Reflection on the "good side" of poverty--if there is one.

Today I mounted the motorcycle with Wonel driving and went to visit a long time resident, a woman whose family I have known since I first came to Bondeau, about 10 years ago.  Rachelle, her granddaughter is an active member of the parish.  Rachelle told me that "Gran" had fallen down and broke her hip.  She said that she is confined to her bed and is in a lot of pain. 

I arrived at the tiny house in the early afternoon.  The family was on the front porch and in the front yard.  There was Rachelle, her mother, and brother.  Rachelle's first grade daughter was inside the house sitting on the floor next to "Gran", reading to her from her reading text book.  Gran had a look of contentment, looking very much at peace.  And is it any wonder?  She is surrounded by her entire family day and night.  She is cared for by her daughter and grand daughter.  She was clean, dressed in a lightweight cotton nightgown, her hair neatly combed. The bed sheet was neat and clean. It's obvious to me that she is getting excellent care.

I visit many people in Florida about the same age as "Gran" and because of similar injuries are confined to nursing home care.  In contrast, people I visit in nursing homes are very often lonely and feel "cast aside".  Their families are often too far away to visit.  They have their physical needs taken care of but they are missing the love that a caring family gives.

So, while I'm not saying that living in poverty is "better" than being affluent, I see a positive side...the elderly usually live out their lives among family and friends, being cared for with love.

A Joyful Christmas at Kay Timoun

What a wonderful and joyful Christmas it was at Kay Timoun.  Our kids were so excited about Pere Noel coming and wondering if he would leave a gift for them under the tiny Christmas tree.  As it turns out, Pere Noel did come with a gift for everyone.  The kids were thrilled!  Before Pere Noel's arrival and before the church service at midnight, we hosted a huge party for children in the community.  Adults were invited, as well, but the party was intended mostly for the children.  Carole, Dedet, and helpers cooked all day preparing a huge amount of Haitian fried chicken, fried pork and goat.  Carole made the best "pickles" (pronounce peek lays) I have ever tasted.  A beautiful and colorful salad of red beets, potatoes, and carrots garnished every plate.  Of course, there was rice and beans.  And a special treat of fried banann, tasting so good when topped with pickles. Every plate was heeped high with food, a real treat here because most people do not have enough to eat. 

The children who came to the party are the poorest of the poor.  And they had such fun, a great relief from the poverty that they face every day.  They played a favorite game, musical chairs, and danced to traditional Haitian music.  What fun they had! 

I tried to count the number of people and came up with forty children and twenty adults.  That is in addition to our thirteen kids and the eight adults that prepared the meal.

A special thank you to our friends who made all this possible by donating generously for a Christmas party at Kay Timoun.  They know the joy of giving.  I pray that Kay Timoun kids learned a little about the joy of giving as they shared their space with children who have much less than they do.

Return to Bondeau

Sunday afternoon and I am enjoying the quiet time while the kids are visiting their parents.  I returned to Bondeau last Tuesday, arriving in early evening to a party in honor of my return.  I was so surprised!  The kids had decorated the back patio with colorful paper chains and paper flowers.  They taped their art work to the outside wall.  There was music and dancing and Wonel had bought cold drinks special for the party.  Such a nice party!  The neighborhood kids were here to help celebrate.  I arrived with cookies given to me by the airline flight attendent, coconut and chocolate patties that I bought in the Fort Lauderdale airport, and two small cakes with blue and white frosting that I bought in Leogane.  Everyone was so pleased to have a special treat.  Then, like the strict mama that I am, I ended the party at 9:00 so everyone would get a good nights sleep before school in the morning.

It didn't take me long to get back into the swing of things.  I immediately saw that there are repairs to be made...the outside kitchen is in poor condition.  The children's bedrooms need painting.  But most pressing, and what is becoming clearer and clearer are the number of kids who are hungry.  Carole prepares extra food every day.  I am so grateful to people who have given me money to run Kay Timoun.  I am able to purchase extra food so that we don't have to turn kids away.  It's not like they are taking advantage of a good situation.  I know the families and I know that they are desperately poor.  They simply cannot provide for their children.  It's not that they are lazy and don't work.  They do work in the fields or other manual labor.  They buy and sell vegetables and fruits as they are able.  They do the work that they are qualified to do.  Most do not have even a grammar school education.  They know that their children must be educated if they are to rise above the destitute poverty of the parents.  So, they struggle financially to send their kids to school.  In doing so, they often don't have money to buy adequate food for the family.  It's the vicious cycle of poverty! 

Bondeau Christmas

Thursday begins the holiday season here in the U.S.  Twinkling white lights decorate the palm trees on my street, although it's weeks before Christmas.  Stores are decorated with Christmas wreathes and paper Santas.  Television and radio commercials shout at us about sales on "Black Friday".  So much hype!  So much money spent! So much distraction from what Christmas is really about! 

While I'm taking time away from Bondeau and Kay Timoun this month, my thoughts drift back to Bondeau.  I can't help but compare life here in Florida to life in Bondeau.  Those who have read my blogs know that Bondeau is an extremely poor country village in southern Haiti.  People have barely enough money to live on.  Very few have regular jobs.  Women buy and sell fruit and vegetables to make a few cents.  Others sell penny candy and cookies.  Men do manual work.  So, people don't have money for a festive Christmas.  They barely have enough to scrape together for a special dinner.  Certainly they don't have money to buy toys for their children. 

Christmas for the people in Bondeau is centered around the church as they celebrate the birth of Baby Jesus, born to poor peasant parents, born in an animal stable.  Parents in Bondeau relate to the poor circumstances of Jesus' birth.  They relate to Mary and Joseph who want to give Jesus the best they can, yet can only give him straw for a bed.  Many are in the same situation, wanting to give their children the best they can but can give them next to nothing.

So, there are no twinkling lights decorating the street, no Christmas wreathes or Santas.  Children are thrilled if when they return home from midnight mass they find a small toy tucked under their pillow.  Parents are thrilled if they are able to provide a special Christmas meal for the family.  There is nothing in Bondeau to distract from the real meaning of Christmas.  People in Bondeau know what Christmas is really about. 

Bondeau Baby

I enjoy taking a walk in the evening from Kay Timoun down the rocky driveway to the main road.   A few evenings ago I was taking that walk when I met a woman I have known for a long time.  She was carrying a baby.  We stopped to talk.  I fussed over the baby, talking baby talk. Very often a young child will cry the moment he/she sees me.  It's the light skin that scares them.  But this baby just looked with no reaction.  I quickly noticed that the baby, a girl, was very thin and had tired looking eyes.  Mama told me the baby is one year old.  I know enough about babies to know that a one-year old will either cry or smile or do something when greeted by a stranger.  This baby did nothing!  She just sat in her mother's arms.  So, now I was curious.  Why isn't the baby reacting?  I asked mama if the baby is breast feeding.  No, mama doesn't have milk.  Is the baby eating, drinking milk?  No, no money for milk, no money for baby formula or baby food.  I had seen a little girl in this condition before and in a short time, even though I tried to help, the baby was dead!  So, I talked to the mother about the importance of the baby eating.  She knows, but doesn't have money.  I immediately invited her to come with me to Kay Timoun, where I prepared a small amount of cooked oatmeal with milk and sugar.  (I never did finish my walk!)  I watched the baby while mama tried to feed her.  It was obvious that the child was not familiar with eating from a spoon.  She cried weakly, hardly making a sound.  I asked mama if she would come back every morning and I'd have good nourishing food for her baby.  She agreed to return every morning.  So, added to the shopping list that day was vitamin fortified baby cereal.  When she returned the following day, the baby was munching on a soggy cracker.  While cookies and crackers are OK for snacks, many mothers here think it replaces good nourishing food.  So, I tried to explain  to mama that crackers are not a meal and have very little food value.

Last year, we all at Kay Timoun took on a commitment to prepare breakfast, usually oatmeal with milk and sugar, or baby cereal, for twin baby girls that were undernourished when they showed up on our door step at two months old.  By the time the twins were a year old, they were chubby, happy babies, taking their first steps.

So, keep the little girl in your prayers.  She is very much at risk for malnutrition and who knows what other disease.  She needs good nourishing food, which she will receive as long as her mother brings her here to Kay Timoun.

Reflection on Poverty in Bondeau

 

Living here in the middle of a poor peasant village in rural Haiti, I see situations with people and families that we couldn’t conceive of in the U.S.  Sometimes it seems surreal.  It seems that there is no end to the poverty here.  So many kids wander around partially clothed, dirty, and hungry!  Families are broken when a child is sent away to live with a relative or friend, usually serving as a restavec (a child slave).  I don’t know the percentage of children that are sent away, but I hear about it from time to time.  Nor do I know the percentage of children here in Bondeau that are not in school, but there are many.  Without an education they will grow up being illiterate just like their parents, and face a life of poverty just like their parents, and bring children into the world that will face a life of poverty just like their parents, and the cycle goes on and on.  I see all this around me and can only do so much to relieve the suffering.  It’s so frustrating!

A little girl returned to Bondeau after living with a relative.  The girl is about ten years old.  She comes here to Kay Timoun, where I live, and spends the day.  She has her meals here and plays with the kids that live here, but mostly, she likes to help with the work.  I think it’s because that what she knows after living as a restavec.  She is not in school.  The kids and staff help her to learn basic math and writing.  But she needs to be in school.  One morning she arrived all flustered because her step father told her to stay at Kay Timoun.  We are not in a position to take in another child.  We can, however, help her with food and clothes.  For now, that’s what we are doing.  And we do what we can to help other kids, as well. There are always six or seven extra kids to feed at mealtime.  These are kids from families in the community that are so poor they cannot feed their children every day. 

Very often poor families have so many children they can’t feed them.  A woman showed up one day asking for food.  We got into somewhat of a conversation, given my limited Kreyol language ability.  She told me she had twelve children!  How in the world, I wondered, can a woman bring twelve children into the world when she can’t even feed herself?  She agreed to help with washing dishes in exchange for food.  We talked about family planning and she agreed that she needs planning but doesn’t have the money.  Thoughts ran through my mind about medical missions supplying some type of birth control and instructions on how to use it, available to those women who want it.  The upshot to the conversation is that when she left, the staff told me that she has sixteen children!

Somehow the poor do survive!  They have strong faith in God, believing that they will receive all that they need.  They thank God for everything.  I see and hear people thanking God for rain, for a good night’s sleep, for today.  They survive one day at a time, believing that they will have enough for tomorrow.

Is He coming or is He already here?

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon with the kids visiting their parents.  I have time to think.  And the thought that kept running over and over in my mind is that we Christians are waiting for the return of Jesus.  I honestly don't know if He'll return in the way that we expect.  As I see it, He has returned, and keeps returning, except we miss Him.  I see Him every day in the poor children who live with me;  I see Him in the eyes of their destitute parents as they struggle to get together another meal.  I see Him every day in the disabled man I call "Net" (because it means perfect) who comes here to beg a meal.  I see Him in the girl who I'm caring for who has returned to Bondeau after being a child slave most of her life. 

We keep waiting for the return.  And yet, He is here.  We just don't see Him.  Or is that we refuse to see Him?

Bondeau, Happy to See You!

Arrived back in Bondeau on Tuesday, September 10 to a glorious reunion with my kids at Kay Timoun and the wonderful people who looked after the kids while I was gone.  The first thing I noticed after all the hugs and kisses was that every child was visibly thinner.  Not skinny, by any means, but thinner.  So, like a typical grandmother, first thing I did was prepare a snack.  The flight steward had carefully wrapped muffins, biscuits, and quiche as a special treat for the children. 

It didn't take long for me the staff to bring me up to date.  Many problems, they said.  The kitchen faucet leaks so much that buckets upon buckets fill with water that drips from the connections under the sink.  A plumber is repairing as I write.  And then there is the recurring problem of the electricity.  We have no electicity at all!  I came equipped with new battery powered lanterns, one for each room.  A great inconvenience is keeping my laptop charged so I can go on the Internet.  All is well in the daytime, but at night, I really get annoyed at having to read with a flash light and carry a lantern with me as I make my way around the house.  The chapel is illuminated by candles at prayer time, which makes for a peaceful setting.

The good news is that the moringa tree is huge!  And there are three smaller ones growing, as well.  I trimmed some leaves from the tree and added them to the tuna salad sandwiches yesterday.  I also talked with our cook about adding the leaves to food.  She said she is familiar with moringa.  She told me that Haitians use moringa often, adding the leaves to rice dishes.  Moringa is extremely high in nutrients. Often called the "miracle tree", it is used in developing countries, especially good for children with malnutrition.  

The kids are at my door wanting attention, so I'll end my blog and hope to write again soon.

Summer at Kay Timoun

We are well into our summer schedule at Kay Timoun.  Like kids in the U.S., kids here like to stay up late at night and sleep late in the morning.  So, instead of going to bed at 8:30, the kids are up till after 10:00.  Then they sleep till 7 or 8 in the morning, a good break for me!  The end of the year report cards showed that many of the children need extra help in school.  I have an agreement with one of the teachers to teach Zachary, Love, Jean Marie, Sundrene, and Benjamy every morning, hopefully focusing on math and language, in exchange for money.  Most of the kids did well all year and then had a hard time with state exams.  I can't speak Kreyol well enough to help them, although I have been giving them math exercises to do.  We also have study time every afternoon.  At the end of the day I check with everyone on their chore duties and their study time.  Their reward for good work is watching a movie on the laptop.

Our kids love to play outdoor games.  Their favorite is soccer, called football here.  They play every evening until dark.  A second favorite is "marbles", thanks to the mission team who gave all the kids marbles.  Another game is similar to "jacks", except that the kids play it with stones, no ball.  They can play this for hours in the shade of the porch.  Then there are the kids who love to play games on the laptop.  Benjamy is the star player.

This is the rainy season here in Haiti.  We get wonderful downpours that water the garden and we collect water in buckets and huge drums.  But there is a downside to those downpours.  Water runs into our house, first flooding the girls' bedroom, and then the kitchen.  Water also comes through the window casings, runs down the wall and onto the floor.  It's a matter of house construction that didn't make provisions for heavy rain, something that's unheard of in the states.  The upper verandas also flood but that is less of a problem.  Rain water runs down from the mountain forming gullies, even in our driveway.  Houses at the bottom of the mountain, across the road from our parish land, are flooded, looking like they sit in a lake.  Dedet, who works here, and her family live in one of those houses that are built on the dirt ground, which turns to mud after a heavy rain.  Huge puddles remain in all the low spots, a perfect nesting place for mosquitoes.

I'm so thankful that the tropical storm that was threatening us broke up and is no longer a threat.  I have my own personal "weather man", my grandson Michael, the meteorologist.  Michael is at Florida State working on his masters in meteorology, interning this summer with the National Weather Service.  He keeps me well informed.  Thanks, Michael.  Keep those storms away from Haiti!  Let us enjoy our summer!

Comfortable? No... but happy!

It's so much fun living with and caring for twelve children.  They are all precious in their own ways, their individual personalities always shining.  My favorite time is first thing in the morning when I go downstairs and one by one the younger ones wrap their arms around my waist and hold on tight.  "Bonjou, Anita" or "Bonjou, Mama".  The older kids are more reserved, but do come to me for a less enthusiastic hug.  Now that school is out some of the kids sleep late.  This morning Ange slept till after 10:00.  Breakfast was over when she wandered sleepy eyed into the kitchen to begin her day with a hug and a kiss.  Chores begin right after breakfast: the older girls sweep and mop their bedroom.  The boys have various jobs: cleaning their room, picking up trash around the yard, taking trash in a wheelbarrow to the "dump", always making their beds and picking up their clothes.  This morning all the kids went to the mountain water source to wash clothes.  There isn't enough water in our water tank to allow for washing clothes.  They carry huge basins full of clothes on their heads, walk up the mountain trail to the water, and then after a couple of hours, return and hang their clothes on the line to dry.  This morning the younger boys were in charge of washing "stinky" sneakers.  Kids at Kay Timoun love between meal snacks.  Their favorites are watermelon and mangos.  No paper wrapped snacks here!  So, bringing up kids here is a lot different from bringing up kids in the states.  And in many ways, it's a lot easier.  With people on the Kay Timoun staff, I have very little actual "work" to do.  Carole does the cooking and is main caregiver to the children.  She makes sure they take a bath, brush teeth, and have clean clothes.  Naomi and Dedet clean the house and wash clothes.  There is a tremendous amount of laundry with kids changing clothes two or three times a day.  Carole does the big market shopping for food.  Wonel runs all the errands on the motorcycle.  There is no such thing as driving a kid to soccer practice or a music lesson or to a church activity.  Everything is right here.  The kids watch movies on a small laptop.  They have never been to a movie theater.  So, life is simple!

I write on Facebook and complain about not having electricity, (true...we have electricity for a couple of hours a day.)  I write and complain about not having running water, (true...I often take a "bucket bath" and the kids bathe outside, often with rain water.)  Going back a hundred years, we buy ice to keep food from spoiling.  Most of our food is cooked in an outdoor kitchen in a huge pot on a charcoal fire.  Today Carole is roasting peanuts for home made peanut butter.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Having lived for years in my comfortable air conditioned condo, driving in my air conditioned car to shop in an air conditioned store, or have dinner in an air conditioned restaurant, or worship in an air conditioned church, it's not easy for this city woman to live in what I view as primitive. But, truth be known, the joy of my kids far outweighs the discomforts of living in rural Haiti.  I pray that God continues to give me strength and endurance, and whatever else I need to carry on.

"Bebe"

“Bebe” is a deaf mute lady who has lived in Bondeau all of her life.  She survives by selling fruits and vegetables that she buys at the market and sells for a few cents profit.  It’s a hard life, carrying around huge baskets of fruit in hope of selling a few pieces.  Bebe has the added problem of not hearing and not speaking.  But local people know her sign language and can communicate. 

Bebe has come to Kay Timoun often to sell her produce and we always buy from her.  We can use the food and she needs the money.  So, when the children called to me, “Bebe is here," I expected that she would be selling something.  But,not so.  Bebe said that she didn’t have any money to go to market to buy fruit.  I just listened, or watched, I should say.  The kids translated her sign language.  I saw that she was considerably thinner than she had been.  I assumed that she was hungry, so I asked her to wait.  I went into the kitchen and made her a peanut butter sandwich on an oversize Haitian bread, scooped the oatmeal that was left in the pot into a small bowl, and cut a piece of watermelon.  Bebe sat at the picnic table and ate her meal.  I went out again to say good-bye but she was gone.

 

Some of my favorite things.

Life is difficult here in Bondeau, no doubt about it!  But there are so many pleasures and joys, so I'll share some of those with you now.

Breakfast this morning:  Freshly made hot chocolate with real chocolate, add milk and sugar.  Freshly baked Haitian peasant bread spread with peanut butter that was made with peanuts roasted on charcoal fire, and then hand ground into thick delicious peanut butter, topped with fruity confiture (a type of marmalade)  Carole cleaned and sliced one whole pineapple just for me!

Roadside markets:  Everything you could ever want in organic fruits and vegetables;  our own "Whole Foods Market".  Women tend to their business selling vegetables and fruit neatly arranged by the side of the road.  Every town has a street market.

Children singing "Jesi Savoir".  Our children's choir sings beautifully.

Mother hen carefully tending to her chicks.  Love that maternal instinct that we females have!

Watching the garden grow.  Watching my neighbor's garden grow.

Feeling the cool breeze just before a rainfall.

Watching the rain water our garden.  Mesi Bondye!  (Thank you, God.)

Mangos just off the tree.  Eat them while they're fresh and sweet!

Hearing the brass band practice Mozart.  (Twinkle twinkle little star.)

Watching the kids create art with color pencils, crayons, and color paper.  The winners get displayed on the refrigerator.

Teaching Benjamy a new computer game.

Sitting with the kids as they learn English with Rosetta Stone.

The smell of sheets on my bed that have been hanging on the clothes line all day.

Ending the day reading a good novel.

"Facebook" friends.

Emails from my grandsons.

These are a few of my favorite things.

Mothers' Day in Haiti

Yesterday was Mothers’ Day in Haiti.  It’s a much bigger deal here than it is in the U.S.  Mothers are the anchor of the family.  They hold the family together.  Very often, a man will have children with more than one woman, but it’s the mother who is always there, working, caring, and being the stronghold. 

The church was packed to capacity.  Green and white paper chains were swaged across the room and around the windows in honor of Mothers’ Day.  The overflow of worshipers sat on benches outside the church.  Mothers sat in the “reserved” seats in the front, adorning the pink and green paper flower that had been pinned to her dress.  It was a grand celebratory mass for Trinity Sunday with three different choirs and a brass band, accompanied by electric guitars, keyboard, and drums.  A special party had been planned for after service where mothers were honored with a delicious meal of fried chicken, banann, pickles, salad, and rice.

The “church” was quickly transformed into a party room.  The altar area became the stage for performance of comedy skits, which were hysterically funny, even though I couldn't understand all that was said.  I took my seat in the front where I could see up close. 

At the end of the entertainment Pere Phanold presented gifts to women who have been especially helpful in parish work.  I was surprised that I was one of the recipients of a special gift, a framed photo of me.  Most of the people in Bondeau know me, but for the newcomers, he said that I began the partnership with Ste. Marie Madeleine Church and St. Gregory's and have been helping the parish since then. 

So, today, I'm back to "mothering" twelve kids here at Kay Timoun, and feeling very deserving of my special gift.

 

TGIF and a great weekend!

 

It’s Friday afternoon.  The May sky is clear, bright blue and the Haiti sun is hot, too hot to be outside.  From my bedroom I hear Itela crushing spices with her pestle preparing for tonight’s dinner.  The children, happy that it’s Friday so they don’t have to prepare for school tomorrow, are watching a movie on the laptop in the kitchen.  All is well today at Kay Timoun.

Every afternoon this week the children worked on their favorite projects:  the older children, Anna, Gastina, Christian, Rachelle, and Wozlo, studied English with Rosetta Stone.  The younger kids, Benjamy, Jean Mary, Zachary, and Angi, are interested in playing games on a small laptop.  They are all making progress in getting around from one program to another, under my close watch.  Sundrene, Love, and Odiana love to do their art projects, all original designs and colors.  It’s been a fun week!

The kids are doing well, all working for better grades in school, and all learning to get along with one another, something that has been a struggle.  Many of the children here had been pretty much “on their own”.  Living in poverty, with parents who are either sick, struggling hard to bring money to the family, or not present at all, many of the children here have had to scavenge for what they needed.  It’s been a year now since they have come to Kay Timoun, so they are feeling more secure, knowing that the next meal will always be there for them.  It has been a difficult task teaching these children to socialize and to live in family.  After many “time outs” for some of them, they finally got the message. 

It has been a blessed and rewarding year for me.  I pray for strength and God’s grace as we enter our second year… our family, children of Kay Timoun and me.

Breaking down the blocks!

Sometimes I get down, so down that I don’t want to write, in fact, can’t think of anything to write about. I wait for the “mood” to pass but it never seems to end.  I pray, I rest, I meditate…but the downer remains.  It’s been one of those times when it’s difficult for me to see the Good in what I am doing here.  I struggle with all that is going on around me and not necessarily what is going on here at Kay Timoun, but in the community.  I am the “odd” one, the American.  Sadly, I get the feeling that the people think that I have an endless supply of everything.

Kay Timoun functions well with everyone on the staff knowing what is expected of them.  My joy comes from the children.  They are progressing beautifully!  Five of the children are learning English with a computer program.   I hear them saying English phrases from time to time, their pronunciation not perfect but very good.  They know the value of speaking English.  I also speak to them in English to which they respond in English.  The youngest children, Odiana and Angi, learn quickly, not on the computer, but simply speaking to them in English. 

Afternoons are hot, too hot to play outside.  So, we have been gathering in the upstairs hallway, which doubles as a breezeway, being open to the outdoors on both ends.  The computer learners set up a small laptop and play games on Purble Place.  In doing so, they learn basic computer skills.  Benjamy can now navigate from games to photos to music.  The English learners work at another laptop close by where I can keep an open eye and ear on them.  Other kids work math problems or do art projects.  We are all working toward the same goal, to be the best that we can be.

So, now that I have broken through my writer’s block, you’ll be hearing from me more often.  God bless!

Time for Planting

Guy and Wilgens have been working in the garden all morning, since sun-up, hoeing and turning over the soil, preparing the garden for planting.  Yesterday Benjamin completed the new fence, this one totally goat proof having rows of picker wire woven between the "living" posts that will soon sprout leaves.  Wonel designed and built a "door" into the garden made of bamboo and picker wire.  So many of us are invested in having a garden plentiful in fruits and vegetables to feed our growing children at Kay Timoun. We are now protected from hungry goats and donkeys, the soil prepared, and we are ready to plant for summer harvest. The banana trees are determined to be a part of the harvest and had sprouted new leaves from the base plant that was left after the last goat assault.  They looked so beautiful, bright green leaves poking out of the ground!  Wow!  Soon we'll have bananas. Yesterday, however, I saw other scavengers in the garden.  They had eaten all the new banana leaves.  Roosters!  Kay Timoun banana plants were being attacked by bold roosters!  But not as bold as our kids.  Armed with stones, the kids had the roosters gone in no time!  They are great protectors of their garden.  The moringa trees, in another area close to the house where I can keep watch, have grown full with leaves, protected from goats by a woven basket type cover.  I water every day, as directed.  Benjamin will build a special fence today to protect the moringa trees from predators.  In the meantime, our chickens continue to multiply!  This morning Carole took three new eggs for my breakfast.  I held them as if they were the finest porcelain china, until I cracked them open into a bowl, and then into a pan of boiling water for the best poached eggs in Haiti!

God's blessings are all over Kay Timoun!  Mesi Bondye!  (Thank you, God!)

Moringa Trees, Living Fences, Pesty Goats, and Baby Chicks.

Some time ago I wrote about my challenges with growing moringa trees.  I had carefully planted seeds according to directions, nurtured, watered, admired and mothered seedling trees.  Then one day while on my morning "moringa check in", I saw that all the tiny leaves on the tiny trees were gone.  I was devistated!  I had already invested in a fence that would keep goats and other animals out of Kay Timoun garden.  It seems that the goats went through openings and under the fence and invaded the garden, devouring not only the moringa trees but all the banana trees, as well.  I managed to salvage three tiny seedling moringa trees with only a few leaves on each seedling.  I carefully instructed our gardner how to transplant the baby trees:  the hole must be this deep and this wide and put donkey dung in the bottom.  No short cuts were to be taken.  Cover the newly transplated baby trees with a mesh woven straw cover.  I watered often.  Today I'm thrilled that the transplants have "taken" and are thriving.  They are still small; the largest is only about 15".  I'm looking forward to large bushy trees whose leaves will make a great tasting and healthful salad.  Needless to say, as the trees grow larger, we will plant a "living fence" around them for protection from hungry goats.   Living fences amaze me. Leaves sprout out and up from cut off branches of larger trees that are "planted" in a row to form a fence.  The "tree" fence serves to shade the garden from Haiti's all day hot sun.  We are preparing for the next planting season by reinforcing our fence and extending it to completely surround the garden.  God pity the goat that tries to get through!  Our first planting will be watermelon, and lots of it!  The Kay Timoun children eat watermelon every day when it is in season, in the summer.  Homegrown and organic, it's just as sweet as can be!

I laugh at myself when I think about all the energy I spend on nurturing not only a garden, but on chickens!  We have chickens here at Kay Timoun.  We had our problems keeping young chicks, as we had problems with keeping young moringa trees.  Although we had our baby chicks and mother hen sleep in the protection of our outdoor kitchen, a wild cat managed to get into the kitchen and eat all the baby chicks.  How sad!  We lost our baby chicks to a hungry cat!  I was ready to give up on raising chicks and use the eggs, but Carole, having lived in the Haiti countryside for many years, knew just what to do.  She now gathers the mother hens together every night, along with their babies, and puts them to bed inside the house.  They are safe and sound till morning.  I'm fascinated watching how mother hen cares for her babies.  They follow her all around pecking and scratching at the ground.  As soon as there is the slightest threat, she squats on the ground and all the babies scurry to nestle under her wings.  (Reminiscent of a bible verse?)  I am so delighted whenever a new batch of chicks hatch!  Hey, look at this, baby chicks!  Seven of them!  "Don't count," warns Wozlo.  I don't understand but I suppose it's some Haitian superstition.

So, this Boca lady is having a great time here in rural Haiti, being right down in the nitty gritty of life.  The loves of my life are the twelve children that I care for.  They fill every day with joy.  I'm blessed!

Dream on, Deacon.

Yesterday morning I sat at my favorite place, the second floor porch or galri, as Haitians call it, listening to the quiet.  It's not often quiet here sharing a house with 12 children.  The kids were all at their Saturday activities.  I could hear the sounds of their music lessons coming from the school.  My kids are learning music on a small "fleet", as they call it, a recorder.  My mind wandered back over the years as I listened to the squeaks and shrill notes.  I thought about the very first school at Ste. Marie Madeleine, a one room rented house packed with kids wall to wall.  I thought about the children in Bondeau that were hardly ever dressed in real clothes.  The visions of children wearing over-size dirty and torn tee shirts hanging to their knees, will remain with me forever.  Shoes were only for school and church.  The kids on my mind never gave a thought to ever learning to play music.  They never gave a thought to attending a real school with a classroom for each grade.  What changes have happened over the years!  Ste. Marie Madeleine is now an active parish, packed with worshippers on Sunday.  They fill the church/classroom and overflow to benches placed outside.  The parish is the center of prospering community activity.  And it all began with a simple introduction.  God is good!

Growing Moringa trees in Bondeau

A friend gave me several packs of Moringa seeds to plant here in in Bondeau along with complete directions on planting and caring for the new plants..  The title page of the directions booklet, "Moringa Reader", asks the question, "Moringa-is it really capable of miracles?"  I was so thrilled to receive the seeds and carefully read the Moringa Reader so that I'd be sure and grow healthy trees.  At first, I planted only one packet, then the following week planted another, and then another.  I placed the containers in the garden in an area where the new plants would have both sun and shade.  The garden is fenced in with a "living" fence made of tree branches with bamboo woven throughout for crossbars.  Every day I admire the new plants, checking to see that the gardner had watered them.

The moringa tree is a wonderful gift to people in Bondeau.  The leaves are high in vitamins and can be cooked or eaten raw.  The trees can be kept small and bushy or they can be allowed to grow into tall trees, giving shade, as well as food and medicine.  With such vitamin definciancy in this poor country village, the Moringa surely is an answer to prayer.  I have visions of Moringa trees in every back yard.  I should say, " I HAD visions of Moringa trees in every back yard."  Today on my morning check I saw that a goat had eaten all the small plants in one container and many leaves of the tress in another container.  I am so discouraged! Goats wander into the garden and are quickly chased away by rock-bearing little boys.  I had not seen that the goats were interested in what was growing in the pots.  But now that they have gotten a taste, they are sure to return.  Tonight I will ask the gardener to move the pots up close to the house where I can keep a close watch.  I'll also ask gardener to dig a hole to prepare for planting.  I'll then cover the small trees with a woven "cage" until something more substantial can be made.

In this agricultural community the people are accustomed to having their crops eaten by goats and pigs.  And they just seem to accept it, as they accept so many losses.  It seems so unfair!  People struggle to plant a garden, only to have it destroyed by goats.  Goats and pigs are not restrained and wander freely.  Our area is mostly fenced in but access is gained at the main entrance, which is not gated.

I welcome advice, but please don't write unless you have goats wandering around your back yard!

The New Year in Bondeau, Haiti

Celebration for the New Year continues today.  The children have no school today.  The playground is deserted.  Families are together sharing in the tradition of the New Year.  Festivities began on New Year's Eve with Holy Eucharist service in the church beginning at 10:00PM.  Following the church service was a grand party with music, games, and dancing, which lasted until daybreak.  Many of the children stayed awake all night, as well as the adults.  Not me, I was tucked comfortably in my bed, ear plugs in place.  We at Kay Timoun began New Year's day with the tradional soup joumou.  It's base is pumpkin squash that makes a thick broth.  Add chicken, potatoes, and vegetables and bring in the New Year with a hearty meal, praying that each day in the coming year one will have the sustainence of this meal.  Kay Timoun kids spent the day with their parents, returning at 5:00PM to watch a movie: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  After chapel, where Christian shared a short history of January 1 in Haiti, Haiti's day of independence, the kids were quick to get in their beds for a good night's sleep.  Tradition continues today with a main meal of chicken and sauce with rice, and salad made with red beets, potatoes, and carrots garnished with watercress.  The adults will enjoy a drink of home made "Cremas", a sweet creamy liquor.  I'll pass on the Cremas. 
My hope for the New Year is that the people of Bondeau, in fact, all the people of Haiti, receive what they need to sustain life: medical care that they can afford, food to feed their families, and education for every child.  My resolution for the New Year is to do whatever I can so that my hope is realized.