Love is...

Love is…

The little girl that always comes up to you after church just to hold your hand…

A smile, that you cherish the rest of your life…

Love is hearing the name “Mamma” attached to your name.

The way you get engulfed with hugs the minute you walk into school…

Love is going for walks, and soaking up everything the kids say to you whether you understand them or not…

It is receiving a hug and never wanting to let go.

Love is having cuddle time during prayer, and having her big brown eyes stare up at you.

It’s enduring little hands play with and braid your hair for hours.

It’s laughing and giggling in two different languages.

It’s having a family back home that supports everything you do.

“Love never gives up.

Love cares for others more than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Isn’t always “me first”,

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.”

- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 The Message

The journey home for chirstmas

Well, I have been back in Haiti a week now, and its been great. I missed teaching, I missed the kids, and most importantly the HEAT! I realize it has been a while since I last posted, I am apologizing now if this is a really long post.

Lets go back to December, which seems forever ago....

The election results were released right before I was suppose to leave on the 9th, and things turned ugly in Port, tires were burning, bottles were flying, as well as bullets and tear gas. People in general were not happy with the election results calling them a fraud, because it should have been Manigot and Martelly not Manigot and Celestin like the results came up as. Because of all the rioting my flight got cancelled, and as soon as we booked another one, it we get cancelled, it went on like this all weekend. Finally after about the third or fourth time, we decided enough was enough and made plans to get to the Dominican Republic. Even though our plans were pretty vague. We knew how we were getting to the boarder, we knew we had a ride on the other side, and we knew there was a bus. So we went with it, know and hoping it would work out. Also at this point in time, none of us had tickets yet. So on the 12th we were all ready to go. Our ride arrived around 5 am, and we loaded up the bags into the back of the truck, piled in, and drove off. We went through an area in Port that I had never been through, and on the hillsides of the highway there were tents, hundreds of thousands of them, making up the main tent cities of Port au Prince. It was heart breaking to see this, especially 11 months after the quake. Then on the roads right in front of us were the reminders of the rioting that took place the week prior, were tires were burned then pushed to the side. It wasn't long after we left port that we made our way closer to the boarder. Right before you cross the boarder, you literally drive through a lake with caves on the other side of you, that Haitians are hand digging with a little pick and axe for the gravel.

The boarder is its own experience on its own. And the goal for the boarder workers? To get as much money out of you as they can. The first stop is at a police station where you have to go through a gate and they ask you for money. Then you drive a bit up the road and stop at  the Haitian customs building, were Dan and Gary took our passports in to be stamped, so we could "leave" the country, and where they try to get more money out of you. Then you drive to the Dominican side where before you even cross over they scam money out of you, where they ask you to pay for you tires to be "cleaned for all dirt  so you don't track in cholera." Then once again Dan and Gary headed into the customs building on the DR side with all our passports to get them stamped and to pay the entry fee, where they yet again tried to up the entry fee price and extra 10$ a person. (And in either Haiti or DR customs some one managed and extra $40 canadian that I hid in my passport folder). After taking our luggage into get inspected, we came out and found the missionary that was picking us up and taking us to his mission for the night, or so we thought. Our original plan was to catch a bus in the middle of the night and go to the airport which was another 7 hours away and have a pastor pick us up at the bus stop and take us to the airport. But the missionary had a better idea, he has a medical student group from the university at Santo Domingo heading back a few hours after we got there and had room for us and our luggage in their bus at no charge. We went with that idea. We hung out at their mission for awhile and tried to get through with american airlines to change our tickets, but due to bad weather in the east in the states we had a hard time getting through, eventually my mom back home was able to change my ticket at no extra cost, and the others decided to chance it when we got the the airport. We then boarder the bus then took off through the country side of the DR. In Jimanni where we started out, there was quite a Haitian population being so close to the baorder, and the cement houses looked very similar, except they were more finished looking. But one of the main differences as we drove through was the forestation. In Haiti most of the tree are cut down so people can burn them for charcoal to make some money so the hillsides are very bare, unlike the DR where it is very green and full.

Haiti on the left, DR on the right

The group of college students were great and informed us about where we were and what not. You can tell that the DR is a very Catholic country because there are shrines to Mother Mary all over the place. Once we hit a major city, they told us we were going to stop for dinner at a place that had chicken. I was thinking something along the lines of haitian style with beans and rice along the road. Where we stopped was similar to Swiss Chalet but to go. We were prepared to buy our own dinner. But the group insisted that they buy it for us. A few hours later we were in Santo Domingo. Which is a beautiful city that I would one day like to explore. Once at the university the pastor picked us up and dropped us at the airport where we planned to spend the night, and once 3am came we would check in and Gary, Carolyn and Dan would change their tickets. We were forced down stairs to the arrivals area, where is was very loud, from flights coming in all night, and lots of people, at least there were restaurants open. Hours later we were all in the boarding area waiting for our flights hoping everything would work out due to a blizzard on the west coast. The other 3 left on an earlier flight than I did, because of all the UN soldiers that were booked to leave on a vacation that  day. I made it to Miami with no problem, except a long customs line, and raced to my gate for my flight to Dallas which I made just as they were calling my group to board. I relaxed once in Dallas as I had a few hours and found my gate. After finally getting a good meal I sat down and waited for my flight, which ended up being delayed 2 hours because of mechanical problem. Lets put it this way, I was not happy, I had hardly slept in the last 36 hours, and at this point wanted to get home, because this delay was going to make me miss my connecting flight to Kelowna from Vancouver. After yelling at the poor guy at the counter he finally promised me a hotel voucher when I got to vancouver. I finally arrived in Vancouver much later than planned got my luggage, and went to claim my voucher, which they denied me, because they got me to Vancouver and my next flight was on another airlines. Then I turned ugly, crying and yelling at the poor guy once again. I stalked off to the payphone to call home. Which resulted in me having to pay for a hotel and spending the night, and getting the first flight out of the day. It only took two and a half days but I finally got home. It was an adventure of a lifetime, that I wont be forgetting any time soon.

A birthday to remember

Today I turned 21. Today was also a day of rioting in Haiti. The election results were revealed late last night, and people were not happy. In Port au Prince the rioting began instantly continuing on all through the day causing the whole city to shut down. We had reports that it is literally in flames from all the burning tires. It was a moment that I could not describe this morning, as I was sitting visiting with Dan, Carolyn and Gary on the front porch with our coffees. There was a cool tropical breeze, and palm trees around me and coffee in my hand. A perfect birthday morning in my mind. Yet in the distance yelling could be heard, as well as gun shots off in the distances. Yes, a perfect birthday moment. It really was a great day except for the fact that I have to head to the airport in the morning, and we were getting word that all flights on December 8th were being cancelled. No problem I thought we'll leave early the next morning, just to make sure we are on our 1050 flight. I was determined that it was going to happen, telling my self all day that I will be on that flight and God WILL make it happen. Well, I was wrong, and in tears, now the only thing being I wanted to get home. My flight was cancelled due to employees not being able to get to work. Great. Thank-you God for this information. Now, how was I going to get on a flight out of here when hundreds of others are on flights wanting to get out of here. Time for a break down. I wanted on that plane. After calling Barb and sharing the information about our flight, I was on the phone with American Airlines. Shared my sob story about the capital being in flames, my flight being cancelled, and the country being a mess, with two ladies they got me and Barb out on flights the next day. Hallelujah! Then on to our hotel reservation with Hotwire, who straight up tell up no refunds for cancelations or moving it to another day, bring on the sob story once again, after looking up the situation on the internet, apologizing, she happily refunded our hotel. Once again Hallelujah! So please pray that I will be on that flight friday after noon and back in Canada.


Happy Birthday to me.

My opinion on the election

Here we are 6pm, still waiting for the election results that were due at noon today. Now, we are hearing midnight the last possible moment for those involved. We have cancelled school till the new year, because of how volatile things are right now, which is only going to worsen. Because of how late they are putting off the announcement we have decided (and from all the information we have been hearing and gathering) there are four possible out comes of this things all ending on not a good note. The top two are suppose to have a run off election on Jan 16, the current results are showing Manigat with 30% Martelly with 25% and Celestine with 20%.

1. Manigat and Martelly are in the top two run off ( just as results that have been released are showing) which would lead to the Unity party and their supporters rioting, but would be considered a fair election
2. Constitution is changed, allowing Manigat, Martelly and Celestine to have a run off election in January, this would lead to all three parties supporters to riot.
3. A "mysterious box" of ballots all for Celestine appears some where, giving him 50% of the vote, which would make him president, and the other parties rioting due to a corrupt and unfair election, yet again.
4. Annulment of the election, once again lead to rioting of the people, mainly Celestine's people. 

My opinion is option number 2 as they have kept putting of the result announcement, meaning they are looking for a loop hole for Celestine. 

On a side note, results have come out from the cholera outbreak saying it is linked to the Nepalese UN soldiers out in the Artibonite. 

One unhappy country tomorrow

* late night edit* Run off election will be between Manigat with 31% and Celestin with 21%

A fearful moment

Yesterday I had one of the most fearful moments in what I would say my whole life. The riots were going on due to election as Carolyn and I were headed up to school to do some work and see how to team was doing on the wall. As we were headed down the road we were going straight in to a manifestation, we were able to quickly turn around and go another way. We were limited in how we could get there due to other riots. We eventually got there and things were going fine. I was in the office at my building putting away school supplies, and other stuff when I heard a few gun shots,and brushed it off as nothing and continued working. Then I heard a few more, and once again I just brushed it off. Then I peered out from the office, which leads on to the porch room, and I could see a group of young men all coming up the road and they were not just a large group of people, they also had a few pickup trucks behind them as well. This is when fear sunk in for me, I was all alone, in the building everyone else was in the other school down the road, and I had no time on my cell to call for help. So I sat there and prayed, it was all I could do. I was done my work in the school and could go over to see everyone else just yet. Once I noticed all the haitians were back to their everyday life on the road, I figured it was safe for me as well. I was up on the porch of the other school and you could see plumes of black smoke coming up from road blocks of burning tires, it was quite a scene. All is well now with the normal noises of trucks and roosters and crying babies which were not heard yesterday morning. Just pray that things don't flare up again. 

I suggest turning off the sound, so you don's have to listen to my conversation,

November update

hello!

Things are going great here, were are at the start of elections and voting, so its been an oxymoron here lately, with lots of campaigning and loud music, but today as voting starts the streets are quiet, and so is church. We are off school tomorrow, so may go down and visit my babies down at the orphanage tomorrow. I was there the other day, and now know how a parent instantly falls in love with their child. I was there visiting before i went up the hill to the youth group I have been leading, and the kids wanted to do worship and afternoon prayer before I had to leave, so we all gathered in a circle, and I had one of the twin sitting in my lap, as we started to pray she began to position her self as if she was an infant curled up in my arms, staring up at me with her big brown eyes fighting falling asleep. I sat there listening to the staff pray in creole, as i prayed for Magine, it was the first time i understood what love really is, and how strong a mama's love is for their child. Sadly i cant bring the twins home with me no matter how hard i try, due to adoption laws and me being unqualified. School on the other hand is going great, my class is working very hard and has started to read triumphantly as we come to the end of the 12 week learning to read program. It's really neat to see their progress as some of them have never spoken a word of english in their life. Also they are working very hard on their christmas program, and it is the cutest thing hearing them sing silent night at the top of their lungs, any body walking by stops and listens to them. ( there is a video of this on facebook on my profile). Last week I had the opportunity to go to a village clinic with the medical a medical team that was here. It was an amazing chance, and made me appreciate the work doctors do here when they come to the country, especially during this cholera epidemic. And for those wondering, about the cholera here, it seems to be some what under control and the reason it is spreading is because people travel and are very mobile here. Doctors with out boarder have it under control, as they told the medical team that was here ( the team had persmission to be at the hospital from the director himself) and that they werent needed, but that afternoon on the internet they say they are crying for doctors and nurses. Also it is the nepalese soldiers that brought cholera in to the country. This past summer Nepal had a cholera outbreak, then soldiers were sent here in the beginning of October then the outbreak happened near their base, where their sewage had leaked into the main river with the cholera virus. The people were upset about it, but things have calmed down now. 

Not much else is going on here, its been cool, and sweater weather the past week or so, but I am going to freeze when i get back to Canada next week

see you all then

-Crystal

Renmen

Love takes on a new definition after spending any amount of time here. It is something that is not given easily to anyone, whether you're a ti moun or grand moun. You just don't get love very easily. The children love it when you are able to scoop them up and they have your undivided attention. Tonight as I was at the orphanage, we were praying and praising the lord with children and the whole time I sat there with a one of the twins curled up in my arms, fighting falling asleep, staring at me with her big brown eyes cuddled in to me. It was then I realized what love for a child is, the same love of mother gives. I could have sat there all day as she stared at me with her chocolate eyes, rocking her back and forth. Renmen, love, what ever you  call it, it is one of the most valuable things a child could get here.