another week ...

Heather did a post introducing many of the prenatal ladies if you want to check it out, go here. 

My bright idea and big goals of doing detailed introductions of everyone at Harbor House and showing you the progress being made...  Yeah, still only a goal. This week went nutty on us.

For those that sent items to Louisiana to the container, it is on the water heading this way. We don't know how long it will take to clear customs but we will eventually get what you sent to help make the house a home.  Thank you!

Until I can better tell you about all these fabulous girls (and the two others missing from this photo) and share more in detail about them I will quickly speed blog some thoughts about the Harbor House.

• Brit (the white girl in the photo) is doing a great job of creating order in the house for the girls.
• Brit is holding her little brother (being adopted by her parents) and to her right is her little sister. She is caring for them while their adoption processes.  At the time of the earthquake all of the Heartline kids got out except these two. 
• Leoni (argyle shirt) is currently very sick with Malaria.  She is pregnant, please pray for healing. She is feeling so miserable and sad.  I am thankful Dr. Jen is here. Jen moved her to our house for tonight because she is on IV fluids.
• Ernege (turquoise shirt with white trim) had a Birthday Monday. We tossed together a quick celebration that night. 
• Marjorie (green shirt on right) was not that thrilled that we wanted photos mid-hairdo but she is a good sport so she let us take her picture.  She works at Harbor House and was a former earthquake patient.
• The girls got photo book gifts from friends in California. They loved them.
• Djenie left to meet up with family and had major drama and a really scary night Monday. Troy wrote the whole crazy story down. Sometime we'll share it.  We are so grateful she is okay and was protected from harm or death that night. 
• Troy's role is probably more important than we first realized.  None of these girls have positive male role models.  Just watching a guy that loves, disciplines fairly, sticks around .... this is HUGE and truly unknown to them.
• We're aware that we need to be careful about the programs and choices we make at Harbor House. We are not trying to turn out Americans.  We're trying to help Haitian young women learn valuable skills that will allow them to live within their own culture.
• Three weeks ago today we kicked one girl out.  It was horrible.  We still think we made the right choice. Did I mention it was horrible? Thankfully we still have a relationship with her and see her at ecd class on Tuesdays.
• Enisse is back home with Sophia tonight.  Everyone is excited to have the first baby girl at Harbor House.

Ernege and her son Makenly

Enisse

Paige and Sergline

Enisse did really well all things considered.  She was so scared and that certainly changed the game a bit. We found out that she had been told on Monday when she visited some family that women die in childbirth and that babies are born dead sometimes.   (True but not so helpful.)

Enisse has clearly been hurt in her short life. We are praying that Sophia will play a role in her healing.  My favorite parts of the day were when she perked up talking to Geronne and Troy on the phone after Sophia had arrived and when Paige told the Harbor House a healthy baby girl had arrived and it erupted in cheering and thanksgiving.

Family and community are being built there. 

Tired Enisse  - Thank you for praying for her!

Sophia - 5lbs 12 ounces of delicious baby

The last two weeks have been so intense.  We've not taken time to do much detailed story telling, mainly because we're just not up for it at the end of the long day. 

We realized today as we all talked after prenatal program that so many really high-emotion situations have piled on top of each other that we've almost not had time to really debrief or discuss before the next one comes.  Things are busy. I have not been running very much and I can feel it affecting my ability to cope and process.  We're all trying to figure out how to balance things better. 

The truth is, the women we're working with live incredibly intense lives. They are almost all anemic, unhealthy, and undernourished. Every single pregnancy is high-risk by U.S. standards. Many of them lack support systems, homes, jobs, husbands, and regular income. The majority have experienced abuse and rape. They all lived through a catastrophic event and wait for their country to heal. Entering into their lives means entering into some very sad (and intense) situations.  The best gift we can give them is just to walk with them and be their friend and advocate.