Bittersweet Goodbyes

Goodbyes are always hard, especially with children, because a lot of times they do not understand why we have to say goodbye. The unknown is quite scary to them. Today was an especially hard day for me because I had to say multiple goodbyes! It was a very emotional day for me and it was just the first of many to come!

The first goodbyes were said to nine girls from the trafficking incident! They have been here for three weeks now and IBESR (Child Welfare Office of Haiti) has found their biological parents. I was super excited when hearing this news, but at the same time, my heart was aching, because that means I had to say goodbye to the cute little girls. It was a really bittersweet feeling.

My day started with going to the depot and picking out different outfits for the girls to wear. I found a lot of cute little dresses for the girls in the donation sections. There were some super cute outfits, I must say! The girls took showers and had their hair done by the nannies. They all put on their new clothes and got ready to say goodbye to everyone. We also put together a bag each of gifts and clothes for each of the girls to take with them back home. It was just some new clothes and underwear for them to have. All the girls were super excited and some were sad to leave the "heavenly play ground" as they have come to call it. I gave each girl a big hug, kiss, and handed them their bag of goodies. We all snuggled and took lots of pictures before they left.

One girl in particular, Joy* (Not actual name), whom I have bonded with tremendously over the weeks here at Lamardelle, was the little girl that I had a tough time saying goodbye to. She wouldn't let go of my embrace and wanted to stay in my arms just a little bit longer. We took lots of pictures together and I talked to her about how she should be really happy because she made a lot of friends here and they have found her mom and dad. She was excited, but sad that I wasn't going with her. Just before leaving, she whispered in my ears, "I am going to miss you Lori. I love you!" I told her that she will stay in my heart forever and that no matter where she is, I will be thinking of her. The car left with all nine girls and in the back window, I can see little Joy* waving her little hand at me as the car disappeared behind the main gates. I am going to miss you so much Joy*!!!

The second goodbye of the day was to an 18 year old adolescent girl that has been with the orphanage for a year and a half now. She came with her sisters after the earthquake because her mother was struggling financially in taking care of the sisters. Her two older sisters had already left the orphanage about two months ago, but she had stayed longer. It was decided that the foundation will pay for her to go to a public Haitian school by her home for a year and will continue to asses her as a sponsorship program. We wanted her to be able to advance in school and finish her high school studies in a couple of years. Because her biological mother is still alive and her sisters are with her, it is best for the child to return to the family. It was not helping her psychologically to be seperated from her family and just for going to school, shouldn't be the reason to make her stay at the orphanage. So we found a better solution. This way she wouldn't have to live away from her family and can go to a school of her choice that is close by at the same time. I am very happy for her! Her and I have bonded over the two months that I have been here at the orphanage and I am going to miss teaching her English and French every night. I wrote her a letter and gave it to her before she left. One of the main points in the letter was that she has been the one receiving help and aid from others, but I hope one day she'll be able to switch roles and be the one that's helping those who are in need, as well. I pray for her that she can pass on all the positive energy and love that she has received here at the orphanage to others in the future. 

Best of luck girl! I will be praying for your safety, happiness, and success in school!!! Keep working hard!

Petite Blanc: Little White Person

Many of the children from Kenscoff were transferred to Lamardelle today, seven to be exact. We are in the process of transferring the children between Kenscoff and Larmdelle orphanages. We want to keep around 20 to 25 children at Kenscoff, mainly the older children, and the rest of the babies/toddlers will be at Larmdelle, since there is more space to accompany the children and adoptive parents who come to visit. I was happy to see all the babies and toddlers from Kenscoff and even happier when they remembered who I was. I always love to be greeted with huge smiles and big huges. It never gets tiring!

More children means more noise! Good noise that is! It's so great to have all the children around, laughing and giggling at every corner of the orphanage. It really brings the orphanage to life! Every time I walk outside the office, a child will come running to me for a hug or a high five. I love this atmosphere! I am very blessed!

So I have continued to run after work each day! Today was quite special! I started to walk outside to the open lawn area and all the children started to run toward me. They call me, "Petite Blanc," which literally means "Little White." A lot of Haitiens call Caucansins, "Blanc," meaning White People. The children said that I am smaller in stature than most of the white people that they see around here, so they added the "small." It was super cute!!! So they have been doing exercises and running with me. Today they all decided to grab my arms while I ran. It was quite a challenge, but I just kept on running. It was actually a really good resistance training for me and it was fun for all the children involved. There are a total of 13 children that were grabbing my arms while I jogged around the open lawn area. It was quite a sight to see. Needless to say, I had an awesome work out! Thanks girls!!!! At the end of the work out, the girls all sang songs to me and one of them was "You Are My Sunshine." It was very touching!

Big shout out to my mom for sending me a care package!!! There was the super awesome blue magnetic mosquito door net!!!! Yeah, Taiwan is pretty awesome for coming up with super genius ideas! Thank you mom!!!! I love you very much! And thank you so much for the childhood treats....yummy!!!!

I ended my night by watching a football (soccer for all you Americans out there) match between Brazil and Argentina on a very small black and white TV!!! It was quite the experience! Everyone gathered around to watch the match! I've got to say, Haitians have got to be one of the most loyal Brazilian football team fans ever! Go BRAZIL! 

Depot: Reflexes In Training

I have been super busy lately! So busy. There have been a lot of visits from adoptive families, but I don't get to see them, since they are all staying at Kenscoff (the other orphanage in the mountains). Just because I don't get to see them, doesn't mean there's no work to do. In fact, every time an adoptive parent comes to visit Haiti, there's a reason. Not just for visiting their children, but to attend important meetings/hearings throughout the adoption process. Usually the very first meeting for the adoptive parents is the I-600. This takes place at the American Embassy here in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The meeting has been scheduled ahead of time and it is I, who prepare all the necessary paperwork for the parents to bring to the embassy with them on the day of their appointment. There are a lot of documents to translate (English and French), pictures to scan, and documents to copy. I always feel very fulfilled every time I get an I-600 file ready for the adoptive parents. I makes me feel good that I am helping the child and adoptive parents advance in their adoption process.

So that's what I have been up to at the office lately! On top of all the other duties I have to do! One thing new that I have been doing is going to the depot with the adolescents. The depot is where the foundation stores donation boxes. There usually is a container of donations from the States that comes in every couple of months. We store all the clothing, food, school supplies, and other miscellaneous materials in the two depots at the Lamardelle orphanage. The adolescents have been needing new clothing and materials, so I have been accompanying them in searching for what they want in the depot. It is quite an adventure it itself. There are boxes from floor to ceiling. It has not been completely organized, so it is quite hard to find what you need. Especially when there are limited sunlight that shines through the depot. When I am in the depot, it reminds me of being in an old thrift store's backroom....the one where they store all donations that have not been sorted or cleaned yet.

There are many surprises that come from searching in the depot, some good and some are just down right spooky!!! I mean, yeah bugs are all over the clothing and tons of dust, and then there's one or two dead mice in the mix, as well. You will be searching for clothing and digging your hand into the cardboard boxes. All of a sudden you feel this moist and hairy thing between the clothing....yeah...it's definitely not in style this season....that is for sure. A trip to the depot definitely makes you practice your body's reflexes and at times, gag reflexes, as well. Let's just say there was an opened wooden box of marinated fish that was in the depot. From a closer look, you can't tell the difference between the pieces of fish that has fallen off the body from the dead flies carcasses that lay on top of it. Eh....

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane

I have been super busy lately. There have been a lot of new matchings, meaning many children have been matched with adoptive families!!! It is super exciting, but a lot of paperwork follows that process. I have been hard at work getting all the adoption paperwork ready for each child's dossier. The executive director makes the matching choices and then I get ready all the matching information of the child to the prospective adoptive parents. These documents include the child's psychological evaluation, medical lab work results, an initial social history, and couple recent photos of the child. All the information are sent to each country's perspective adoption agencies and then the adoption agencies sends the information to the adoptive parents. The adoptive parents will review all the documents of their matched child and then decide if they would like to accept to adopt this child. A formal acceptance letter will be sent to us, here at FEJ, and the adoption process for the family and matched child will begin. Once again, it is a super exciting process, but long and tedious. Everyone needs a lot of patience throughout the adoption process because there are always curved balls thrown in. I feel so fortunate that I get to be actively in this process for each family and child. It is a pleasure to be able to be the communication line between the adoptive parents and their matched child(ren). So that's what I have been up to for the past couple of days.

Another exciting news is that one of the children left today with his adoptive family. He took his first plane ride ever this morning to go to the United States. It has been a long haul for the adoptive family and him. Months of waiting and prayers have finally been answered. I am going to miss the little guy very much!!! Last month, he told me that he was super excited to go on the airplane, but also scared at the same time. I did an airplane art project with him last month to help him prepare for the trip this month. I prepared some photos with him and his friends at Kenscoff for him to take with him on the plane. It is always good to have some transition objects for the child as they are leaving Haiti. When he misses Haiti and his friends back at the orphanage, he can look at the photos and be comforted. I wish him the best of luck and I know that he will just blossom with all the love his new family is going to give him. I am so happy for him and his new family!!!

Safe flight little buddy, hope to see you again one day!!!

Biological Family

I can't even start to imagine how it feels, for a mother to make the decision to give her child up for adoption. To me, that is something harder than life itself. I really respect the biological parents who have the courage and love to give their children a better future. It is heartbreaking for the biological parent to come to the conclusion that they no longer have the financial means to support their child or in some cases, multiple children. We see a lot of cases where sibling groups are dropped off at once or it is the youngest child that gets put up for adoption, while the older children stay behind to help out the rest of the family. It is true that the younger the children, the higher the chance that child will be adopted sooner. Adoptive parents, worldwide, tend to go for younger children, especially babies. I think it is the human nature of still wanting to feel like they were there for the majority of that child's life. They need that connection and that bonding time to feel like they are a family. I totally understand this feeling, but it does make it that much harder for the older children or sibling groups to have a family to call their own, as well. I think many people have made that step where they can accept to adopt a child, but they are not yet ready to adopt a child who is aware of their background and can understand the difference between biological parents and adoptive parents. I hope that in the near future, people can start to see that, the older children, too, are in need of loving families. And the fact that many times, they have the exact same feelings and hopes as the younger children.

So everyday there are biological parents that come and drop off their children at the creche. Some have already made up their minds about giving their child(ren) up for adoption and some are still in the trail-and-error process of seeing how they feel about it. Regardless of the first decision, the children always stay at the orphanage until the parent's mind has been made up. So at the orphanage, there are children who are already matched with an adoptive family, children who are still waiting to be matched, those who are waiting their 6 months abandonment period to be up so we can officially file for abandoned child certificate, and then those who are just living at the orphanage because the biological parents have not made up their minds about adoption. It is quite a mix of different situations and of course there are always special cases that float around week from week. It sure makes the conversations between the children interesting, to say the least.

Whenever the biological parents come and visit their children, it is always held in the room adjacent to the Social Services Office (where my desk is located). So yesterday, a biological parent came to visit her child. The child has been at the orphanage for a while now and the mother finally made up her mind that she would like to put him up for adoption. It was quite a surprising news to learn, because everyone thought that the child was going to go back to the mother. The mother said that she has no financial means to take care of the child and that it was in the child's best interest to be adopted. Once again, I wonder how hard it was for her to come to that conclusion after months of contemplation? I am sure she had many sleepless nights on this subject. I really felt for her.

One of the Social Workers went and got the child to come meet his biological mother and brother. The child, we'll call him Babas*, slowly walked into the office with the Social Worker. Babas* is one of my favorite toddlers at the Lamardelle orphanage and we have bonded tremendously over the months that I've been here. He is a huge hugger and loves to be cuddled up in your lap. He came into the office and gave me this huge smile and said "Tatie" (Which means auntie in creole). He reached out his arms to be held and just completely molded himself into my embrace. I love Babas*, not going to lie. He is just so adorable. So I held his little hand and we walked over to the other room to meet his biological mother and brother. When we entered the room, Babas'* hand started to grip harder at my hand. He was scared. His biological mother came rushing over, saying hi, and wanting to pick him up, but Babas* refused and turned away. He grabbed my leg and turned his head away from his biological mother. Whoa! I was totally surprised by this! I have never seen him do that, at least not to the extend of that. You can tell the biological mother was hurt. I could see it on her face. She kind of froze and didn't know what to do next. I picked Babas* up and handed him over to his biological mother, but he wouldn't let go. He had these death grips on my neck and his legs wrapped completely around my waist. He wouldn't let go at all. He yelled and cried and there was no way of getting him off of me. So I ended up sitting down next to the biological mother with Babas* in my lap. It felt so awkward and I felt so bad for the mother. I didn't feel like I belong there in the room and especially felt like a slap in her face that her child would let a foreigner hold him but not her. After about 15 to 20 minutes of that uncomfortable encounter, I was able to leave the room to go do some work. About 10 minutes into my work, I see out the corner of my eyes, Babas'* brother and him, hand in hand, walking toward me. Babas* started running toward me when he saw my desk. So there I was, with Babas* in my lap and the biological brother drawing beside me. That was how I passed a big chunk of my afternoon in the office. I felt really sorry and bad for the biological mother. When she left she said that it was good he wasn't attached, because now she knows he is ready for adoption. Those words broke my heart. I am sure it did hers, as well. No mother would like it if their child rejected them. I told her that it's just been a long time since Babas* has seen her and also he's grown attached to all the caregivers here, which includes me. It was a normal reaction and for her not to think too much about it. At the end of the meeting, I put Babas* in her arm and took a family photo for her. Babas* was calmer in the photo and at least the biological mother got to hold her baby boy before we terminated the meeting. That was all that she wanted!

First Class Delivery

It has been a super busy week, weekend, and now start of a brand new week. Wow, it was just busy busy busy! So many things to do ever since the 32 girls arrived last week, which all the girls are doing well, by the way. They are all very happy to be here and to some, it sure feels like they've fallen asleep and woken up in heaven. Many of the little girls tell me that they are so happy and that they worry that it is all a dream. I have to reassure the little ones that they are not dreaming and that it is true what they are experiencing. Just seeing their smiley faces day after day makes it all worth it for me! Really, nothing could be better than those smiles and the pure contentment of just being a child. Free of worries and just running barefooted in the grass on a sunny day! I hope they can guard that moment in their minds forever. To know that, no matter what, there is still a safe place in their heart! No matter how hard life gets, there were still some happy moments that we can look back on!

So I have been preparing each of the child's files here at Lamardelle and we don't really have much information on the children. All of them are under investigation at the moment for their biological families. Three adoptive families were here last week at Kenscoff with their children. They brought down many toys, clothing, and snacks for all the children here. We are super grateful for their continuous support and the children were really happy to get new toys and goodies in their stomachs. There were new photos and birthday presents to pass out and all the children were ecstatic about the photos. They all compared with each other, to see who's photos were the best...it's quite funny, because the photos are all the same, but somehow, they arrive at finding the differences? Who knew? Three girls at the Lamardelle creche had birthdays all within two weeks of each other, so the creche cook, Antoinese, baked a chocolate cake for the girls to celebrate. They all dressed up and the adolescents even put on make-up. It was the first time I've seen them with make-up on and boy, there's a huge difference. They all have really nice clothing in their closets, but they save those on special occasions. Such as meeting their adoptive parents, church, birthdays, and going outside the compound. They were all beautiful girls and we took lots and lots of pictures. *(I can't show any of the pictures here, because their identities need to be protected throughout the adoption process).

I have been continuously doing English and French lessons for the adolescents after work. They are making good progress, which I am thrilled to see. Their self-motivation levels have gone up a little bit since last month and I am very happy to know that it is making a little bit of a difference. I still run everyday after work and many of the staff members and children join me in running some laps. It is great to know that I can have  some positive influences on the people here at the orphanage. Many of the teenagers did not see the point of exercising and were too lazy to move around. The first week, no one joined in, they all sat next to me to watch me run. The second week, one or two girls started to join me on some exercises. Now, we are onto the third week, and I have regulars that run 5 to 15 laps with me everyday. I cannot be prouder of them! I hope they will continue!

I really believe that if we want to influence others, we have to start with ourselves first. Do the right things and eventually others will follow in your footsteps.

Child Trafficking

So you hear the term child trafficking, but you can't really grasp the idea because you've never witnessed it or knew someone who has been affected by it. Well it hit home for me today. I know there are cases of child trafficking here in Haiti, but I never knew just how bad and prevalent it was. Today at our orphanage, we received 32 children who were all put into a truck that was on the way to the Dominican Republic border. They were kidnapped from the same zone and was en route to be sold off across the border. How horrible is that? Thank goodness that the border police stopped the truck that was carrying the children and arrested the people that were behind the incident. The children were all immediately transported to IBESR, which is the child welfare office in Haiti. IBESR called us and we started to make room for the children. We know which zones the children were kidnapped from , but it is a large area. The children will be temporarily staying at the orphanage until we can find all of their biological parents for us to send them back to. It is going to be a very tedious process, but a nessassry one. I cannot even imagine the horror the children must have gone through on this journey, but I am glad that they are finally safe now!

Child trafficking is a huge problem in Haiti and UNICEF and the police have been trying to regulate the problems for years. The results of the most recent study of trafficking across the border conducted by UNICEF in 2002 reported that between two thousand and three thousand children were trafficked to the Dominican Republic each year.Things have gotten a lot worse since the earthquake, just because there are so many children on the streets without supervision. They are the ones that are the most vulnerable to kidnappings and bribes from strangers. Many times, a man will be driving a truck through the city and just yelling that he has food to give out and children will swarm the truck. That's all it takes.

Another big problem in Haiti is the the idea of "restavecs." Restavek in Creole means "to stay with." Children, often given up by their poor Haitian families, "stay with" more affluent families as slaves. And like most slaves, they're usually subject to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. According to the Restavec Children Foundation, these children are often given away or sold by poor families in order to survive. Frequently the children's most basic rights to health and education are denied. They are not paid for their work and often abused. For instance, the restavecs have to return to their duties in the house, after having escorted the house owner's children to school. The restavec boys and the girls often flee at the age of 12-13, joining one of the many street gangs or ending up as prostitutes.This is something that happens in all areas of Haiti, not just the poor slums. Before the earthquake, the Haitian government estimated that more than 300,000 Haitian children were living as restavecs in the country, and more of them abroad. That number has substantially increased after the earthquake. It is a harsh reality for many of the children and teens in Haiti. It is part of the culture and at times, all a child knows her whole life.

I've spoken with children and teens where they tell me no one wants them and they were passed from one family to another. When things got way too bad with one family, they would run away, live in the streets, and then find another family to "stay with" again. If they keep staying on the streets, it is often getting into the wrong crowds, like joining gangs and becoming prostitutes. It is a vicious cycle and abuse is almost always attached to these experiences. Many of the children pick up sexually transmitted diseases and worst of all, HIV/AIDS. And the few lucky ones gets picked up from police and sent to IBESR for further placement in a safe haven, such as an orphanage. The trauma that these children go through are enormous and the fact that they can still find reason to smile after all these experiences is something that I have great respect and admiration for. I just pray that the ones who are still living in the nightmares of child trafficking and restavecs can be freed soon and those who have been rescued can start healing and just simply be kids again.


So at around 4:30pm today a small charter bus, marked with IBESR and UNICEF signs, being escorted by the Haitian police, arrived at the orphanage. I can see small faces peaking through the big windows with wide eyes observing the surrounding. Everyone was quiet on the bus and the process of verifying each child's names began. I was put in charge of the process because it was after working hours, almost all the staff had left the compound for their homes. The people of IBESR, who had escorted the children to us, handed me 32 dossiers. We had each child, one at a time, descend the charter bus. I would verify their full names and the nurse would put a name bracelet on the child. Then someone would grab the child's things and lead her toward the waiting around outside the creche. We all did this 32 times over the hour and a half that IBESR was here.

I watched each child get off of the small bus with her clothing and drink in hand. All 32 children were girls, ranging from the ages of 2 to 9 years old. They were all quiet, shy, and reserved. Almost all of the children's hair were orange in color, which is a sign that they are malnourished. Many of the girls had rashes and fungal infections on their skins. You can see the shock on many of the girls' faces as they got off of the bus. It was one of the many trips they have taken over the last week and finally it was coming to an end. One girl grabbed my leg really hard and wouldn't let go. She was afraid of going into the orphanage. I held her close and told her that it was going to be okay and that I can go with her. I grabbed her things and we went into the room together. She saw the beds and all the toys piled up in the corner and gave me a huge smile. I looked at me and then ran toward the pile of toys. That smile was precious and it gave me a sense that she was going to be okay. The aunties gave each child a bath and clean clothes to wear. After everyone was all cleaned up, we all went outside to the lawn area. I usually run after work and so the children all joined me in running laps around the lawn. I heard the screams, the laughter, and giggles of all the girls as they all ran around barefooted. I can see on their faces the joy and pure happiness of knowing that they are okay and in a safe place tonight. One little girl ran toward me, gave me the biggest hug ever, and looked up to the sky and shouted "Hallelujah!!!"

To the 32 little girls, I say to you, "Don't worry child, everything is going to be okay!"

Power Outage Party and The Ultimate Care Package

So the power has been going out pretty consistently over the last couple of days and we don't have enough diesel to put into the generator here at the creche for back-up either. The sun starts to set around 5:45pm and it is completely pitch dark by 6:30pm. The power usually goes out either before I take a shower or after I get out of the shower, but never during!!! Well, tonight....the electricity decided to go out completely while I was in the middle of my shower! haha....that was quite an interesting experience. Good thing I am familar with the shower at the orphanage now that I can feel my way around and know pretty much where everything is located in the bathroom. I continue to take a shower in the dark and it wasn't as bad as I thought. The moonlight came in from the small window in the bathroom and the wind swishing the leaves back and forth on the outer walls. It was quite calming actually.

After the shower in the dark, all the children gathered around the table to eat. We lit candles and grabbed all the flash lights that we could find. I had my electronic lamp that I added to the mix. One of the adolescent boys took out his personal stash of glow in the dark lights and also a whole collection of different fourth of July light sticks. It was hilarious to see all the fourth of July decorations. We all sat around the table to eat and after dinner it was when the really fun began! We all huddled around and started to tell ghost stories. We got so into it with the wolf man story that one of the little girls started to scream and tearing up. I quickly jumped in and asked, "Do you have food in your room?" She looked at me with huge eyes and said "No." And I told her that if she didn't have food in her room than the wolf man won't go in to bother her. She smiled and said that she will never have food in her room, ever! Haha, cute little girl! The older girls really scared her with the wolf man story. So I learned last night that the Haitian Wolf Man can fly????? Wow, never knew that! That just added the scary factor by like 4 times in my book.

The highlight of my day has got to be when I received my care packages!!!! Oh my goodness, it was a huge box with goodies! A big shout out to Tracy SG, James SB, Chiaoli SG, Kamto SB, Mom, Dad, Peggy SG, and all the Tzu Chi Family in Portland, Oregon. It was THE Ultimate Care Package!!!!

You can see the photo below for yourself. How awesome is that???? I am truly blessed! Thank you everyone so much with gratitude!!!!

New Hairstyle

So haven't had steady internet connection in a while, so was not able to make any posts on here. Lots of changes have been happening with the orphanage. Many people moving around and it has been super chaotic. First of all, long time volunteers Frank and Jan, decided to leave the foundation due to health issues. They have been with the foundation, going on their second year. They are mainly responsible for the adolescents here at the orphanage and have been awesome grandparent figures for the kids. They will be dearly missed around here!!! I pray for their health issues to be resolved soon. Another big change was that two of the older children have moved into the adolescent wing. The girls are part of a sibling group of three, where we are actively looking to match them to a family with a completed home study. They will now all live together in one room and bond as sisters. I am very happy to see this change, because it is a positive influence for the two younger girls and it gives them a sense of belonging! So let the bonding begin!!! The children have been taking the changes one day at a time. Rules have been put into place and they are not used to that yet. I have continued to be the support system for the adolescents and trust me, it ain't an easy task! I am trying my best to help each one of them understand the changes and to let them know that it is okay to feel emotional. I have been doing French and English lessons every night and they are learning a lot. I hope I can do more in the near future. School has not started for the children yet, so we still got some time to catch up on their reading and writing skills.


The children have also started to venture outside in the afternoons when I am doing my laps in the yard. Many children will join me in running a little bit or just sit on the lawn and watch. I have also started to get some recruits from the staff members. Francoise and Mme. Marbene have been joining me on doing different exercises and running around 10 laps each around the lawn area. They look to me to keep up their training! They said that I am like a drill sergeant and they hurt all over. I hope I don't disappoint them! It's been great being able to work out after work, it keeps me in shape and feeling relaxed. I don't know how safe it is to run in lighting and rain, but it sure does feel good when the cool rain splashes on my body!

Oh yeah, the adolescents decided to do my hair over the weekend! It was quite an ordeal! There were about 4 girls touching my hair and doing all kinds of designs, while I was helping two other adolescents with their French and English lessons! We all had a blast though! I am learning a lot from the children and I hope that I can continue to make a little difference in their lives!




Like my new hairstyle???

Sports and English/French Lessons

(The picture is cropped, because I cannot show the children who are in the process of being adopted)

So lately, my daily routine has been something like this:

7:30am Wake-up
8:00am Breakfast
8:30am Start working in the Social Services office
1:30pm Lunch
2:00pm Back to work
5:00pm Off work, getting ready for sports/exercises
5:15pm Start doing exercises and running in the yard with the children
6:30pm Shower
6:45pm Dinner
7:00pm English/French lessons with the adolescents
8:00pm Everyone returns to their rooms for free-time.
10:30pm Bedtime

There are some variations here and there, but my everyday activities have been pretty much in this order. I have started to work out and run in the lawn area outside. I do about 25 laps after work everyday and it helps me to relax and de-stress. The children are always very curious as to what I am doing. They are always there to do warm-up activities with me, such as jumping jack, set-ups, and stretching. Most of the toddlers and older children run with me for the first 5 laps, but then they get tired and go do something else. As I keep running, there will be toddlers coming in and out to run with me half way here and there. It is quite cute. There are also whole bunch of chickens that run in and out on the lawn, as well. And there is a really pretty horse that is chained to a tree next to the lawn area and he always walks over to me whenever I get close to him. It is an awesome environment and it keeps me going. The lawn is pretty big, like the length of a small soccer field. I can get a pretty good run in 25 laps. Most of the adolescents will ride their bikes next to me and tell me to go faster. It keeps my motivation going. It is quite hot though, so I am pretty sure I am running a lot slower than what I am use to, but the sweat isn't any less, but much more!!!



Yesterday after my work out, I invited everyone to come eat watermelon. Stephanie had bought a watermelon for me and it was a perfect day to eat it! So everyone watched me cut the watermelon. It was huge and my face was intense!!! (Can't you tell from the picture???) We divided evenly the watermelon. Usually in Haiti they cut it into small chucks and eat it with a fork, but I told them that you can also eat the watermelons in slices. So I cut it into 13 slices and distributed among everyone! It was soooooo good after working out in the hot sun! It was exactly what I needed!

I have been helping the adolescents with their English and French work books. We sit down every night and go through a lesson with everyone. One of the older boys have been really motivated in skipping to a higher grade, so I told him that if he works hard everyday, he will be able to be closer to his goal. So he has been working hard. Doing a lesson with me each day. He does the workbooks during the day and I go over it with him at nighttime. Correcting his mistakes and letting him know the reasoning behind each response. He is doing great and improving really fast!!! I am very proud of him!

Two older girls have moved into the wing and it is starting to feel like a big family! We all eat together and we chat about life. They all think I am a very interesting person and that I eat weird combination of foods! Haha, it is quite funny the faces I get every time I make something in the kitchen! It is a learning process for them and I am happy that I can be here to help them along this interesting road of life! Super blessed!!!

Haitian Tzu Chi Volunteers Reunion

I was so excited to see my Haitian Tzu Chi Family again! It has been almost three months since the last time we all met up here in Haiti. I ran and hugged everyone and they were all surprised to see me, since no one knew I was coming, not even me! So that was a great surprise for everyone! We all chatted and caught up with what has been happening in our lives and it seemed to be just yesterday that we were all together!

The U.S. Tzu Chi volunteers are only here for one week and that consists of Curtis SB, Austin SB, and Patrick SB (who is actually only here for three days!!!). The main project of focus for this trip is the Moringa Project, the miracle tree as they call it. In Haiti, it is most commonly known by its Haitian name as Benzolive. Apparently this tree is full of all kinds of vitamins and minerals. Not only that, but it is a fast-growing and drought-resistant tree. Which suites perfectly for the dry lands of Haiti. It can grow at a rapid pace even when there is little to no water. It is considered one of the world’s most useful trees, as almost every part of the Moringa tree can be used for food or has some other beneficial property. You can eat the seeds, the root, the leafs, the flower, and even use the oil that derives from it. The leaves are highly nutritious and they have a significant source of beta-carotene, Vitamin C, protein, iron, and potassium. This little-known vegetable is a great way to combat malnutrition among children and nursing mothers, boost food security, foster rural development, and support sustainable land care. This miracle tree is the new hope project for Tzu Chi in Haiti. We have already teamed up with Food for the Poor and Mme. Michaelle in establishing a Moringa planting farm, which is located in Pierre Payen. There is already 8,000 Moringa seeds planted on and off the farm location and it is looking very good. Because the weather in Haiti is full of sunny days and a consistent amount of rainfall, the Moringa grows at a very rapid speed. It only takes about 3 to 4 weeks before it can be harvested and put to good use. I am very excited about this new project and I really hope that this can solve the malnutrition problem among the villages in Haiti and also give the people a way to be self-sustainable. Let's keep praying for a bright future for the Moringa Project in Pierre Payen!


We spent the whole day at Pierre Payen, which is just beautiful, because it is near the NW part of Haiti, where it meets the Caribbean Sea. The village itself is a fishing village, so everywhere you look are just endless coastlines. We spent some time at Mme. Michaelle's beach home and took some pictures of the awesome view. It was my third time being in Pierre Payen and the view never seizes to amaze me.



Tomorrow I will be heading back to the Lamardelle creche...no more Asian cuisine for a while...

Brazilian Peacekeepers Reunion

Guess where I am right now? I am at OECC, the Taiwanese overseas engineering company that lends their living quarters to Tzu Chi volunteers, for those of you who are new to my Haiti blogs!!! What? How you asked? Well, I am with Tzu Chi right now. Curtis SB got into Haiti this morning at 7:30am and came to pick me up at the Lamardelle crèche at around 11am! How incredible is that? The internet was out due to the heavy storms that rolled in yesterday, so I wasn’t able to get a hold of him to make sure that he was coming. It all turned out perfectly and when he arrived with Pierrot I was ecstatic. I ate breakfast this morning at around 9am and I was wondering if I should do the laundry or do some work on my computer. I couldn’t decide and then one of the staff members came running to me to tell me that a driver by the name of Pierrot was coming to pick me up soon. Bingo! Problem solved! So I showed Pierrot and Curtis SB around the Lamardelle crèche and also the women’s amputee camp next door. They were very impressed with the way the crèche was run and wanted to know if there was anything they could help. They are going to return to the crèche when Mr. Duncan, executive director, returns from Canada to further discuss collaboration ideas.

Curtis SB wanted to go see the border of Haiti and Dominican Republic, so we took the opposite direction of the city. The Lamardelle orphanage is only about 30min from the Dominican Republic border, so it is super close. Just when we started to go that direction, Curtis SB changed his mind and said to turn around, back to the city. When Pierrot turned the car around, right in the middle of the busy main road, the car decided to break down. Oh boy was that inconvenient! So there we were, stopped in the middle of the busy road, cars were passing us by at incredible speeds. Curtis SB and I both got out of the car to start pushing the vehicle toward the side of the road. We must have tried re-starting the car 20 to 30 times, but it just wouldn’t budge. People were kind enough to stop by to see if they can help or not. Nothing seemed to work at all. We opened up the front hood and we can see that the battery was not even attached to where it is suppose to be. Ha, go figure! So we tried to find material on the side of the road to fix the battery, but no luck. Finally, I was like, “Hey Pierrot, I have a hair tie, would that work?” Sure enough, it worked wonderfully! Way to have extra hair bands on your wrist, totally came in handy in this situation! We tied the battery down and closed the hood. There were some mechanical technicians that came to look at the car and they wanted to change the battery. Good thing Pierrot was start enough to know that they were just pulling our legs. We all started to push the car and then we heard the engine start. What an adventure that was! Pushing the car in the middle of a busy street is no picnic I tell ya! So the mechanical technicians did absolutely nothing and they still wanted money from us. They said that because they had to take the local taxi to come and help us and also we needed to pay the driver for them as well. I guess yes time is money. 500 goudes (= $12.50 USD) is a little bit ridiculous for doing absolutely nothing though. Oh well, the car started and we were outta there!!!

We headed over to the Route Neuve tent city to see what was the progress of the transitional shelters there. Everything seemed to be okay after the re-enforcements, which were just large branches on the side of the shelters, were put in. All 36 transitional shelters were up and in good condition. We visited the locals there and they stilled remembered us. When I got out of the car all the children came running to me and yelled “LORI, LORI, LORI!” Oh my goodness, what good memory they have. I was so touched that they still remembered me. All the children are getting so big now, the last time that I saw them, which was back in June this year, they were still tiny little things. Most of the boys have grown twice their size already. I was incredibly surprised! All the children and I walked around the camp and had a great time laughing at each other. I am going to miss those children! Their smiles and hugs mean the world to me!

After resting at OECC for a little bit, Curtis, Pierrot, and I headed over to BRABATT II (Brazilian Peacekeepers Battalion II) to see Major Machado. He is leaving this coming Monday, back to Brazil. It has already been another 6 months and it is that time again for rotations of the troops. We met up with the peacekeepers and met the new guy, Major Roland, who will be replacing Major Machado’s post for the next 6 months. We all chatted and ate some very yummy black beans with bread, yogurt, and orange juice. I was so happy to be able to be back at BRABATT II, it is one of my favorite places in Haiti. I love being there and chatting with the peacekeepers. I have the utter most respect for what they do for Haiti. So the Brazilian troops have a very close relationship with the Tzu Chi Foundation. Ever since the earthquake, they were the ones that would protect us during distributions of goods to the people of Haiti. They were also the ones that introduced us to different orphanages that needed help. We work very closely with their charity department to help fund different projects and to bring some hope for the orphanages in Haiti. I have became very close with many of the peacekeepers in BRABATT II and it is going to be very sad to see Major Machado go, but I do bless him on a safe return back to his family in Brazil.

It was a great day and another gift, I got my second hot shower since I’ve been in Haiti tonight…it felt…incredible!

1 Month Celebration Lunch

It’s official! Today hits the one month marker for my year in Haiti. It has passed by fairly fast with lots of daily surprises. The mice problem seems to be regulated for the moment, and I hope that continues to be that way. I did my first month’s report of all the children at the Kenscoff crèche, all 37 of them!!!! I will continue next week with the rest of the children at Lamardelle, which will make 50 reports total! It feels good to know that I can be the eyes and ears for the adoptive parents, while being the voice for the children here in Haiti. It gives me great pleasure to be able to help everyone out in a small way! I am very grateful for this opportunity!
So yesterday was a very fun filled day. I woke up at 4am in the morning to get ready for the day. At 4:30am I was making myself a sandwich for breakfast later. I only had Peanut Butter and Mustard around…so I thought…what the heck, let’s give it a try. Charlot, the Lamardelle driver, picked me up at 5am to go to the office at Delmas 41. We got to the office at around 6:45am and I sat down to wait for Roberto, the Kenscoff driver, to come pick me up again. Delmas 41 is the meeting point between the Kenscoff crèche and the Lamardelle crèche. While I waited I took out my awesome sandwich and started to eat it. To my surprise, it was super good!!! I love mustard, so this just really proves anything with mustard on it is a winner in my book. I haven’t had good old American Yellow Mustard in so long. In France, they only sell Dijon Mustard which is spicy. Thanks to Frank, I could enjoy my yellow mustard in Haiti!

Roberto arrived at around 7:30am and we waited for Brunette, Director of Social Services for FEJ, to meet up with us. We picked her up on the side of the road and headed to a potential adoptive parent’s house. On the way to the house, we ended up passing by both the ex-president’s house and the current president’s house. President Martelly lives in Peguy-Ville, which was just right next to where we were heading to, Pelerin. There were UN military, Haitian Police escorts, and lots and lots of black SUVs parked outside his home. One of the favorite colors of the president is pink, so you can see many sections of the community painted in pink.

We finally got to the adoptive parent’s house at around 9am and the house was beautiful! Oh my goodness, it had high ceilings, wooden frames, and furniture to die for! It was elegant and extravagant. It was an amazing house. So Brunette and I were there to meet up with another social worker Ms. Nelson to conduct a home study for the potential adoptive parent. The background of the couple was very intriguing. The father is in Haiti because he works for the United Nations here in Haiti and the mother is working on a contracted job. The father was born in Spain, being half Spanish and half French. The mother was born in California and later moved to Canada. They both met in France and got married there. Talk about a fascinating life right? I had a great time meeting the couple and getting to know them. They are wonderful people and the mother is helping us write grants to get more funds for the orphanage. The home study went really well, although the social worker was a little bit self-conscious and was afraid to really ask questions. I think she doesn’t have that much experience, so it was showing and making everyone feel kind of awkward. I tried to talk more with the adoptive parents to make them feel a little bit more comfortable. The couple was so welcoming and it was a pleasure to be in their home. We’ll be working more closely with them as the year goes on for their adoption dossiers. I cannot wait!

After the home study was finished Brunette and Roberto took me to a Chinese Restaurant in Petion-Ville, Haiti. It just happens that I had already visited this restaurant, Chez Wou (House of Wou), a couple of times when I was here with Tzu Chi Foundation. We all sat down and had an awesome meal. It was so nice of Brunette to invite me to a Chinese restaurant. She said that I have been eating only Haitian food this whole month, and she wanted me to have some familiar foods of my country. I was really touched and we celebrated my one month here at FEJ. We all had a blast and laughed and talked about all the adventures over this month. I was super excited because I ordered Tofu with vegetables. It has been soooooo very long since the last time I had tofu. I have missed eating Tofu everyday and this was a huge treat! I even had leftovers for dinner last night. I made the dish into a soup and it was awesome! My stomach was very very happy! Brunette and I both agreed that we shall do a small celebration like this once a month! Couldn’t agree more to that statement!

I ended up returning back to Lamardelle around 2pm and got right back to working on all the monthly reports! Oh boy, are there a lot! I worked and worked all night.
So one month has passed and I am enjoying every moment of it! The good and the not so great moments are what makes it so interesting. I am learning more about myself and pushing my limits in life. Like who knew I could fall back asleep after a mouse has just crawled over me??? Who knew right??? I sure didn’t. The children make me smile everyday and all the stress just melts away when I get a hug from them. I am here for them and boy is that worthwhile!

So here’s to one month and on my way to a great second. Ready, set, GO!!!