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As I write this it is after 9:00 Thursday night. We just got back from picking up Robert, our engineer team member from Port au Prince. Denise drove the part from here to Gonaives and same on the return trip. I did all the driving to, from and in Port au Prince. You would not believe what it is like. Nobody pays attention to any of the few traffic lights, no passing zones, lanes, stop signs, speed limits etc. The horn is one of the most essential parts of your vehicle.  Many vehicles do not have working lights. Motos are …

Maiden Voyage Read More »

  We had planned on going Gonaives today. Like so many plans in Haiti, not meant to be. The price of gas and diesel here has not followed the world market prices. In response people took to the streets of the major cities by erecting barricades and burning tires. The following is a news article published Reuters yesterday evening: Reuters February 02, 2015 7:07 PM PORT-AU-PRINCE— Traffic was minimal in the normally clogged streets of Haiti\’s capital on Monday, after a key minibus drivers union called a two-day general strike to protest high fuel prices. “The price of gasoline has …

Life is difficult, more than we can imagine. Read More »

This is a post by our friend Anita. She is the nurse that took Denise and the pregnant women who died  to the hospital.   Anita Martin January 25 at 12:23pm · I only knew her for a few hours yesterday……. A mother expecting her 2nd baby, from the remote mountains of Haiti. She started bleeding yesterday morning. Her family loaded her on a stretcher & brought her to my friend Denise\’s house. And this is how God works….. Denise & Bob do not have a truck, but she had called me about an hour before as she had a lady there …

Another perspective:   Read More »

To all of our faithful partners and all who care about the plight of the poor:   The Lord hears the cry of the poor. And we need to raise our voices with them so that those who have ears to hear, will listen.   This school year tens of thousands of Haitian students were eliminated from World Food Program’s school lunches.  This follows a government decision to limit recipients of the lunches to only public schools which make up around 20% of the schools in the country. Prior to this any elementary school that met the criteria could apply, including …

The Lord hears the cry of the poor. Read More »

Four nights. Wailing, keening, punctuated with sudden stillness and low murmurs. Sleep, awake again. Piercing screams from unknown fathoms of sorrow mix with the rising and falling counterpoint of the voodoo drums, chanting, and cocks crowing. With the tinges of daylight the keening stops, the roosters fade and only the drums and chanting continue unrelenting. Soon they too will become still. Today is the funeral. Relatives of the dead women come to us for money. Denise says no and apologizes, telling them that the money we have is for the living. We did all we could for the woman before …

Grief and Sorrow Read More »

What a miracle! Mesi anpil,(thank you very much), to the Lay Salvatorians and their benefactors that has made this possible. After the years of traveling by moto and our mostly faithful Gator, we now are able to travel safely and further with out having to hire a car and driver. The is the added benifit of saving much money. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Bob and Denise

January 25th, 2015 Yesterday was quite a day, it started out normal. I did the laundry and a young girl was helping me. The young lady complained of ear pain. I looked through my stores of meds and found some amoxilcillin but didn’t feel comfortable prescribing antibiotics. I would usually call Sr. Jackie but I knew she was busy with a medical team and was leaving for the States so I didn’t want to bother her. Then I remember our new friends , Anita works in medical so I called her. She said she would come over and had a …

challenges, by Denise Read More »

I need to make a note of clarification about our last post. Our witnessing the struggles of parents trying to send their children to school is why we are constantly talking about the School Sponsorship Program. When you sponsor a child in school for $90, 100% of the money goes for their education. No administration fees are taken and you directly make a very positive impact on the child you sponsor and their family. Thursday morning surgery was scheduled for the umbilical hernia on Jon Gary, the young boy pictured with Denise in our last published newsletter. Last week Sr. …

Haiti update Read More »

Our home while in Haiti is an apartment guest house built above the school in Garcin. As a result of the five parish schools, the school in Garcin holds a special place in our hearts. We have watched it grow from its start to an enrollment of almost 200 students, and then down to around 80. The drop in attendance is a result of the lack of funds. The worldwide recession resulted in a significant drop in donations that the school is dependent on. With a goal to break the dependency cycle, we recognize that an educated population is a …

Choices Read More »

When we left Port au Prince, we hired our friend Lamouth to drive us. He is one of the Haitians that gave a workshop for our agriculture group, APWOKPRAM, last fall on bio-intensive gardens. He is working on a problem for a group of sisters that bought several thousand acres of land. They want to develop it agriculturally but it is poisoned with salt. He is researching plants that grow in tidal planes and close to the ocean. The problem with soil contaminated with salt is a worldwide problem. I know that it is a big problem in Australia. Sr. …

Just a few quick notes: Read More »