Ripe Mango Chronicles

Once the decision was made that the boys needed our help I brought them in for medical exams. Our doctor thoroughly checked them out, and ordered some blood work, testing for a number of things including HIV. I was relieved to hear that other than a bit of a cold and a possible (easily treatable) parasite they were given a clean bill of health. I was even more relieved when I got their test results and saw ‘HIV: negative’ written on both their papers. The next day I asked the boys and their grandmother to come to the mission. I brought the grandmother into my office and explained that we would be willing to take the boys into the orphanage if she was willing. “Praise the Lord!” was all she could say. I filled out the paperwork and then asked her to sign the papers. Looking at the floor she told me she couldn’t write her name. I assured her this would not be a problem as she was not the first person to sign a Hope House entry form with a squiggly “t” instead of a signature...

Part of my job at the orphanage is investigating prospective children’s current circumstances; to find out if the child really is in need, to see if the story we were told about the child’s circumstance is accurate and to see the condition in which the child is currently living. When I went to investigate Galaxon and Iverson’s story I knew right away that these boys were in need. Their home had been destroyed in the earthquake; all the walls had crumbled, only a few wooden posts and the doorways remained, which amazingly enough were holding up the roof. The children had been living inside the building with a few extended family members. In the front yard was another house, made of cardboard, tarps and sticks where their grandparents, their caregivers, were living. Their father passed away a few years ago. They had been living with their mother, a faithful member of our church, until just a few weeks ago when she too passed away. From what I have heard of their mother’s illness I highl...

I can handle mice. I can handle rats. I can handle lizards. I can handle cockroaches. I can handle snakes. I can handle tarantulas. I can handle flying green leaf shaped bugs that smell funny. I can handle a lot more than your average woman, with two minor exceptions: Dead things and Haitian frogs. I can kill a mouse, a cockroach, a snake or a tarantula without fear, but once it's dead I'm not going near it! A lizard on my bedroom wall doesn't faze me, but a dead one in the closet makes me run for the door. Strange I know...but dead things just freak me out! Haitian frogs on the other hand have me running around screaming like a scared little girl. I specify Haitian frogs because Canadian frogs have never really bothered me, except that one time in grade 8 when Ben Lanteigne kicked a frog and it came flying right for my face! Haitian frogs are a whole other ball game. They are the kind of frogs you would see in the Toronto zoo. They always look wet and slimy and ha...

I want to live a life that matters. I don’t want to waste it. There is a Dave Matthews song that says, “I can’t believe that we would lie in our graves dreaming of things that we might have done.” I love that song. When I reach the end of my life I don’t want to look back and think about the things I should have done, things I would have done or things I could have done. At the end of my life I want to look back and think, “I wouldn’t have changed a thing! It was hard at times, but it was worth it!” There are always a million reasons NOT to do things and sometimes only a handful of reasons TO DO them, especially things that aren’t easy, but it’s the hard things that really make life worth living. Do I like earthquakes? No, absolutely not, but I am thankful I was here to experience it, to live through it and to support my Haitian brothers and sisters during this time of extreme need! After a wonderful week away and a few days shared in Haiti with my sister I am jumping back ...

I woke up at 4:50 this morning, but this time I woke up that early on purpose! After 51 days of earthquake madness and no time off I am officially going on vacation. In about 5 minutes a car is picking me up to take me to the bus station. I will them hop on a bus to the Dominican Republic where I will meet up with my new friend Kirsten (who I met through Earthquake relief work here). After a night of watching The Office and sleeping inside, in a real bed, I will be up and on my way to the airport. A few hours in the air and I will be in Orlando, Florida where John and Cathy (my favourite pastor and his beautiful wife), Leanne (my bff), Terry and Henry (her awesome hubby and baby) and I will all gather for what I'm assuming will be a cry fest, for the first few minutes anyway! Oh yes, vacation. No responsibility, no aftershocks, no tents...just shopping malls, SUSHI and sleeping. peace, love and VACATION! Rachel

I’m feeling much better today. I still hate earthquakes, there just isn’t any getting around that, but my hostility has diminished greatly. I’ve moved back into a tent, so I’ve been sleeping much better. There have been a few smaller earthquakes since the two 4.7 ones in a row, but nothing to write home about. In bigger and brighter news; we got a new baby. His name is Smider and he is awesome! He is the sweetest little thing, just teeny tiny and so incredibly adorable. He’s as small as a newborn but is actually a few months old so he can giggle and smile. I just love him to pieces. The Hope House kids have been so amazing since the earthquake. The boys have been working in the warehouse everyday, loading vehicles with food for distribution, unloading containers and helping sort items. The girls have been washing sheets for the clinic, feeding all the pre and post op patients daily and we have both girls and boys working as interpreters at the clinic and hospital. It’s amaz...

From the book of Matthew chapter 25. 31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stra...

I hate this earthquake, I hate it with passion. I was just shaken out of bed yet AGAIN. I thought the daily fear was over with, I thought we were past this. Since the 4.7 quake yesterday morning everyone is on edge all over again. I hate this. I hate being tired all day because I’m too scared to sleep. I hate constantly feeling the earth shake even when it’s not. I want this to be over. I need this to be over. I was not injured in the earthquake, I was not buried for hours waiting for someone to find me, I did not lay next to people taking their last breath as they called for help. I did not experience any of these horrors and I’m this scared. I cannot imagine what they go through every time their beds shake. I can’t imagine how much harder their hearts beat with every quiver. My reaction changes with each tremor. I’m moving from fear to anger, or somewhere in between. At first the only thing we could feel was terror but now that terror is marinated in pure rage. I am sitti...

I really hope today is the last day I am shaken out of bed in the wee hours of the morning by yet another tremor. It wasn’t a huge one, but enough to wake me up and send me running for the door. Of course there is no way to relax enough afterwards to fall back asleep so I was up as of 4 something this morning. But here I am FINALLY getting around to writing an update, so I guess it’s not all in vain. I really am sorry I’m not consistent. I know I’ve waited too long between updates when I start getting worried emails wondering if everything is ok. We’re trying our best to settle into the new normal, but the new normal is kind of chaotic. The Hope House kids are out of the tents, praise the Lord, but they’re not all in one building, they’re kind of scattered across the property, which makes things a little crazy. Schools have not reopened across the whole country. The government originally said the schools still standing would re-open end of March beginning of April but have ...

Rose Milaine has so quickly become a part of our family. Laughing and playing with the kids, helping with chores, following the Mommies around and coming over to greet me with her cute crooked smile each time I come into the orphanage. I really didn’t know how Rose Milaine’s story would end. Finding her family would not be easy, I knew that from the beginning. Just registering her with UNICEF was a week long challenge and they said it could take up to a year or more to find any living family members. On top of all that we didn’t even know if her family was alive as their town was hit hard by the quake. So, when her aunt showed up this morning I was emotionally unprepared, I didn’t think she would be leaving us so soon. I had envisioned her being with us for months and had already put her in the category of, ‘one of my kids’. Of course I was so excited for her family, not only were they alive but they were able to find their precious Rose Milaine so quickly (through someone at the Hospi...

Today is officially the best day ever. I forgot what it felt like to get a good night’s sleep. My bed, my sweet bed, is so unbelievably comfortable, and I forgot how the hum of a fan soothes a tired mind. Add freshly washed sheets and pillow cases and you have heaven on earth! After the earthquake I spent a week sleeping in my truck, or not sleeping at all, depending on the day. Our staff housing building was checked out and deemed structurally sound after the quake, but it took me 7 days to work up the courage to sleep inside again. Just my luck, the day I get the guts to sleep inside again was the same day we had the major aftershock and I woke up with the bed shaking and glasses crashing. That was enough to put me over the edge. I decided that morning I would officially be moving into the tents with the kids. This past Monday I had a family meeting with the kids and ‘mommies’, the title we give all our live in caregivers, and told them Friday we would be sleeping inside ...

It’s easy during the day to keep focused on the tasks at hand. There is so much going on, so many people receiving medical care, food, water and shelter. The days are filled with HOPE and blessing. Everywhere you look people are beginning to heal, are beginning to move forward. Each day is a new blessing, and a new opportunity. There is so much good going on during the day that it’s easy to forget about the death and the destruction. There is no time during the day to even think about the trauma we’ve experienced. It’s different at night. When it’s quiet I can’t help but think about the things I’ve experienced; the screaming, the crying, the mourning, the blank stares, the desperation, the destruction and worst of all the scent of death. I wake up constantly throughout the night. At first it was from the tremors, then it was from nightmares of tremors. But now my nightmares have evolved into something much more disturbing. I wake up at night surrounded by an air so heavy w...