Photos -day 2

Hygiene kits for the orphans.... They were super excited!! (Soap, shampoo, toothbrush, washcloth, etc)

A whistle (sorry Pastor and staff-lol), comb, and coloring book/marker book for each child. THEY got to pick color, kind, etc...

Then they each got to pick one of the little groups of items.... some jewelry, some toys, some more practical (calculator, water bottle, etc). All about the same value but each different so they could decide. This is in keeping with our ministry philosophy to have people participate, make their own decisions, etc rather than us telling them what they need. 

Shopping with them.... (We mostly helped carry items)

Sitting with their new gifts...

Blood pressure and glucose check on Madame Pastor and Pastor

The skit..... Mary came riding into the stable (made by two guys from the team) on a donkey (another trip participant).... 

Drawing on chalkboard paper while waiting for dinner.

The big dinner!!!!

We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus (on New Year's day, but still it was our Christmas party)

Tori’s Blog 1/1/16

Today we woke up after beginning the New Year in Haiti. Cody, Chrissy, Emily, Lane, and I stayed up last night until midnight to bring in the New Year and to see how Haitians celebrate. It was actually quite a bit more subtle than we thought it might be. There was just some music, fireworks, and an occasional gunshot (shot up in the air, we presume).

This morning we had breakfast then loaded up the bus with hygiene kits, school supplies, and other prizes for the kids. We headed to an orphanage in Port-au-Prince that Crystal and the organization are in close contact with and visit frequently. There are 70 kids at the orphanage, mostly girls, ranging in age from 3 to 20. It is run by a pastor and his wife along with several nannies.

We began by unloading the bus and setting up for the Christmas party that was to take place later on in the day. Most of the day was spent playing and interacting with the children. Most of them were not shy at all and some were definitely clingy. It was a little bit of a struggle interacting because of the language barrier, but we managed. They really enjoyed things like kicking around a soccer ball and taking/looking at pictures on our phones and cameras. After the kids ate lunch, we split into two groups and had the kids act out the Christmas story. Whichever team performed it best got to go first through the gift line. There was a room set up for the older girls and a room set up for the younger kids. Every kid got a notebook, crayons, a pencil, a comb, a whistle, a hygiene kit (washcloth, soap, hand sanitizer, etc.), and a few random other prizes. They were super excited to get gifts and to be able to choose which ones they wanted instead of just being handed something random. We played with the kids and their prizes for a while and then helped serve them dinner.

We got back to the base around 4:30 and were greeted by Grant who finally decided to show up J Dinner was at 5, debriefing was  right after dinner, and now we just have free time for the rest of the night.

So far it has been a great trip and I’m so excited to see what is to come!

Victoria (Tori) Yoder

Arrived!!

James called and Grant is safely at the mission base. We will join him shortly. 

Photos- first official day of ministry...

The prayer walk took us through an area of temporary shelters that is becoming more permanent over the years. The small homes are so close together and life there is tough but JOY abounds and we saw plenty of that!

Plenty of blood pressure checks!

Lots of children tagged along with us. Emily is showing them photos on her phone. 

Another of the team and the view...

More blood pressure checks

Donations for hygiene kits- we made over 200 of them (wash cloth, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, paste, lotion, sanitizer, etc... ). Each orphan will get one with their Christmas gifts, we will give to the patients we see Saturday at the medical clinic and we will hand some out at the pediatric hospital too. THANKS to all who donated. 

Also- there are school supplies donated by a school in Nebraska. Each orphan will get a notebook, pack of 24 crayons, mechanical pencil and sticker pack as part of their Christmas gift. Then, there were left over items like markers, glue, rulers, pencils, etc to donate to the school at the orphanage (given to the pastor). 

Later, they sorted meds and made up a suitcase we will take to the medical clinic we will do on Saturday. That way we can grab it in the morning and go. 

It was a FULL day but a really good one!!

Lane’s Blog Star 12/31/2015 Carrefour Haiti

               Today started out with a beautiful sunrise and the sounds of dogs barking and roosters crowing at an early 5:45 am.  Thankfully we had electricity so we were able to make a fresh pot of coffee to enjoy with our breakfast. Breakfast here is not your normal breakfast. It usually consists of tomatoes and lettuce paired with spaghetti. Well plain spaghetti which we put mayonnaise and ketchup on it if you are brave enough.

                After breakfast and getting ready for the day we all headed up the hill to walk around the community. The farther we got up the hill the more beautiful the view got. The view was not the most amazing part though. Walking around the  community you meet all kinds of people, but they all have one thing common and it is impossible not to notice it. They all have beautiful smiles as you approach to talk to them. Even though there is a huge language barrier there is no hesitation on their part to walk up and start a conversation.

                While talking to the people we would ask if they had any medical needs that we could help them with. One lady wanted us to take her blood pressure and sitting her down was all it took to tip the iceberg.  As surely as we were done with hers there was already a line of people ready to have theirs tested as well.  After about 20 minutes and many people later all of our nurses had a chance to test someone’s blood pressure.  We continued to walk around and even the people with some of the worst conditions were just filled with joy and blessed to be alive.

                We eventually made it down to a community soccer field unfortunately we had no soccer ball. We did however have a Frisbee. We attempted to teach the kids the concept of Frisbee, but they thought it would just be more fun to run around with it and play keep away from us. We were outnumbered 5 to 1 and had no luck at succeeding at the game of keep away.

                We went to back to base for lunch which consisted of homemade bread to which we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from. We spent the next couple of hours preparing for the next couple days. We put together all of our hygiene kits to give out at our Christmas party and at the doctor’s office we will be visiting. We also divided out all of the school supplies that we brought down to be taken to the Christmas party as well.           

                Me and Theodore (he prefers Ted) went down the street and attempted to keep up with the, locals in a friendly game of soccer. We started out scoring the first three goals, but after that the Haitians scored 5 in a row and we called it a game. We walked back home and showered and prepared for dinner. We learned a new game today that the Malone group taught us called Dutch Blitz. It is more less the same thing as nertz but with colors instead of suites. Me and my teammate Savannah dominated.

Now after having a wonderful dinner  consisting of chicken  pasta salad two forms of fried plantains and a local dish called picilis(Haitian coleslaw with a jalapeno vinaigrette) we sit out on the porch reminiscing of good times and learning about all of our  new friends  that we are forming down here.  With no electricity it is completely dark as await the ringing in of the New Year, exciting to start of the new year  by spreading Gods love mercy and grace with this wonderful country.

P.S.  Some kid named Cody finally arrived safely with no troubles. J 

Feel free to comment or ask questions I am here all week. Well more like 8 days but you understand.

                                                Lane (Aka Lame) Salsbury

Cody here

Cody has arrived safely and joined the team, gotten organized and we are ready for debrief soon. Tomorrow Grant comes and then the team is complete. 

Day One

Here are some photos from the first day...