The Haitian Mafia

I woke up today thinking that I will be spending the day at the Kenscoff orphanage doing Thanksgiving arts and crafts with the children, oh boy! Was I wrong??? I was sitting down eating breakfast at the Duncan's house and Lucien comes walking over saying, "Hey you are coming with me and Joelle to a gathering!" OH wow, okay! So we left at 11am this morning to go pick up Joelle, who just lives down the street from Lucien. They are good buddies and even better scotch buddies. When we got to Joelle's house, it was amazing. It completely looks like a cabin in the woods that would be described in a novel. Dark red mahogany lined the sides of the wooden oasis and there were French style patio furniture all around. There was even a small garden where a picnic would definitely be a splendid idea on a Sunday afternoon. It was so beautiful and even more amazing was that he had built it all with his bare hands. The garden was so magnificently decorated and there was even a small welcoming gate at the entrance. Smoke was coming out of the tall chimney at the bottom of the hill. This was definitely a very relaxing place to retire. I can see what all the appeal to Kenscoff is all about now!

We got to Gerald's home (the place where the "gathering" was happening) around 12:30pm. It was located in Petion-Ville, which is the richer part of Haiti. Turns out the "gathering" was a huge gathering party of Gerald's friends and family members. Normally on the 1 and 2nd of November, Haitian celebrate All Saints' Day and Day of the Dead. For Gerald's family, they like to have a huge party on the last Sunday of November to celebrate it together. So that was what today was all about! People came from all over, bringing their best wine and home cooked dishes to the gathering. Oh man, I felt really awkward coming empty handed. Lucien just said I brought sunshine with my smile and personality, so I guess that counts a little bit, haha.

When we got there, I guess it was the pre-party! Not many people were there but only us and about 6 to 7 of Lucien's buddies. Not even joking, when I walked in, I thought I was going to meet the Haitian Mafia or something haha. It was totally like a scene out of the Godfather! Picture this. 5 men sitting around a table that is loaded with whiskey and scotch. All of them wearing aviators and smoking cigars! I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop myself from just laughing out loud. It was totally awesome! All of them men over their 50s and just gathering around to chat about life and politics. I loved being there! I loved observing everyone of their gestures and voice. It was so alluring how they carried themselves. It was as if they didn't have a care in the world. They would get so heated on each of the topics. Turns out all of them were hunters and so naturally the topic was big on hunting. I learned so much about getting hunting licenses in Haiti and the US and how it is illegal to buy arms from the US and then ship it to Haiti, although people still do it. Gerald is hilarious. In the middle of the conversation he comes out with a huge shotgun stating that it just arrived from AA and that it was bigger than expected. I almost fell over laughing, because here is this 60 something Haitian guy carrying this massive shotgun in one hand and then shaking his hand to demand for his whiskey on the table. It was just hilarious scene! All of them were showing me their gun permits and there are many. Permits for hunting and then personal permits for firearms in the house. What a complicated process!

Needless to say! It was an afternoon filled with good food, good stories, and awesome people! Couldn't ask for a better Sunday than that! I got to meet all of Lucien's hunting buddies and one of them I had already met through a Food for the Poor function. They were all very nice and welcoming to me. I was very grateful for that.

My day with the Haitian Mafia was a success and now I have so many fond memories to keep! I will never forget all the characters that I met today: The Haitian Cosby, The Haitian Godfather, The Italian Cook, The Over-Stressed Cop, The Romanian Novelist who smokes like a chimney, the alcoholic photographer, the loving grandmother who loves to pass out biscuits, the Catholic Father who drank bottled water the whole entire afternoon, the attractive women who everyone talks about, but no one approaches. Then there's everyone's favorite cousin who goes around asking if anyone wants to start a business with him. It was a typical family gathering and I loved every single minute of it. Especially when they found out that I was a vegetarian and half of them freaked out and the other half asked, "Why starve when we got food?" Haha, it was quite an experience!

Massive Cleaning and Inventory at Kenscoff

Today was a busy busy busy day for me! Oh my goodness I got a lot done today!

The adoptive parents left really early this morning with Candy*. They will be first flying to Miami, spending a night there, and then head over to New York. They will stay in New York for a couple of days and then fly to London, where the family will be spending for a year due to the father's work. The father works for Nike and will be working in London for the Olympics 2012, how cool is that???? They will try to get a British Visa for Candy*. It is going to be hard, but I hope it all works out in the end! I will keep on praying for them!

I spent all day today doing massive cleaning and inventory for the Kenscoff orphanage. I started at 8am and didn't get done till 5pm. No breaks or anything! I went into every single room and looked at each of the clothing. I checked every single piece of clothing at Kenscoff. I mean EVERY SINGLE PIECE! I looked at every piece of clothing and determined if it was going into the trash or we were going to keep it. I refolded all the ones that we can keep and then put the bad ones in the garbage bag to be burned later. It was quite a process. There were many clothing that were torn and with plenty of holes. Many had accidents with the bleach mix when washing and just looked bad. We had plenty of new clothes that were in storage from the donation pile, so I thought, since it was getting close to Christmas and the New Years, we should start anew! I first started with the storage room and picked out some new clothes for each of the age groups: babies, toddlers, and older children. I then proceeded to go into each of the rooms and checking all the clothing there. I replaced many of the clothes and gave new clothes to the aunties. Everyone was super excited to see me sort through the clothing and giving new clothes. It has been wayyyyyy over due! I don't know when was the last time someone did this, but this must be done!!!

So the results were: 1 large trash bag in the babies' room, 2 large trash bags in the toddler's room, and 1 large trash bag in the older children's room. I made sure to put all the trash bags in the furnace so that it will be burned immediately. I did not want the aunties to go through the bags and picking out what they thought could be used again. Apparently that was what was happening beforehand. After all that work of sorting, looking, and refolding, the clothes racks in each room looked AWESOME! (If I do say so myself, haha). Everything is all neat and organized, even the storage room was all organized. I did inventory of all the boxes of clothes and donations, as well.

Babies' Room (Onesies organized by scale of warmth and blankets)

Babies' Room (Shorts/Pants/Jackets/Hats/Gloves/Socks)

Older Children's Room

Toddler's Room 

After it was all said and done! I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I was glad to know that the children will have warmer clothes to wear and also nicer looking clothes. More importantly, that the donations were not just sitting there in storage and going to waste. It was good news all around. I also did some training for the aunties on what to give to the children to wear and who was particularly sensitive to the cold among the children in each room. I hope they will pick this up and the children can say warmer and have less colds throughout the months. I also went over with the aunties that if there were torn clothing or many missing buttons on the onesies, they need to be thrown away. Another important thing was using the waterproof diaper wraps. This will help the aunties not have to be constantly changing the babies' clothing every hour and less clothes will need to be washed. I felt like the aunties really listened this time and we made huge progress. It is very hard for Haitian people to accept other people's opinions and methods of doing things. It needs to be introduced in a gentle manner and over time. They are very proud people and will hold grudges for a very long time. So I always approach them as a learner to get to know what are their ideas and why they are doing it that particular way. And then I introduce to them new ideas and we work through it over the days that I am there.

It was a very productive few days with the aunties! We have established really good relationships over the months that I have been here and I am very grateful for their on-going cooperation!

Parting Party at Kenscoff

Today was the big party day for one of the little toddler girls, *Candy, because she will be officially leaving with her adoptive parents tomorrow!!!! How exciting! The adoptive parents have been here for about a week now, spending time and bonding with Candy*. This is part of the requirements of the foundation that before the adoptive parents can take their adoptive child home, they have to spend a week in Haiti with their child. This is to help ease the transitional periods between in-country and out of the country experience. This also gives time for the child to say goodbye to the staff and other children at the orphanage. The child will be able to stay in the guest house with the families and the families will get to know their sleep, eating, and changing schedules. They get to really know how their child is and have enough time to adjust and ask questions from all the staff members. The week long process doesn't sound like much, but everyday, we see huge progress and tremendous changes between the relationship of the adoptive parents and their child. The first day is always awkward, filled with over excitement and expectations. Many times the child will be a stranger and be really quiet. At times, not even preferring the adoptive parents. Second day it gets better and by the middle of the week it is like they are inseparable. They start to get in the routine of the family and by the end of the week it is as if they have been together for years. It is this magical process that happens within this week long period of bonding and I feel so fortunate that I get to be there to witness this magical love connection unfold.

In the morning, Roberto took the family and I out shopping for souvenirs. The family really wanted to find some souvenirs to take back with them for their family and friends. So there's always this little artist shop that Roberto takes the adoptive parents and it is filled with many different art works from different artists around Haiti. The shop actually doesn't product any art work, but it is just a collector that works with other artists to put their work on display. It was a really neat experience to see so many different types of art inspirations. It was also a great experience for *Candy. It was her first shopping experience and she was all wide eyed throughout the two hours we were there. She never wanted to be put down, so we all traded off holding her throughout the shopping experience. Gotta say, a two and a half year old is not easy to carry throughout an Art store that is filled with all types of glassware. Haha. It turned out to be great overall and the parents found everything that they wanted! The store was so nice that they wrapped everything up for us so it was safe to travel with in their luggage. What great service!!!

The afternoon was when the party for Candy* took place. The parents brought with them balloons and treats for the children. The staff and I decorated the orphanage and gathered all the children together. The babies were all sitting in bucket seats and strollers, while the rest of the children sat on the benches around the small table. We started to sing and dance. Oh man, do the aunties love to dance!!!! They will have a dance-off every single chance they get. It was crazy!!!! haha. Everyone had such a good time. We all ate treats and the children sang songs and danced together. The parents shared many thoughts that they wanted to say to the aunties and I translated for them. There were many tears and hugs and kisses all around. It was an awesome party! I am so happy for the family and for Candy*. It has been a long haul and I can't believe she is finally going home tomorrow!!!

Tonight we will have the final dinner at the Duncans and bid our goodbyes tomorrow morning!

Haitian Thanksgiving 2011

It was a busy day at the Kenscoff orphanage today, not because it was Thanksgiving, but because we had two adoptive families there. I was busy observing all the children and answering all the questions the adoptive parents had the best that I could. One family was leaving today after just a short three day visit of their adoptive children. They are adopting two boys, one 11 month old and the other three years old. They are not biological siblings, but will be adoptive siblings once their adoption processes come to a close next year! What an exciting thing! The two boys are as cute as can be and I am so happy that they are going to a loving and caring family. The adoptive family actually brought their two biological daughters with them on their trip, as well. This was the true spirit of thanksgiving. I felt so happy for them that they could all spend thanksgiving as a family this year in Haiti. Many people would give anything to have these precious moments. I looked at all 6 of them together and just couldn't stop smiling!

The family said their goodbyes to the two boys at the end of the day and it was especially hard on the youngest daughter in the family. She had become so attached to her younger adoptive sibling (the 11 month old) that she was sobbing so hard. I went and comforted her and told her that she is a great big sister and that we will take care of her little brothers here in Haiti while they were waiting for the adoption process to finalize. The mother had a hard time too, but I think it helped a lot having another adoptive family there for them to talk to. Since the other adoptive family is at the end of their adoption process, it was a good reference to understand the roller coaster of emotions they were feeling at this particular moment. It was hard on the two boys too, especially the three year old. He was fussing and crying when they left in the car. I tried to explain to him, but nothing would work. In the end, a good cuddle helped him ease the transition.

I am thankful for these families for the happiness and joy they bring to, not just their own children, but to all the children at the orphanage. I am also thankful for all the financial and material support their give to the foundation. I am especially thankful to the foundation for giving me this opportunity to be here with the children in Haiti and to work with the staff. I am so grateful for everyone in my life, for being so supportive of what I am doing. I am truly a blessed girl!

Happy Thanksgiving From Haiti Everyone! 

First I-600 Embassy Appointment

What a super fulfilling day today was!!!!!

I got up at 4am to get ready for the day. Dieudonne and I left at 4:30am for Delmas 41. I have a lot of respect for Dieudonne, the main Lamardelle driver, because he does this EVERY SINGLE DAY! He leaves at around 4:30am every morning to go to Delmas and down town Port-au-Prince to pick up all the staff members for the day. And then he will be running errands all day, all around the main cities of Haiti and then do the same trip back and forth again to take the staff members back to their homes. He never gets back to the orphanage before 7 or 7:30pm, sometimes even as late as 9pm if traffic was bad. He is a very dedicated husband, father, father, and individual.

So I got to Delmas 41 at around 5:45am. I saw the orphanage doctor come strolling into the office at around 6:10am and was wondering who was going to pick him up? I thought that he was going to go to Kenscoff, since normally Wednesdays are the days he heads up to Kenscoff, but I was informed that he had switched the schedule, so now he was going to Lamardelle on Wednesdays. But Dieudonne had already left with the staff??? Uh oh! So I called the driver and he didn't pick up the phone, so I called Stephanie. Turns out the doctor was suppose to be at Delmas 41 at 6 o'clock, on the dot, not a minute later. He was 10 to 15 minutes late and apparently they didn't wait for him. They weren't going to turn back for him either, so another driver was coming to pick him up at around 9:30am or 10am. Oh my goodness, that's like in 4 hours of time from now!!!!! Yeah, that was very awkward. If it was me, I would just turn the car around and get him instead of sending another driver all the way to get the doctor. Like I've said, we've been having problems with the logistic department. It made it really awkward to sit next to the doctor for the next hour and a half. I just kept on apologizing to him for the miscommunication and logistical problems. He did not seem to be very happy about it. He never really opened up to me, from the very first day that I met him. No idea. Oh well.

So Roberto came and picked me up with the adoptive parents at around 7:45am. We had an I-600 appointment at the U.S. Embassy at 8am. An I-600 is an appointment in the Adoption process that will later determine what kind of Visa the adopted child will receive in their passport. We were booking it through traffic since we were going to be late! We got to the embassy at 8:20am and talked our way through the crowd. Good thing the embassy people already knew who we were, since we come here very often. We went through two security check-points and the guard took Brunette's phone away from her, since that is not allowed in there. He just put it in his pocket and told us to move along....um....does this not seem right to anyone???? We were in a hurry, so we just went on. We got to the waiting area and no one was at the window. I mean, the waiting area was completly filled with people, but the window staff were all empty. We later found out that the staff was having a staff meeting. It was the meeting right before Thanksgiving, since U.S. embassy will get the two days off for Thanksgiving, I guess they had a lot to talk about. All two and a half hours worth of meeting minutes. I guess scheduling a meeting during office hours is not a big deal here in Haiti for the U.S. Embassy. Oh my goodness. So by 10am, everyone was restless. I have already been use to this Haitian culture, but for the adoptive parents it was torture. I just kept on explaining to them that the Haitian culture was all about curve balls and there are always multiple plans that fall through in the end, that we just have to wait and be patient. It was very hard for them to understand this fact. It did not help that they did not have breakfast this morning, since they left at around 6am from Kenscoff, so they were starving. I was use to not having meals whenever I make a trip from Lamardelle to Kenscoff, so I was fine, but them not so much. I was worried since the embassy was a no drink, no food, no outside communication place. I just kept telling them to hold on. So at around 1pm we finally got everything ready and out of there. When we were checking out Brunette went to get her phone and turns out the person forgot to give her a number for her phone ( Well duh! He just put it in his pocket! Remember/????? Something wrong with this picture!!!), so they couldn't give it back to her. She had to prove it was her phone but exiting, getting another phone, walking back to embassy and calling her own phone with the other phone to prove it was hers. WOW! What an ordeal! Everyone was very happy to be leaving the U.S. Embassy. I hope the next I-600 will not be this intense, since I will be coming here by myself with the adoptive families!

The director ended up picking up another adoptive parents at the airport while we were at the embassy! We all got into one car and headed up to Kenscoff together. I made sure to tell the director that everyone was starving since no one had eaten anything all day! We got to a sandwich place at around 3:30pm and everyone was super happy to have some food in their tummies! It has been a while since I've had a sub and a coke! What a treat!

This week at Kenscoff is going to be full of adventures with the two sets of adoptive parents! I am super excited to get to know them and to tell them all about their wonderful children!

Catching Curve Balls

Ever since I've been back to Lamardelle, it has been busy busy busy! Always tons of things that need to be done! Not being at the orphanage for a weekend really sets you back for like days!!! I quickly got back into the groove of things, but it does not help that the internet still doesn't work. I just realized that with no internet, that means the children are not going to be able to get their letters and photos this month. HOW AWFUL IS THAT!!!??/!! Not much I can do. The internet is either not working or working at such a slow pace that it won't let you attach a file or download a file. Let's not even start to talk about picture files! It was pretty painful to come to this realization. Oh well, it's life. Got to do the best that we can.

So I was trying to get all the translations done for USCIS dossiers when all of a sudden a phone call comes to let us know that there was an I-600 appointment tomorrow for an adoptive parent! WHAT??? Are you kidding me? We were not informed about this. Turns out the email was sent out to everyone except Brunette and I, which we are the two people that actually needs to know the most, since we are the ones preparing the paperwork for the meeting. Oh boy, so I am scrambling to get all the documents translated from English to French at the last minute and praying, just praying that the electricity would stay the way it was for me to print out the documents in end. Thank goodness we work well under pressure and was able to get everything done. My head was spinning. I got everything done at around 4pm and started to do more translations and art work projects for Kenscoff. At around 4:30pm, there was a knock on my door. The nurse was calling me and saying that there were "foreigners" at the creche. I was like "What foreigners?" I step out of the office and to my surprise, there was a Caucasian couple with their biological daughter and their adopted Haitian daughter. I had no idea who they were! It turns out that they are adoptive parents who had adopted their daughter from CEJ 4 years ago. Their picture was still hanging up on the creche's walls. I greeted them and showed them around the creche. I guess the creche has changed tremendously after four years, especially with the new coat of white paint that is in place now. They brought wooden puzzles for the children at the creche and they all loved it. Once again, the logistics department has been having problems informing everyone of visitors. They were apparently scheduled for a 4:30pm visit, but no one had informed me of it, so I had no idea. Good thing I was even there! The couple was really nice and had many questions to ask me about adoption in Haiti and how everything was going. The adoptive mother is a doctor and she is actually helping out with the clinic for the foundation. How wonderful! More help is always better! I am glad we have established this connection with her.

They will be staying at Manmie's for the whole week, but I will not be there. I will be heading up to Kenscoff at 4:30am tomorrow morning!!!! I ended up heading back to the office to do more work, all the way till 8pm before heading back to my room. Lot's of surprises everyday and it's a good thing I am good at catching curve balls. Living in Haiti is all about catching curve balls and going with the flow. It makes it a lot easier when you can think quick on your feet. I am very grateful that I am able to react quickly to every situation that is thrown at me at the last minute. Oh boy, it's going to be a tough day tomorrow! Can't wait for the adventures that lie ahead for me at the crack of dawn!

Oh yeah!

HAPPY 29TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY 

TO MY DEAR PARENTS! 

Have fun you two!

3rd Casualty Within A Month

Words can't describe the sorrow and pain that I feel within.

Last night I was told a little baby boy of 11 months, Snickers* was really sick in Kenscoff. He is the youngest baby in Kenscoff at the moment, since we transferred all the rest of the little babies to Lamardelle last month. He suffered infantile epilepsy when he was just a couple of months, but has since recovered from the disorder. He is a very healthy baby overall, but does still have the side effect of tremors with his left hand from the earlier seizure attacks. He was really sick with the flu over the weekend and suffered from high fevers. Due to the high level fevers, he started to have convulsions. It triggered an underlying problem again and this time, it wasn't looking good. He was taken to the hospital and the doctor had checked him out. His fever went down and the doctor declared him good enough to return back to the orphanage. Everyone was puzzled, because the doctor just said he has a bad case of the flu. When he got back  to the Kenscoff creche, he started to not feel well again. I got a call at 1am in the morning saying that they needed all the information from his dossier in the office. I quickly got out of bed to get all the information of his medical records. After the call, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't a good feeling at all. I held his file in my hand and looked at his picture. This little guy has gone through so much medically already and it just hurts my heart that he is still suffering. I couldn't fall back asleep for the longest time. I woke up abruptly at around 5:30am. I started to get ready for the day and to help the children get ready for school. I did my usual routine. I went into the office at around 8am and that was when I learned the news that the little guy had passed away at around 3am in the morning.

My heart sunk......it's been the third time this month this feeling has been present....it doesn't get easier with each case.....it's a brand new wound every time.

I am going to miss Snickers* very much. We had so much fun together every time I went up to Kenscoff. He would always laugh and giggling wholeheartedly whenever we sang the EIEIO song. He loved the kissing and tickling game whenever he was down. I craved his smiles and the way he held my fingers when he was being fed. His big eyes starring back at me whenever I was giving him his bottle during the three hour feeding intervals at Kenscoff. The way he kicked his legs upwards whenever he was on the changing table. How he desperately tried to tear my earrings off every time they got close to his grasp.

His laughter. His cries. His smile.

Thank you for lifting my spirits whenever I was tired! Thank you for giving me so much love through just a single glance from you Snickers*! You are dearly loved! Forever and always!