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April 2008 Update
We've had a Workgroup!
.JPG) .JPG) In
early December we were blessed to have a work group made up of persons from the
Newton Falls, Ohio Church of God (John’s home church) and also from the
Dominican Republic. The group was headed by Ron and Carol Baker who have had
lots of experience working with work groups in the Dominican Republic. The group
was made up of Ron & Carol Baker, Bryan Baker, their son, Eddie & Pattie Howard
(also from Newton Falls), Jonathan & Sofia Taron, Pastor Rodolpo Marcelino,
Brother Ventura Pina, of the Dominican Republic, and Wiselande Joseph from
Haiti.
We worked them hard. On Tuesday through Friday we were at Prospere from
early morning until late in the evening. First they secured the doors of the
clinic and church so we would know that the supplies of both places wouldn’t be
stolen. This is where Brother Pina and Pastor Rodolpo shone. Their expertise in
building and welding would be welcome in any country.
Next the group put their efforts to clearing the land and digging (through
rock) in order to set up a basketball court. The youth and children of Prospere
have had no place or equipment to play. Ron noticed this during his visit, and
we decided this group would do something about that. They now play on it every
day.
The pigeons were making their home inside the church building because it was
constructed with openings between the side walls and the roof. To alleviate this
problem the group welded thick metal screening in these areas. Although the
pigeon population is having a difficult time adapting to the new living
arrangement, it makes the church much cleaner and less hectic.
In the afternoons Carol, Kathy, and Wiselande took the school children and
had a Bible school program with them. These kinds of programs are always looked
forward to by both the children and the adults
On Saturday the group went to the House of Blessing children’s home in
Callebasse to visit with the children and to observe what a difference the
Children of Promise program was making in the children’s lives. We were
entertained by the kids, both orphanage and the neighborhood, much of the
afternoon. They even fed us an authentic Haitian meal including picklis, a
really hot cabbage salad that they know I love. The House of Blessing children’s
home was established in 1987 by Phil and Lonnie Murphy. Many children have
passed through there and not only were they better off for it but Haiti is
better off. Many of those children have become leaders in their community as
adults. Tanya, the present director of the home, was in the original group of
children who were part of the House of Blessing over 20 years ago.
On Sunday, the final work day, we returned to Prospere in order to worship
with the congregation of the Eglise de Dieu Reforme. When I say worship I really
mean the get-down-and-move type of worship. The work group was thrilled with
their experience. But during the service we had a visitor, a pigeon. So we did
spend a couple hours after the service completing the welding of the mesh up in
the areas where it was lacking. Since that service there have been no bird
visitors to the church.
We are certainly thankful for these people who gave their time to come to
Haiti to help us do some much needed work.
We thank the Newton Falls Church of God for their sacrificial giving toward
these projects so there would be supplies for the group to work with.
I need to thank one friend who helped this work group be able to accomplish
as much as they did. Patrick Brun is a friend and also the owner of the BatiMat
Hardware store here in Port-au-Prince. He first helped Ron and I when we stopped
at the store and questioned him about how we should do what we wanted. With his
knowledge of the building profession he gave us much advice and encouragement.
Next he had his workers deliver all the building supplies we needed during the
week to Prospere. Finally he gave a large financial contribution to us for the
cost of the supplies we had bought. Without it we would not have been able to
get everything done and stay on budget.
PROJECTS
.JPG) Our
first project, the patient waiting area, was finally finished in early December.
We thought we had finished it a few months earlier, but a design flaw was
discovered. It seems that whenever it would rain the rain would roll off the
roof and into the waiting area. I guess this isn’t good for a place that was
created to keep people out of the rain. Anyway, workers returned for a couple
afternoons and added a large lip on the sides of the roof and all was well. It
is great to have a place for the early arrivers to sit or lie in while waiting
for the clinic to start. For those of you who gave to Project Link please know
how your giving is appreciated and really does make a difference in these
people’s lives.
I am also in the middle of one other project at this time. I have a base
down for our toddler’s play area. We have a 10’ by 20’ cement pad completed. Now
I am in process of raising a 3’wall around that area so the children won’t fall
off the cement. Next I am planning to place a soft base on the cement so little
bottoms won’t get hurt if they fall. That may be the hardest and most expensive
part of the project. After that I am hoping that some of our supporters will
give small tricycles and large toddler toys for the area. NOTE: No, don’t send
anything yet. I don’t have storage room for them.
Other project plans I have are for a playground for the school aged
children. (Actually the adults will probably use these as much as the kids) In
order to do this we will have to do some major land work such as building some
retaining walls, and filling them even before thinking about purchasing the
swings, seesaws, and monkey bars. Also I am hoping to start soon to build a
small storage building. It will get things like school supplies out of the
clinic and give us more room there. Lastly, I am hoping to someday be able to
drill a good well in Prospere. Although many wells have been drilled there they
have none that are clean and salt free. I have discussed with a few drillers and
they believe it can be done but it will have to be drilled in a special way in
which they will have to drill down through the first layer of water and into a
deeper pool while not allowing the higher water to enter that supply. Now, don’t
quote me on that one. Anyway, because of the difficulty that well will be a very
expensive ordeal.
I do have other ideas running around in my head like a school and
improvements for the clinic but for now those will have to wait.
If you do see projects that you are interested in giving to in order to make
them happen that would be appreciated. If this is true of you please send funds
to Church of God Ministries, PO Box 2420, Anderson IN 46018. On the memo line of
each check please write Project #42.30233 - Prospere Clinic. Thanks for
considering.
VISITORS
In addition to the work group we have had a few other visitors since early
December.
.jpg) Jacquie
Gross, Jodie’s mother and Jessica’s Grandmother came down to spend Christmas
with us again. It’s always great to have her here. Since she has a year’s
experience living in Haiti we never have to explain much to her. She already
knows what to expect. We got her to the beach for a couple days. When you live
in Indiana and are having a winter as cold as this one a beach is something that
pleases a lot. She also came at the right time to act as a great Santa Claus.
Phil Murphy was here in January in order to check how things were going at
the House of Blessings children’s home. We really miss Phil and Lonnie so much!
They are doing well. Phil is one of the heads of the HEART program at Warner
Southern College in Lake Wales, Florida. Lonnie (although she wasn’t able to
come with Phil) is doing well and landed the exact job that she wanted. She is
again a kindergarten teacher in a new classroom in Lake Wales. Her kids have no
choice but to learn. She’s a special teacher.
Joe and Jabeth Coachman from Kansas were here for ten days in February. I
met Joe about 20 years ago when he introduced himself in a Sunday School class
where I was teaching. He said that he was a Methodist pastor from Newton Falls,
Ohio. I almost fell off my chair. I thought that I was the only person from
Newton Falls. Anyway I consider Joe one of my closest friends. We have been
doing things in Haiti together as often as he could get down here in this past
20 years. Jabeth, his daughter, is such a neat young lady. Judy, his wife,
doesn’t allow him to travel without a family member due to health reasons.
Jabeth is the head of the Topeka parks department. She does lots of programs
with children. She’s the kind of child we all wish we had and I do, two of them.
When Joe and I get together we primarily talk and decide what needs to be done
to improve the world. High level stuff you must agree. Joe will be a new
grandparent this year. His son Jonathan will be the father. For those of you who
know anything about the WWE Jonathan goes by the name of “Coach.” I only bring
that up to let you know that I beat him in tennis when he was in high school.
Sometimes we just need to say those things.
KNEES
The knees are doing well. As most of you know I had a double knee
replacement last June 18th. Progress has been slow but I certainly have nothing
to complain about. They make lots of noise still, and don’t enjoy being knelt
on. I was supposed to go this morning to play tennis with some friends of mine
but John (the other one) got sick. I think he must be afraid of me. Actually I
hope to be able to walk off the court when we finish whenever that first match
becomes reality.
New update: It has been a week since starting to write this and I did get on
the court this morning. I was surprised to find that the knees are allowing me
to do more then I had expected. We played doubles for almost two hours. It also
feels good to do something fast enough to sweat. As of now there’s no pain on
either side. I won’t tell you if things get worse.
THE CLINIC
.jpg) The
clinic is going well. The numbers are neither large nor small but I still feel
like what we are doing is a very important thing in the life of the community of
Prospere. The main thing that I feel is changing is that patient education is
finally starting to have a positive effect. I have had days when I thought that
I was useless out there, that the only reason people came was to restock their
medicine cabinets. I still have some of these people, but in general most of
those I see actually try to listen and do what I tell them to do rather than do
what they do for convenience sake. The majority of my young mothers exclusively
breastfeed for 6 months. Most of the time my hypertension patients do return
when I give them an appointment. This way they don’t go without medicine. Most
of the time when I explain how and when to take the medicines my patients
actually listen and confirm if what they heard is what I want them to do rather
than just take the medicine whenever they think of it. Not impressed? Well it
hasn’t been easy getting to this point but I’m happy that we’re arriving in the
correct place. Of course we do have our backslides. Just last week I had a 5 day
old baby whose mother had died. The mother had been coming into the clinic for
her monthly examinations and had been taking her prenatal vitamins. Last month
when we had discovered that she had just become hypertensive and had protein in
her urine we told her that she had to go to a maternity hospital in
Port-au-Prince for them to follow her because she had preeclampsia and could
lose her baby or even die herself. She didn’t listen. She probably thought that
we didn’t have any idea what we were talking about so why should she waste the
extra money and energy to go somewhere else. So, I repeat, most of the time
things are going better, but we still have our days.
On another note, Jan Flanagan who was working with me in the Fall in order
to save my energy and knees had to quit doing work at the clinic because there
were other more pressing things for her to do. I understand but I do miss her.
She was such a cheerful person to have around the clinic. And I have to admit
the clinic has never been cleaner than when she was with me. I always let her
know whenever I see her that she is welcome back whenever she wishes.
The Quisqueya Classroom
 The
days of the school year are flying by, and we’re already at the end of the third
quarter! The children in my Kindergarten class have grown and learned so much,
but of course there is so much more I hope to teach them. One blessing we have
experienced this year is no missed days of school, either due to weather or
political instability. It is nice to make lesson plans and feel that we might
get to do them all!
Since Christmas we have done some beginning geography lessons, and learned
about the continents. We are currently doing a unit on Africa. Since I had a
large box sitting around, I decided to turn it into a jeep for the classroom.
The children are allowed to read in it, and also use it for pretend play during
their work centers. It is a very popular place in the room!
Nothing makes Bible stories come alive like letting Kindergartners act them
out. This week we learned some of the events of Jesus’ last week, and acted out
the Palm Sunday and Last Supper stories. I washed a little girl’s feet to
demonstrate. Unlike Peter, everyone wanted to participate! What are YOU doing
this week to make the events of Easter come alive in your heart?
The Family
Jodie, Jessica and I have been well. Jessica continues her effort to become
the perfect student. She now has become a student who studies. I wish that had
happened to me. She is still an unwavering vegetarian. For Lent she has even
given up milk, cheese, and eggs to become a Vegan for a time. She’s doing great
and even got to experience Carnival during the Mardi Gras festivities.
Jodie and I are doing well. Jodie is still working hard to open the minds of
her kindergarten students. That and the elementary lead teacher position
certainly keep her busy. We are both presently on South Beach Diet phase 1.
Jacquie and Kevin seem to be well Jacquie had a rough case of the flu in
February but is doing better now. She’s spoiled since we don’t have influenza in
Haiti. Their jobs are going well. They are planning to have their honeymoon in a
resort in Jamaica in April. Finally!
John & Jodie
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