Fresh coconuts

Paige scoops out coconut meat while Fery, myself and Brother Robert look on.

It took no time at all for a small crowd to come out and see the "blans".  

 Older sister came with her siblings.

 Ezekiel is eleven and would like to attend school but his family can't afford it.

The most popular complaint of the folks was that there are no jobs.  No jobs translates into no school for the kids and that means no future for them.  "Can you help us?" was repeated over and over.  We said we'd try.

Charcoal Problem

Here's a traditional cooking system.  It's also the most inefficient use of charcoal as the heat dissipates in all directions.  There are far better stoves available which would cut back on charcoal usage but the folks can't afford them.

 Our own Fery stands next to a pile of mangrove trees which were recently cut from a wetlands area just outside the town.  The pile will be organized and straw added to cover it.  It will then be set on fire and covered with dirt to produce charcoal.

A couple of ladies bagging the charcoal made from the wetlands' trees.  The menfolk were out cutting more trees when we took this photo.  They used to be fishermen but their boats were lost when a major storm hit last year and this is the only way for them to make some money.

Charcoal-making is the principal reason for cutting down the trees in Haiti which leaves the mountains denuded and incapable of withholding the waters whenever it rains so floods happen regularly now.  The people know this but have to feed their families so charcoal-making continues until an alternative source of income can be found.

First-timers

Zach Oles (Cross International) and Brother Robert Anthony talk while waiting for the meeting to start.  This was their first visit to Tiburon and both were impressed with the natural beauty that surrounds the town and the warmth of the people.

 Some of the curious children who came to meet and greet us.

Tiburon meeting

Tiburon community leaders met with Zach, Paige and me yesterday in one of the classrooms of our school there.  Needs were discussed and possible solutions presented.  We're working on a grant to fund disaster risk reduction.  Every major storm that passes our way has a terrible impact on the major sources of income for this region---jobs are lost; equipment destroyed; crops are washed away.  The people of Tiburon know what needs to be done but have no resources available to them.  This grant would be a step in the right direction towards a more sustainable economic future.  Keep us in your prayers.

Assistance

From Paige's Blog:

Their life changed at 4:35 pm, January 12, 2010. Their hard work, accomplishments, and sunshine disappearing into a cloud of dust. The mementos of their lives spent together, for better and for worse, crumbled into a thousand pieces in a matter of minutes. Only a small ray of sunshine was left- their youngest daughter. 

Not only did the Maxine family lose every single one of their material possessions, they lost their two eldest daughters, 12 and 10. A happy family of five turned to a family of three within seconds. The youngest instantly became an only child. Their smiles immediately erased. Their lives changed forever.

What was turning out to be a normal afternoon in Port au Prince ended in tragedy. Father Alabre Maxine had just closed his store for the night, and was headed home. Mother Maxine was out fetching water from the well while two oldest daughters where inside studying- one in the dining room, the other in her bedroom. Youngest daughter was playing in the yard, waiting for Mother to come back with the water to cook dinner and bathe. 

Then the ground split open. The family store crumbled to pieces. The house pancaked to the ground. The three children were lost, buried under the rubble. When the ground stopped shaking, they ran. Home. Mr. and Mrs. Maxine were distraught. They screamed out their daughters' names. They clawed at the heavy cement, hoping to hear them. Hoping to see them- catch a glimpse of their long, dark hair. Their pale, beautiful skin. Silence. 

They dug and clawed all night. Through the darkness they blindly clung to any glimmer of hope and chance, but they faded as the sun rose. Then they heard a voice. A mouse's cry of salvation under the rubble. In a space no larger than a bucket, their glimmer of sunshine announced her life. She squeezed out of her grave by the grace of God physically unharmed. Her sixth year will be followed by a seventh. They lost everything but one, tiny ray of sunshine. 

But now they struggle, still trying to climb out of the ruins of their life. For the past year, Alabre Maxine, his wife, and his only daughter have been sleeping on the floor of kind souls' homes. They left Port au Prince in hopes of starting over in Les Cayes. They can never return to Port au Prince- the thought of it causes the child to panic and cry. She is petrified of Port au Prince, the city that stole her sisters. He tries to find a job, she tries to find a place to stay for the night. Their comfortable life gone. They have been reduced to homeless beggars. 

They need assistance. They need support. They need something to get them on their feet again. A new ray of sunshine. Something to help them as they heal and attempt to start over as a family of three. Formerly a family of five.

Jean-Raymond

Sweet, meek, mild, Jean Raymond came to Espwa today with his Mother asking for medical assistance. Jean Raymond has lived his nine little years with this lip.

When I saw Jean Raymond I immediately thought of my youngest sister. My baby sister was born with a syndrome that blessed her with a pharangyeal flap in the back of her throat instead of showing on her lip. Because she was born in the United States, at age two, she was able to have a surgery to close the pallet, and after speech therapy, she was transformed into a typical little girl. But not Jean Raymond. I can't help but think...

We complain, we make comments, we hate it. But what is the alternative? Nine years of discomfort and people looking at you funny?
So what do we do? We look for a doctor from the good old U-S-of-A to help Jean Raymond out.
A doctor from the healthcare system we complain about, but keeps our children from suffering fixable pains.
                                                                                            --- from Paige's blog

Sight for sore eyes

This is a photo of an electrician hooking up the girls' homes and the kitchen-dining room to EdH, the local power company.  The kids, especially the girls, were crazy happy watching this happen.