèlman renmen lèzòm li bay sèl Pitit li a pou yo. Tout moun ki va mete konfyans yo nan li p'ap pedi lavi yo. Okontrè y'a gen lavi ki p'ap janm fini an."
1 Jan 4:7 "Mezanmi, se pou nou yonn renmen lòt paske renmen soti nan Bondye. Moun ki gen renmen nan kè yo, se pitit Bondye yo ye. Yo konnen ki moun Bondye ye."
1 Jan 4:10 "Men kisa renmen an ye: Se pa nou menm ki te renmen Bondye, se li menm pito ki te renmen nou, ki te voye Pitit li a pou nou te ka resevwa padon pou peche nou yo, gremesi Pitit la."
I know it looks like I am forcing these little girls to take a picture with me... We are still working on smiling for photos instead of frowning.
Or maybe they just like Gracie better?
On wednesday I showed up to teach school, (with 60 valentines that Gracie made) only to find out that they were let out early, so everyone was gone. We stayed and played with the 5 or so kids that were there for a while, then decided to head home. While we were there I was taught the ancient game of "roll the wheel using only the stick." I'm really pretty terrible at it... If we are being honest.
Also this week I got to learn how to make the best jam/jelly in the world. It is made out of the rind of grapefruit, and I am obsessed with it. I've been dying for Alicia to show me how to make it for like 3 weeks now, and yesterday and today she showed me... Here are a few pictures that I made Gracie take, (So glad she's here!), along with some basic directions. These are not exact. TIH.
Soak rinds in water overnight, or until they are a little clear-ish.
Squeeze excess water out of rinds and set rinds aside.
Add a ridiculous amount of sugar (about 5 cups). Maybe that's why it tastes so good!
I'm not sure wheather this sugar is white or brown. Its the color brown, but has the consistency of normal sugar... like beige sugar maybe?
Add about 5 cups of water, stir together and put on to boil. I'm not sure how long these were left to boil, but it was until it had the right consistency for jam/jelly. Not too soupy, but not too thick either.
It has been a wonderful week and, like I said, I have immensly enjoyed having my family here. They have been a total blessing!
I'll be posting a prayer update very soon.
Be looking! Thank you for all your prayers!
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