the good samaritan

A few pictures from the Good Samaritan orphanage today. We took a group there to play games and color some pictures.

Today, I am thankful for...

1. People who have a vision

2. Patience

3. Sundays full of singing!

peace, love, and cute dirty kids,

alex

medical clinics

The past week has been crazy, sorry about the lack of updates! Here is what has been going on...

1. Groups have been coming. We've had 150 people go through the mission this week so I have been help running stuff for them. It is the most people I have ever seen here!

2. Still helping take care of the babies, they have gained two pounds since I came. They are wonderful :)

3. Working in the med clinic. Has been the hardest part of my trip so far. We lost a little 7 year old boy two days ago and it has been extremely rough. Please be praying for his family.

4. Working in the "pharmacy." I'm learning more about prescribing medicine than I could've ever imagined.

5. Mobile med clinics. We have traveled around Haiti taking all the clinic stuff with us and giving free exams, we have seen about 300 patients that way this week. Yesterday I helped granulate a bacterial infection on a two year old little girl that had eaten to the bone. 

6. "Summer camp" for the orphanage is this week. Today was soccer!

7. Working on the new school christian curriculum that will go out to all the christian schools in Haiti. Such a big deal! And will reach 400,000 kids.

8. After dinner at 6, nothing goes on because it's already dark. So I spend that time reading and watching the incredible stars here. It is a good time to soak and relax. We also rock the card games. I fall asleep around 9:00 and wake up by 7 when the sun comes up. My sleep schedule is shot for school!

So overall, things are crazy. God is working here in every aspect. Life is good.

Today I am thankful for...

1. Citron Juice. (limes + vanilla + sugar + water)= SO GOOD

2. Babies staying healthy

3. Assurance that there is a plan, even when I can't figure it out.

4. E-mails from home.

peace, love, and being busy.

alex

independence day.

Happy (late) 4th of July everyone! I was sad to miss everything back home, (especially home made ice cream) but still had a great day in Haiti. The few americans that are here represented by wearing red and white and we even ate some fresh watermelon!

Sundays are my favorite days in Haiti. Church is incredible every single Sunday. My favorite part is hearing the familiar worship songs in a different language. Such a great reminder that God is so universal :) They had a choir today....unreal.

After that Sunday is just a day of rest. We went out to lunch at a haitian restaurant and then spent the rest of the day playing cards. When I say restaurant, I do not mean one anything like in a states. There were chickens running around at my feet and dogs laying all over the ground. I will take pictures next week when we go again.

The babies are doing wonderful, they keep gaining strength. There have been a couple minor problems so we are taking them to a pediatric missionary a couple villages away tomorrow. 

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Today I am thankful for...

1. Building relationships here, and learning through the people who are already here. Love them.

2. Rain coming and cooling things down a bit!

3. The monopoly card game. SO FUN! We are always playing it on the front porch. It's nothing like the real game.

peace, love, red, white, and blue!

alex

survivor day!

(Christopher playing the worm game)

Today has been an exciting day! After spending the night with the babies again (I posted the picture above) we spent the day with the orphanage kids playing "survivor" games. We divided up into 8 teams, all the teams got bandanas in their color and they made up their own team name. The teams consisted of "Team Lion King, Team Tiger One, Team Highschool Musical, Team Blood of Jesus," etc. Haha. We then spent the day playing all kinds of fun games, here are a couple...

1. Lick the cheerios. Each team picked one person and spent the alloted amount of time licking and sticking cheerios to that person's face. Team with the most cheerios won.

2. Worms. We mixed chocolate pudding, oreo crumbs and gummi worms in a big bucket and had them bob for the gummi worms as a race.

3. Bouncy Balls. We cut holes in the lids of pringles cans and threw bouncy balls all over the ground outside. They had a race to see who could get the most bouncy balls in the cans.

...and so many more! We played games all day and i'm exhausted. Now i'm off to hang out with my twins for the night. I will post part 3 of their story tomorrow, but we have named them "Hannah Grace" and "Jeremiah Issac" Both names fit them so well!

Things I am thankful for today...

1. Coffee. I don't usually drink it but it's a must-have for two newborns!

2. Just being healthy here. It seems like everyone has gotten really sick except me.

3. The free spirit of kids. They just remind you to have fun :)

peace, love, and messy games,

alex

 

Emmanuela and I wearing our bandanas and visors.

the twins: part two

(laundry basket babies)

Today has been an insane and crazy day! Last night I stayed up with the babies, they wake up about every hour or so to drink a bottle, so i'm pretty tired.

I worked at the hospital from 7 to 4 today, and it was CRAZY! I learned so much in one day it's overwhelming. I now know all different forms of skin infections and how to treat them. Soon, I am going on some mobile clinics and that will be awesome. I also worked in the "pharmacy" today and learned a ton about prescriptions and medicine.

Now, I'm sitting on Rachelle's floor with a baby on my stomach, watching the lighting. It doesn't get much better than this. I will be posting more pictures of these little ones soon to actually show you how tiny they are compared to other things! There fingers are like q-tips.

Here is part two of their story, once again written by Rachelle Montgomery!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I couldn’t sleep Wednesday night because I was so worried about the babies. My main concern being their health, Patris said they were quite small and had not been eating much. 

A little while later I was on my way to Simonette to pick up the babies. I couldn’t believe how tiny they were. I had never seen a baby so small in all my life. So fragile and vulnerable, my heart broke for them. How could their mother have left them without looking back? I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it.

Vanessa met us at the clinic and we brought the babies in. Doctor Jennifer examined them both and said they were in pretty good shape, small and a little weak but doing well. She wanted them to get some blood work to make sure they were ok.

When we were finished at the clinic we brought the babies up to my house and got them some formula. I made two bassinettes for them out of laundry baskets and pillows. We had only one bottle between the two of them and they took turns feeding. The babies were so weak they didn’t have the energy to suck for more than a few seconds at a time before they fell asleep, so we ended up pouring small amounts of milk into a baby spoon and just pouring the milk in their mouths. They responded really well to this and were able to drink so much more, since the only effort they had to make was swallowing. 

Vanessa and I both knew we couldn’t let these babies leave. She called Mr. Marc, the Haitian Director of Mission of Hope, to see what we could do. He said they could stay the night, but only if we filed a report at the court so Patris went to Cabaret with his cousin, Christine, to file the report. He called us a few hours later saying the judge refused to write the report; since the babies were abandoned in Port au Prince the report needed to be filed in Port au Prince in case their mother came looking for them. It was already 3:30 at this point, which meant he wouldn’t be able to get to the police station on time. 

We called Marc to let him know and to our surprise he said the babies could stay the night, but a report would have to be filed first thing in the morning. 

The babies stayed at my house until the evening and then Vanessa took them back to her house for the night. 

And so ‘baby girl’ and ‘baby boy’ spent their first night at Mission of Hope.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Overall, these babies are my new loves and are growing a tiny bit each day. Part 3 to come soon!

Things I am thankful for today...

1. Bug spray for the million mosquitos

2. Lightning storms to watch

3. The babies getting strong enough to squeeze my finger.

peace, love, and sitting on porches,

alex

the twins - part one

 I am safe in haiti and cannot even express how happy I am to be here! I even arrived with all my luggage which is very rare. I got here around 12 this afternoon and have been with the twins ever since, here is part one of their story...written by Rachelle Montgomery.

Their mother is Carline, 18 years old and living on the streets. Her face is worn and tired, baring the scars of a hard life. Her eyes are dark, sad and empty.  She went into labor last Sunday in the middle of her village, on the street and all alone. A young woman named Christine was walking by and stumbled upon this young woman about to give birth on the side of the road. She flagged a truck down and asked the driver to take them to the hospital right away, but the baby couldn’t wait and her little girl was born in the truck on the way to the hospital. 

When her labor continued they realized that she was having twins. Luckily they made it to the hospital before her little boy was born.  Carline and the twins were at the hospital for three days. Christine, previously a complete stranger to this woman, came to visit a few times worried about the babies knowing that their mother was not quite right mentally. On one of her visits Carline begged Christine to take the babies, saying she didn’t want them and if she had to keep them she would kill them.  On the day they were released from the hospital Christine and a friend came to help bring Carline and the babies back to their village.

 Carline asked Christine to stay with the babies for a minute while she went to buy a comb. Christine and her friend waited with the babies, but Carline never came back.  When they realized Carline wasn’t coming back they decided they should bring the babies back to their village, hoping Carline would show up there. 

She didn’t. 

Not knowing what else to do Christine brought the babies to Simonette hoping her cousin Patris could help. I got the call from Patris on Wednesday night saying these tiny babies were at his house and in need of help. I told him to bring the babies on Thursday morning knowing at the very least I could get them into the clinic and buy them some formula and other things.  

 I knew from the moment I heard about the babies God had a plan for them and that I was going to be a part of their life, in some way, shape or form.
------------------------------------------------------------ 

I will post part 2 later! Here are pictures of the babies...The baby girl weighed 2.8 pounds and the baby boy weighted 3.5 pounds. The babies came to us without names and so far we've been referring to them as baby girl and baby boy.

Today I am thankful for...

1. Arriving safely

2. Diapers :)

3. Feeling like a mom at the moment

peace, love, and newborns,

alex

history in haiti.

I am officially sitting in the Miami airport headed to Haiti for the rest of the summer, and I CAN NOT wait until I get there. I’ll be spending the night here and heading there really early in the morning. I thought some of you would like to know a little background info on what i’m doing and why. 

I went to haiti for the first time after my sophomore year of high school and stayed at MOH. MOH (Mission of Hope) is what I fell in love with, especially the kids. It all started with the orphanage, which now has about 50 kids, and now consists of that orphanage, a hospital clinic, a school for about 5000 kids, a food bank, and a church. The vision that the people have here for this mission is incredible, and every child who comes through this orphanage is hoped to eventually be sent to college in the U.S. This place has grown tremendously every time I return, and that’s one of the biggest joys I get of coming back! 

Since that first time with a wonderful group from church, I have been back 4 times. This time will be my 6th and my first time to fly by myself, which has been exciting. I am considered an intern for the summer and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to do this. You will hear about everything I’m doing throughout the next few weeks, but the one thing I am most excited about is hanging out with and loving on the kids. They range from 3 years to about 15 years, and we also just got two newborn twin babies that will be here, “baby girl” and “baby boy.” You’ll hear a lot more about them soon to come. I appreciate you coming to read and i’ll update you as soon as I arrive at MOH. 

HAITI HERE I COME!

Things I am thankful for today.... 

1. Not getting lost (yet) while flying by myself. 

2. Parents that trust me enough to go. Thanks mom and dad! :)

3. Airport food! Mmmm

peace, love, and 8 hour layovers,

alex

mountains and goodbyes.

The past couple of days have been very busy! Yesterday we went up in to the mountains to deliver food rations, something I had never done before. It is so different than sea level up there. There are villages in the mountains that have never even seen a white person before. The kids we met were SO well behaved, because they don't have people come visit very much. We spent the afternoon playing games with them, eating candy and singing songs. Today we spent the afternoon at the beach and just got done watching movies through the projector with the hope house kids.

This week has flown by, it feels like we just arrived yesterday. I can confidently say that goodbyes are the hardest part of coming to Haiti. We just said goodbye to the MOH kids, kills me every time. They shove letters and colored pages into your hands as you leave, and the hugs don't stop until you reach the gate. After that, you have to walk up the hill thinking about how long it will be until you see them again. I'm just not ready to leave yet. I find joy in the fact that I will see them again soon, and once again i'm counting down the days until I come back.

Highlights of the day.....

1. Right now, listening to the big storm on the tin roof.

2. Watching wall-e with the kids, a universal movie.

3. Having four kids fall asleep on me and carrying them to bed.

4. A haitian smoked crab for us on the beach today, it was delicious.

I will post some pictures and videos sometime when I get home. Miss you all, love you all.

peace, love, and hard goodbyes.

alex

today in titayen.

After yesterday, today was a very encouraging day! We worked again this morning, and after lunch we visited Titayen, a village down the road. This is where a small orphanage, New Jerusalem, is located and I've been there every trip since 07. The first time I visited 2 years ago, the kids were living in a ditch with a tent over it and it was the first time i've ever experienced the overwhelming helpless feeling here. I am SO glad to say that it has been improving tremendously every single trip, and today the kids were happy and pretty healthy! It was by no means up to great conditions, but the kids have a roof, and food, and are going to school. The part I am most excited about is that their rent is up in two weeks and they are all moving permanently here to the mission! They will get to experience love and care that they've never even imagined before, and I cannot wait to come this summer and see how much they've improved here. We had a great day playing games and eating candy. 

Highlights of the day....

1. Playing a blindfold game where I crawl around on the ground looking for bags of cheetos. If you find a bag you get to eat them! Needless to say I lost and made a fool of myself in front of all the kids, haha, I have a video of it to post later.

2. A new team is here from the U.S. and i'm excited to get to know them!

3. Tonight we had hobo dinners. They were delicious.

4. Seeing improvement and knowing change is happening here. So much change.

Tomorrow we are hiking into the mountains and delivering food rations. I've never been before so i'm excited but a little nervous about what I will see.

peace, love, and St. Patrick's Day in haiti.

alex

a day of luck.

Today was a pretty exciting day for us. We worked today, and we ended up unloading a whole container at the warehouse. (In this container was 630,000 servings of food!) Needless to say my back is a little sore from carrying all those boxes, but I felt pretty accomplished. When we got back, guess what was here? Our luggage! Finally. We also got more water, so overall it was an incredibly lucky day, and I had the best shower of my life.

After that, we visited the village in Caberet. This was the hardest part of the day for me. We went to the new Good Samaritan Orphanage. I have been to the old one several times, but in the recent hurricanes the old building got completely demolished. While they were in transition, they stayed here at the Mission of Hope where I'm staying for two months, and they were here when I visited last time. They looked happy, healthy and great when they were here. It has been four months since they moved back to the new building, and seeing them today was heartbreaking. The conditions were awful, some were even sleeping outside. They were dirty, they were quiet, and they were sick. It is hard see them change from good to bad, unbelievably hard, and to have no control over it. We spent the rest of evening playing spoons and dominoes on the porch. I'm hoping that another familiar orphanage will lift my spirits tomorrow, and i'm praying that the changes there will be positive instead of negative. I'm having trouble dealing with the fact that they are outside and I am inside right now, but I know that God is big and that alone gives me hope for these kids.

"I tell you the truth. Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done for me."

Matthew 25:40

peace, love, and showers.

alex

these were all taken at the Good Samaritan today.

spoons and sundays.

To start off today was a great Sunday! We actually don't start working until tomorrow. Today we woke up and when to church at the mission, it was great as usual, and i'm sore from holding a little baby girl all through the service. She drooled all down my arm, but it was still great. After that, we visited another orphanage that the mission sponsors, Ed's orphanage, and loved on some more kids. We visited some of Rachel's awesome friends while we were in the village and then we came back and played with the hope house kids for the rest of the evening. (Rachel is staff and our long friend at MOH). We just finished the night with a long and VERY intense game of spoons. Needless to say, I am exhausted! Our luggage has still not arrived! I'm in the same clothes I was in when I flew here 2 days ago. We're guessing it will come tomorrow, haha, but I am definitely not getting my hopes up. We also just ran out of water, so that means no showers. It's kind of nice not having worrying about anything other than showing love to people, even hygiene!

Highlights of the day....

1. Singing worship at church. It's crazy to hear the songs in a different language, it's a reminder of how big God really is, and how small I am. The people there literally sing their hearts out, and it is so so so encouraging.

2. Seeing old friends!

3. Trying Rachel's friend's delicious juice. It was made from grapefruit and milk. It doesn't sound appealing but it was SO good.

4. Winning the first round of spoons! and watching crazy rachel dominate the last game.

5. Sitting on this incredible porch listening to the rain.

I wish I  could add bigger pictures and more of them, but it uses the bandwidth here at the mission so i'll be doing that when I get home! Love you all.

peace, love, and summer storms.

alex

we're here!

We made it safe and sound today, which is great news! Our luggage did not, but we're hoping for it tomorrow. Everyone is drained from our overnight trip, so most of the day was just used for rest. Zach and I went with another team to see the new Mission of Hope land while everyone was sleeping. They have some new land, right by the ocean, and are planning to build a new orphanage, a new school, a new clinic, and a new church, and of course we were swarmed by kids there just like everywhere else in haiti! The rest of the day was just spent hanging out with the kids here at the orphanage.

Best part of the day:

1. Watching all the new people on the chaotic bus ride to the mission.

2. All the MOH kids running up and remembering my name, even the little ones this time!

Tomorrow we're going to work, visit the New Jerusalem Orphanage, and going to the titayen market. Hope you all are having a great spring break!!

peace, love, and lost luggage.

alex

haitian security system- glass bottles

crazy day one.

I wish that I could say we are safe and sound in Haiti tonight, but I am sleeping at the airport! We took two flights today and we're stuck in florida until 7:00 tomorrow morning. Also, southwest lost our luggage in AMERICA. This does not normally happen until we get to haiti, but it happened early this trip. They informed us we would have it Sunday so hopefully our luck will turn! You would think I would have learned by now (this has happened twice before) to pack clothes in my carry on. We should arrive tomorrow afternoon and Mom and Dad, I will update as soon as we get there. :)

peace, love, and terminals.

alex

This is Taylor, Cindy's daughter and I. Yes, we are sleeping on this chair.

byenvini! welcome!

Hello friends and family! I created this blog to keep you updated on what I'm up to in Haiti. I leave in less than three days and I am counting down, not only for this week but most importantly for this summer. I went on my first trip to Titayen, Haiti after my junior year of high school, and since then I have not been able to stay away! I am literally counting down the minutes until I step off of the plane, it's a wonderful place. I'll tell you more about it later, but in short, I stay at The Mission of Hope, which is an incredible orphanage full of beautiful kids. Thank you for stopping to read, I appreciate every single one of your prayers and I am so blessed to be surrounded by an atmosphere of support. You are great!

peace, love, and plane rides,

alex.

october 2007

october 2007

march 2008

march 2008

                          october 2008