Hanging Out

Katie (another missionary with Kids Alive who also works at Anija), just bought a motorcycle recently and wanted some practice driving so we went on a little outing on our day off on Monday. On our way back into town we stopped by Annerys and Ardennys house, twin girls that go to Anija.

The girls couldn't wait to show us their friend... Mr. Chicken. She was trying to make the chicken flap its wings (and yes we were inside their house and no they didn't wash their hands after handling the chicken).

Kids Opening Presents on Kings Day

Thought I'd share this video of kids at the Ark opening presents on Kings Day.

Celebrating Birthdays Again!

Time to celebrate birthdays again! We celebrated January's birthdays with ice cream and gifts! Although only the birthday kids get a present, everyone gets to eat and enjoy the ice cream. We ended up celebrating several of the Haitian kids birthday's in January since no one really knows when they were born.

Guess What I Found in the Library...

Yes, that is a crab.

I don't know how it go there or how long it's been there.

I found it (dead) while moving a bin on wheels that I had never moved before. And no, I did not scream (only because there was a group of 8th graders in the library at the time).

Update on Melissa and Lisa's House

If you remember from my post "An Unfortunate Event" from back in November, two of our students at Anija's house caught on fire and basically burned up everything on the second floor of their house (including beds, clothes, documents, toiletries, etc). I went to visit Melissa and Lisa on Friday and helped deliver some donations sent from the States. It was really cool to see how grateful they are and to hear them say what a blessing it is to have the body of Christ supporting them. Thank you for your prayers and I ask that you continue to pray for safe living for all of our families as there has been two more fires since then (one of them burnt down the house of a student attending our Palo Blanco Care Center and the other was in a neighborhood where our students live).

Remember that 3 houses other than Melissa and Lisa's were actually burnt down to the ground.

Scraps from what was left of the houses that burnt down.

A view of Melissa and Lisa house. The first story wasn't effected too much and the second story is currently being rebuilt. I heard that the bank that one of their parents work at is helping pay to rebuilt it! What a blessing from God!

Melissa, Lisa, and her dad were so grateful for everything people have done for them. Their dad prayed with all of us after receiving the donations praising God for everything.

Opening a huge duffel bag full of donations from sponsors and old friends that included a bedding, shoes, clothes, toys, and so much more! THANK YOU!!

Even though the girls restrained themselves from plowing through the bag while in front of me, I know they were really excited to look through everything and start trying on clothes!

Deporting Haitians?

Today I found out the the Dominican Republic is taking action towards deporting any Haitians that don't have documentation to be in the country. Sadly, this includes basically all of our Haitian kids at Anija. Just yesterday, a few Haitian girls were saying that they were afraid to walk home by themselves because they might be picked up from immigration. At the time, I thought they were making stuff up, but it's true. I know people should go through the right process to live in another country but I can't help but feel bad for these kids who had no say as to whether they were born in or taken to the DR illegally by their parents. I know God is in control yet I also know that things in Haiti aren't exactly stable right now. I want these kids to continue being apart of our ministry so we can feed them, love on them, share Jesus with them, and give them hope for a future but God's thoughts are better than mine and whatever happens, whether none, some, or all of our Haitian kiddos go back to Haiti, I know God is looking out for them. As of now, none of our kids have been deported and I will post if any are in further updates. Below are a few pictures of my Haitian buddies at Anija. I also included a couple of paragraphs from an article I read earlier today about the situation.

She is always full of hugs and smiles!

Two of these girls are in our program at Anija.

He just got a new sponsor right before Christmas!

This group of kids usually visit me in the afternoon on Wednesday before they start class. This Wednesday I let them color from some coloring books that were donated.

All ready for Sports Day.

We visited a couple of our students on Thursday. Nine people live in one bedroom.

Migration intensified their operations against illegal

"Immigration authorities and the police yesterday increased checks records and Haitian immigrants to locate at least a thousand criminals, convicted of murder and other crimes, escaped Haitian jails after last year's earthquake, while the Army ordered the sending new members to the border to strengthen the work of the Special Body Border Security (Cesfront).

For the first time since the earthquake of January 12, 2010, the Dominican authorities yesterday conducted surprise checks at various terminals and bus stops covering domestic routes, and required hundreds of passengers Haitian passports or documents to prove legal residency in the country...

...According to reports, dozens of Haitians, many with suitcases, were arrested yesterday morning by immigration agents at the stop at kilometer 9 of the Duarte Highway, where most buses arrive from North and Northwest to Santo Domingo."

Read the full article (usually there is a 'translate option') at http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2011/1/14/173436/Haitianos-en-el-foco-de-los-operativos-de-Migracion

Donations!

Thank you Chandler Christian for your donations! These will be used as presents next week when we celebrate birthdays. Some of the students saw me wrapping them and everyone wanted one!

Grateful

I'm feeling tired after work today.

Last year there were a couple of twin girls who were 13 years old, one in 3rd grade and one in 4th grade, who attended Anija. I haven't heard much about how they are doing since they didn't return to Anija this school year, until today. Today I was told that both of these girls are now married and one is pregnant. On one hand, this makes me sad as we (at Anija) aren't an influence in their lives anymore but on another hand, it makes me happy to think of how many kids we are having a good influence in their lives for.

Today I went on a couple of home visits. We went to a barrio that I was familiar with from running in the area but I had never done home visits there until today. I was surprised when the first house we visited was one I had always pointed out to my friends and family when passing by. There was a wooden shack set up between some trees, which I assume is their bathroom, and i would point it out to my friends and family to show that it's kind of common for people to not have bathrooms inside their house. Knowing that it's the house/wooden shack of one of our student's from Anija made me think about what many of our students go home to.

We also were hoping to visit a couple of Haitian girls nearby when we saw one of the girls walking in the opposite direction to her house. We stopped and told her we were on our way to visit her and her family and asked her where she was going. Basically she said that no one was home and the door was locked so she was walking to another girls house (which was about 1.5 miles away). As we later drove by her house, I saw that the bottom of the door was open about 5 or 6 inches with a lock at the top holding the door closed, and I remembered that this girl we had just seen, had come to visit the nurse last semester because a rat had been nibbling on her fingers during the night. No joke. As I looked at the 5 to 6 inch opening into their house I imagined rats going in and out as they pleased, when they pleased. It wouldn't surprise me if the girls slept on a mattress or blankets right on the floor as another Haitian girl we visited later had 9 people living in one room and who sleep on mattresses on the floor. There's so much to think about and man am I so grateful not just that I have people looking out for me and a bed to sleep on and a bathroom inside but just grateful period.

King's Day at the Ark!

Presents for the kids, many were donated and others were bought with money donations.

Everyone sat with their Ark family.

This was the first King's Day/Christmas celebration with Kids Alive for our Haitian boys, I think they had a good time... :)

Happy girls :)

He was so excited!

Yeraudy is all set for the year!

Christmas Visit 2010

Waiting at 4am to board our flights.

Spending time with Dad and Mom :)

Hanging out with my brother.

I enjoyed playing with my nephew, Jack :)

Holding my newphew, Levi. :)

Getting pampered with my sister. :)

Mary Kay party with my sister-in-law, Janine and with my good friend Kortney. :)

We even "roasted" marshmellows on Christmas Eve!

Hanging out with Jen and Amanda.

Visiting with Mikaela and catching up on how life is in Spain and the DR!

I even got to see my parents newly remodeled cabin!