Happy Father's Day

Dad ... we did not forget you. We just took care of our grandpa first. There are no father's day cards in Haiti ... so this is your card. We love you!

Happy Father's Day to the MOST wonderful father in the Greater Antilles. We cannot imagine our lives without you. You love us so well, you lead us so well. We hope you never feel unappreciated.

We love you,

Ike, Hope, Noah, Britt & Paige



(Mom took this picture of you and Noah when you were sleeping together today.)

Happy Father's Day!

To my dad...

Dear Dad,
How weird it is not to be spending Father's Day in Shell Lake with you. I miss you guys so much. Oddly enough, since I have moved here, it is you that I miss the most. Don't tell Mom or Tina that I said that. I guess I've never stopped needing my dad.

On this Father's Day I am thanking God for you. I appreciate the authentic relationship we have developed. I love that while we have both disappointed each other in the past, we have come to a place of accepting each other without any grudges or unforgiveness. I love that we are free to be the real, messed up sinners that we are and that we can hold one another accountable.

Both you and mom taught me many important things. I learned how to be disciplined from you. I learned the value of hard work. I learned that faith in God is not something you have only when it is easy to have it. I learned that life is not fair and we still need to do what is right.

Thank you for supporting our move here even when it seemed like a really weird idea. Thank you for trusting Troy and I the way you did. You have always encouraged me to follow the Lord's will for my life and I appreciate that you do that even when it means taking your grandkids, daughter, and son-in-"love" away.

I guess Tina will need to buy you an ugly shirt to golf in this year. I never got organized enough to do that on-line. I just wanted you to know how much I value you and what a great friend and dad you are to me.

I am sending you seven long distance hugs. Golf well. Troy is with you in spirit.

We all love you SO much. Happy Father's Day Daddy!
~Tara
(Troy and kids too)

Happy Birthday Aidan Randy Cleary

(Photo of Matt and Tina and Aidan --- thanks Jan!) (Tina is Tara's sister. Matt is one of Troy's best friends who also happens to be his brother in law.)

Our nephew turns THREE tomorrow, June 18. We love you Aidan and miss you SO much.

Isaac says, "you are a good cousin and you are my best friend and I loves you." Hope says, "have a fun time with your cake." Noah says "NO, NOT!" We know you are going to be such a good big brother. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Much birthday love,

Uncle Troy, Auntie Tara and your five cousins

Haitian Healthcare at a Glance

What an interesting (and scary) experience it was to see what is referred to as "the best" hospital in Port au Prince.

On Thursday Jason and Rhonda were heading in to get Jason looked at, he has been having some scary symptoms and they were just wanting to find out if lab work would give them some answers. Troy came down with fevers, chills, and body aches in the night so Thursday morning he asked them if he could crash their party and ride in with them.

Somewhere along the drive Troy (who rode in the backseat) sort of freaked out a bit I guess. Rhonda told me it was one of the strangest things she had ever seen, I was not there so I only have Troy and Jason and Rhonda (later Beth and John) to tell me about it. Troy lost feeling in his hands and they clenched up into fists and he could not get them unclenched. His legs were tingly and he felt generally horrible. He said that he got scared at the loss of control in his hands and that just caused more problems once he was afraid.

Poor Jason could not get help right away because Troy was doing so poorly. The Doctor was suggesting that they take Troy to the hospital. He said Jason could get lab stuff done there. They called John and he led the way since we they did not know where to go.

There were lots of interesting things about the hospital. Some of the funnier/odder ones (now that we can laugh about it) were:
The nurses all dress like 1940 nurses with all white and little nurse hats. They gave Troy a shot in his butt, and even now we don't know what it was. Troy told me (maybe for my ears only??) that the nurse rubbed the alcohol pad on his butt longer than he was comfortable with and in a huge area, as if the needle was about five inches in diameter.. HA! I told him she knows cute buns when she sees them.

There are about 50 rooms in the hospital, all but a few of them are not air-conditioned. Troy lucked out and ended up with air in his room. The halls remind you of something out of 1945 too. Since we are the foreigners, we struggled because no one spoke much English. The communication in a hospital in the States is preferred. The nurses did not know anything, the doctor only came twice in 24 hours and the lab work took 22 hours to come back.

The doctor comes in and asks you for cash for her services. You pay her cash on the spot directly and pay the hospital separately when you leave. The rooms have no phone.The bathroom has toilet paper on request only.The bathroom has no towels, wash cloths, or soap. When you ask for a towel to shower, they tell you they don't have towels.

The funny things that happened ... John McHoul kept telling the nurses and Doctors that it was "show business" when Troy was writhing around in pain. Even when you are in pain that makes you laugh. John has a Boston accent, everything he says in English or Creole is very funny to everyone listening. He is an excellent tension breaker.

Once I knew what was going on I took the second truck in to see Troy. I parked it at Beth's and she drove me over to the hospital. While I was at Beth's I grabbed a diet coke from their freezer (yes their freezer acts as a fridge, they have freezer problems.) Later that day after John had left and Beth stayed to visit with us a bit, Beth's phone rings. John asks to talk to me. Admittedly, I was tense and worried and on edge ... so ...

Tara- Hi John whats up?
John- Well, I know what has happened.
Tara- Huh? What? what do you know? what happened???
John- I have just been by my house and I know that you took one of my diet cokes.
Tara- Oh, Oh ... well, it is just a loan John, I will replace it soon.
John- Okay, good ... I see that you took the regular diet and not the black cherry diet, that is lucky for you.

So, we checked out yesterday. The Doctor said Troy should stay, but we really saw no reason to stay since the worst had passed and they did not have any idea what is going on ... the air conditioning and TV were nice but not at $350 a day. They told us to watch the fever closely, we are doing that.

We watched USA channel and got to see 24 Law and Orders back-to-back so we feel satisfied. We also watched news out of NewYorkCity, that was so strange ... it is odd to not see a news broadcast for five months. Our favorite New York City, local news story was the Haitian cab driver who caught a guy that stabbed four people in NYC on Wednesday and Thursday. Way to go Haitian immigrant! Nice work.

Troy feels about the same today. Not worse, thank the Lord. We are just watching him and praying that, if he should go rest for a week in the States, that he would have clear peace about leaving here. He is a normally healthy guy. Since the end of April he has really struggled with his health. We feel upbeat, whatever decision we make over the next day or two will be covered in so much prayer that it will be the right one.

Today I am taking my gateman job seriously and helping Troy with the visitors that want to come look at him. It is so sweet, but not up Troy's ally ... he likes to be sick in private. :)

Next time you come to Haiti, it is not a bad idea to bring your own Toilet Paper and towel ... just in case you end up in a hospital, you will be glad to have it. :)

Thank You

I am off to bed now, but got to thinking that I just keep asking for prayer and never really did a good job of telling you all THANK YOU for what you have done already, thanks for your intercession and your love ... we feel the love. We hope you feel it back. ~Tara

Philippians 1:2-4

2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.

Introducing Family No. 3

The word is out that we are asking questions and getting to know the story of some of our employee's families. Now people are asking to tell us about their family. It is great! Yesterday, Paige interviewed her favorite teacher here about her family story.

This is the family of TWO teachers that teach in the Lifeline school, they are sisters with the same father. In the photo above the middle lady is Madame Bozor, she teaches Kindergarten. The lady to the right is Gisele, she assistant teaches the pre-school class. The lady on the left is another sister, that does not work for Lifeline. Her name is Maxiany.

Their dad is another important leader in the village, he does not have quite the clout that Adam has but he is still well respected.

Here are the 12 children of Oxonne Armand: (with a few different wives/women)

The oldest, is 40, Evanotte (Mme Bozor to us) Then there is, Jackson, Roline, Andreq, Almica, Ginette, Melina, Gisele, Maxiany, Marise, Josette, and Dominique.

Age range of the 12 kids belonging to Oxonne is 40 to 19 years old.

Mme Bozor has a different mom than Gisele and Maxiany. The three sisters shown above all have other siblings by their mother(s). These are just the siblings they have from their father.

It should be no mystery why there are 8.5 million people on this island. :)

All Things...

Yesterday John (our pastor in Haiti) reminded us that ALL THINGS pass through God's hands. There is nothing that happens that is outside of His control.

To both us, and the Hoppa's it feels like we are facing a time of testing. Our kids have been sick, we have been sick ... and it is easy to get discouraged.

We might be discouaraged, but we are not interested in quitting. We came to Haiti to serve our Heavenly Father, a God of miracles, of love, and of mercy. He loves us in the midst of this confusion and illness and He knows our hearts and sees our hurts.

This afternoon we just ask for prayers regarding our discernment over the illness that Troy faces and that Jason faces. It is difficult to know when it is time to give in and go to America to see a Doctor in the developed world. We know the Lord will guide our decisions, your prayers in that area are SO APPRECIATED!!!!

(Troy spent yesterday and last night in a PAP hospital ... I can share more about what happened after I spend some time loving on our kids who missed us. For those who have no idea what is going on, he is okay right now but we have an undiagnosed and unresolved illness. Jason is also still struggling with an infection and covets your prayers as well.)

God is good. In the midst of it all, He is there.

"God's Day" ???

There is no school today. It is a holiday. When we inquired about the holiday, we were told it is "God's Day." Thursday, June 15th ... God's Day. We thought you should know.

Isn't everyday God's Day? Who knew there was one day, that was more His - than another?

Not us.

Upon further internet research, we learned it is Corpus Christi Day ... some sort of religious holiday connected back through the Catholic Church. We need to learn more.

You learn something new every day.

On God's day, we humbly request further prayers if we come to mind.

• Troy is running a fever, having chills and other issues.
• Jason is sick. (Both are on the way to the Dr. as I type.)
• Hope got the flu a second time last night, or just threw up for sport???
• Noah is the heat rash man ... we are managing the itching but it does not go away.
• Ongoing prayers that the generator keeps doing what it needs to do.

Thank you for following us via this blog, thank you for loving us. This is just another bump in the road and we know God can ... or, as our tough and faithful Haitian friends say, "BONDYE KAPAB!"

What? Only ONE Brother?

Pastor Rony has had some of his family visiting lately. Every day I'm meeting another one of his brothers or sisters. I spent some time inquiring about his siblings and the size of his family, and the following conversation ensued:

Rony - How many brothers do you have?
Troy- One.
Rony- One brother?
Troy- Yes.
Rony- How many sisters?
Troy- Zero.
Rony- Ok, but how many brothers?
Troy- One.
Rony- One brother before or after you?
Troy- After, he's 27 years old.
Rony- How many before you?
Troy- None.
Rony- (laughing) Oh, I didn't know that. Just two children for your parents?
Troy- Yes.
Rony- (incredulous) That's not the Haitian System.
Troy- Yes, I know. But I'm learning the Haitian System, because I have 5 children.
Rony- That's better. You can have more.
Troy- Thank you, we'll see.

I still don't know if he believes me that I only have one sibling. (Maybe you should come down here, Paul, or Mom and Dad, so I can prove it to him.) But my favorite part of the conversation was when he gave me permission to have more children. That's a very Haitian thing to do: many of our Haitian friends are always giving us permission to do things we didn't really need prior approval to do. I never know what else to do other than thank them for their blessing and unnecessary permission. I'm sure it's just a difference in the language, but I still find it odd whenever it happens.

You can read the blog tomorrow. ;)

-Troy

Good News

Rony could not get it to start, Troy could not get it to start. Rony stopped and prayed and the next time he tried it, it started. So, we have a running generator this morning. Thanks for praying ---- we hope to work on a more permanent solution today.

Here we go again...

Troy has just made the sweep through the house with his announcement of the need to conserve power.

The generator turned off and won't re-start as of this moment. We have about five hours of batteries to go on ... so in order to make them last everything is getting unplugged except the freezer.

This news produces nothing but terror in me. I like fans and refrigeration and computers. Please pray that this situation is resolved ... oh, and if we don't post tomorrow, you'll know why.

From II Corinthians...

The Message - 2 Corinthians 13:11-14
11 -13And that's about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello.
14The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.


New Living Translation - 2 Corinthians 13:11-14
11Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Rejoice. Change your ways. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
12Greet each other in Christian love. All the Christians here send you their greetings.
13May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.


Photo Credit- Scott Tanner, May 2006, LaDigue, Haiti

Dress Code Issues

It is hard to fit in in this country. I've given up on trying. As if the skin color wasn't enough, it is also very hard to wear the right clothes here. Culturally, only young men and children wear shorts. I'm sorry, but it's WAY too hot here to wear pants all the time. I've adjusted to the heat fairly well, but I can't give up the shorts.

The men, especially in Port Au Prince, usually wear dress pants and dress shoes (with socks - can you imagine?) while they conduct business and travel to and fro. Even our employees will change clothes before we head in to Port so they look presentable. Not me. I figure I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb anyway, so why kid myself and try to dress alike?

My rebellious streak finally caught up with me, though. Last week I had an appointment in a government office in Port Au Prince. I entered the security line in the Department of Finances building. Things were going along well... I was chatting with Eddy about the pros and cons of a market economy (just kidding, he was probably still talking about Toro), and then we reached the front of the line. A large, uniformed Haitian man wearing sunglasses indoors pointed at my white shiny legs and shook his head no. Eddy looked at me and laughed. I protested, but I knew I didn't have a covered leg to stand on. I asked Eddy why this hasn't been a problem in the past, and he said "Look, man, we have a new president now. You can't just do whatever you want in my country, man. This is seewious." He offered to help me find a pair of pants from a vendor on the street to make myself presentable, but I was too proud to submit. Plus I looked ridiculous enough without standing on the street next to the National Palace in my underwear while I changed clothes.

Long story short, I have to go back to Port soon to try again. With pants on.

I'm sure I'll fit right in.

Don't worry, though, I haven't totally sold out...there's no way I'm wearing any dress shoes. I haven't worn anything but sandals since January 18th. Hopefully I don't have to meet with President Preval with my toes sticking out.
-TROY

Helpers, Helpers Everywhere

Recently Troy lamented the fact that he has lost his "alone time" since moving here. It used to be that once the kids were in bed, if I was off doing something, he would go out to the garage for his tinker around, pretend to fix stuff, clear your head, man time.

He really loved his garage time (also known as the Men's Crisis Center.) I would estimate he was out there from 10 to midnight at least twice a week. He had a TV, a stereo, a weight bench and all sorts of odds and ends to putz around with. Oh, and the refridgerator with cool beverages.

Here, if you go out to the tool shed to start putzing with something, you will instantly have one to fifteen helpers. Troy cannot bring himself to tell the kind helpers that he just wants to be alone. I can relate, only because running is my alone time, and running here means conversations and greetings all along the way. (It is almost like we're in a different country, huh dad?)

Today, Jason and Troy worked on fixing the village well. As you can see, lots of helpers and spectators showed up for the event. No clear your head, work alone, man time for Troy today.

Soccer Silliness

Soccer ... I don't get the hype.

My dad gets a kick out of saying "It's almost like being in a different country or something." He says this in response to our stories of odd behavior or cultural differences.

Here is one that has us scratching our heads today, and saying "it is almost like we're in a different country." Read on ... (and know that we are "avoiding impromptu street celebrations of any sort") ...

From: Warden, PAP
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 10:08 AM
Subject: Warden Message No. 27

Warden Message No. 27
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The U.S. Embassy will close at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 13, in anticipation of potentially hazardous, over-exuberant celebrations in Port-au-Prince following Brazil’s World Cup match with Croatia.

In the past, inappropriate celebrating has included the practice of discharging firearms into the air, creating an obvious danger to persons in the immediate vicinity of the celebration. American citizens are advised to avoid impromptu street celebrations of any sort. Embassy security personnel will analyze local reaction to Brazil’s expected victory to assess whether further precautionary measures will be required for future games involving Brazil.

In case of emergency, please contact the American Citizen Services Unit in the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy.

"Tropical Ulcer"

Britt had been trying since April to get this guy fixed
up. There have been some communication issues along the way.

At one time, early in treating him we sent photos to a nurse in Tityan who said she thought it was a "tropical ulcer"- at that point Paige started calling him that, so when he would show up every other day to get his leg cleaned and re-dressed, Paige would yell "Britt, Tropical Ulcer is here."

He refuses to go see a Doctor because he does not want to spend money on it. The one time we convinced him to go, they really did nothing for him ... so, he came back here.

The employees here at Lifeline claim he has had this open wound on his leg for five years. That seems unbelievable to us but they are adamant.

When questioned about how it started or what caused this problem, we have heard cancer, a dog bite, and a work injury.

The worst part is the swelling it causes, this guy has no left ankle. It used to be very infected, through routine cleaning and dressing and an antibiotic, Britt was able to see some improvement, and a lot of shrinkage in the size of the open wound.

Last week when Britt went to Cazale they gave her a medicated bandage to try, so we are anxious to see if it might finally close up with this new bandage. We are sparing you the up-close photos, it is not too pretty.

The Boys @ the Rock

We went to the Prayer Rock tonight. I LOVE these pictures of the boys. Noah MUST take a turn praying. He only prays for one thing. Every name he can think of, he prays that person will get better. Help X get better, help Y get better, help Z get better ... and on and on until he runs out of names. He thinks all of you are sick. :) Hopefully, you are WELL. We love you! Let us know if there is some specific way we could be praying for you.

Blan-Kabrit Kolizyon

One year ago, my sister and I managed to pull off 26.2 miles together in Duluth, MN. (Tina, I need you to move down here.)

Today, I barely pulled off 4.5 miles.

At nap-time I set out for a run down the village road that leads out to Highway 1. Everything started off well. There were the usual stares and the occasional mockers, but all was going well. I would even say I felt good.

At about mile 2.5 things changed. I had landed on a rock the wrong way and was paranoid about twisting my ankle so I was ignoring everyone and everything and focusing my eyes on the road to be sure I would land without tripping or falling. I paid attention only to the two feet directly in front of me.

Suddenly, from out of the field to my right, I saw movement coming towards me, there was a goat (kabrit) in front of me and I was leaping to avoid running straight into the side of the stupid animal.

Shortly after that my vision got blurry and I felt cold. It is in the mid 90's, getting cold is not a good sign. I stepped in donkey dung. Six naked boys joined me for a while to practice their English and tease me. "Good morning, what is your name?" (It was 2pm) "How are you?" "Blan blan blan."

I kept willing Troy to come get me, but I guess he was not getting the telepathic message because he never came. I made it back in one piece and collapsed for a twenty minute nap on our living room floor.

Bad day for running. :(

(Photo Credit - Scott Tanner)

Nahum 1:7

God is good, a hiding place in tough times. He recognizes and welcomes anyone looking for help, No matter how desperate the trouble. (The Message)

The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him. (NASB)

a Haitian proverb-

Creole- Se Bondye sel ki konn doule pov malere.

English- It is God alone who know the problems of the poor man.