Thursday, July 19, 2012

We Have Turned the Corner!


Lily Juanita Joy and I arrived in Haiti on Monday July 15.  There was terrential rain in Miami that followed us to Port au Prince.  At first I was thinking, this road looks a little better, maybe some repair has been going on.  Still the traffic was death defying, then we come to a standstill and our driver starts honking, we finally make it up to the corner to see these big trucks struggling through the new torrent of mud and trash running accross the road and taking the left hand side of the road with it.  I am relieved to say the our driver won my respect by turning around.  We lived to tell the story!

The storm took out the electricity, so we have none to this day.  So much for our sewing projects, JJ's cpap machine, charging our computers and ice!  Thank Niv for the fabulous solar lights from Ikea, we can still do something in the dark.  So I must make this blog very short before this computers gives up on me.

We have turned the corner!!!  Our girls are safe, healthy, and our home here is a happy family.  We have accomplished so much in two years it feels like a miracle.  Thanks to Niv our master teacher and her "teaching the teachers", bringing french books, computers,  and evaluating each girls progress. Thanks to Dr. Macias for doing physicals on the girls and getting reading glasses for the 2 who needed them.  Thanks to all of the volunteers who come each month.  Special loving appreciation to Mama Gina who is our Director par excellance who lives here with the girls and has raised the standards so high that the sky is the limit.

We have come for a graduation party.  Five of our girls have completed elementary school and passed their exams.  They will go to a private school this fall, with uniforms and a new life.  There is so much joy here we are coming apart at the seams!  More later,  Love Lynn

Pictures: Lily likes to sleep on the balcony under the mosquito net (she is actually alive and well), the Mamas making the graduation feast, our 5 graduates at the rehearsal for the ceremony at Marie's orphange down the street, we gave a birthday party and Lily brought capsules that melt to produce a sponge animal the girls were in a frenzy over the big pan of water.