Convention Band

These guys were one of the highlights of the convention for me. It was great to watch and hear professional musicians, and to find them here in Haiti. I was amazed at how they all played and learned by ear, with no formal training - just God-given talent and ability. It really is a gift. As a mediocre musician myself, I paid close attention to them all weekend and really enjoyed it.

Other news and praise:

The little girl Islande was admitted to the rescue center in Cazale, and is doing great. We hear that she gained four pounds in the first week and "eats like a pig".

The lady with the burns from last month, Seramise, is improving and doing well also. She has been removed from the IV and is drinking on her own now.

Please keep praying for both of them, and for the Zachary family and their ministry in Cazale.



-Troy

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

-Mark Twain

Painting

Above, Dad painting the chairs that will go with the new table he built. Exactly ZERO more chairs have been painted since you left Dad. I am not motivated without you. Plus, painting is not a kid friendly activity. And I am not friendly towards the kids when I am painting. Britt tells me she and Chris have this covered and will paint chairs this weekend.

Hope had grandpa build her a little "closet" --- or the version we use of closets here. We painted it blue to help it stand out less. It is called degaje. :)

Thursday Things

Happy Birthday Aunt Char!!!

Current Goings On-

• Britt is stitching up a lady's head. She got hit by a rock.

Paige is taking a grammar test.

Isaac went to play at Chris and Leslie's house.

Noah and Hope are working on alphabet games.

Phoebe is sleeping.

Troy is on his way to St. Marc to meet with the attorney and get prepared for Monday's appearance in court.

I am feeling sick to my stomach but ignoring it as best I can.

Yesterday, when Troy was in Port with the Founder of the Mission, our boss, the owner of the vehicles we drive, etc, etc. ... he ripped a ladder off of a utility truck. The top of our cage caught it as they were passing and bent it. He spent a long time negotiating his way out of it. They wanted him to replace the ladder. It was one of those super-duper long ones. When Troy went to price them they were all around $800 (US) --- gulp. Eventually Troy called Eddy and asked him for ideas. Eddy knew the guy driving the utility truck and for $160 Troy is repairing the ladder for the guy. When he called to tell me about it, I said "Is Arnold mad?" Troy said, "Arnold are you mad?" Thankfully, Arnold has been around long enough to take Haiti and the eight million little crazy things in stride. He was not mad. Just glad they did not get taken to jail or anything. And glad they did not have to buy an $800 ladder.

It's never boring. Boring sounds pretty good sometimes.

Weight Gainer 2007

Phoebe Joy

Four Months

15 lbs 9 oz

Today's good news: We finally have a birth certificate for this child! We were just getting nervy about it. Woot woot. Thank You Lord.

Electricity is Nice

Last night the new generator started acting up. Troy spent hours out there working on it. Hopefully it will all be resolved soon. For now we are using the old generator.

All but two people headed to the airport this morning to go back home. The founder of the Lifeline Mission and one other gentleman are staying two more weeks. Troy was taking them grocery shopping to get their bachelor pad all set up.

Today I feel a bit discouraged. Maybe it's the massive piles of laundry, or how naughty Noah is acting, or the rash I have, or just needing a break from this reality. Not sure. I usually get over it quickly though. I am pretending that Troy and I are in a nice hotel, eating good food and resting together and no one is asking us for anything. That is the whiner paragraph - done.

Friday Britt's "friend" Chris is coming, we're happy for her and anxious to get to know him better. In April we'll be meeting his parents and crashing at their place while we look at two Florida college's. Saturday is the start of a two-week Midwife course at Heartline (Beth's Women's program) and I am hoping to attend if everyone around here can fall in line. Sunday we're hosting a birthday party for old, old, John McHoul.

I better go work on washing some sheets. Have a good Wednesday. Here is another Lark News product that we like.

Konvansyon Photos

The Band

Anite Stirring Rice (at nine months pregnant)

Pastor's Training

Camilla Preparing Lunch

Ken Helping out the Cooks

Kids from Sunday School Class

Britt's Monday Fun

By Britt:
`
Yesterday morning I headed up to Montrouis to work with Dr. JA, a long-time ER doc from Missouri. He has been coming to Haiti since 1999 and actually has a house in Montrouis - on the beach. I enjoyed working with him and a nurse from South Carolina; we did 11 operations from 10am - 2pm. I wasn't able to get many photos; I guess I wasn't as concerned about this blog post as much as I should have been.
`
The first operation is the one that my mom really wants me to tell about. She keeps laughing about it. It was a hemorrhoid surgery. But I think she wants me to go into a little more detail than that. We started by taping the poor guy's butt to the table, but in the painful process of fixing it, his muscles ripped the tape off. So the nurse, named Liz, and I held his cheeks so Dr. JA could get him sewn up. I don't really need to go into any more detail, I'm sure you have a very nice visual by now. It was ... interesting. Let's just say I'm glad I don't have hemorrhoids. :) (blushing)
`
Some of the other operations include: several keloid removals, a ganglionic cyst, a few lipomas, a skin tag, a lipoma-like growth on the middle of a man's forehead, and a blood tumor on a guy's wrist. We didn't know it was a blood tumor, so right after Dr. JA incised, blood started streaming out - he closed it up quickly. Unfortunately there's nothing that can be done for the guy, at least not anywhere around here. I guess in the states it would be a huge procedure requiring a vascular surgeon to go in and do some major reconstruction.
`
I got to numb up a few before the procedure and sew up several afterwards. It was a fun day, a nice change in pace. I brought a lady along who had a fairly large lipoma on her shoulder (photo above.) It went down very deep - I'm pretty sure I could have stuck my entire fist in the hole that it left. Not like I'd ever want to do that though. :)
`
I liked the ganglionic cyst, I understand that there is a pretty large risk of secondary infection when you open them up (especially here) and that lots of times they return anyway, but it is really interesting seeing what comes out of those - it's a clear, jelly-like substance contained in a really fibrous sac. The old-fashioned way to get rid of ganglionic cysts is to smack it with something really hard and heavy, like a Bible. I'm not sure I'd ever test out that theory, but if you decide to and it works, let me know. The cause of ganglionic cysts is not known. One theory suggests that trauma causes the tissue of the joint to break down forming small cysts, which then join into a larger, more obvious mass. They can be very painful, especially with joint movement, and affect the tendon sheath. Okay, now I'm starting to sound like a textbook.
`
This is my last week of school before spring break. I am really excited for a break and for the fact that I will finally be completing my chemistry course. I am more excited for a visitor that is coming on Friday. I met him in May when he was here on a mission trip with Mark Fulton. His name is Chris. We have been exchanging email and phone calls for a few months. I'm looking forward to hanging out and hope to get in on some medical action somewhere.

~Britt

Mwen La

It's Tuesday, or so the calendar says. Sometimes living here gives you no sense of date, time, day of week, month of year ... etc, etc. When I went in to wake Britt up today she said "What day is it?" The only way to know is to watch your calendar closely. If it where not for the blog dating posts I might not even know.

`

This is nap-time blogging. I need to make it quick.

`

The team is handing out Love Bundles today -- Love Bundles with non-Salmonella Peanut butter. I think I am jaded and cynical, (and practical) -- I have a hard time understanding how the small possibility of the peanut butter causing illness is anywhere near as dangerous as -- oh, say ... how lots of people eat meat from the market that sat in the hot sun with flies all over it for a day, or how some people drink canal water.

`

It seems contradictory to be flipping out over peanut butter when everything around here has a risk of carrying plenty O' bacteria.

`

Oh well. Like I said, I am far too logical for the system of thought that says we ought to burn perfectly good food. The people here are as tough as nails. (Tenacious) Salmonella would be like a little indigestion to them. I am not the Peanut Butter decision maker so for all those who laid awake worrying, you'll be thrilled to know we are throwing away hundreds of jars of PB.

And, before you call me a racist or classist for wanting to pass bad Peanut Butter on ... we did not throw our jar away. I just had a delicious bacteria filled spoon-full this morning.

`

Enough about that.

`

Yesterday when I brought Dad to the airport I had this bright idea that taking Jack AND Phoebe would be do-able. I needed to drop Dad and then grocery shop. Often times the logistics of doing something don't translate when I make my plans.

`

I held Phoebe and put Jack in the front of the tiny little cart .(no Super-Target sized Super-Cart here) I maneuvered my way around pushing with one hand around the stock boys and through the thin little aisles. The deli was actually in business and selling meat - a bonus. Jack sort of cooperated and we got through it. I managed to do the math right when paying for my goods. (Multiply times five to get Haitian Dollars transferred into Gourdes.) I was pleased with myself in spite of the dumb choice I made.

`

The little grocery-bagger-kid helped me get stuff in the back of the truck. I loaded the kids in and got our beverages out and ready. A kind looking Haitian man sitting in his truck in the parking lot watched us closely the entire time. At times that might make me nervous but not yesterday. As I started the truck he honked at me and waved. I looked up to see him motioning for me to lock the doors. I share this for no particular reason ... except to say that I thought it was pretty nice that the guy wanted us to be safe and took the time to look out for us. There is not always a feeling that our presence here is accepted, (or appreciated) so to have that happen was nice. Sometimes it is the little things that give me a boost.

`

Speaking of feeling appreciated... ;-)

`

Troy got his court papers today ... or at least something that resembled court papers. His first, middle and last name were handwritten on the outer envelope. All spelled correctly, which is not a frequent occurrence. It says "Premiere Convocation" ( translates to first or beginning summoning) at the top and has two very circa-1952 hand stamps on it. An official type guy handed them over and said some official sounding thing when he did.

`

"Premiere Convocation" sounds like a jewelry party to me. Maybe it is. Maybe Troy is going to buy me a really nice pair of earrings.

`

Troy is to appear at the first summoning on March 12 at 10am.

`

When he (Troy) was getting diesel the other day he saw the cop that was involved in the initial report-taking way back when this stuff started. The cop called to him and told him he would be getting papers and even had the date right -- then he told Troy to appear alone. Troy said "Uh, no, I won't appear alone. An attorney will appear for me." The cop is a buddy of the accuser so he seemed bummed to know that Troy is not as idiotic as they think he is. I'm pretty sure showing up to court by yourself in a foreign land is not advisable.

`

The saga continues.

Convention Photos

I found it nearly impossible to categorize the pictures from the convention, so I'll be posting at random the ones I like...

Pastor Louissaint

Sisters

Jeronne and Gisele preparing lunch

Chickens on the way back from the outhouse

The Convention was a great success. A lot of work - but well worth it. The highlights were the fourteen people baptized at the dam, the showing of the Passion movie, and the many people who came forward to accept Christ as Savior in the services.

It was pretty exhausting, and today was a really low-key day. All of the employees seemed to be feeling as tired as we are, so it was nice and quiet relative to the last few days. It was full of running around and paying people and cleaning up and keeping everyone else working, while I dreamed of a nap.

-Troy

Coming Down

You know that thing where you ramp up, ramp up, ramp up ... then go, go, go, go. I believe we are in the initial stages of coming down. It's like your entire body takes a gigantic sigh. Oh, don't get me wrong, there is clean-up to be done and a couple more team meals to be prepared - but we're in the home stretch. We think we can make it to the finish line.

Just having that convention finished and having gotten through it without totally screwing something up feels like some sort of accomplishment. Remember, we had no clue what we were doing, we were going off of old notes, our employees advice and a little guidance from the USA ... but still, as the most ignorant ones in the bunch it seemed odd to be in charge.

Troy amazes me sometimes, there are things he can do that he used to pretend to be totally incapable of doing. Two years ago he would not know on Friday at 4pm what our plans were for Friday evening, he was incapable of retaining details - as a matter of fact he did not even try. The best example would be when there was a MAJOR event scheduled. For example, the birth of our son (induced labor). He would say, "Hi Hon - so and so wants me to help him move, what are we doing March 5th?" And then I would try really hard not to pop him in the face.

Now he is the guy lecturing our employees about the importance of a plan and of making sure they all look ahead and let him know their needs and ideas in advance of when they'll want things. Of course, it all falls on deaf ears, but I still get a kick out of the role reversal. Troy the master planner. HA!

I apologize if you've emailed and heard nothing back from me. I am behind on correspondence and I promise to catch up by weeks-end. I am not ignoring you, I'm just more sensible about sleep right now and I've been trying to go to bed before 11pm ... the direct result of that is less emails returned and less blogging.

Troy has so many great photos from the convention, we'll try to post them throughout the coming week. I know Britt will come home ready to blog and full of stories of her day too.

Thanks for checking on us,
Tara


The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make a Heaven out of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
-John Milton

Noah Matthew Happy THIRD Birthday!

I know I am not alone in feeling like the years fly by too quickly. Our littlest man is turning three today. He was such a surprise to us when we found out we were pregnant. He is such a surprise to us now with his wacky and fun personality. We're so thankful that God gave us Noah. To read last years post go here. The only part of the story I left out last year was the details of his delivery day.

We had a placenta abruption. Troy and the girls had gone to get a pop in the cafeteria and when they returned they saw me be rushed into an emergency c-section. I kept begging the nurse to let Troy come in and she kept shoving the mask back on my face and lying and saying she would. They later explained that when they need to move that fast and are unsure if they can save the baby they don't usually like an audience.

Noah was resuscitated and needed stitches for a cut in his head where they moved so quickly that they cut too deep through me and cut into the back of his head. My doctor told us it was a matter of a minute or two that made the difference in Noah's survival. Again, we're thankful God gave us Noah.

It is amazing how much he changed this year. Last years photos show a baby. This year we've got a little man on our hands. (Note, Hope handling the birthday of Noah - MUCH better than Noah handled the Birthday of Hope.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK-JACK!!!!

Family Photos

Sorry if you're reading the blog for Haiti-life stories --- this is the all family photo post for Mom and Tina and other family. These are from Troy's camera, our beach day last Monday.

Tomorrow morning Britt is going up to assist a visiting Doc with surgeries, she is very excited. After I drop her off I will be bringing Dad to the airport. He is headed to Tampa for a business meeting. We thought that his 9 day stay would seem long enough - but of course it didn't.

:(

Tonight is the closing night of the Convention. In a few minutes we'll be showing The Passion of the Christ movie on the big screen. It has been a busy weekend -- Troy is getting slap-happy from lack of sleep. He acts really silly and weird when he is over-tired. His impersonations of people get even better --- it is all very entertaining --- right up until he weeps like a small child or gets pneumonia or something. The power went out at 5:30 this morning. I was encouraging him to start the generator fast before the kids woke up from their fans going off. He could not get his bearings, he was acting drunk and disoriented. Eventually he stumbled out and got the power going again for us.

Once the team leaves on Wednesday morning I believe there will be a two-day nap in order.

Glowing in the Dark

Konvansyon 2007 Pictures

Convention Update & Cow News

The cow slaughter consisted of three initial phases - the tying and securing of said cow, a carefully placed knife cut at the base of the skull, and the opening of the jugular artery. It was not nearly as gruesome or as loud as I expected. Also, I was surprised to see that a cow that size does not have nearly as much blood as I would have guessed.


After the jugular was cut, and the cow was laying on it's side, our butcher stood on it holding it's tail and kind of riding it like a surfboard. It created a rocking motion which served to keep blood pumping out of the neck. Very strange. Here's where it really got interesting, though...next a small hole was cut in the front calf just below the knee. A piece of re-bar (iron rod) was then shoved into the hole along the leg and up to the spine...but passing just under the skin to separate the membrane holding the skin on. Then the butcher put his MOUTH on the hole and started BLOWING. (I told you it would get interesting) After he had filled the pocket between skin and muscle with as much air as he could, he tied the leg off with a rag tourniquet to hold the air in. He then proceeded to hit the skin with the re-bar repeatedly until the air forced itself to spread out and loosen more skin. The rag was removed and this process was repeated for at least an hour to loosen up all the skin and get it ready for removal. At one point it started blowing up like a baloon. I won't go any further.

The convention is going along very well, a few glitches and surprises - but nothing out of the ordinary when you are trying to "plan" something in Haiti. Each service grows in size, the music and preaching have been well-received, and we haven't had any major security or health problems arise. Britt did put some stitches in a head last night from a rock cut, though. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's baptisms and the showing of "The Passion of The Christ" movie.

There are currently a few hundred people sleeping here on the grounds and in all the classrooms and in the church. Supposedly tomorrow we'll have many many more. All I can say right now is this: It is loud here. Apparently Haitian people NEVER sleep. The singing started this morning at four a.m. and the noise hasn't stopped since. It is a joyful noise, though, and the convention has been blessed. I'm sure it is all directed to the Lord and pleasing and glorifying to Him...but it does make it a little tough to sleep. Or think. Again, more details to follow when time and energy and quiet allow.











-Troy

Bef Ki Mouri

Ok, so I didn't get around to this very early, but here they are - the before, during, after, and really after. I won't show the gory ones...

I'll try to get time later to describe the process...it was fascinating, strange, and really cool. (If you're into animal slaughtering, I guess.)

-Troy

Four Hours to Live

A comment related to the inclement cow-slaughter included these questions:

How much does a cow cost? A "large" one goes for around five hundred US dollars.

Who in the family cares for cows? Either the owner himself or often one of his children.

What work is involved? Moving the cow around a few times a week to find food and daily bringing it water. I'm not sure what else.

Are cows milked? Why/not? As far as I know, not very often in this area. My educated guess/answer for why not is this: Cows with hardly any water to drink do not produce much milk.

Would a family more likely sell a cow for money or slaughter it and sell the meat? Usually they raise the males until they are big enough to sell at the market, and keep the females to breed until they are getting too old. Cows are a major income source in this area. Many families keep a cow on hand to sell and pay for big events like funerals.

Are there proverbs about cows? I'm sure there are, but it's too late to look them up. I'll try to let you know later.

Here we think that if cows are lying down in the field it will rain... do Haitians believe that cows have any particular insights? Not as far as I know, but in this superstitious society, it's quite possible.

Do they know that cow roam free in India and are sacred and aren't eaten even by poor people? I doubt it. That concept would be extremely hard to grasp by most Haitians.


Ok, there...I answered the questions. Happy now? I'm still planning on posting a sweet picture of the poor beast going down. I find it fascinating and also a bit horrific. (Two things that our blog readers should be used to by now.) Tara will possibly remove the picture at some point, so check often and early for the "Convansyon 2007 Bef Photo". You might miss it.

-Troy

Friday

The shin-dig has begun. We cannot hear ourselves thinking, due to LOUD music, so we cannot write anything about it right now.