Nothing in Haiti is predictable. I have not posted very much in the last week due to means beyond my control. Granted that I have written four days, approx. An hour each time, only to have the power go out, or the satellite experience problems just moments before being ready to post my message. FOUR TIMES this week! The fourth time was five minutes ago. I just typed up an hours worth of updates, and I lost is all again! This time I am going to write a small update and post and then if I have time do a second post so that you get at least a little information from me!

Haitian Culture is 180 degrees from that of America. The mentality remains to be, "whatever will be will be..." Taking initiative and following through are two areas that Haitians are not experienced in. As my room-mate put it, changes often occur at glacial speed. With attempting to implement this new program of structure and order at the Trinity House, making changes, combined with Haitian culture...I am seeing the truth of that statement, changes are occurring at glacial speed. I know it does not help that I do not know the language well and communication is not as smooth blanc to Haitian as it is Haitian to Haitian.

Paula is a woman that recently accepted the offer to be on the board of directors for the Homes. She was born in Haiti, lived in America for over 25 years and now lives permanently back in Haiti with her mother and two daughters. Paula speaks perfect English though her first language is Creole'. Paula roasts the coffee that we will be selling at the coffee shop/bakery, she is also an phenomenal artist.

Because of the many year in America, Paula knows the practicality of some of our American ways re: order and structure etc. I asked Paula if she would be willing to assist Claude and I in translating to Melchee and Gilmiest during a meeting we needed to have with them.

Last Friday when Michael, (the founder) came to visit the home from Port Au Prince, we had hours and hours of meetings with the boys. After a couple of days of digesting and formulating ideas, Claude and I came up with some ideas of new ways of doing things with the consideration of the boys request in the home. There was a lot to cover, and no way we could do this in a timely manner blanc to Haitian.

Paula was delighted to help us out, and boy, did she ever! Our meeting was under two hours, and went very well! Paula is a strong woman, emotionally and physically. She stands up for what she believes in and has excellent ideas/suggestions. I had an hour long meeting with Paula the day before the meeting with Melchee and Gilmiest to over everything with her. The next day during our meeting she was able to translate everything we needed to cover and speak to the Haitians on a level and in a way that they understood and accepted. When you ask a Haitian to do something, you have to be very firm, very frank, and make it known that you EXPECT it to be done. Thanks to Paula we got a lot accomplished and are in the implementation stage.

A few examples of what we have going at the moment are:

*I have devised up a new chore list. This has the boys name and chore listed with a box to check off every day of the week. If the boy successfully does his chore everyday of the week, has all seven boxes checked, he will receive his allowance and a sticker on the chore sheet for that week. If at the end of the month he has four stickers he is then eligible to go on the monthly grand outing, which will be something such as a boat trip to a neighboring village etc. The boy is required to check off the chore sheet before 6:30 am. Gilmiest then goes around to verify that all the chores are done well. Those who do not do their chore well, or do not check off before 6:30 am go without breakfast. They then have a half hour to do their chore and do it well, if they don't, they receive the punishment of digging for three hours, or garbage hole that extends down in the ground, or they are put outside the gates until ten pm. Life inside the gates is much better then life outside the gates! Melchee is working today on creating a detailed explanation of every chore that the boys do so that boys know what is required of them. This will be posted on the kitchen wall, next to the check-off sheet. The whole idea of this is to instill responsibility and discipline for the boys, allowing them to be rewarded for great actions/behaviors. It was interesting that when asked what they would change about the house, during the one on one interviews we had with the boys; 11 out of 17 boys said they wanted more structure and discipline.

*The older boys will be assigned to an additional responsibility in order to give them an opportunity to invest in the lives of their younger, 'siblings,' as well as develop their leadership potential. Four areas that will be delegated out are:

*Being in charge of the Bikes: We currently have seven bikes that do not work. We have acquired funds to fix them and are currently working on that. When the bikes are ready to be ridden, the assigned boy will have the responsibility of checking in and out the bicycles during the specified times they can be ridden, doing repairs/maintenance and properly storing them.

*Being in charge of Art Supplies: We have a lot of neat art supplies that aren't being utilized simply because there is no designated place to store, or use them. In one corner of the house I am filling up a dresser with the art supplies that will be available to be check in and out . The manager of these supplies will be responsible for maintaining the supplies, checking them in and out, as well as making note of what needs to be replaced.

*Assisting Young Kids Activities: One of the mentioned needs was that the smaller kids have more activities. Twice a week this boy will be responsible for doing some activity outside the house such as going to the beach, or playing soccer etc.

*Prayer meetings. We meet for prayer two times a day. Certain boys pray or read on certain days. We came up with the idea that the boys that read one day ought to meet the prior evening to overview what will be presented, to practice and prepare. This boy is in charge of scheduling the boys days to pray and the nights they will meet and see to it that the meetings happen.

This again is in attempt to allow the older boys a chance to learn leadership. They all have so much potential! Also to help Gilmiest and Melchee delegate some responsibilities that they are either not assisting in, or feel they must take on themselves, giving them more work then they need to be doing. This allows them to focus on other more important areas of responsibility.

OK, enough about that for now...I have written this up four times and am tired of talking this topic!

Claude left for Port Au Prince this morning. He is going to Wings of Hope to do some washing machine maintenance that he is in charge of. He'll be gone approx. a week. I will be busy observing and enforcing rules, as well as participating in classes such as dance, art and paper mache'.

It has been so hot out the last few days and nights, that I am sleeping up n the roof to keep cooler. Because we are right on the water there is a nice cool breeze. Because of the lack of electricity in Haiti, there are very few lights at night, therefore the sky is lit up very brightly. The stars are beautiful especially as they reflect off of the ocean, amazing.

I have been learning the ropes of Haiti, and am very comfortable with caution and awareness in this town. Jacmel is much like Sitka, where I come from. It is a quaint little fishing village where everyone knows everyone and people are very friendly. Because I am the only young, white, blond hair, blue eyed woman in Jacmel, a lot of people know me by name, and daily people tell me they have been waiting to meet me. I have three very special and precious little boys whose parents cannot afford to send them to school so they play on the streets all day. They wait for me to walk down town and follow me with big huge grins everywhere I go. Son Son, John, and Amiston. Precious!

I am looking forwards to writing more, my time at the internet cafe is up, and I am typed out! Again, thank you all who pray for me, these prayers are priceless for me. My time here is great, but not without challenges. Love to you from me!