Leaveing Haiti again

March 23, 2016
Leaving Haiti again
Time has flown by, we have been here since the beginning of January but it seems like weeks not months. We have been able to accomplish a lot on this trip. Having more language skills, is helpful, understanding the culture better, and having a support group to work with helps the most. It takes time to be accepted within any community.
But we both feel much more a part of both the Haitian community and the Americans that are also working here. We have many good friends both Haitian and American. The first trips that we stayed here for an extended period of time were very lonely, also depressing. We felt like we were making very little progress, but really it just takes time. Now we have invested the time we can see real progress being made.
The buildings at the Center that include the pavilion we built last fall, a house for a guardian, an office a storage facility, an outdoor kitchen under roof, and a composting toilet should all be finished this week before we leave. We have also had the gates to our compound and the center painted so they wont rust away. We facilitated two successful workshops that we know the education given will have a life of its own. We helped Father Gracia with some organizational issues he was having problems with. So it has been a busy three months. This is only the major accomplishments and does not include all the everyday challenges we faced.
When I leave the US to come to Haiti I always feel sad to leave family and friends. With my new smart phone and being able to message it makes it easier to stay in touch. But of course we miss out on many things we wish we could be home for. Leaving Haiti is also sad there is so much we are in the middle of, that will probably not progress without our direction. The people here just live to survive today and dont have much vision for tomorrow. We share our dreams for the Center with them but they just dont have the education or experience to go forward without guidance. We have no idea what is in store for us or when we will be able to return so it is harder to leave.
There is also the relationships here that are hard to leave, as you can imagine the other Americans and Bob and I have formed tight bonds, we let off steam together, rally each other when we get down and discouraged. Provide a reprieve from our work by sharing a meal and an evening of English. I will greatly miss these friends. Everyone depends on funding so everyone understands and we pray for each other.
Going home is exciting, our daughter just found out she is expecting her first child right after we got to Haiti. I look forward to being with her and our son in-law for the beautiful time of their life. One of my best friends had a double bypass surgery just a couple of weeks ago and I am anxious to see her. Of course I cant wait to see all of my children and grandchildren. The grandchildren have always grown so much both physically and mentally. Then there is the conveniences of American life that will be nice to get back to.
It is a blessing to have such richness in both parts of our life. We will hit the ground running when we return. Bobs father will come to stay with us for a couple of weeks a few days after we get home. We will be working on the shipping container for the parish twinning program a week after we return. We are expecting friends to visit in the beginning of April. We also need to find jobs to support ourselves until we can find funding to continue our work here in Haiti. So there is never a dull moment. We will begin packing up the apartment. We take the solar panels down off the roof and store them in a locked room. We also take the wash tubs in and I have already started giving my flowers away. All of our summer clothes are here so we will need to pack all of them. We also have more suitcases here in Haiti than at home so we will have to figure out a way to bring back as many as possible. We just got contacted by American Airlines that they located our missing bag. The one that never showed up since we have been here. We are not sure where to have them deliver it now we are leaving on Monday.
Looking forward to seeing many of you while we are in the US, Thanks for your interest and your prayers,
Denise