Haiti is beautiful. Imagine everything you have ever heard or thought about it and now immediately disregard it. Every day the Lord shows me more of himself, in the people, the nature, everything. That is not to say that the heart ache isnt real and obvious, it overwhelmingly is. But more than that I see hope. My job, Im learning, is to show the people who live here, who call Haiti home, that this hope exists and is found in Jesus.

I have so many things to catch you all up on. I will try to be concise but Im going to be honest, I have never really been great at that. So, lets see, Saturday is where we left off. Saturday morning started off slow, a nap in a hammock on the beach complete with a breeze, shade from the palms and distant music. That afternoon the children from GHA (the Greta Home) that accepted Jesus came to our beach to be baptized. This was my first interaction with them and I was thrilled. They are all so outgoing and loving, each one of them wanting to play and get your attention. After the baptism one of the kids decided to run into the ocean clothed and all. The rest instantly followed suit. 50 kids jumping and splashing like crazy. I stood there and watched-wanting to get in but deciding on all of the grown-up reasons as to why I couldnt. Not long into it, a little boy came up, grabbed my hand like he knew what I was thinking and led me into the water. I was wearing jeans and a light colored shirt, so you do the math- my pants weighed a ton and my shirt was see through. But I DIDNT CARE. I dont think I have had that much fun in my entire life. We were splashing and jumping on each other and several children tried to baptize me. I assured them it had already happened but that wasnt good enough. I got dunked. Not to make this more than it was but I am going to anyways- this was super freeing for me. Something I never do and needed to do. I needed to loosen up, have fun and not worry about my hair being wet or my pants being full of sand. That was Saturday afternoon followed by really yummy oatmeal coconut cookies.

Sunday because of some security restrictions due to upcoming Carnival I didnt go to church. We usually have it on base Sunday nights but it was canceled because of the Super Bowl. I spent the morning in the kitchen baking with the girls all sorts of yummy American things like peanut butter cookies. Some neighboring children came by the base so we played a movie- French Bernstein Bears :) ate peanut butter sandwiches and painted the girls nails. It was adorable to watch them look at their nails and see a toilet flush for the first time. Its the little things we take for granted. Then came the Super Bowl party- my oh my- such good food, familiar food. And my new favorite dessert thanks to my new British friend Abby who I adore- Banoffee pie. Its banana and toffee. Banoffee (said the britt way).

Monday I was at  GHA. I spent the morning in our office and the afternoon walking around and talking with the kids. They are all precious. My first assignment is to develop a discipleship/mentor program for the community to connect with them. I started my work on that and then went home to a wonderful taco dinner which I later found out was a wonderful GOAT taco dinner. Something I have learned here is if you ask what is in every meal, you will starve. I dont ask. I just eat. Its a new concept for me but its keeping me full, well kinda full.

Tuesday and Wednesday I was assigned to go out with our MCH program- Maternal Child HealthCare. As an intern I have to spend some time with every program we have in Haiti which has been really interesting and impactful. Part of what this program does is train pregnant women and mothers on how to take care of themselves and their children. The information they share would seem so sex ed 101 to us but it is amazing the things we, once again, take for granted. Yesterday we started our early morning treck up the mountain and when I say up I mean up.  The further up we went, the more I prayed and spoke life to our tires. I couldnt believe we actually made it alive except for I believe in Jesus but other than that it would be impossible. And to prove my case, we passed one overturned bus and a broken down one. We were probably the only 3 cars traveling up to this remote area that day and shocker- my car I am sure is annointed and therefore we were the only ones who made it. After a very long drive we got to a church/school where we did the training. They asked me to lead a mini devo at the beginning and then we got right into the basics of pregnancy. I had no clue what was being said so I watched a kindergarten class that was going on in the same building. I hardly speak any creole and they were not very interested in talking to me either way. So I told them my name and decided to tickle them. Tickling I have learned is univeral. All children love it and it requires no words and produces all smiles. They eventually ran off and finished their school. After the session one of our trainers handed me a written note in english on a scrap piece of paper. It said "Dieusika, I love you so much. Do you love me? Love Wilmise." One of the girls I tickled had asked her teacher to write it for her in english and hand it to me. I could have bawled. I had no clue which girl it was but I prayed that she would know that I do in fact love her.

We left the school after killing almost every chicken in sight. Fun fact: chickens are to haiti as squirrels are to the States. They are everywhere, all the time, right in front of your tire. In Haiti they dont swerve so I squeal and look back to make sure we didnt just make dinner for someone. Anyways so we left there , drove all the way down the mountain which by the way overlooked the ocean, it was beautiful. Lunch took place on the street- it was your typical Haitian drive through lunch, equivalent to chic fil a-a little woman with like 4 pots in a tent. They filled up our to go boxes with rice beans chicken fried plantains and on we went. My friends proceeded to eat this in the car- I couldnt figure out how to do it with all the swerving so I waited.

Today we went up the mountain outside of Leogane called Troo Shoo Shoo. This place is off the beaten path- for real. These "roads" are the kind you see in Dodge Ram commercials and something you would hike, not drive in the States. 2 hours of intense bumps, trenches, more chickens and almost killing motorcyclist later we made it to the clinic. I spent some time attempting to interact with the women and children who were lined up already at 9 am just to see the doctor- such a difference from the States. I think they all thought I was this weird white girl who spoke some creole so not too many of them wanted to talk to me. But once again, I made sure to tickle the children. After that I went on to work with the staff. I think the MCH people forgot I am not a dr because they proceeded to give me dr tasks that required 1. creole and 2. medical school. After attempting and failing to take someones blood pressure or ask them for information beyond their name and age they realized I was not in fact a doctor. It was actually a rough moment. For the first time there I felt pretty inadequate. They needed me to be Haitian and a doctor, but I wasnt and I couldnt help it. I felt really useless and disappointing. I was then told my new task was to alphabatize and organize all their medical records. Files upon files of patient forms in complete random order. These were sifted through everyday when patients came in to see what they had done with them before and I knew it took them forever. 5 hours later they had a filing system and I had a farmers tan (It was my first one so I am pretty excited about it). As we drove home I realized soemthing about my task. At first it seemed meaningless to me, oh great I spent a day alphabatizing in Haiti. But then I realized that this was a big deal, for many reasons. Not only was it so needed in order to create a flow and ease for them but only the head doctor knew how to alphabatize. I had a skill that I didnt realize was a skill. I got to show them how to put the documents in order so they can continue it on with new patients. Just another way Jesus shows us that who we are EXACTLY is who we need to be. They didnt need me to be a doctor, they needed me to know my abc's.

I know that was a lot of information. Now that I have a computer I can update you guys more frequently and not have so much to say in one time. Tonight we are all watching Modern Family in the common area which I am pretty excited about even though I am definitely missing my church family right now.

Several of you have asked what you can send me- cards and encouragement are always welcome, food- kashi coconut dark chocolate bars, nature valley almond granola bars, candy- gummy bears, anything sour...I mean I will eat anything really. Oh and you know those mini individual creamers the international delight ones that dont have to be refrigerated? I could kill for some of those in hazelnut :)

That is all for now- thanks so much for staying up to date with my life, for your encouragement, and your prayers. Grier- I got your package yesterday and it was wonderful! I loved it so much! Read it and cried in my hammock :).  John Ross- I saw a guy with a machete today. I almost asked him if his name was Sante.

Oh PS- I am so excited I could pee my pants. They heard I used to work at OCC in the States so I have cordially been invited to an OCC distribution this Saturday!!!!!! I am supppppperrrrr excited! Pictures of that will definitely be posted! Oh and check out samaritanspurse.org and you might could find the pictures and video of the baptism on there, though it they may not be up yet. But keep checking and look for me!

Pray for me as I continue to learn creole. I have discovered that it is vital to being effective here. I will say though that in only a week I have picked up a lot-when Jesus wants you to learn something, you will. He gives you grace in every way and it is easy. Also pray for creativity and knowledge as I start to work on my projects for GHA. Oh and pray for Haiti- pray for the men and women of God who are in fact faithful to start a change in this nation. Pray for the government, pray for us, pray for the hearts of the people- that they would truly know the love of God, grow in their knowledge of Him.

Fini! I love you all! Pase Bonwee!