December 27th -Jan 5

2009-01-05T20:08:00.000-08:00

All is going pretty good. It has not rained since we arrived which is bad for the people here. One great accomplishment is that we improved our water source from the local church well by putting in bigger and more secure piping from the church well to our property. When we did this we also put in some piping to create a water source to 2 other communities. Though i visited the place where the water faucet was put for the community, it really hit home when Todd, when of the volunteers traveling with me, met with some people for biogas. One of the people that came to give us a quote told him he heard that we put a water source for the community near us and that he was very grateful. Water,, what we take for granted.

We took some of the St. Lucia children to visit some of their families last week. Though all are orphans, we are trying to keep them connected with some of the family members they may still have so they have some sense of connection to them. It is often hard for the families to come visit St. Lucia because even the bus fare to get there they cannot afford. So many times i would give them some money to visit. We are now really trying to step this up. Most visits were good as they have been in contact already w their family. Mercy, one of the older girls was particularly tough though. They live pretty far out in an area where you wonder why anyone lives there as it seems so dry. Maybe it isn't during rainy season but who knows. She has 2 older sisters who are HIV negtive. While conversation is sometimes tough due to the language barrior, it was evident she has a grandmother who loves her. Culturally here people are not too touchy, but her grandmother was a typical grandmother. Mercy showed us around outside where her parents grave are nearby. I asked her if she wanted to go over to them and she nodded yes, only to break down in tears a minute into the visit. Her grandmother came over to comfort her and i walked away allowing them to have that moment alone. As we were getting ready to leave i asked where her oldest sister went. 'She is crying' Mercy said. I asked if it was ok to go in and talk to her and it was. she was sobbing laying on her bed. "Tena' (again) I explained, we will come and visit again. We left with a heavy heart but Mercy smiled when we asked her if she liked her visit.

It has been a little frustrating as we are here during the holidays and most stores shut down until Jan 7 or 8th. So any projects we wanted to do have been extra frustrating, but then when isn't it here. i guess we were supposed to spend more time w the kids.

Security has been an issue as the orphanage was robbed a few months ago. We put in a security alarm system in June and the kids when asked say them feel safe, unlike the last time i was here when they kept asking 'Dada Connie , where is secuirty.". We are trying to create some locks on the doors similar to the old castle doors where you lift a bar on the inside to get out. It seems so weird to try to barricade yourself in. With so many issues in their life, the least we can do is make them feel safe at night.

The garden is doing great. With better access to water i am hoping to see even more food growing the next time i come. Maybe we can even start selling some. We are trying to decide this week if biogas is worth the money to spend. It is created from cow dung, (i know gross, but it doesn't smell when burned for cooking fuel) . We now spend about $200 on either propane or wood for cooking. So It might be worth it in the long run.

We took David to the doctor yesterday as he had a big lump on his neck. They ended up lancing it but there was no infection. It was not fun, let me just say that. He screamed the whole way home that his ear hurt. In the US i would not have left the doctor's office , or taken him straight to the hospital as his lymph node was probably pushing into his ear. Matt, another volunteer sat in the back w him but their was no comforting him. If this were my niece or nephew i would have called their parent to come as that is all a child wants, but i just kept thinking that he doesn't have that. I kept trying to get Winfrida on the phone but as some of you know the phone system here, while getting better, is often unreliable. We finally reach Winfirda and his crying subsides, he has his mom. His lymph nodes are still swollen so we are trying to figure out why. If you have any extra prayers he can use them.

So we were informed one morning that there was this 'prophet' coming to visit the children. I wasn't quite sure who he was but there we 2 groups of very kind people who came before him to check it out and let us know how things were going to happen for the visit. 30 minutes before his arrival i am on the floor wiping the floor down with a rag. He comes with an entourage of about 50-60 people, some walking, security, about a parade of 10 cars, tv people, newspaper people. I don't quite know what to think. Todd, Tiffany, and Matt are on the side taking pictures and taking it all in. Winfrida had to meet with the district commissioner on something so i took her place....oh and during the ceremony they said to prepare a speech. Sure... This 'prophet ' came last year and he informed us that he usually only comes once to visit somewhere but felt he needed to come back this year and will come again in June. They brought about $3000 worth of supplies and prayed over the children. It was an interesting experience, still trying to figure out who he is. I will check the paper this week and pass it along if there is anything.

There are 4 of us here volunteering so we decided together we could handle having a St. Lucia boys night sleep over and a girls night. The boys night we went to play soccer w Winfrida's family as it was her son's, Walt, birthday. She and Richard challenged us to bring our best team! I am not sure who won but the place we played was beautiful. The sun set over the hills on this open plain. We had cake then took them back to our place where we are staying. Since it was a last minute decision to go we did not have their ARV's so we dropped them off and Todd and I went up to the orphanage to get them.

Girls night was last night. Needless to say it was much different than boys night. We did some beading and talked to some people on SKYPE. Stuff was everywhere. I didn't sleep much as they didn't have a mosquito net and i could hear them squirming. I finally found some mosquito repellent and sprayed it on their arms and legs. Jackie, who takes on the mother role sometimes though only 7, entered my room a few times informing me of the needs of others. Finally i told her to come and sleep w me. Of course that was not going to happen without some conversation first. For those of you that know Jackie, well she is something, and IF i had favorites..... Todd has tried to 'steal' her affection and their is a competition between us on who gets the most pictures drawn for them. I think i am winning but she is very upset he is leaving on Friday. Some of the girls had to go to school in the morning so we had to get up early and get them ready. Let me rephrase that, they woke up early informing us that it was time for their medicine. We prepared better than the boys and had each in a little bag w their name on it. Some just got vitamins but most had more than that. They have their morning routine which i quickly found out. I tried to skip the part about washing, they didn't smell bad to me! :) but that was not happening. Come on, ...8 girls a bath or shower in a half an hour? So i turned on my shower and one by one they laughed as some i am sure some have never taken a shower before.....and it was warm. I wish i could have known what they were saying but i laughed with them anyway...no understanding of words were needed. Then they always put on this vasoline stuff on their skin after their shower. Well...i didn't have that...but is did have some expensive face cream that smelled really good ....they all wanted more! David was already here where we are staying (from his doctors visit) so he had girls night with us. Todd decided to give him a sleeve of cookies and a coke before going to bed along with his dvd player. David was in heaven of course. David also didn't sleep all that great ....do you think some sugar had anything to do with that!

Connie
(did i say i love getting emails)

Karama Connection

December 27th -Jan 5