The house staff now consists of three young women: Emily, who you all know very well, Stephanie, the new In-Country Coordinator, and Carrie, the new Volunteer Coordinator. Stephanie's boyfriend, Carl, is visiting right now and will be staying long-term in Haiti with her working for a different organization (when he finds one). Stuart is a high school student from Virginia who's been to MFH 4 times now and is the creator of the Women's Empowerment Curriculum that I oversaw while I was here. She's implementing it in Rivage, a poorer community near the Hinche river, and at the girls' orphanage, where I used to help Miss Guerlie teach a health class each week. We all decided to dress up for the 4th of July (except Carl, who's been feeling under the weather).
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| From L-R, Me, Emily, Carrie, Stephanie, Stuart |
To celebrate the holiday, we baked a cake and added some homemade pink and blue (we were limited in our options, okay??) icing on top. Yum! Four volunteers arrived yesterday afternoon, so Carrie has been orienting them and getting them settled and ready for work tomorrow.
This morning, we took a dance lesson. I called up my good buddy, Tura, and he brought Junior, his student-turned-dance-teacher. I was glad to see there were very few advanced steps I had forgotten, and after one retry was able to do no problem. Carmelle, a recent graduate of the SBA (skilled birth attendant) program, taught Stuart and me the lyrics to Aprouve'm, one of the big songs in Haiti right now. Tonight, we plan to go to the disco, Zenith, to show off our moves -- and maybe I'll remember some of the song lyrics.
This afternoon, Isabelle, one of the translators, brought her little baby boy, Nathan, over to the house. I'd been asking to see him for days! We passed him around, snuggled him lots, fawned all over his chubby cheeks and tiny sneakers, until he fell right asleep. I took this adorable photo of him (shoes and all) napping in my bed. What a cutie! If you follow the MFH facebook page, Isabelle is the translator who was working when a grandmother brought her mother-less granddaughter to a clinic. The baby was hungry, and Isabelle, having given birth not long ago to the sweet baby below, breastfed the baby in a really emotional moment for everyone involved. Vanessa, a MFH super-fan and super-volunteer, blogged about it here.
Upon reflection, it's been a really great week. Without power and therefore the constant need to feel productive, I got to spend some quality time with everyone around the house. I ran errands with Emily like old times, sat with the ladies on the porch and helped prepare food, and spent evenings telling jokes with the boys and/or the staff in the house. Life here is normal, just as if I never left. Unfortunately, that makes it difficult to write about. I'm trying to blog every few days, so if you have topics, let me know what you'd like to hear. Next time, I'll write all about my project and the progress I've made so far. For now, I'll leave you with a picture of one of Rebecca's bloodhound puppies from Port-Au-Prince!
This afternoon, Isabelle, one of the translators, brought her little baby boy, Nathan, over to the house. I'd been asking to see him for days! We passed him around, snuggled him lots, fawned all over his chubby cheeks and tiny sneakers, until he fell right asleep. I took this adorable photo of him (shoes and all) napping in my bed. What a cutie! If you follow the MFH facebook page, Isabelle is the translator who was working when a grandmother brought her mother-less granddaughter to a clinic. The baby was hungry, and Isabelle, having given birth not long ago to the sweet baby below, breastfed the baby in a really emotional moment for everyone involved. Vanessa, a MFH super-fan and super-volunteer, blogged about it here.
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| Little Nathan is about 3 1/2 months old now and Emily is his marin |
Upon reflection, it's been a really great week. Without power and therefore the constant need to feel productive, I got to spend some quality time with everyone around the house. I ran errands with Emily like old times, sat with the ladies on the porch and helped prepare food, and spent evenings telling jokes with the boys and/or the staff in the house. Life here is normal, just as if I never left. Unfortunately, that makes it difficult to write about. I'm trying to blog every few days, so if you have topics, let me know what you'd like to hear. Next time, I'll write all about my project and the progress I've made so far. For now, I'll leave you with a picture of one of Rebecca's bloodhound puppies from Port-Au-Prince!
