On July 3rd we got to spend the day at Wahoo Bay playing with friends. There was a woman from Tennessee here with her two boys for a week. The boys are 11 and 13 and Kate and (especially) Cam had a blast hanging out with them. On July 1st the couple who runs the guest house came back after a visit to the states and they have an almost 5 year old, so Brooklyn has a friend too!
Brooklyn & Lena
Body surfin'!
Brooklyn was DEVASTATED that she couldn't bring this home with her. She loves making animal friends. I wonder if she'll be a veterinarian.
The boys playing with Robertson. I think he had as much fun as they did, playing king of the dock.
On the 4th of July we had some friends from our church when we were in Bellingham come to explore Haiti with us. We had lots of meetings and had a great time reconnecting with them. At night we sat our on the deck at the house we are staying at and watched a few fireworks light up the sky. Mostly, we watched God's fireworks (lightening) and waited to get power so that we could go to bed with fans. It has been HOT!
On July 5th we hung out in the Luly and had meetings with some community leaders in Williamson. In true Jen form, I played an ice breaker to open our time together and the men were looking at me and each other like I was crazy, but by the end they were having a blast. One of the men commented how he had learned a lot about it being okay to have fun. DEFINITELY a highlight for me! While in Luly we found that the church had been torn down and they are in the process of rebuilding!
On July 6th we met with a school administrator who is doing great things. One of my favorite lines in response to the way that most schools are focused on teaching to the government test and rote learning.... "We cannot be slaves to the book!" It was amazing to walk onto campus and see his students studying for their test and laughing while interacting with each other and their teacher. We were blown away by his computer lab... Brookview, I think we might be able to do something about updating this!
In the afternoon we got to go to a heartbreakingly beautiful place, a home for children with special needs. While we were walking through there Cameron said, "Wow, this place is nice!" It brought my heart great joy to know that there is a nice place in Haiti for children who deserve a little bit of nice in their lives. I think it's the first time that Brooklyn has seen anyone with special needs and to watch her tenderly stroke a little boys hand while his head bobbed back and forth in his wheelchair was incredibly touching. While we were leaving some of the little ones were having a dance party and a few of them were fighting over the chance to dance with Brook.
On July 7th, we had a light day and drove up to the Baptist Mission up in the beautiful hillside of Haiti. On our way there, we saw an awesome ad for ProActive! At the Baptist Mission we enjoyed a sort of American lunch and .... wait for it..... a zoo! The zoo had rabbits, a monkey, a peacock, and goats. Word on the street is that there used to be an alligator and snake, but they were just empty cages.
On July 9th & 10th, we travelled to Gonaives, about two hours away to visit a Children's Home where our friends from Bellingham have invested time, money, and love. They are trying to adopt 5 children out of this home, though the process has been long and difficult and there is no guarantee that the adoption will go through. We stayed the night in a "hotel" that to date has probably been one of the funniest experiences of our trip, though when going through it, it wasn't that funny. Make sure you ask us about it! On Monday we met with a Pastor/ministry leader in Gonaives and it was like a breath of fresh air. It was cool to talk about what he dreams of for Haiti and dream together with him.
Steve and Aumony Dahl along with the three children (siblings) they are in the process of adopting. They also have 4 biological children.
Chuck & Naomi Jenkins with the two siblings they are in the process of adopting. They have 4 biological children as well.
So that brings us almost up to date. Tuesday was a regrouping day after our friends left. We had some family time and caught up on emails and work stuff. Today we visited a shop that makes sandals out of used tires. We got to talk with the women who were employed there about their ideas of family and resources/access to information they would love to have.
We are in our final week here! The time has gone by so quickly. We are praying for a productive last week and are thankful for the good health we have enjoyed. God has been good to us!
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