The Haitian Boys

As many of you know, Kids Alive opened it's ministries to receiving refugees from Haiti shortly after the earthquake. Although we did not receive the quantity and ages in the time frame we were thinking, we provided housing, clothing, food, devotions, schooling, and God's love to four Haitian boys throughout the months of February and March. I had the opportunity to tutor the boys in English (they asked for English class). What an experience. I tutored them twice a week, using picture flashcards, gestures, and the help of their tutor who spoke Spanish! I also had the opportunity to go on a couple of hikes with the boys. Taking in these boys was quite a challenge as they were not use to living with any structure in their lives. Throughout the few weeks they were here in Jarabacoa, they were able to contact their mothers (their fathers had died in the earthquake) and left a couple weeks ago to head back to Haiti to live with them (all except one of the boys who is still in Jarabacoa with us). Since then, they have called and communicated that they are safe yet still living in awful, awful conditions. A couple people from Kids Alive are planning a trip within the next couple of weeks to check in on the boys. I think it's so neat that we can be some sort of stability for these boys as they know we actually care for them. We pray they will hear our hearts and take them to heart when we say it's all by God's love and grace that we can care for you.

As I wrote in a previous blog, we received one more boy a couple weeks ago and about two days ago received four more boys. We are still finding out more about these boys situations but we think they (or at least a couple of them) are not refugees from the earthquake. Now we have six boys we are looking after and that are getting tutored at Anija. Please pray for wisdom as we try to contact some relatives for these boys and that throughout their time with us (however long or short that might be) that they may feel cared for, loved, and valued like God cares, loves, and values us.

Here are some pictures from a hike up a river to a waterfall, a hike up Magote, and a farewell pizza party.

Home Visits in Piedra Blanca

Here are some pictures from today's home visit. In general, this barrio was one of the poorest I've seen as a whole. I'd say about 90% or more of the houses are made out of only wood. Two of my students houses are partly dirt floors. I also saw holes in the tin roofs which means not only is the inside of their house getting wet but parts of it get muddy as well. Some of these pictures only have the parents because the student wasn't home, only the student because the parents weren't home, etc. Thanks for making ministries like Kids Alive and Anija possible through your prayers and support!

Four New Haitian Boys

Here is an email I received from our Field Director today:

Greetings!

Today we received four more Haitian children in Jarabacoa. Yesterday, these four boys were found walking by the side of the highway just north of Santo Domingo. They were taken into custody by the Dominican government who promptly asked us to care for them. The plan is for them to recuperate with us while UN officials search for their parents and family in Port au Prince. Currently they are in an apartment in Jarabacoa where they arrived to open arms of two other Haitian children, Creole speaking house parents and a hot meal. Tomorrow they will go to school at ANIJA where they will be tutored in Creole. We are likely to move at least the younger three to their own house at the Ark with Haitian house parents sometime next week. Their names and ages are as follows: Israel (14); Jefry (10); Noel (11); Mikendy (10). We don't know more about them at this point but will begin piecing their story together tomorrow. We just outfitted them with underwear, shoes, and clothing. Noel arrived with no shoes and Jefry with a broken pair of sandals. We think none of them had underwear. Except for the fourteen year old, they seem happy to be in our care. I will send out another update shortly when we know more about their lives and circumstances that brought them here.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Week 5 Home Visits

We actually found 5 houses this week, unlike like last week when we only found one house in an hour and a half! Up until this week I didn't know that many Dominicans (at least in Jarabacoa) have never taken a bath before. Our neighbors and fellow KAI missionaries, who have a 5 year old daughter (Melia), told me that one of Melia's Dominican friends came over and they were given a bath. When her friend saw the bath full of water she said, "Wow! You have a pool!!!" She was so excited to be completely covered with water, to play in it, and even discovered that she couldn't hear when she was under water. Another story I heard involves one of the girls who attended Anija and became good friends with one of the missionary families. She had just taken a shower for the first time in their house and afterwards came downstairs and asked, "How do you turn it off?" She had never bathed in an actual shower before. She was about 14 years old. A third story i heard, involved the Haitian boys and their last night with Kids Alive. The Field Director took them to the capital, where they were being dropped off the next day, and they stayed in a hotel. All of a sudden, they heard one of the boys yelling in the bathroom and come to find out he had turned the hot water on and 1. probably didn't know what a hot shower felt like and 2. didn't know how to make it colder. One of the other boys went in to help him out. :)

Here are a few pictures from today's visit. I've included a couple of pictures of these families bathrooms.

One of our students with their family posing in front of a bathroom that they share with other families that live near them.

The front of their all-wooden house.

Visiting with one of my students and her mom.

This is one of the smallest houses I've been in. Behind the curtain on the left is another small room where they sleep. There is a bathroom outside that they share with their neighbors.

A community bathroom.

A view along the way while we found the student's houses.