Haiti

Not sure where to start with this one.  A lot of people have been asking me how was Haiti, and to be honest I had what may have been the most terrible experience of my life.  This is not to say Tim and Paola weren't the best hosts ever and that I didn't love playing with my precious neice, but it still hurts.

Our first day there at breakfast after church we shared our secret with Tim and Paola, we were pregnant and due in November, a couple weeks before them.  The next 24 hours were full of baby talk, and hoping our deliveries might be together in the DR.  Until I started bleeding and cramping, and was told in a Haitian clinic that we weren't going to have a baby anymore and it was over.

I expected before I even went to come back from Haiti feeling hurt - for the people of Haiti, from seeing the poverty, the aftermath of the earthquake, the tent cities, the hunger, the disease that is such a constant in that country - not to feel so much hurt over losing someone I have never even met, I'm not sure how it can hurt this much?

So I know this wasn't what you were expecting, and neither was I.  I honestly have been anticipating my blog about the pregnancy everyday since we found out, images in my head of baby clothes and sonograms, brainstorming new ideas of how I could creatively present this announcement online, unable to think of anything else to blog about -I didn't see this one coming.

One of the first people who came in my mind to write when I got back to the DR was Maria, my beloved teaching assistant and close friend from the orphanage.  I remembered she had a miscarriage back in the fall and another one a few years ago to twins when she was 7 months pregnant.  I can't understand now how she ever got through that.  A tia at the orphanage delivered 3 stillborn babies.  Our custodian at the orpahange had 9, yes 9, miscarraiges.  How do people survive this?  How do they go on?  How can life be this unfair?

I think the toughest part is trying to understand living on an island where teenagers are so frequently getting pregnant, drinking and lacking any pre-natal care through their entire pregnancy, and then delivering healthy babies only to discard them on the street or in an orphanage, or worse, sell them into slavery or prostitution as soon as they're old enough, why this would happen to us?  Or why adoption, which we have investigated thoroughly during our time here, is almost impossible for us when we are oh so ready to love one of these kids whole-heartedly, only because we don't have sacks of money to hand over to a corrupt government?  Why?

I know only God has the answers to these difficult questions.  And I know He will get us through it as He has before, this was actually not my first miscarraige, though this one was definitely much harder than the first one.  Maybe I sound like a drama queen and I know life goes on, but it really does hurt that much.  So please pray for us during this time, and thank you to the people who already have.  I know I have a great support system of prayer warriors out there just waiting for the opportunity.  Oh and as a sidenote to reassure you - not that I didn't already know I had the best husband ever, and not to boast - but I have been getting the best care ever at home - from my favorite flowers to my favorite food to my favorite candy to my favorite ice cream to even him finding the recipe online for Panera Bread's Cream of Potato Soup and creating a copycat version for me just because I missed it, and watching hours of Lost DVD's together so I don't have to think about the only thing I can think about, anything at all to make me feel better - I do have to say there is no one else on earth I would rather have, or even lose, a baby with.

Thank you all for your consistent love, prayers, and support.  Hope to see you all in Michigan in 6 weeks.

Love, peace, and prayers,
Kristin

Feeding Center Up! :)

As I mentioned in a previous post, our church has been in the works starting a new children's feeding center in the community.  After 2 children from our church passed away from malnutrition, our pastor decided to start putting the center up without any funds to do it, working on faith alone.  Many of our Haitian church members have been working everyday on a volunteer budget (and by that I don't mean the $65 a month that I used to make).  Their pay is not monetary, but in the future promise for their children, children with smiling faces and full bellies.  Here in the DR, it is estimated that over 8% of the children will have irreparable retardation because of the hunger they suffer.  The number of Dominicans across the country who are living in hunger surpasses 2 million, and that number grows by approximately 2,500 people each year.  And while that statistic is nothing compared to our neighboring Haiti who continues to suffer beyond belief, that number does include many beautiful faces that faithfully attend my Oansa class each Saturday, showering me with hugs and kisses, giggling at my stories, singing their hearts out to each praise song, and flashing their beautiful smiles regardless of what great obstacles they might have against them outside the church walls.  For that reason, this feeding center has me overjoyed and I just had to share with each of you.

View of the feeding center from the outside

View from the inside - hopefully Dave will be alongside some of our high school students doing a service project to get this place ready very soon!

Since some of the students from my class at school are from middle to upper class families, I have them participate in service and giving projects integrated into our Bible curriculum as often as possible.  This past week, I taught about Jesus teaching us to help widows and orphans, and children who were able to brought in canned foods, beans, and rice to donate to the new feeding center.  Even at six years old, I am so proud of their willingness to serve and give.  

 Though the details are yet to be determined, for around $50 US dollars per month, you can sponsor one of the children from the community who are living under the poverty line and may otherwise suffer from malnutrition.  They will be provided with 2-3 meals a day for the whole month.  Please let me know if you're interested in helping! :)

How could you turn down a smile like that?

Hope all is going well back in Michigan and all the other places this is being read from, and hope to see you in a couple of months when I come home for summer.  And please let me know if anyone can use a teacher, tutor, nanny, or any type of worker this summer, I promise I work hard - our bank account is dwindling and we need to save up money to make it through another year of service next year in the DR! :) Have a great week!

Love, peace, and prayers,
Kristin