Memories

The other morning, I was warned that our air conditioning was broken at work, so I dressed accordingly – a sleeveless shirt that I haven’t worn since being in Haiti.

 

I came into the kitchen to make G’s breakfast.  He greeted me with a BIG smile and came to hug me.

 

“I love your shirt.”

 

"Why?”

 

“Because you used to wear this shirt in Haiti.”

Remembering

Two years since Haiti's earthquake.

I've been on edge as we've approached this date. 

Memories flood, and cause a physical reaction. 

Tears come easily as I remember how God rescued my son.

I know that so many more have experienced so much more.

I'm remembering with you, and thinking of you, and praying for you.

Are you aware?

I read about life in Haiti and wonder... do Americans know what our neighbors are facing?

Here are a few facts from a recent radio interview with Dr. Paul Farmer, United Nations Deputy Special Envoy in Haiti.


DAVIES: How many people are still without permanent homes?



Dr. FARMER: The estimates right now are that there was a peak at 1.3 million in the summer and fall after the quake, that as many as 800,000 are still without shelter all these many months later. And of course this is a reflection not only of the destruction of the housing stock, some estimates have 225,000 homes destroyed, but this huge number is not simply a reflection of what got destroyed in the quake.

It's also a reflection of very poor access to housing for poor people in the urban areas of Haiti that has been a longstanding problem....

DAVIES: Right, and we should mention, that 800,000 is out of a country of, what, nine million, right?


Dr. FARMER: Right.


DAVIES: Right. Now, a cholera epidemic erupted in Haiti last year. First of all, just explain the illness for us.


Dr. FARMER: Cholera is a waterborne bacterial disease that causes very distinctive, explosive watery diarrhea, and it can shrivel a very healthy person, kill them in a matter of hours. It's really one of the few infectious disease emergencies that we see. It's also, of course, a public health emergency because it's spread through poor sanitation.


DAVIES: Well, let's talk about them, the state of health conditions and particularly the cholera epidemic. Is that under control?


Dr. FARMER:   ...  I would say that the epidemic is not only not under control, but it sort of exploded on the scene like a bomb, causing some hundreds of thousands of cases. Again, there's poor reporting capacity in Haiti, so we're not sure how many, and you know, upwards of 6,000 deaths. Again, that's probably an underestimate on both scores: the number of cases and the number of deaths.


Are we aware?

Is our awareness evidenced by our action?

Wired

January 12th 2010 was a regular day.  I went to work.  I consumed large volumes of coffee.  I had an event to attend after work.

And then Haiti shook.

January 13th was not a regular day.  Searching, praying, networking, waiting.  Life took on a desperation.  And there was no time for coffee.  Tension increased.  Sleeping ceased.  The praying turned to praying & fasting.  And I could not indulge in coffee.

Somewhere along the line, I figured out how much money I spend on coffee each year.  Knowing what people in Haiti were enduring, I could not continue to spend that money.  I decided to fast from coffee for a year... and save that money for Haiti... and be reminded to pray for Haiti whenever a coffee craving hit me.

For a Coffee Lover, this has made for an interesting year.

In these last weeks, I've debated what to do when my year was up.  It has felt right to make this tiny sacrifice.  I have prayed more than I would have otherwise.  I have more money to give.  I'm so glad to know the money will change lives rather than enrich Starbuck$.

But what to do now?

I love coffee.  I love being awake.  I love cradling a warm cup on an Arctic morning.

And then the decision came to me.

JUBILEE.  I will have a COFFEE JUBILEE.  40 seems to be a spiritual number.  I will have a 40 day all-out coffee-bonanza Jubilee!

Starting January 13th.

Which was today.

Oh, how I love coffee.

Only 39 more days to go.  If you live near me, this would be a great time to suggest going for a coffee date.  If you live elsewhere, please fly in.  I'd love to do coffee with you too.  Coffee Coffee, nothing but coffee.  Jubilee, y'all!


p.s. If you live near me, you might want to mark your calendars now.  "February 22: Avoid Heidi!"

Anniversary of Haiti's Earthquake

One year ago, I begged God to save my son and bring him home.

And God did it.

"The LORD reigns forever,

your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the LORD."

Psalm 146:10

Today would be a great day to take a minute and pray for Haitian people.  So many need rescue.  And God can do it.

Another Choice

It's been a while since I tried to write anything of significance.  Some days, it's all I can do to slap a photo up here for my mom to enjoy :)  I know this isn't my most coherent post, but see if you can understand my meaning....


November was National Adoption Month.  One of the Sundays in there was "Orphan Sunday."  I heard & read volumes about adoption.

All month I was bombarded with the messages:

"Over 147 million orphans in the world"

(The population of the U.S. is just over 300 million)

"Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out - without a family to love & support them"

"Every 15 seconds another child in Africa becomes an AIDS orphan"

It breaks my heart.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to grow up without a parent.  Especially in a country with no social services.  

AND YET.

I look at the solution we passionately embrace.  Christians especially seem to push adoption:

"Adoption is God's heart for the orphan."

"If just 7% of Christians would adopt, there would be no more orphans."

People gladly ask their friends for money, and do fundraisers, and take out crazy loans in faith to fund their adoptions.

The average cost of adoption, as reported in Adoptive Families magazine, was between

$25,000 and $35,000

Which makes me think about:

Amazima in Uganda, which offers the opportunity to sponsor a child.  For $300 a year, each child receives an education, a uniform, two hot meals per day, school supplies, and any minor medical care. 

Real Hope for Haiti, which can staff their cholera house for $10 an hour.

The Livesays in Haiti, who help save the lives of children who are dying of malnutrition.  For appoximately $100 a child can be on Medika Mamba, a lifesaving nutritional product - and the product is produced in Haiti, creating local jobs.

Heartline in Haiti, which runs all kinds of programs to educate and empower women.  For $500 a woman can go through the sewing program, and receive a way to support her family.

You know I could go on.

So I look at those dollar amounts - so expensive that few people actually donate.

And I consider that -when those same people are driven by the desire to add a beautiful child to their family or community, they will stop at nothing to raise the necessary funds.

... the same amount of money, that - if raised - could provide
          10 Ugandan children with 10 years of education, food, and medical care
          4 months of round-the-clock Cholera care
          300 starving children with lifesaving nourishment
          60 women with the employment needed to support their family

AND THEN I imagine that I am a woman in Uganda or Haiti or ....  That I am a mother.  Perhaps I am a mother suffering from AIDS.  Or one who will die of cholera.  Perhaps I am a mother listening to my children cry from the pain of their hunger.  Or one whose children have stopped crying because they know there is no food.  Perhaps I am a mother, looking at my children and deciding: which one will eat today?  which one will I send to the city or to an orphanage - hoping that they are fed and educated.  How does a mother choose?  How does she survive after making the choice?

And why should she have to?

If I were that mother, I would be grateful to know that someone would take my child, through adoption, and feed him, and educate him, and love him.

But I would be even more grateful if someone would make adoption unecessary.

Why can't Christians gladly ask friends for money, and do fundraisers, and take out crazy loans in faith, and raise $25-35,000 to PREVENT ORPHANS?  To keep families alive and together?

I recognize that millions of current orphans desperately need and deserve families of their own.  I have been blessed beyond belief to adopt my precious son.  I am intensely grateful for the many friends who sacrificed to help me bring G home.  I am not trying to discourage adoption.  Children need families and families need children.  We should sacrifice for that.

I'm just saying - let's not stop there.

Remembering

I spent last weekend reading other blogs & news articles, remembering what it was like after Haiti's January earthquake, and crying.  In some ways, the pain still feels so fresh.  I remember - not just in my mind, but with my body - how it felt to desperately ache for news of G.... how it felt to know the suffering others were enduring.

G has been looking back too.  For the past three days, he's asked me "airplane Mama" - he wants to see the photo I have of him on the airplane from Port-au-Prince, and the photos from our first days together as a family.

So much has changed for us.

So much has not changed for people living in Haiti.  I hope we're all continuing to pray for them.

Accomplishment!

Celebrate with me.

My church is gearing up for our next medical missions trip to Haiti.  Tonight I finished drafting the medical supply order!  It was more complex than ever, with us expecting to serve more adults, have a larger team, and face cholera concerns.  But some major decisions have been made.

Metronidazole; Albendazole; Clotrimazole - I have conquered all.  Hooray!

Trusting that the few hours I spent will be significant in caring for people in Haiti.  So glad I get to be part of that.

Cholera

Maybe you have heard that Haitians are now enduring an outbreak of cholera?  LATimes.com reports that over 2,000 people are already sick (over 100 have died) in the Artibonite Valley.  

"Officials feared the disease could reach the capital, Port-au-Prince, 55 miles to the south, where hundreds of thousands of people are living in fetid conditions in the camps."

Letting My Heart Be Broken

I don't know the blogger who writes at Sit A Spell.  But she writes about being a new missionary in Haiti and some of the experiences she & her husband have been facing.  Such as - twice in 3 days - being offered orphaned babies: "Do you want her?"  And having to say No, because in Haiti you could say Yes a thousand times, and still run into desperate children on a daily basis.  She wrote:

"While many American churches are worrying about the lighting on their stage, or fussing over the displays in their foyer, children are suffering in orphanages, groaning...aching...for someone to come redeem their lives."

The rest of the post is worth reading too. 


I've read Licia's blog for years, and respect her work in Haiti.  At her Rescue Center she has recently admitted four girls - all suffering from kwashiorkor (malnutrition).  She is asking people to pray for the girls - for their lives and their healing. 


Other missionaries/bloggers I greatly respect are the Livesays.  Recently they wrote regarding orphans:

"Whether I think about them or not - they exist. My choices are pretty straight forward. So are yours.


1. We find something we can do.


or


2. We plug our ears and close our eyes and pretend there is no problem.


Only one choice reflects the heart of our Father."


I don't have the answers.  I just know that - for me - I'm feeling suffocated by the excesses of my daily life.  How can I buy a new pair of shoes when thousands of people - people just like me - have NO shoes?  How can I choose to eat in a restaurant when thousands of people will not eat at all today.. or tomorrow.. and will literally starve to death? Over 26,000 children die each day of largely preventable causes related to their poverty.*  Surely I could do more.  I can make tiny sacrifices that would yield life for someone else.  That is what I would hope someone else would do if my sons were among the ones starving.


I'm not feeling guilty.  And I'm not failing to enjoy what I've been given.  I'm just longing for life to be more than new shoes & fancy food.  And I think it's possible.


So I pray.  I ask God to provide for the ones who suffer.. and the ones who care for them.. and to show me what my role is.  And I let my heart be broken.




*Statistic from Richard Stearns' "The Hole in Our Gospel"

Another First!

I know you're thinking that I just baked chicken for the first time.  But no - not yet for that.  See the wristband?...

Today was G's first trip to the Emergency Room!  Didn't take long for that.  Although, at the rate he has accidents, I'm sure it's not too surprising.

The 3 of us were outside.  G was mostly standing around because he still doesn't really "get" independent imaginative play.  Joseph was cutting branches and I was bagging them.  Suddenly G started SCREAMING & rubbing at his eye, which he would not open. 

(Skipping the boring middle of the story)

We end up in the ER, G with his eye numbed.  The doc has the eyelid flipped, and he finds the "foreign body therein!"  It was a speck.  Seriously, a speck.  The size of a period.  Crazy to see how much trouble a speck can cause.

Soon we'll see how crazy the cost of speck-removal is.

Being in that hospital in our cozy suburb is weird to me.  It's so much like (I imagine) a luxury spa would be.  Tranquil environment, plenty of staff there to serve you, polite capability everywhere.  Today, being there with G, made the experience even more weird.  Do you know that when someone goes to a hospital in Haiti they'd better have a friend there to take care of them?  Assuming that they are seen, the friend will be responsible for providing any food & water.  They need to bring their own medical supplies for any treatment that's done.  I've heard this information from multiple sources and believe it to be true.. before the earthquake.  I don't know what it's like now.  I know that the people of Haiti still desperately need help. 

And I know I'm very glad that G is home, safe.

Soccer Boy

Yesterday I wanted to include the photo of the soccer-playing boy, but I couldn't find it anywhere.  I still can't, but here (Martin Vielma) is a photo from the same game.  I got to be part of making sure that boy had a ball to cream that day.

I believe that small things do make a difference.

I want to do more of those things.

Celebrating!

Do you know that a group of churches, including mine, partners with a group of churches in Haiti, sending mission trips a couple of times each year?  And do you know that I'm responsible for obtaining/purchasing all the medicines that the group will take? 

On one trip we were able to treat (and love on) 900 orphans!  On our last - February - trip, we were able to expand and start meeting the needs of adults in the community.  We even were able to assist in a local hospital.  I love that I don't have to travel, but I can still be part of something so important.

So - I do get a bit nervous before placing an order.  Have I chosen the right items?  Will I be able to get the physician's approval?  Will my funding request be approved?  Will the church receive sufficient donations to cover the expense?  Will I get the order placed in time to receive it on time?  on & on

But tonight I think it's ready to go!

I've seen photos of children covered everywhere with scabies.. until we were able to partner with their orphanage in treating them.  AND - I learned that on our next trip, those children were still scabies-free!

Once the team planned a sports camp.  I added the soccer balls to the shipment.  Later I saw a photo showing a young boy with ripped shorts & no shoes flying in to kick one of my balls.

Joy.