Weekly Update

Many people asked if or how Haiti celebrates October 31^st.  We already knew there were no trick-or-treaters or costumes for that matter, but the days that follow - November 1^st & 2^nd - are called Fetes des Morts and honor the dead predominantly with voodoo ceremonies.  Christians spend the day praying at church as was the case for the girls.  However in the afternoon, we arrived with a stapler, rolls of clear packing tape and glue … the plan was to repair/reinforce their soft cover textbooks that were already showing wear-and-tear and it was a success!  On Saturday, we spent time in Tabarre with our friend Nan and on our way back got to experience up-close a Rara band (google it, unless you are our moms and skip that).  In retrospect, we realized driving by a big cemetery on this holiday weekend was not our best idea, but thankfully the intensity never lead to any problems.

Also I need to give a shout-out to my wonderfully awesome hubby who in the last couple of weeks got us connected on the iPad to MagicJack (F-R-E-E phone calls from Haiti to USA, woohoo!!) but also got the guesthouse listed on TripAdvisor :)  Our board of directors is super pleased and it will hopefully drum up some more business which a) helps our amazing guesthouse employees provide for their families, 2) aids the girls with resources and c) last but not least – helps Haiti as people come to serve and stay here.


Another week with another birthday here at the guesthouse :)  This time it was Louise, our amazing part-time kitchen assistant.  In the days leading up to her birthday, I asked how she would be spending the day.  She explained to me in very manner of fact terms that money was tight so there would not be a party as a person needs something special to serve to the guests.  When we presented her with a cake, she was overjoyed!!  When her shift was over, I had been praying about asking if we could drive her home but thought she would probably decline.  Well, God sent some rain so when we asked her she said yes!

At the risk of sounding too susie-sunshine about our “life overseas”, there are plenty of challenging, stretching and gut-wrenching moments every day.  Even after 11 years of marriage we are still struggling at times how to mesh our two (VERY) different personalities into one unified relationship. This was a hard week for that as being in Haiti only magnifies the differences. Also be praying along with us for the girls, that they would continue to grow in the areas of showing respect to others especially the adults in their life.  On one day this week, I counted 4 girls who were being disciplined and on their knees (Haiti version of “stand in the corner”).  Woah.  Tough love is hard.