Ray & Cara's Haiti Blog

A crying heart

carainhaiti — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:25:35 +0000

Today was a hard day…it was our last day in la forge. We had a party tho so that helped! All the women got a new outfit and a picture. Then we danced and sang! It was so much fun! Then we just sat around and talked….talked about everything and anything. It was amazing! Then to our surprise the women brought us a going away gift! They gave us dishes and a picture frame with a picture they made inside! It was awesome. I told them they shouldn’t have but was very greatful. One of the women brought knipps( fruit) and we had bread and cookies. So we had a little feast! Then we sang and danced some more. Today I gave all the women the money they made from market it was so neat to see ther faces light up! We all hugged and gave our goodbyes the hugged again and gave our goodbyes and probably did at a few more time. It was so hard to leave. Then when we went outnthe gate to get our motorcycle driver how fitting that the driver was also a member of the church in la forge! We had a real going away all the women and kids walked us to the gate and waved goodbye…I started to cry and they started to cry…i am so blessed to been given this opportunity and to know these women. They are my true friends and I can’t wait to keep in touch with them. My heart cried tho whole way back to the mission of both sad and happy things…I’m sad to leave the…but happy that they can sell their items at the market and make money. Tomorrow is our last day then we leave in the middle of the night. Things I will miss
1. Almost everything in Haiti…but to be more specific
2. The simplicity
3. The women of la forge
4. The children of forge…they came to the classes and were a joy to be around
5. My translators, they are so amazing and great people
6. My sponsor kids…I hate leaving them
7. Smiles and bon swa’s
8. Kids saying ” hey hey you blanc”
9. The bracelet bandits ( the little boys outsidethe gate selling bracelets)
10. Quality time with Ray talking about our future and places God is leading us go
11. The beautiful country

10 things I won’t miss so much
1. ” if it’s yellow let it mellow…”
2. People walking in on me while I’m going to e bathroom
3. Bugs
4. No electricity all day
5. Being low on water
6. From ray- the food
7. Bumpy rides
Okay so I couldn’t come up with 10… I guess that’s a good thing!

We will miss Haiti very much especially the relationships we’ve made with the people and looking at Gods beautiful creation of mountains, hills sides, and oceans.

Well until next time.God Bless!

Tropical storm emily

carainhaiti — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:20:39 +0000

Emily’s tropical storm mostly hit southern Haiti and by the time it headed north to us slowed way down. We got some rain and some wind but not to bad. The last few days have been busy doing work for the Mariam center and hanging out with our sponsor kids. Rays been doing a lot of handyman work and keeping really busy. We only have 2 full days left! Wow time flew by! Tomorrow is my last day in la forge and I am sure it will be an emotional day! But I am excited for the morning with the ladies. We are giving them all a gift and clothes. I’m excited. Im going to miss them so much. Tuesday they said they didn’t want us to leave and that they will miss us. It’s hard to tell them we don’t know when wel be back…but truth is after each trip I don’t really know when il be back. God showed me this trip not to give false hope to be very upfront and honest and tell them I just don’t know when we will be back. It could be within a year…could be 2 years…10… Or more….or never…its not up to me it’s up to God and when he tells us to go. Though I hope and pray it is still in Gods cards that we’ll be back it is in his hands.
Telling our sponsor kids the same thing has also proven hard. We know it will at least be a year till we make it back, but as long as God prom its we do plan to come back to Haiti.

On a side note…we tried to make blueberry muffins for the ladies for tomorrow. They burnt .

Monday and tuesday

carainhaiti — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:45 +0000

The last two days have been crazy. Yesterday we went to la forge andnworked with the women. Ray couldn’t go because he was sick so I went with Rico our translator. The rive was so high! It was up past my knees and going fast it was an adventure. At forge we went forward on our studies of the fruits of the spirit. We talked about faithfulness, genteelness, and self control. It was really neat we all opened up and gave testimonies about these different areas and our life. It was neat. Then we knitted. Today at la forge we finished knitting and continued talking about the fruits of the spirit. Then we sang and do I mean we sang! And we danced! It was so awesome! I love these women so much!!! Ray came today and we had a great time. When we got back to campus today, we prepared for tropical storm Emily…we took down our tents and moved into the dorm. Our tent already during every rain storm floods and leaks from the top we finally decided that if a tropical storm was coming we’d just take down the tent since it’s not really fun being rained on and wet at night. Please pray for us, we rant really sure how bad the tropical storm is to be. There is rumor that while in Haiti not bad but could turn into a hurricane when it hits Florida, which may cause our flights to be delayed. S I’m asking prayers for everything all around. For those in Haiti, Florida, and other areas going to be affected by this and those traveling. Thanks! Tomorrow we head to beauchamp which is a few hours away to go to the orphanage that is near there. So we will not have Internet access for a few days we look forward to updating you when we can! Oh and we went to see our sponsor girl today! It was awesome we took her some things and it was neat seeing her smiles! Pics will be up soon on Facebook! God Bless

No water

carainhaiti — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:36:32 +0000

The mission has been having water problems for the past month, and now we are completely out. They are bringing clean water in from town to drink so that is a blessing for us.
On Friday the women in forge worked on knitting. Some picked it up real well, others had a harder time but it still went well. They have the weekend to practice and we will continue knitting mon and tue. Friday we will have a clothes clinic where each women will get a new outfit and the church will be left clothes to give out to the community. Pretty excited about this week but sad as well since it is our last week in Haiti. I had a phone interview on Friday with a hospital back in pa and ingot the job so I will be starting that on aug 15 th! I’m excitednand stressed about this. There is a lot of paper work that needs filled out once I get back as well as getting to the doctor to make sure I’m up to date on shots. So as always il be rushing around when I get home.

A neat side story, a women down in the gran moun ( old folks home) got baptized Saturday. She’s actually only 27 and has a son living in our baby orphanage. She has a debilitating disease and is bound to a wheelchair but she asked the team if she could get baptized. Of course we said yes. They took her down to the ocean in a truck and they were able to bring her son to watch. She wanted to be baptized so badly before she dies and she had such faith it was amazing! Whenever we go down to visit she just sings and sings. She loves Jesus with all her heart and it was awesome to be a part of her dream. Well untill next time, peace!

Busy couple of days

carainhaiti — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:58:06 +0000

Then last few days have been so busy! Wednesday I worked on splints formthe kids! I also did a lot of paper work for the Mariam center and played with the kids. Yesterday I taught my translator how to k it so she can help explain the knitting class for today, she picked it up real well and enjoyed it. Then evelayn one ofnthe Haitians on campus brought me a dress she looked so sad…the dressnhas a rip and she had a wedding to go to. I’m not that great at all at sewing but she asked me try. It’s not very often they get to try….I didn’t have everything I needed to make sure the hem would be even….but I said a prayer and went to work…it took 3 hours to sew it all by hand the whole time me hoping that when she puts it on the hem will be even…when I was done her face lit up she was so happy. She put it on and it looked amazing I was so happy for her. Then I worked with the for johnathans sake ( outreach program for disabled children) moms. I taught them how to canvas stich and they really enjoyed that. Then my ladies from la forge came and we set up for the American market. The market went real well and the ladies from forge had a blast. I put a power point together of the girls making the items and they just stood and stared at it…it occurred to me that they may never have even seen a computer before…let alone their picture up on one. It was really neat watching them laugh and giggle, like they were young school kids. Rays been working hard in the garage with chuck. Today will be another busy day. And I look forward to sharing with you. God bless

Busy couple of days

carainhaiti — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:05:19 +0000

Yesterday the ladies started working on cross stitching the pillow cases. They crack me up their faces just light up when they get the materials. The took the cases home and worked on them and brought them back today. Some of the designs are awesome! So far the ladies have sold a total of 100 dollars worth of merchandise. I’m so proud of them! And proud and grateful to those who bought the merchandise via the Internet. Thank you all!

On Thursday is the American market on campus I’m praying lots more sells! Thank you so much for your encouragement,thoughts, and prayers. God bless!

Busy saturday

carainhaiti — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 22:43:10 +0000

God works in mysterious ways! So when we came to Haiti we had one piece of luggage that never arrived. I had to have my mom call American airlines to see where it was. Needless to say I ended up getting my luggage two weeks after the fact. So my suit case has been here a week now but I’ve been so busy I never unpacked it. Usually I would unpack in and get everything where it needed to go. Ie. Supplies to birthing center, baby orphanage, etc. Well I had brought in a lot of baby formula and it just so happens that the Mariam center needed formula for when the kids are sick to tube feed….I had no idea they needed this since the kids are older. So even though I was nervous that my luggage was lost God had a plan for that baby formula that was nestled away inside. He wanted it for the Mariam center. Then I also had clothh diapers that I would usually give to baby orphanage or birthing center and guess what? The Mariam center also was in great need of those. It’s neat that God opened my eyes to their needs today! Also, today I the Mariam center they celebrated the Birthday of a little girl who passed away. We had one heck of a celebration we made crowns, edible bracelets, played pin the tale on the donkey, and made a cake. It was a neat day! Ray also, got to experience his first birth. I went to the birthing center to be with the women and to pray with them. I asked a mom to be if it was okay if ray came she agreed. He did pretty good…he didn’t faint so that’s always good. The mother had a beautiful baby boy! Tomorrow will be church at la forge. I’m excited! Well have a blessed weekend

Patience.

carainhaiti — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 02:11:45 +0000

Tis week has been an awesome week at la forge. At the beginning of the week we went over patience and peace from the fruits of the holy spirit and what a week to have those. We weaves this week which required lots of patience. On Tuesday when I introduced them to their looms everyone wasn’t sure how it would go. I had to explain and re explain the steps over and over again and was nervous that this project would flop. Today, on the way to forge I was nervous. I didn’t want to disappoint the women when we took their projects off that they wouldn’t lookright or something. So I decided I’d go one by women one through the steps of taking off the purse with each women. So that I could try to fix what ever was wrong s they could be proud of their projects…well tell you what I didn’t have to be so nervous. We went slow and had Patience for each project and by gee they all came out with not one flop! They are beautiful little coin purses and clutches. I’m so excited and proud of the women. It was so awesome to see their faces….they were all nervous about taking the purse off the frame because they had no idea how it would turn out but it turned out beautifully. They had smiles ear to ear because they were so happy they turned out. There will be pics up on facebook soon. I think the lesson forthe week was on me….to have patience when you think something isn’t going to be right. And to rest asured in Gods peace, love, and joy for how it does turn out. Tomorrow il be on campus working in the birthing center and clinics. Once again thank y for all your prayers. Next week we will be selling what they women have made at the amercan market. The women will get all the money for the items sold. I’m so excited. If anyone would like t buy so,ethng from state side let me know I could front the money and give it to them and you can pay me state side. I lve these amen so much, they are my true friends. On a side note, I want to apologize if there have and will be lots of miss spelled words. I’m typing through touch screen and I often bump a lot of extra letters and can’t figure out how to scroll up on wordpress to check and see if there are mistakes. So sorry! Please bear with me. Thanks!

Wheelchairs wheelchairs and more wheelchairs

carainhaiti — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:30:42 +0000

Today ray and I worked in the Mariam center fixing and adapting wheelchairs. It was awesome. We used a lot of duct tape. But when you don’t have a repair store to go to you make due with what you have. It was neat though to adapt the chairs and put my OT knowledge to work. we worked on5 chairs and pictures are up o. Facebook. Il try to put pictures up on here once I get to the states. Then this afternoon there was a relay race f the interns. Ray did real well! I was proud! Then Chuck got here who works in the garage and Rays been down there ever since. That’s what rays internship is working on the vehicles and generators so I won’t be seeing much of I’m while Chucks here but that’s okay we will both be putting our skills towards helping Haiti and doing what Christ has called us too. Well have a great might. God Bless!

Tuesday tuesday!!!

carainhaiti — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:58:06 +0000

Today was a busy day. This morning we went to la forge and started our weaving project. Some girlsmpicked right up….some had a little more trouble with it. But it was a good thing that this week we are learning the fruits of the spirit for patience and peace. And we all used patience today on our activity. There homework for Friday was to go home and work on it and bring it back for me to check nim looking forward to seeing the out comes. They ladies made crosses last week out of canvas that we are going to sell at the mission market when the Americans are in. I look forward to seeing how that goes. I hope it goes over well and empowers the women to see that they can make things and sell them to make money for their families. Also, today ray and I worked on adapting some of the equipment for the Mariam center. For the kids with disabilities. I made a weighted walker bag for Stevens walker that will help so it won’t tip when he walks. And ray worked on adapting wheelchairs so that kids can sit straight and in alignment to increase proper posture. So it was a pretty good and productive day. Also, on a cool note Steven Curtis chap mans sons are on campus today checking out the missions programs. Pretty neat. Chuck comes tomorrow so ray will be down working in the garage full time once chuck gets here so he’s pretty excited to. Wel. Till next time. God Bless!!!