"Mama Mama, waaa." I lift the sobbing Justin into his car seat and strap him in. "You'll be all right sweetie," I whisper into his ear as I learn forward and kiss his clammy forehead.
Tucking his blanket around him I pop his pacifier into his mouth.
It's 9:50 a.m. on Wednesday and he's been sick and feverish since early Sunday morning. Since I still haven't figured out what is causing the fever I've decided to take him to see the Pediatrician today.
Once he's safely strapped in and comfortable, I back out of our driveway and head out to the main road.
Thankfully traffic on Delmas is light at the moment. Glancing up I can't help but admire the new solar powered street lights. Progress in Haiti; it's great to see!
At the stop light, which even works today, I turn right and snake my way through the windy roads up to the Pan American highway. Although the name sounds impressive, it really is just a two lane road.
To merge in, I cut in front of a pickup. Smiling I give the driver an apologetic wave. He smiles and waves back. We are all good! To get anywhere in Port au Prince you have to be a somewhat aggressive driver, but I've made it my mission to be nice while I'm at it!
Cruising down the Pan American I pass rows of concrete planters, painted to look like wooden ones.
Further along, tin art covers meters of brick walls.
The Pediatrician's office is located in Petionville, a somewhat nicer area of Port au Prince.
At the National Gas Station I take a right, pausing for a moment to snap a photo of the houses built up on the hillside.
Five minutes later I pass the Pediatrician's office. It doesn't have a parking lot so I spend the next 10 minutes cruising down side streets trying to find somewhere to park. I finally find a spot 5 blocks over. It's in a quieter area, so for once no one comes to try to sell me flowers, or replace my window wipers, or demand payment to guard my car.
Before unstrapping Justin, I sling my diaper bag over one shoulder and my purse over the other. My key chain has a small flask of pepper spray attached to it, so I hang that around my neck. Then I lift my almost 20lb son into my arms and begin the trek back to the Doctor's office.
Stopping for a break, I snap a quick photo of the newly painted homes up on the hillside.
One of Haiti's paint companies has been distributing paint to make Port au Prince more beautiful. Although there has been some controversy over this, since plumbing and sewage systems would fulfill a much more practical need, I do think it looks pretty!
At the Doctor's office I find a chair to sit. My lethargic boy sits quietly beside me playing with his bottle.
About ten minutes later he starts to liven up a little and wants to get down to play. When the nurse finally calls us, it's difficult to tell he even is sick. Dr. Mevs, a French Haitian Female Doctor, checks him over thoroughly but comes up empty.
"I will write up a note for the lab so you can get some blood work done so we can rule out things like Malaria and Dengue Fever," she tells me. She draws me a quick map of how to get to the lab and off we go again.
Since the map reading software in my brain is malfunctioning, like usual, it takes a little while to find the lab.
Once inside, the lab technicians insists on speaking French rather than Creole to me, as Creole is considered a lower class language, so it takes a while for us to understand each other.
Justin is not impressed at all when she makes a small cut in his finger and then squeezes the blood out into ten tiny vials. I do my best to calm him, but am also very relieved when she is finished.
After paying for the tests, we head back outside.
On the way home I spend a few moments talking with Jason who tells me he's suffering from severe back pain. "I was just sitting at my desk and stood up! Now my back keeps having these horrible spasms."
I offer to pick him up, but he tells me he will wait it out. It won't be that long before the other pilots head home anyway.
When I'm finally home, three hours later, I lay my exhausted baby back in bed.
At 3:30 Jason hobbles through the gate and up the stairs. He looks terrible. His whole body is bent at a very awkward angle. I help him into bed and then call my friend who is a physiotherapist. She's in a meeting but promises to come over as soon as she is finished.
At 4:15 I call the lab for Justin's blood test results. Once again the lab technician insists on speaking French to me. After repeating the same questions several times I finally come to the understanding that the tests showed no signs of Dengue Fever or Malaria. Other than a rash that is now forming over his body he seems to be acting like himself again, so I am thankful for the good news.
As I prepare a simple dinner of beef and veggie wraps, the sky darkens and thunder rumbles. A little later the sky opens and torrential rains hammer the city. Looking out the front door, I notice that once again I forgot to take our shoes in on time.
Lightning and thunder flash and rumble simultaneously; the sound is deafening. To protect our home from electrical surges I head out into the rain to switch city power off.
When the rain finally begins to diminish, our friends arrive. I quickly convert our dining room table into a message therapy table and Mindy gets to work. The mix of rain and heat has meanwhile transformed our home into a natural steam room.
When she's finished working, Jason's back thankfully feels a little better.
That night, as darkness falls we thank God for His love and care. Although trials may come and the journey gets harder, our Heavenly Father is always with us.
Dark rain clouds smother the sun as I stare out the front screen door.
Peering through the black mesh I notice a dozen or more mosquitoes clinging on, waiting for their opportunity to sneak in and attack undetected. I give the screen a quick flick and they retreat, only to return several seconds later. Even with the thick cloud layer, it’s exceptionally warm and humid today.
Checking my watch I notice it’s already after 2:30 p.m.. It’s time to get Justin out of bed so we can pick up Jayden from school!
I make my way down the hallway and crack open the bedroom door. Quietly making my way over to his crib I pause when I see my baby fast asleep. Long eye lashes feather down over rosy cheeks as his right arm clutches his favourite blanket. His small body, for once still, is completely relaxed in sleep.
Tiptoeing to the change table I find his shark sandals in the bottom drawer. Then leaning over the side of the crib I carefully slip them on. Still sleeping, I lift him and his blanket out of the crib and cuddle them close. He opens his eyes sleepily and then closes them again as I carry him to the kitchen and grab my purse and keys off the counter.
Outside, I nnlock the Prado and fasten him into his big boy car seat. At almost 15 months our baby is growing up fast!
I wait for Anoud to roll open the gate and then slowly back up unto our rocky street. A white goat grazes on some grass just a few meters outside our gate.
Although he’s not tied to anything and there is no one in sight, I am certain he is being watched.
I turn right, then left, then right again. First up, then back down and then up again. Glancing out of the passenger window I see a plethora of houses built in a ravine.
A little further, I slow down and stop behind a broken down vehicle, something made obvious by the tree branch hanging off of his bumper.
I wait for a break in oncoming traffic and then maneuver quickly around it. Up ahead is a blind corner and I do not want to be in the pathway of any upcoming vehicles heading down the steep incline.
At the top of the incline I turn right onto Delmas 83. The now paved road is wonderful!
Road construction has been happening all over Port au Prince and although it often causes long traffic delays, the progress and hope it brings for the country and her people makes it worth it!
I soon turn off the main road onto a side road to get to Jayden’s school. These little side roads are not paved yet.
After several twists and turns I arrive at the school gate. The guard waves me in, and I quickly find a parking spot.
With Justin in my arms we make our way to the Kindergarten and Preschool playground.
Since Jayden likes to play for a little while after school I put Justin down and spend a few moments chatting with the teachers.
Justin quickly finds Jayden’s juice bottle in the row of backpacks and lunch kits and runs off with it.
Two of Jayden’s friends then lift him onto a metal rocking horse.
When he starts to complain I help him down, and then together we head over to the swing set where Jayden is swinging. Saturday will be flag day in Haiti so the kids made Haitian flags today.
When it is 3:00 p.m. and the neighbour children are finished school as well, we head to their meeting areas to pick them up. Then all together we make our way back to the vehicle.
“Mom, I made this Haitian flag at school, but I think we should make a Canadian one at home! I wasn’t born in Haiti, I was born in Canada, so I should have a Canadian flag! Can you help me make one Mom?”
“Sure!” I smile down at his animated face and tousle his hair.
Back in the Prado I make sure everyone is safely belted in before heading for home once again. As I drive the sky continues to darken with heavy rain clouds. Now that it is rainy season, we have almost daily afternoon or evening rains. After dropping off the neighborhood kids we head on home, making it safely inside just before the first drops begin to fall.
Dear Grandpa and Grandma, Oma and Opa
How are you doing? I am doing fine! Life in Haiti has been busy and fun! Besides going to school, we've also had lots of visitors at our house. I love it when visitors come! Lots of new people for me to talk too!
We just had another team stay at our house a week and a half ago, and also a girl called Rachel from Chilliwack for the past three weeks.
Then last week Tuesday my cousins came to visit! I was soo excited! Auntie Sher, Mattais, Kaelie and James took the bus from Santiago to the border where a friend was waiting to pick them up. He then dropped them off at a nearby airstrip where Daddy was waiting with the MAF airplane. He flew them all to Port au Prince and then drove them to our house!
I was so happy to see them! The first thing I did was pull out my pirate stuff. Tais and Kaelie thought it was very cool and soon all of us were dressed up!
James and Justin were soon reunited as well and climbed into the toy box together.
After a fun afternoon of playing together, the mommies put the babies in the bath.
We call them the monkey and the sparrow! Can you guess who is who?
After his bath Justin was tired from all the playing and Daddy was tired from a busy day of flying so they fell asleep together on the bed.
On Thursday Mom picked me up at lunch time from school and we all went to the Apparent Project together. We had fun checking out all the recycled art and trying to guess where each piece came from.
Rachel came with too.
The Apparent Project had lots of neat stuff for sale.
After touring the gift shop we visited the different areas where the ladies sewed and the men made beads out of clay.
On Friday, Mom kept me home from school and we spent the day at the beach!
We had fun playing in the sand,
swimming in the ocean,
searching for shells, coloured rocks and starfish,
and kayaking on the bright blue ocean!
That afternoon, Uncle Anthony flew in on a Dominican airline.
The next day we visited the Baptist Mission. It was a little squishy in the car getting up there though!
At the Baptist Mission we enjoyed a yummy lunch of burgers and fries and a beautiful view of the mountain gardens.
Then we visited the petting zoo. James really loves little animals!
And Mom and Auntie Sher loved spending time together!
By the afternoon it was getting pretty hot, so we stopped at a hotel where you could swim for free and enjoy an amazing view of the city.
That night we had more friends over so Mom cooked a giant pot of spaghetti. Since we didn't all fit around the table, us kids got to eat first.
Our next trip was a visit to Pignon. Early in the morning Dad readied the airplane for takeoff.
With nine of us on board, it was a full flight!
My hot wheels car, which I had snuck in my pocket, sure enjoyed the spectacular view!
20 minutes later the Pignon airstrip was in sight.
We landed and unloaded; then we made our way to the exit/entrance of the airport only to find it locked!
Since our driver was waiting on the other side we decided to just climb over the gate.
That was fun!
Even the babies were lifted over!
Mom and Auntie Sher couldn't stop laughing!
The driver brought us to UCI, the mission the teams that come work with, and the place we love to visit as well!
The guest house was ready for us when we we got there!
At lunch time we went to eat in one of a very few restaurants in Pignon. When we arrived we soon realized it was actually just someones house! Since there was not room enough on their patio for all of us we sat in their living room!
The food was delicious! Even Justin, who pretty much doesn't like to eat anything, enjoyed the food!
Although my baby brother doesn't like to eat much, he does love his milk bottles and since he doesn't sit still for a second, Mommy lets him walk around with them.
When he saw a ball however, he put the bottle down, and it disappeared! Mom found the culprit who stole the bottle a little later hiding behind some bushes!
The mission had several large dogs and one of them had three little puppies. Kaelie and I spent hours playing with them!
One time, when Mom came looking for me, she found me laying on the ground by a pile of leaves and small branches.
When she took a closer look at the pile of leaves she saw what I was really looking at!
Justin didn't like the dogs at all! Instead he found something else to do!
When Mom finally took him off, there was some serious kicking and screaming!
That night we ate dinner together with a team that was there.
The soup was delicious!
I ate popcorn for dessert, but by that time I was soo tired I couldn't even sit up anymore.
After dinner, Mom put us in the bath since Justin and I were both very dirty!
Justin did not enjoy the cold bath in the tin tub one bit!
I told Mom, that I didn't think washing like this was very fun either.
The next morning we explored the mission, visited the school, the university, the gardens, and the mini coffee plantation.
We also went to watch the brick making machine at work. That was really neat to see!
After a lunch of peanut butter sandwiches and delicious mango, we got a ride back to the airport and flew to Ouanaminthe to drop of Uncle Anthony, Auntie Sher and my cousins. When we landed a whole group of kids swarmed the airplane.
After a quick family picture all together, they were off to cross the border and catch a bus back to Santiago.
Guess who flew the plane back to Port au Prince?
Yup! It was me!
After a smooth landing (of course), Daddy drove us home. When Mommy opened the door to get us out of the car this is what she found.
Both my brother and I, fast asleep!
