Haiti Lost and Found

Well, we are at the end of our week now....the end of the blogs.  I may do one more as a wrap up and if anyone is interested in pictures they will be posted on facebook or we may have a picasa site too.  So I will let everyone know.  Today was another amazing day!!  Before I forget to get this down, I have come down with a touch of some "issues"....without getting too graphic, stomach was not feeling the best.  We have come with three doctors and I started an antibiotic yesterday and it worked like a charm.  I took some amnodium AD but that just takes care of symptoms, the antibiotic that we got was to help kill the bacteria.  So anyway, I am doing much better.  I think someone else had a touch of something but otherwise we did great.
Yesterday Susan, along our travels had dropped her camera.  She was on the 4-wheeler and it slipped out of her pocket.  She was so bummed about it.  Dada (pronounced Day day) told everyone that he knew (which is pretty much the whole island - everyone knows him) that there was a $50 reward for a green camera.  He would drive by people - "$50, green camera".  Susan thought for sure that it was gone for good, all of her pictures and some video gone.  Today when we got to the church to install a few more filters, a young man came up to us and said that he had it.  Freddy stepped in to interpret and the young man wanted the money then he was going to get the camera....Freddy said that aint happening.  The man had said that he needed to pay the 2 kids that found it in order to get it...he was playing the middle man!!  CLASSIC!!!  He showed up with the camera finally and Susan gave him the money.  She went through her pictures and they had only taken a picture of someone on the side street and a picture of their flip flops.  So cool how this little island help spread the word of a lost camera.  If it would have been dropped in Grand Rapids or even Lowell, it would have been gone forever.  
Gauthier and I went to one of the first houses, along with Wes and installed a couple of them no problems.  Others had to go to other houses and fix some of the ones that were not working properly.  We came to find out that the aggregate was just not measured correctly and the sand was a little too fine.   We walked up to the first house and who do we see.....Sporty and Buzz from the previous day!  How cool that we are starting to recognize the kids, identified others that have received the filters, and strengthened these friendships.  It was so hard to say goodbye to these people.  We took a great group picture at the end that has everyone in it that helped us throughout the week.  Dada, Aldo, Peter, Wesley, Michael, JeanMarie, and Jeantini.  When we went in one of the houses, people are so passionate and excited about receiving the water that they were arguing with me and there was alot of yelling back and forth in french while I was in the middle.  They werent necessarily angry with me, they just wanted their filters.  They understand that this will change their lives.   While I was trying to calm them down, explain to the woman of the house...I had a posse of about 5 kids holding my hands, it was awesome.  Finally, Aldo stepped in to help me.  They are very protective of us.
Last night we got to visit Dada's bakery that he owns and it was a steep incline and Aldo hung on to my arm and made sure that I didnt fall.
After the installations, me, wes and Freddy went up in the mountains to install a water filter for a missionary that was living up there.  WHAT A CRAZY RIDE!!!!  we went on the 4-wheeler.  I was behind Freddy (who is 65 years old) and Wes was on another 4 wheeler.  Laura and her husband (the missionaries - she is american and he is haitian) were on a motorcycle.  Think of the roads that i have been explaining and make them 4x's the vision that is in your head...that is what I road on.  I am sure that I will be sore in teh morning, but what a view that I experienced from the mountains.  Again we passed by villages, similiard to what we have gone through on a daily basis, but much more sparce.    We passed many animals and as we continued to move up the mountain there was tons adn tons of dust from the dryness.   We were absolutely covered in dust.  As we drove by, it looked like it had snowed thats how covered in dust everything is.  Rainy season begins at the end of the month.  Much needed.  As Freddy and I began the 18 mile drive up the mountain, he explained things, we laughed and for much of the time we just spent taking in the beauty of the ocean and the scenery.  It was hot, 90's plus, but we had sunscreen, hats and a lot of water with us.  Yes I am darker than when I came here! LOL.  When we finally got up there - it took us an hour and a half to go 18 miles, we saw Laura's house and installed the water filter.   She was so thankful!!  It will give her much needed health.  Her house was very nice - they were in the process of building it and we saw a haitian scaffold - 2 mohaganey sticks and 2 sticking out of the wall - thats it.  crazy!!!  When Freddy got off the 4 wheeler we were laughing at how much dust was on him.  He said that the only thing that didnt have any dust on his was 2 circles on his back, I was leaning up against him.  Again we have had many laughs.  and he is a pastor!!!!  this group of people were great!!! LIFE LONG Friendships!!!  We went and saw the school that Laura and her husband were building.  And I use building very loosely.  It was a school that had 9 rooms in it and  teachers will make $90 a month and that is considered a very good wage.  This was a building made from palm tree leaves woven together.  The whole things was built like that.  and it was SMALL, but they were proud of it and it will provide kids with a learning arena. 
They had a crop area that was primed and ready for seeds to grow for fresh vegetables and they even had a 3 stall latrine.  I believe they will be ready by fall. 
We headed back down the mountain and did i mention that I really think I will be sore tomorrow.  It was a rough ride, but again Freddy helped me pass the time with great stories about times in Haiti and all of his adventures.  He first came to Haiti in '75, I wish I could take him home with me in a bottle, he has amazing stories, he should really write a book. 
As we wind down our amazing experience, I cant even put into words what this trip has meant to me.  I have told steve that he can count on me to help him with some administrative needs or really whatever he wants me to do.  I feel good about what I did here knowing that these filters can change lives forever.  We met a familiy today that the baby was 3 months old and she was suffering from dehydration because she had diarehea, we brought her to the church and one of the doctors went to the hospital to give her some medicine.  When she came to the church, the baby was swaddled in a blanket, mom sat down and unwrapped her and put her hand up to the babies nose.....she was checking to see if she was breathing.  This is a daily occurance here.  Susan had someone offer her her baby to take home wiht her.  These people are struggling but hopefully some will struggle less.  They want more, they just have no opportunities here. 

Love hugs and kisses to all!