March Birthdays

Martine Duperval – March 11, 1993 – turns 20 this month. Martine is, by far, one of the leaders of the Girls Home. She is energetic, enthusiastic, and it seems, always involved in all aspects of the Girls Home. There seems to be nothing Martine does not do and enjoy doing. Her favorites are cooking and dancing and singing! With Martine’s excellent English skills, outgoing and social personality, you will often find her MC’ing and hosting the holiday, birthday, and team events we have each month.

Roodley Elie – March 12, 1996 – will be turning 17 this month. Roodley is a very quiet, introverted young man. Although he is very quiet, he interacts with the girls at the Girls Home very well! The brotherly bond he seems to have with some of the girls is very evident and strong. They get so excited to see and spend time with him. Roodley is also a very talented artist. He takes great care and time with his drawings and artwork.

Haitian Foods

Haiti offers a wide variety of foods. From lots of tropical fruits to various forms of rice, beans, and meat. Haitians love lots of spice and oil! Enjoy the tempting pictures and explanations below:


1. Fruits

HUGE Avocados...my Ipod for a frame of reference!

Watermelon

Mango - my favorite!

Bananas

2. Drinks

Dlo, or water in English. This is how a lot of Haitians get water on the street. Just bite and squirt!

Haitian Cola...sort of like bubble gum flavored soda! Not my favorite.

Juice!!! Can be a mix of fresh squeezed grapefruit, orange, or lime juice...with LOTS of sugar!

3. Meals - Below I have pictures of a few different 'standard' Haitian meals. The main meal of the day is eaten somewhere between 1pm and 3pm. For some people this is the only meal they eat, and for others they have a light breakfast and/or bedtime snack.

Meal #1 - 

Rice, Beef in Red Sauce, Bean Sauce , and Fried Accra

Start with a BIG pot of rice...made with lots of oil!

Next comes Beef with Red Sauce - oil, vinegar, bouillon, and veggies.

Bean Sauce!

Haitian Accra - what starts out looking like a potato, the Accra is ground on a cheese grater.

Then fried to make Fried Accra

Meal #2 -

Fried Chicken, Rice and Beans, Pickles, Cooked Veggies, Fried Plantains( I don't think they are pictured but we usually have them with this meal).

Fried Plantains - think of a cross between a banana and a potato. Fry it up once, smoosh it down...

Fry it up twice and your good to go!

The remnants of Fried Chicken - it is cooked in a sauce of vinegar, bouillon, hot sauce, garlic, onion, pepper, and oil. Then it is covered in bread crumbs and deep fried in oil!

Rice and Beans - one of my favorites! It is so simple, yet so good. Viviane makes the best rice and beans I have ever had.

This may look like simple cole slaw, but watch out. It is NOT! It's cole slaw on steroids. Cabbage and carrots make up the main part but the sauce is what gets you. It is one of the hottest foods I have ever eaten due to the special, little red peppers that you find hidden inside!

We Go To Learn

As our February team is preparing to arrive tomorrow, this quote from another International Worker here in Haiti is a great reminder - not just for trips to another culture, but also for our daily lives:

"That’s what mission trips should be about—spiritual development, not pretending that they are about saving the world. Not immediately anyway. They are about saving us. Preparing us. Once that is clear, we can venture into Haiti and other places of need with integrity. 

We go to learn, not to save. The mindset of learners is very different from that of servers. Learners listen to others, servers do for others. Learners ask questions, servers offer answers. Learners marvel at the faith of the poor, servers pity the poor. Learners see ingenuity, servers see poverty. Learners affirm the worth of people, servers diminish their dignity. "

Vivian

Vivian

Vivian says that most Haitians want to go to America because they think that will fill them. She says when she was younger and a baby Christian, she thought the same. But not now. Now she wants to stay in Haiti because God fills her heart in Haiti. She doesn't need to go to America. But, if she would go to America, God would fill her heart there, too. Vivian says, God is everywhere!!!

Vivian is one of our Haitian staff who cooks for us when teams are here. She is a great cook! But more than that, Vivian is just one of those few people who just 'gets it' in life. She is the cliche saying, "She works so hard but is so happy." Vivian has a 13 year old son who is severely autistic. In a country that doesn't have means to care for most people, to love and care for a special needs child is rare. Vivian and her husband go far above just caring for him...they adore him! Often, Vivian asks me if I will pray that one day her son would be able to speak.

And Vivian loves people! I can barely speak to her yet I can tell she is a lover of life. She loves her church and the women she is friends with. She loves her child. She loves her husband. She loves God. She loves the 'additional' children that come to live with her. She loves the people she serves. And, she loves me.

Often, she shows me this love in off-beat ways. Vivian once came up to me, wrapped her arms fully around my body and picked me up off the ground - right in the middle of the kitchen. She was thanking me for giving her exercises for the pain in her back. Little did she know that at that moment, she was probably hurting her back even worse, ha! She also tells me that every night she is here she prays for me - that God will bring me a husband soon (so sweet, yet gets old EVERY night she tells me! ). And...she told me, "You got big" when I came back from America! Great, thanks, Viv! Apparently she doesn't know that's NOT a compliment in an Americans eyes :).

Regardless of how Vivian tells me she loves me, I know she loves me. Because she sees that God is everywhere, she CAN love me. She's not loving me to get somewhere else in life, or because she thinks I will provide her with an opportunity to move up in the world. Because she knows God loves her here and now, and is content in that, she can love me truly and freely.

And it got me thinking...do I really believe God is everywhere? He is here right now, when a woman in Haiti picks me up off my feet. He is here even when I feel uncomfortable in my body as it's hot and sweaty and not the 'perfect' size I'd like it to be. He is here as I'm living my life as a single woman. He IS everywhere, IN everything. He is not just in my 'ideal' life, but in ALL the other times - even more than in my ideals.

And when, for a moment, I grasp deep in my heart what Vivian says...that God is everywhere, I finally feel free to love the moment I am in and all that it holds!