Election Time is Comin

Friends,

I just wanted to let all of you know that I am safe. Much violence broke out across Haiti yesterday with the results of Haiti's presidential election. There will be a run-off in January between two folks: Mirlande Manigat and Jude Celestin.

The people are happy about Manigat, but quite angry about Celestin. Supporters of a man named Michel Martelly are particularly upset, saying that the election was rigged and it should have been Manigat and Martelly in the run-off. Martelly supporters have blocked roads and gathered in groups to shout protests and march through the cities.

We are staying inside the Guest House and staying tuned to news reports. We are also in contact with our friends (interpreters, cooks, drivers, etc.) who are away from the Guest House and might have a better assessment of what's going on in the streets. Everyone we know is also okay and staying inside today.

If there are any further updates, I will let you know. Needless to say, this is definitely going to be a story I'm going to be able to tell for the rest of my life!

Praying for peace,
Beth

Foosball: A Photo Story

Today we went to the Ibo Lele hotel for a little R&R and for Barry's "last hurrah" before he heads home next week on Sunday. I've been to Ibo Lele several times and I always have a great time. During these visits, we've discovered that Sunday afternoons are the best time to visit Ibo because they have a bar area open with American football on the TV, two pool tables, a foosball table, and (of course) alcohol.

The visit today was quite nice - good food, good company, and cooler (73 degree) weather.

However, after lunch is when the real fun began. Oge and I went downstairs to the bar area and played foosball.



Oge has never played foosball so it was fun teaching him how to play. It was an instant hit, though, and soon the competition was on!



I won the first four games. :) Yeah!



Oge was a little confused - why wasn't he winning?? :(



Even though he wasn't winning, he was still having a pretty good time. Lots of laughter, that's for sure!



But then, on the very last game, when we were neck and neck - 1 point needed for each of us to win... he won. :(



Anyway, I thought you might enjoy seeing some of those photos. I think sometimes people back home have the impression that I am suffering and enduring many hardships to do the work that I do here. This is not to say that there aren't difficult times because there are. This is also not to say that I don't meet my fair share of "cultural bumps." However, this is to say that I have moments of "luxury" and fun in this country as well. You just gotta look for the right places.

Lastly, I thought I would share this little bit. As many of you know, I am constantly amazed at what money can pay for here. I still remember when I found out that Robenson got kicked out of school briefly because his mother couldn't afford $32 for 4 months of schooling. Today was another one of those moments.

Tonight I handed out money for 8 boys to take their school exams (yes, they have an exam fee AND if you're in certain grades they make you pay to get the certificate saying you took the test as well), 4 boys to get new sandals, and 3 boys to get some food for themselves and their families. Total, all of this cost less than $75. CRAZY. Anyway, I thought I would pass along their big smiles and loud "THANK YOUs" to all of you as well. God is good!

For now, I'm off to bed. Sending love to all of you. See some of you in a week from tomorrow! :)

Beth

Happy Thanksgiving!

It was very strange to be celebrating Thanksgiving in a foreign country today. Haiti does not celebrate Thanksgiving and so it felt like any other day - just a normal Thursday. However, I have been away from my family and friends for 3.5 months now and I was not going to let this Thanksgiving go by without some sort of celebration. It would just be too sad to not do something.

So about 3 days ago I asked Belorne if we could have a Thanksgiving feast for dinner today. She agreed. Then I asked if we could also invite the staff to partake in Thanksgiving dinner. Thankfully, she agreed to that, too. :)

Around 10 a.m. we set out for the grocery store to buy the necessary materials for an excellent Thanksgiving feast. On the menu was: turkey - fried (Haitian style) and roasted, sweet mashed potatoes, regular mashed potatoes, green beans, peas, rice, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, spice cake, and (most importantly) homemade applesauce. Also, we were going to make punch for our drink. Lots of stuff to buy!

It was a fairly normal shopping trip, except that most of the folks there were celebrating Thanksgiving, too. Everywhere we turned ex pats were saying to us, "Happy Thanksgiving." It felt good to be among fellow celebrators.

What was super hilarious, though, was that the store had stocked up on turkeys for Thanksgiving (as a big portion of their business is done with people who work for International NGOs.) However, these turkeys DEFINITELY had to be shipped in and so they were SUPER expensive. We bought a 20 lb turkey today for a little over $50. Crazy!

We arrived back at the GH and began preparations for the meal around 1 p.m. Most of the things we were making didn't take much prep work so that was good.

However, there was one dish that took quite a bit of work... the applesauce.

Now, some of you may think that applesauce is a strange dish to have at Thanksgiving. I found that out today. I mentioned that we were having applesauce to some of our guests and they said, "Oh, well...okay. I've never really thought of applesauce as a 'Thanksgiving dish.'" That's when I would say, "Well, then you've obviously never been to a Thanksgiving on Brucker Family Farm in Dahinda, IL!"

Yes, every year my Aunt Amy makes an AMAZING homemade applesauce for Thanksgiving. This year, as I would not be in Dahinda to celebrate the holiday, I e-mailed her for directions so I could make it myself. It's always my favorite dish at Thanksgiving.

But, I discovered that it takes quite a bit of work to make this one dish. We had to peel, core, and cut up around 40 apples for the amount of people we had to feed.

- Deanna and Belorne help me prepare the apples for the applesauce -

Then we had to put all of them in a pan over the stove with just a little bit of water added. After that I added sugar and cinnamon...


And it was PERFECT. Seriously, once it was done... it was worth all the hard work. Especially since I had some helpers along the way. :) In fact, one of the teams we had staying at the GH, without knowing which dishes we made, decided that the applesauce and the stuffing were the two best dishes of the night and demanded recipes. It felt good to be a chef!

It was also delightful to invite our Haitian family (the staff) to partake in Thanksgiving meal with us. For the blessing before the meal we ended up singing the Doxology and we all sang it in English while our Haitian brothers and sisters sang it in Creole.

It felt wonderful to spend that time with the people here I know and love even when I could not spend it with my family at home. It really made the experience that much brighter for me.

- Madame Claire and her mashed sweet potatoes masterpiece... yum! -

I am often in awe at how God has truly blessed me and when I take the time to think about it, I am reminded how it is my job to share my blessings and bless others. It truly was amazing to spend this Thanksgiving in Haiti - a 3rd world country, in the midst of some political turmoil and violent rioting, while also in the midst of a growing epidemic, while also in the midst of still trying to pick up the pieces of their lives that were destroyed/altered during the earthquake. Seriously, how blessed am I!?! How blessed are we!?!?

Today I am thankful for food. I am thankful that I have enough food to share.


I am thankful for family and friends. I am thankful to have a strong enough support system in my life to be of support to others.

I am thankful for health, for shelter, and for an (easily obtained) education.

Lastly, I am thankful for knowledge of this great, loving God. I am thankful for a family who taught me about this God. I am thankful for children's ministers, youth leaders, and other influential adults in my life who helped shaped this faith in God and taught me to listen to God's call. I am thankful that I get to wake up every day knowing I have a divine Creator who knows me and loves me in spite of all the stupid stuff I do. I am thankful for the hope that I have - for myself, for my friends, for my family, for Haiti - and I am thankful that I get the opportunity to be a small slice of that hope to others each and every day.

I have a lot to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Beth

P.S. I will be posting all of my Thanksgiving photos to Facebook so check there soon to see them! :)

Edit: Click here to see my photos from my Haitian Thanksgiving.

Long Overdue

Sometimes I forget that I'm living in a foreign country.

No, seriously. I feel like I've been here for so long now that sometimes I forget that my reality - all that I see and live within every day - is not the reality that most of you face every day. This is not a bad thing, it's just interesting. I truly do live in Haiti now. Crazy!

Now this is not to say that I still don't have times when I see something or learn about something and remember, "Whoa! I am not in the United States..." But it's becoming rarer. I think I'm definitely going to have some reverse culture shock when I return home in a few weeks. It will be interesting to see how different it is coming home this time than it was coming home the first time.

It has been an interesting past couple of days, though.

The cholera issue seems to be getting worse. Granted, those of us with access to good drinking water and hand sanitizer are going to be just fine - but a large portion of Haitians are at serious risk. This causes for some panic, as you can imagine. Therefore, there have been several protests and riots across the country. Some more serious than others. Luckily, we've been able to avoid all of them, but we have had to change our plans for the day on a few occasions because of it.

Unfortunately, it seems like it's going to stay that way for a while until the new president is announced. After that, the protests/riots could die down, or they could get worse. Everyone is fairly unclear at this point. However, I believe that they'll die down. I'm not too worried about it beyond election day. (Which is Sunday.)

Things here have been good, otherwise. We've been taking a few trips out to work sites recently to get an update on work being done there. It's really fun to go from site to site and see the progress. Also cool is that we've had the opportunity to go to these places during school hours and (almost) all of them have schools on the grounds we're working on. The kids are so stinkin cute in their uniforms and big smiles as they proudly show off what little English they know. Too much fun. I have some new pictures from those visits that I'll have to post soon.

I also have an update on Robenson. The best lead that I had for a place for him to stay ended up not working out. Apparently, that place can not take children older than 7. Big bummer. Very, very sad as it would have been a great place for him.

After that I looked at another place that's run by a friend of a friend. Turns out, though, that this place only does adoptions - it's not a Children's Home. Now, it is possible for Robenson's mother to forgo her parental rights and put Robenson up for adoption. However, who knows if that would actually be the best option for that family. We haven't even told his mother that U.S. adoption is an option and I can't quite decide if it's a good idea or not to tell her. I'll be seeking out more advice in the next few days and so prayers for discernment would be good. Beyond that, if we do end up telling her, prayers for her discernment would also be appreciated. Discernment for everyone!

So yeah! That's been a bit of the craziness here. I'm starting to really look forward to my visit home, though. I'll arrive in KC on the 13th of December and stay until I fly out early on January 2nd. I hope to see a good portion of you while I'm in town. :)

Lastly, I should mention that the mission fund is running low again and I'm getting more requests for scholarship money now that payment is due again for most schools. Please prayerfully consider, as you're planning your holiday giving, contributing to our mission fund. I have already seen your financial resources do so much and there is still so much more to do. Thank you for even considering. If you'd like more information on the mission fund or are interested in contributing, please e-mail me at bethisinchina@yahoo.com. Mesi anpil!

And on that note, I'm off to get ready for bed. Sending love your way!

Beth

Hurricane

I didn't update during the whole hurricane ordeal. I'm sorry. Very sorry. However, as you can imagine, life was crazy during that experience and the last thing I wanted to do at the end of each day was write on this. I hope most of you kept up with me via Facebook, though, and weren't too concerned as to if I was okay.

It all began Sunday when I started to have concerned teams talk to me about what our plan was if the storm moved our way. I made a few calls home (mostly to consult with my dad, my own personal semi weather expert) and at that time it was determined that we didn't know enough about the storm to know if it was going to hit Haiti or not so teams shouldn't feel concerned about coming.

About Wednesday, though, it became apparent that the hurricane was going to hit Haiti. It was unknown if it would be a direct hit or not, but people were beginning to prepare for the worst. On that day, we had Mike and Bryan's going away party on the Ola Esmeralda - a "floating hotel" in an old cruise ship. (Previously used to house UN officials.) It was a wonderful lunch in a neat setting. However, it was basically empty. We found out that even they were preparing for the storm and were actually going to set sail early the next morning to leave port.

That afternoon, we wrote up a plan. At that time we decided it would be best to bring all of our teams from the field back to the Guest House. We also had to buy extra food, gas (for the generator,) and a ton of extra water.

Once Thursday came, we picked up two teams from the airport and decided to keep one our teams out in the field. By Thursday at noon, it seemed as if the storm would not really affect that work site and so we figured it would be best to have the team stay there. Thursday night, we had a FULL house and lots of anxious people curious to see what the storm would bring.

The actual storm was rather anti-climatic, though. Port-au-Prince received some light rain, but that was about it. We did have one heavy rain storm on Thursday night, but seriously - nothing major. The biggest deal, honestly, was that it affected communities that our teams were supposed to work in - or affected towns on the way to communities our teams were supposed to work in. Therefore, we had two teams hanging around the Guest House for two days waiting to get to their work site. One of the two teams actually had to change work site plans because their project would be unreachable for about a week. Crazy, eh? Lots of organizing to do. Luckily, both of those teams are at their work sites now and all is well.

Now for the sad stuff. First of all: Robenson.

So on Wednesday, in the midst of the hurricane craziness, a woman who lived near Robenson and his mother came with Robenson to talk to us on Wednesday afternoon. We took a break from planning and talked to them. In this conversation we learned that apparently Robenson's mother had been beating him a lot. The woman was quite concerned for Robenson and told us that she did not think that staying with his mother was a good idea.

We went into a bit of a panic - trying to figure out how to help Robenson - MY Robenson. Eventually, Robenson's mother came to talk to us. She explained that Robenson was acting out a bit (as any 12 year old (yes he turned 12 yesterday) would do) and she didn't know how to deal with it any more. In Haiti, the way to correct poor behavior is to beat a child. The beatings weren't working on Robenson and she had reached the end of her rope. After dealing with losing her husband, house, and income, and surviving in a tent for the past 10-11 months while trying to support 3 kids including one baby... a child going through normal pre-teen stuff was the last thing she wanted to deal with. That night she said to us, "I don't want him to live with me anymore."

So now we're trying to find a place for him to stay. A good, healthy, loving place for him to stay. We have a few leads but prayers would be much appreciated as we move forward. Mesi anpil.

Lastly, Mike and Bryan left today. It looks like Bryan will be back to help out in January, but it will be a while before Mike comes back. Mike may come back for a few days in February, but that's about it. He may come back for a more extended time in June, though.

Needless to say, it was very difficult saying goodbye to them. Both for different reasons, but I'm going to miss them both quite a bit. They had become my family here and so it already feels lonelier without them. Luckily, though, there was enough to do today to keep me busy so I didn't dwell on it too much. Also, Tom is here and moved in and Susan Meister (our calendaring coordinator based in the States) arrived today to get a better feel for what goes on here. I know that there will be a lot to do to keep me busy during these next few days. It's still going to be tough, though, adjusting to not having Bryan and Mike around. Very, very tough.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Sorry for the super long update - just had lots of stuff to share! Lastly, I'll leave you with this: http://new.gbgm-umc.org/about/us/mv/haiti/responsestaff/ It's official!

Love,
Beth

Just so you know I'm alive...

So I'm sure that many of you have heard of the cholera outbreak in Haiti. I'm also sure that many of you (who aren't friends with me on Facebook, anyway) kept on checking here to see if I am okay. However, I haven't updated in quite some time so sorry if I made you worried.

This is to say that I am alright. This is also to say that the cholera outbreak is slowing down and is not nearly as bad as it was on the first two days when news first hit the States. Also, it would be very difficult for me to get cholera (even if it was in the PAP area) and cholera is very treatable. Therefore, no need to worry about me! We're all good.

That is not to say that life hasn't been nuts here, though. It's been all kinds of crazy town.

We had the largest amount of people staying here in the history of the Guest House a few days ago. The number was 47 (including staff.) The highest it had ever been before that point was 40, I believe. Two days before this occurred, our generator broke. Now, our generator breaking isn't TERRIBLE if we get city power every night. However, city power is not very reliable and so, as we expected, around 6 p.m. we'd start to lose power. We had a few smaller generators to power things like pumping water and to get electricity to the dining area and lobby... but that was about it.

Luckily, though, for those first two or three nights, we got city power around 10 p.m. It would charge the inverter system and we'd have power all day until about 6-7 when it would start to wain.

However, on the day when we were the FULLEST EVER, city power never came. So we had 47 people sleeping in hot rooms, without much water, and fumbling around in the dark. It was absolutely nuts.

Things have definitely slowed down by now, though. The Guest House purchased a new generator yesterday big enough to power the three buildings it needs to (which is super exciting!) Also, we got city power yesterday at 4 p.m. and it's STILL on. It's a miracle! Further, we just have one group staying in the Guest House now and one group coming in tonight and going right back out tomorrow. Things are calm(er), and it feels good.

Also in the midst of this craziness, Tom Vencuss, the man who will be replacing Mike once his contract ends, was here this week to kind of learn the ropes and see what all happens behind the scenes. He's a very cool guy and I think I'm definitely going to enjoy working with him. He was a huge help this week and a positive energy to have around.

I should also take this time to announce that I will officially be working/living in Haiti through the end of July of next year. I have been offered a position as the new Assistant Volunteer Management Coordinator for the UMVIM Haiti program and I've accepted. It's my first big girl job with my first big girl title. It feels good!

Lastly, I got to see almost all of my boys last night. It was such a joy to be reunited with most of them and to have a chance to play around and be silly again. Recently, if we've seen them they just want money but they don't want to hang out and play. Last night, though, they were their old, goofy selves and I really enjoyed spending some time with them. I'm so glad that even though the boys have moved off campus, we still remain good friends with them and their families. It's quite the blessing.

Anyway, it's yet another busy day at the Guest House so I should probably be off. I hope you're all swell.

Beth

Santo Domingo, por favor!

Things have been CRAZY here. CRAZY.

We have 19 teams coming through our UMVIM program this month (AHHH!) and right now we're in the middle of it. There have been teams and out and going all over Haiti. It's been fun but... crazy.

Anyway, in the midst of this, we had to take 3 days off to travel to the Dominican Republic. Actually, we could have traveled anywhere, but we absolutely had to leave the country in order to actually leave the country in the long run. You're not allowed to be in Haiti for more than 3 months without leaving so we left before Mike's time here would "expire."

So we took a bus to Santo Domingo.

BEST IDEA EVER.

I mean, it was a little strange getting there. It's basically an 8 hour drive to get there and you stop 3 times in the middle of it to do all the documentation of leaving Haiti and going into the Dominican. What was especially weird about this, though, was that the "stewardess" on the bus actually held our passports for us and did not let us keep them. It made us quite uneasy at first, but once we realized it was all part of the system, we were a bit more relaxed - although it still felt strange for someone we didn't know to be controlling our passports...

Once we arrived in the Dominican, though, it felt like a whole new world.

No earthquake destruction, poverty was a lot less obvious, the cities had actually been planned and laid out in a logical, grid-like manner, and (once you get to the bigger cities anyway) they had American chain restaurants! Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Baskin Robbins - oh my!

When we reached Santo Domingo, we hopped in a cab and arrived at our hotel. We stayed in a 16th century building. It was the coolest thing EVER. Here's the link to our hotel.

The next day was our big sight-seeing day. I was so glad that we ended up taking one full day in Santo Domingo. We desperately needed a break and it was the perfect way to "get away" and be around something different. When you live here, you don't realize just how much seeing destruction and poverty everywhere really starts to affect your emotional health until you leave it. Just the change in scenery was de-stressing. Again, a MUCH needed break.

As part of our sight-seeing, though, we explored the walking street. I ended up buying a painting (that was much more than I really wanted to spend) and it's AMAZING. I've always wanted to be one of those ladies that has a house with all kinds of unique pieces of art around it, and this is the perfect beginning. I love it.

Then we explored some other parts of town and hired a guide to show us all the historical sites in the afternoon. I didn't realize how important Santo Domingo's history was/is to the western hemisphere - but apparently it's quite important. Columbus landed there and began to colonize it but never actually lived there himself. However, he built a mansion there (with the intention to live in, but again - never ended up living in) which his son eventually lived in. It's a beautiful house.

Besides that, shortly after Columbus first arrived, the first church built in the western hemisphere was built there. In fact, it still stands today. It's also (as expected) beautiful.

Last night, though, as our final "hurrah" we decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe in Santo Domingo. It was a slice of heaven and it took us "home" for a short while. It really was the perfect ending to a perfect day and a perfect mini-vacation.

I plan to post pictures of the short event tomorrow. I have a ton of photos so get excited.

Anyway, tomorrow we hit the ground running and the pace will keep up for the next 2-3 weeks. Although it may be stressful at times, it is so cool to see all the dedicated, spirit-filled folks who come through here and to see how much work is done for God's glory. I am constantly in awe and so grateful for the opportunity to participate in God's great plan for Haiti.

Love to all,
Beth