Update and Event

Update:

The girls have been able to return to their current home and school.  The cleaning continues, the facilities and security walls are being repaired, and it sounds like life is returning to normal - or at least some semblance of normalcy.

Upcoming Event:

Due to the creativity and efforts of several friends, we are having a Holiday Shopping Open House.  A portion of all purchases will go directly to the process of bringing the girls home.  Please see the invite below and feel free to contact any of us with questions - either through commenting here or contacting us directly.

Perseverance

per•se•ver•ance    n.

steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement

Several weeks have passed since Hurricane Sandy tore through Haiti. The FEJ staff is doing their best to repair facilities while caring for the children - perseverance personified.

The girls did indeed have to be evacuated from the creche in Lamardelle.  Transportation issues plague the staff - the roads have been impassable, making the delivery of basic supplies a challenge.  The children haven't been able to be in school, but efforts to clean up the mud/water sediment continue.  

On a brighter note, they hope to have the students back in school by the end of the week.  In addition, a family from Chicago is supposed to travel sometime in December.  We are hopeful that we'll be able to send some needed items and personal letters down to the girls before Christmas.

O'Keeffe perhaps??

One of our days in Haiti was spent mainly at the U.S. Embassy in Port Au Prince.  After many hours of traveling down to Port Au Prince, taking care of business at the Embassy, and getting back up the mountain, we were able to be with the girls for a few hours before dinner.

When we entered the creche, the girls proudly brought us pictures they'd made for us during the day - our first official artwork created by the girls.  Looks like O'Keeffe-type talent to us.  :-)

 

Aftermath

af·ter·math - 

something that results or follows from an event, especially one of a disastrous or unfortunate nature; consequence

The consequences of Hurricane Sandy continue to plague the efforts of FEJ.  The road leading to the village where the girls reside continues to be devastated by rushing water.  A nearby levee is on the verge of collapse and an evacuation of the orphanage is being planned.  No FEMA, no power crews from other states, no widely publicized television fund-raising events.

Our hearts are with all the children and their caretakers every day.

Hurricane Sandy Update

We received the following update today regarding the hurricane's impact in Haiti.  The Kenscoff location is where we recently stayed with the children.  LaMardelle is where our girls currently reside and go to school.

Many pictures posted by various news outlets provide a sense of the devastation.  We cannot begin to imagine the challenges being faced by the thousands and thousands of people in the tent cities. We are eternally grateful for the protection and care that FEJ provides for the children in their care.

It did hit the FEJ Kenscoff location and caused a significant amount of damage.   There is flooding, roof damage and damage to the water tank.   The children have been relocated to another location for their safety, but we do not yet know where.   The LaMardelle location is experiencing some flooding in the school area and mobility is limited in and out of the area because of the roads being flooded.   The children at LaMardelle remain there and we received no reports of structural damage to this facility.   Thankfully we received no reports of anyone being hurt at either location.  
 Please keep the FEJ staff and the children in your thoughts and prayers, as they face yet another challenge.  

Tangible

tan·gi·ble     

adjective

Capable of being touched; discernible by the touch; material or substantial.

Much of the few weeks leading up to our trip was spent determining what types of activities we could bring that would help us to begin building the foundation of our family.  

We decided on a tangible representation of family.  Each person selected a specific type of bead and gave one of those beads to each of the other members of the family.  We also used a heart-shaped bead to signify the concept of family.  Remarkably, the girls understood our attempts to communicate the goal.  While we know the bracelets may not make it home in the end, we feel blessed that we were able to see evidence of their true purpose - Later that day, we spied one of the girls gently touching each bead and saying each of our names.

Surreal

Surreal - having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal

Traveling to Haiti was truly surreal.  As we've been fortunate enough to share with many of you, we could not have imagined a more wonderful experience.  We've certainly left pieces of our hearts in Haiti.

We landed in Port Au Prince and spent the majority of our time in a mountain town called Kenscoff - amazingly beautiful, rugged, and a paradise compared to Port Au Prince.  The last picture below shows the humble playground of the creche accompanied by the gorgeous mountain slopes beyond.