It'll be another 24 days until Storly comes back home to us (I am counting...) after the work on the new 4VEH radio towers at Petite Anse is completed. He'll be home for 10 days, and then back to Haiti for just a few days, with some visitors going to dedicate the new towers.
As the three of us are settling back into our life of ministry work and school, we've had more tears (mostly from the girls), more meltdowns, more drama than is usual in this female-majority household.
We've also had chest infections (coughing during the night, for me first, then Hannah), a root canal gone bad (I'm still waiting for the treatment for that, but grateful for painkillers and antibiotics). So, given our so-busy-summer, the sleeping-in-so-many-different-places, our on-the-go-to-the-next-place, and now home-but-with-Storly-away, it's no surprise that it's taking a little time, some effort, some love and cuddles, and a whole lot of grace, for us to 'settle in', even when the thing we're settling into is our own beds, our own place.
Even so, I'm thankful for:
- two gorgeous children who have handled a summer full of traveling so well (even if the aftermath is hard-going).
- waking up each morning safe and in peace, with a roof over our heads and food on our table. So many around the world today and every day are concerned for their physical safety the minute they open their eyes. I don't want to take what we enjoy for granted, it's not guaranteed.
- dentists! Seriously, I love 'em, and doctors too for that matter, though I've had a lot more need for dentists over the last few years. They tell me why it's so painful, and fix it (...eventually).
- Skype - being able to talk to Storly and see each other on Skype is so nice, and it's so much easier to stay connected now than in previous trips (as long as the internet is working there...)
A few more photos from our time in Haiti...
Rodney is one of those behind-the-scenes people at the radio station, constantly fixing, meeting needs, helping, smiling. All that when he's not busy out recording church services and other events in the evangelical community. If you ever visit Radio 4VEH, be sure to say hi to Rodney and thank him for all the work he does!
Out and about...
There's always activity on the streets, people busy doing something. If there's no-one out on the streets, it's a sign that there's trouble (like a coup or something). When Storly moved to Oxford, England, for the year (where we met at Oxford Centre for Mission Studies), he had a hard time getting used to being alone as he walked down the street where he was living.
One of the OMS missionaries who's been in Haiti quite a while asked me what differences I noticed this time. I said in the last couple of years, one of the things is these new blue signs, telling people which way to run in the event of a tsunami. Good to see these public announcements - as well as hear announcements on the radio. Given that there was a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Cap-Haitien (affecting north coast of Hispaniola) in 1842, it's a real risk for this area.
We were there at the time of the annual voodoo pilgrimage to the muddy Pool of St. Jacques, in Plaine-du-Nord, about 3 miles as the crow flies from the OMS compound in Vaudreuil. Many Haitians living abroad come for this pilgrimage, and we saw plenty of people, like one of the guys on top of this bus, wearing the red scarf indicating his allegiance to a particular lwa, or spirit. (In other times and places across Haiti, you'll see people wearing other colours representing different lwa: I've seen blue, red or yellow). There was definitely a heightened sense of spiritual tension during this time.
It's not just people who travel on the tops of buses - furniture, well anything that can be strapped on, really!
The busy downtown market area of Cap-Haitien, plenty of hustle and bustle as people sell fresh fruits, vegetables, other foodstuffs, clothes and lots of other things.
Getting connected...
When the internet service for the radio station, and the OMS mission compound, went down for several days, I got a few minutes online using a flash drive, standing outside at the back of the station to get a signal, laptop leaning on the back of a truck. I remember standing in the exact same position ten years ago, while colleague Phil Maher from World Vision Canada did a media interview via sat phone on the political troubles and subsequent food shortages that we were reporting on then. (I was also trying to gently hurry him up to rush back to the airport before we missed our last chance to get back to Port-au-Prince on the small plane we'd had to charter when all other flights were cancelled).
Refurbishing
I had hoped that the curtains, curtain rods and tablecloths I'd ordered for the auditorium would be there so we could get them all put up and in use. But that container hadn't arrived yet, so we used the one pair of curtains we had taken with us (just in case the others didn't arrive on time...) to test them out. The auditorium is used for weddings, conferences, and other events, and is in need of some refurbishments, especially new carpeting. (If you want to help with new carpeting and other work needed, let me know!).
The girls never shy away from any opportunity to use microphones.
Storly gathers some of our sound experts - Witny, Johnny and Rodney - to discuss the best positions for speakers used in the auditorium.
Yep, that's the best spot!
Summer radio programs for young people
It was good to be in the studios to take pictures of these youth program presenters, in this, the 21st year of Radio 4VEH's summer series of live programs every weekday (2 hours in Creole in the morning, 2 hours in French in the afternoon) aimed at young people.
Here's Woody, Kerline and Rosa, hosting the Salut Vacances (Hello Vacation!) summer youth program in French every weekday from 3-5pm. Storly used to host this program.
And Chantal, Charlotte & Pastor Jeremy, presenters of 'Randevou Ak Vakansye Yo' in Creole, every weekday during July & August, 10 am-12 pm.
Other Moments
There's really never a dull moment when we're in Haiti. One night, we spent hours...yeh, hours...trying to wiggle a key that just would not open the door to the house we were staying in. By the time we had tried all the back-up sets of keys, it was dark, there was no power (generator was broken), so Colleen came to the rescue with her cellphone flashlight while Storly used a crowbar and credit card to get us in. We've said the most important word to learn in Creole is degaje...(meaning 'to manage', 'to get by', 'make do with what you have') because, well, you just need to use it so often.
Drinking juice from a just-picked coconut from our garden. Sweet!
Esther lost another tooth!
Hannah found a sweet spot hanging out in the frangipani tree.
Esther's still getting to her sweet spot.
And I stepped on a fire-ant nest while taking pictures of the girls up in the frangipani tree. Ouch...
Thanks for all the ways you help and support us, wherever we are. Bless you!
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