A Weekend In The Mountain #2

Shortly after lunch on Saturday our family climbed into the Montero, Mitsubishi and headed for the mountains. The day was warm, as most days are, and I was ready for some cooler weather. We knew, from previous experience, that the temperatures are a bit more moderate in the mountains.

Life inside the gates of our compound is relatively peaceful but life outside the gates is vastly different, from my point of view!

The gate keeper opened the gate and we ventured out. The street was busy with many honking vehicles and motor bikes…. along with billowing  clouds of dust. (Don does not seem to mind driving at all.. in fact I think that he enjoys it!!) Don did a great job weaving through the traffic and managed to avoid any collisions with the countless motor bikes zooming up and down the road! In spite of him being a good driver, I somehow have a hard time relaxing! I think I would be better off taking a nap while on the road.  But on second thought, that would not be a good idea either for I would, most likely, end up banging my head on the vehicle door while in my sub conscious state! :) The road from here to the road up the mountain  is not in the best shape. There are some pot holes and some huge speed bumps along the way. There is also a bridge that is “supposedly” being repaired. Instead of taking another street, like you might in the states, we take a detour right through the water that the bridge spans. And if you have had any experience with river bottoms you will know that it will not be a smooth crossing!

We were happy to reach Ti Goave, about a 45 minute drive from Leogane, and begin our ascent into the rugged mountains of Haiti. From there it took a good two hours to reach our destination. The vehicle we were driving was not the most competent, with worn out shocks and many other “aches and pains”! ( We decided that we do not want to attempt that kind of a trip again without a better vehicle!) We bounced up and down and back and forth the whole way to our destination. The ting ting a-ling in the back seat kept reminding us of the case of soda we were taking along. Every once in a while it would jump up off the seat several inches and the children would laugh!

Not far up the mountain, we were climbing an especially steep hill,  the montero suddenly lost power and refused to go any further. A Haitian guy drove by on his motor bike and hollered some words we didn’t understand … but Don interpreted it to mean to step on the gas and make a run for the hill. But unfortunately, in order to do that we had to back down the hill. I and the children decided to get out of the vehicle and walk up that hill, relieving the montero of some “extra” weight and me of “extra” anxiety! Well it worked! Don backed down the hill and gave that old vehicle some extra diesel and away it went.. I think I lost some weight that day.. climbing that hill! :)

Haiti’s mountains are very scenic, perhaps in a different way than you may think! I think it is best described as “rugged beauty”. The surface of the mountains that we were traveling  are a mixture of bare ground, lots and lots of rocks, and a sprinkling of palm trees, banana trees, some evergreens and scruffy bushes. Quite a few people make their homes in these mountains. Along side many of the houses are small gardens where they raise cabbage, green beans, corn, etc.

A person traveling these mountains may be surprised at all the children that are living here. It is not at all unusual  to hear the voices of young children calling out to you as you drive by. One of their favorite words are “blah'’… if you happen to be a white person! They call out over and over again.. “blah, blah, blah”! (white, white, white!) Another phrase you will hear a lot is “baum by guy”.. meaning “give me something”! They associate whites with things!!

Okay.. the primary reason for going to the mountains for the weekend was to see Rhonda and her little children! Rhonda lives on top of a mountain along with eleven precious children. We had visited there in March 2010, June 2010, and January 2011. Each time was a very special time for us…. We were eager to go again!

A good three hours after we left Leogane, we arrived at Rhonda’s. Rhonda’s children were happy to see us but acted shy and quiet for a little while! However, it was not long until the children “warmed up” and wanted to play.

I had told Rhonda that I would be bringing something along for supper so I didn’t have too much time to relax! I made spaghetti while Rose, Rhonda’s oldest daughter, made bread sticks. The children enjoyed the food as well as the soda that we had brought along.

 

….. to be continued……

A Weekend In The Mountain

Our family had been ‘belly aching’ to go visit the Children’s Home in Terre Rouge. Stephanie, Trista, and Dale had never been there before but had seen lots of pictures and heard us relate stories. After a quick lunch yesterday, we headed for the mountains!

The scenery along the way is spectacular… but the road up the mountain is terrible!

There was some road building going on…

This is the view from our destination on the mountains. New Horizon’s Children’s Home is the name of the home located here.

All of our children fell in love with the children….

 

We arrived home this evening and I am feeling tired but I wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures with you all… perhaps I will tell you more about our weekend tomorrow if I find the time… Good night!

Pictures of Our Apartment

 

 

This is a picture of our small kitchenette.. I do like the color.. but thought I needed to add a splash of my favorite color! Red..

Three of the walls in our bedroom are red… a very nice match with the comforter set that I had brought along from home. My serger was packed into a tote with the comforter and traveled well.

This is the boy’s bedroom. I would like to “dress it up” sometime. Perhaps we need some colorful covers!

In the forenoon, the boys and I  sit out on our porch to do school. I am very thankful for this part of our house! The sun does not visit the porch until late afternoon.

One Week Later

….. the mosquitoes have drilled into me too many times to count! I have seen a huge rat in our house!… A whole army of cock roaches made their appearance!… I have felt the bed shake due to a tremor!.. A noisy group of voodoo worshipers clamored up and down the street in the middle of the night!

It seems like we have been here for a long time and it’s only been a week! only one week!

To be totally honest with you all…I am enjoying my time in Haiti! There are many positive things to focus on: the sun has been shining a lot! the folks here are nice and friendly! the little girls add a lot of spice to our life! the food has been great!…we went to the beach!

I would like to share a few pictures with you to give you an idea what things look like here in Haiti… 

In the top picture Erik is ripsticking on the side walk. I am so glad that he was able to pack that into his suitcase! The next several pictures are of our way of doing laundry here. We have two wringer washers to use. The native women who live here at Leogane Girl’s Home still prefer the traditional way of washing clothes. It amazes me how fast they can get a lot of laundry washed by hand and they are clean! The last three pictures are of the day we went to a beach about twenty minutes from here. We piled into the little truck picture here and away we went! The water was gorgeous but the “sand” was not. :)

God's Call On Our Lives

With total confidence in God's leading, our family

boarded a plane in New York and flew to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 21, 2011. A desire to care for children, lay deep within our hearts ever since our teenage years.

     As teenagers, desiring to serve God, along with our love for children, Don and I were lead to volunteer at a children's home in Virginia. It was there that we were  attracted to each other. I was "swept off my feet" by Don's kind and gentle ways. He was a handsome young man who showed that he loved and cared for me by many small deeds of kindness.

  We chose February 18, 1993, to join our hands and hearts together in the bonds of holy matrimony. We promised to love and care for each other as long as we both should live. The life that lay before us was a total mystery.

As time moved on, as time does,  our desire to care for children only strengthened. Much to our disappointment, God chose not to bless us with biological children. At times the pain and sorrow that goes along with childlessness was almost unbearable. It was hard for me to understand why God would allow us, a couple who loved children, to remain childless. At one point I even began to doubt and my faith in God was  standing in question. Of course, the Lord, who we trust, rescued us. He brought us up out of that horrible pit... He set our feet upon a rock!

   Instead of pining away, we decided to open the doors of our home to foster children. It was not long until we had a nest full! In four months time we had four children to care for.. I shall not go into  detail about the next several years. Rest assured that we were very blessed by sharing our home!

With time we were able to adopt the four children that we now have. We thank God for blessing us with them. I am convinced that God has a special purpose for each of them.

   As the children became older, we felt like the Lord was not finished with us yet. Our family spent a little time in Mexico helping out at a children's home in February of 2008. Once again, we felt a strong desire to minister to children and thought perhaps we were called to Mexico. For a time we tried to prepare to leave for Mexico. The doors were open in Mexico and the mission there wanted us to come but the doors just did not open at home. 

In March of 2010, we were privileged to go to Haiti with some of our best friends, Jesse and Carol Myer. Jesse and Carol had been to Haiti a number of times to visit some friends who had a children's home  there. Before we left, I wondered if the Lord had something in mind!! He did!! We arrived at the children's home and it was not long until we totally fell in love with the children there. God strengthened our desire for more children to care for when He brought a day old infant to the doorstep of the home. The wee, tiny little girl just stole our hearts!

   In June we were asked to go to Haiti, along with Jesse and Carol, to babysit the children at the home while their caregivers left for a two week trip to the states. Don was convinced that the trip would show us clearly whether or not the Lord wanted us in Haiti. He felt like he needed to talk to the Pastor of the church in the area. A few days before we left for home,  Don called Pastor Levy and asked him if we could have a talk with him. He told him very briefly what we had in mind. Pastor Levy assured us that we should come. We had about an hour and a half drive to his house. I remember the day as being pleasant and warm. We were warmly welcomed by Pastor Levy. Don proceeded to share what was on his heart:  the desire to start a children's home in Haiti. Pastor Levy assured us that our vision had purpose and that Haiti had a great need for another children's home.  He also told us that not long after he had received the call from Don that morning, another pastor had called him and told him that there was a baby that needed a home because his mother too had died and his relatives did not feel able to properly care for him. Pastor Levy said that we should begin  our children's home right away! We took that as a sign from God to pursue our vision.

Pastor Levy made arrangements for us to see the little baby, who ended being four months old instead of  four days old as I had understood. As I gazed into the sweet little face of Claudsie, my mother heart "melted". I knew that I could love him and would be happy to care for him. However, we were going back to the states and there was no way he could go along! A young missionary couple agreed to keep Claudsie for a time.

It came as no surprise when we heard that  the young couple that was caring for Claudsie was becoming  very attached to him. And because of some of our past experiences of loving and losing , we decided to give them first chance at giving Claudsie a permanent home. We feel sure that the Lord will bring another baby into our lives and we are very excited about that fact...

I am leaving out a lot of details for "lack of time"!

    In January of 2011, we  were asked by a BRIC ( Blue Ridge International for Christ) board member if we would be willing to help out at  the Leogane Girl's Home. Looking back at how God has worked things out for us and for our move to Haiti is certainly amazing. Many little details seemed to fall into place.. I  can't help but feel overwhelmed.  We give God glory!

Our home church, JCC (Juniata Christian Church) has partnered with us in our vision, for which we are truly VERY grateful. We cannot begin to thank you enough for the tremendous encourgement we have received from you... Your commitment to prayer for us, the love and acceptance that you have showed us....etc.  God Bless You All! We love you.

-Karole for the Don Weaver family