We are thankful for you! If you are reading this, that means you are our treasured family, friends, co-workers, neighbors old and new…. because really who else would want to read the random stuff we babble on about?? But we just wanted you to know how much we love you, how we appreciate your love, your unyielding prayers, your enthusiasm for what we are doing, your financial support, and your care and concern. We can feel it across the many miles, and our hearts are very full, especially at this time of Thanksgiving!

We were hoping for a turkey and a traditional celebration, but due to lack of money being wired in and Haiti complications, we couldn’t get a turkey here. Since we are still in St. Louis we are at the mercy of whatever they have on hand, and they usually cook up some pretty tasty things! The funny part was, all week leading up to Thanksgiving we enjoyed mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, some very tasty traditional items. However, come that Thanksgiving day, for some reason I still am not sure, we didn’t have any of those items. Instead, the cook made this mashed potato thing, it was like a mashed potato sandwich, with chicken, peas, corn, and other tasty things inside. So, it was like Thanksgiving, but with all the goodness rolled into one item. Strange yes, but still tasty!  And we did make brownies that night, so of course we considered the day a success all and all!

You might go home today and take a walk. Maybe you’ll go alone, meet a friend, or drag your spouse along. If you have a dog, you’ll pry take it too.  I could even venture to say it’s pretty common to see someone out walking their dog. Not here. Haitians don’t keep dogs as pets-and the few that do only use them for security. They let the dog sleep outside and maybe give it food every once in a while. I have never seen a dog on a leash here. I have seen cows taken out on leashes to graze, which always makes me nervous when the only thing preventing it from charging me is a thin rope. But just today, I saw a different animal being taken out for a walk. A man was walking his pig, followed by eight little piglets! I had just stepped out of the Cholera Treatment Center to get a fresh breath of air, and saw him saunter by with his family of pigs tied to a rope. I laughed so hard people started staring at me.  And, in a very strange way it made me feel as if all was well with the world, that despite what is happening, life goes on.

 

Again, there is no easy way to tell you what is going on here. It’s so not normal, so tragic, so strange that it’s hard to comment on it. So, for now, we’ll continue to share with you little things from our day. Sorry it can’t be more…..

I was promoted today. My usual tasks each day include the following: making people drink water, carting around supplies, organizing the supply closet, doing laundry, assisting the nurses in whatever they need.  Today I was in charge of watching closely a little girl who was doing good, but had taken a turn for the worse. After giving her much need fluid, she looks much better!! Praise the Lord!

I have to admit, last night was kind of funny. There is another couple here, they actually work for the mission we are partnering with. They live in La Bay, and have traveled the two hours to come and stay here to help out. (In fact, they were supposed to go home the 23^rd, and decided to stay here another week to help out.) They are Curtis and Danielle, and they are about the same age as us. In the midst of it all, we’ve been able to hang out with them, and try to joke through most of this nonsense! We were short staffed, so, there we were, trying to help in any way we could. And since we all wear scrubs so we don’t get stuff on our own clothes, we can’t help but laugh at ourselves as we kept saying to each other, “dr. dr. dr. dr.” You know, from that one movie, Spies Like Us. It was hilarious, maybe you had to have been there?

Since the last thing I want to do is take pictures of people at such a vulnerable time, I haven’t. But, there is a sweet girl here who was interning for a month, and part of her job was to take a few photos of the clinic. So, here are a few of her photos…