Thede Connection

Back Home

Fri, 02/12/2011 - 21:56

While happy to return safely back home the trip went better than we could of hoped. Monday early we loaded up the truck after greeting two guest riders and headed down South. Thankfully we made great time arriving in only 4.5 hours because the boat that Cory and the kids expected to take to LaGonave could not come. But we arrived in time for them to catch the public ferry. I stayed on the mainland for the hospital meeting.






Now I can easily make a very long list of things I would prefer to do over meetings but I think that the items discussed in this one will greatly impact and increase the ministry of the LaGonave Wesleyan hospital. I feel very honored for the invitation and thankful that those present not only listened but actively interacted as folks from many countries and lines of work united under the goal to improve the hospital.

While the 'think tank' meetings occurred Cory, Eli and Anna visited LaGonave. Cory talked with his workers, made a trip up the mountains and chatted with friends. Eli and Anna did some school work but mostly connected with friends both Haitian and the missionary kids.

On Thursday morning they returned to the mainland where Cory spend some time talking with Dr. Steve [Starfysh] and Lowell about LaGonave's agriculture. Eli and Anna enjoyed some time with Joy and Heidi before we headed back North.

Will attempt a bit of school today and rest up this weekend. Many things to think about and try to get down on paper on how I can continue to help the progress of the hospital from our remote location.  Will share more later.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Thanksgiving Fellowship

Sun, 27/11/2011 - 05:50

Today we drove to the Christian radio station just outside of Cap Haitian for the annual Thanksgiving get together. We also do our best to celebrate Easter Sunrise with this same group and may get to 1-2 Sunday afternoon church services during the year.

I'd guess we knew about 1/2 of the folks there or less. So we visited with some old friends and met some new folks [new to us]. Folks brought dishes to share and also chipped in for the turkey and ham. Many of the traditional foods tasted great-cranberries, rolls, stuffing, mash potatoes with gravy, casseroles-green bean, corn, and sweet potato. Yummy.

Because of a wedding we needed to hurry up a bit so we only sang one song, enjoyed a short devotional and prayer. We helped clean up and chatted while Eli and Anna enjoyed some after dinner football [American style]

A small amount of rain welcomed us home. For the end of November our area is dry with the lawn starting to turn brown. It would be nice if the rain came today and tomorrow so that we would not need to drive through the rain on Monday.




Monday we will head to the Wesleyan boat dock at Croir Luly where I will be staying at the Wesleyan Guest house while Cory, Eli and Anna go to visit LaGonave. I will attend a meeting about the Wesleyan hospital of LaGonave. While I will not visit the island some of the staff will be attending the meeting so I'll have some time to reconnect.

Eli and Anna nicely decorated our living room for Christmas last night. Our small tree, Furdinand had its lights removed for the first time in years. Eli decided the only way to fluff up the tree branches properly and make sure the lights looked right was to take the lights off and then put them back on. I read aloud while the kids decorated. The trees will be put in Eli's room while we're gone so that the cat does not get any ideas.

We enjoyed a short visit from some of the World Hope staff on Friday. Nice but rare when folks drop in and we have a short chance to visit. Eli and Anna completed a day of school before decorating for Christmas. Next week with the trip we will likely only complete a full day on Friday, providing we return home as planed on Thursday.

I think it interesting that our ham in the picture lasted us for 6-7 meals. A rare treat that shows how much less meat we eat now-than we did when we lived in the USA.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Thanksgiving.

Wed, 23/11/2011 - 23:28

Happy Thanksgiving.

One of those days when I feel the isolation from family and countrymen some. Holidays and missing significant life milestones or health issues stir up lots of memories and a longing for the memories that we miss making because of the distance.

Knowing we will be the only ones celebrating in our area tomorrow makes a small lonely feeling-this feeling will rapidly disappear on Saturday when folks from many countries join together for a time of thankfulness and fellowship on Saturday. Yes, every day we thank the Lord for the blessings He pours on us but nice put aside a whole day to remember and reflect.

The worst Thanksgiving I remember occurred only a few years ago when Eli and Anna attended the international school which did not recognize most holidays as their students came from at least 3 different nations. Because of the carpool responsibilities we did not feel like we could keep the kids home. Spending most of the day alone was hard.

Celebration of our blessings, good food that we generally do not have or take the time to make, and family time will shape our family Thanksgiving. This week we reviewed the history of American Thanksgiving and how the Lord shaped the country and our families history.

So many areas and individual items to be thankful for one hesitates for fear of forgetting important items. But better to forget a few than not acknowledge those we do remember.

• God-loving and true. Unchanging.
• Faith, Christian heritage, Bible, 
• Family-biological, spiritual, international
• Friends-young and old. New and forever. Here and there. 
• Freedoms. Ability to choose. Worship. Speech. Vote.
• Food, clean water, house, running water, electricity, clothes, shoes
• Internet, computers, phones, Kindle, E-bay
• Medical-medicines, treatments, surgeries that improve and prolong life. Health
• Homeschool. Learning together. Sonlight. The HomeScholar.
• Haiti-people, land, weather, culture
• Support team-Prayers and $ that allow our ministry to continue as well as the folks at GP and other ministries that support our lives here.
• Books!
• Nature-animals, Kodiak-our cat, trees, flowers, plants, mountains, sea
• Music, colors, beauty, nice smells
• Laughter, joy, peace, contentment, gratitude 
• Political stability, safety

Thank the Lord. Enjoy those around you. Count your blessings.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Walk, clinic, learning, reading.

Tue, 22/11/2011 - 02:02

Cooler weather and still limited rain lured us out of the house on Saturday morning for a walk. Cory and the kids went all the way up to our nearest cell tower while I spent some alone time 1/2 way up enjoying the view of the valley and talking to the Lord. [Yes they have better lungs than me]

Today Cory worked on office work while keeping an eye on our students. Clinic crowd moderately busy so I visited with 5 patients and interacted with a few of the student nurses. Today's patient diagnoses included: malaria, scabies, ear channel infection, constipation, very bad teeth, bronchitis, and GI worms.

Three moms received information about dental care, not buying hard candy and pop for their children and good nutrition. The students also learned about breast feeding, introduction of solid food, dangers of putting small cotton applicators in ear channels, WIDAL test for typhoid and more.

Only about 5 folks in the Cholera area. The pastor talked about a school in Haiti that was hit hard with the Cholera [I think it was recent?] with over 150 students hospitalized at one time and 50 died. Very sad.

Eli and Anna continue to learn during and after school hours. Both are looking forward to sharing a Thanksgiving meal with some other kids on Saturday at the radio station as well as visiting LaGonave.

After sharing on our homeschool curriculum forum what Cory shared about 'yeah' I learned that there are a few ways to use this word. Think I'll try to change to YAY-to mean excitement and not just agreement. Words can be tricky to use correctly. Today in French our teacher introduced 10 new verbs to us. Fortunately they all end in 'er' so we will be able to learn the different forms in a group.

Reading older classics one also becomes aware of how the meanings of words change with time. I enjoy the ease of looking up unfamiliar words while I read with the Kindle! We just read H. G. Wells' book the The Time Machine over the weekend. Interesting discussions occurred due to this book. Now we will need to pick our next book.

Categories: Planet Home Education

End of week one.

Thu, 17/11/2011 - 05:26

Mail came Tuesday, the 15th, including a couple of letters, a couple magazines, a few books and new DVD's and yes a few of these items fall under the category of Christmas presents. When shopping for gifts includes  international shipping one needs to start early in order to make sure at least some arrive before Christmas Day.

Cory visited the market in Port Margo, Wednesday morning for produce. We plan to celebrate family Thanksgiving on Thursday [START School holiday] and then with the other local ex-patriot families with a potluck Saturday at the Christian radio station near Cap Haitian.
Anna decorated the living room for Thanksgiving. We will enjoy these decorations for the week and then move on toward Christmas.
Cory's guys cleared and prepared more land for planting this week. Unfortunately one of his workers, Evon hit his finger with the machete yesterday. Cory accompanied him to clinic and thankfully reported the injury turned out minor. Evon surprised him by even coming to work today.

Despite schools in Haiti being off for the anniversary of the last major battle in Haiti's fight for independence..we put in a full school day. Next week will take our day off.

The motivation to get into a good school day pattern is being undermined by the knowledge of a holiday next week, a major trip the next week, followed by several days of standardized testing [providing the tests arrive]. Still I'm pleased with the outcome of our first week of new topics.

Often at meals we discuss items learned that day. Mine today, thanks to Cory-- proper spellings Yeah! or yea. For a long time I've used 'yeah' without the ! to indicated excitement over news. Never occurred to this poor speller that it could be taken as 'yeah so what' tone. So sorry if I've confused you or upset you by my improper spelling of a happy complement. I rarely use this word in formal newsletters or correspondence so Cory's not had the chance to point it out to me until now.

Praise Dad doing well.
Prayer for Norther district youth representatives meeting this weekend.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Breadfruit Tree Update.

Thu, 17/11/2011 - 01:21

Remember those small trees carried in a horizontally held carry-on from Michigan back in August? Baby plants

The trees continue to grow well and some have already been divided into a second tree already! Yeah. Three of the original trees died from dehydration during travel therefore a 98% survival rate.

The baby plants that contained branches when brought to Haiti were intentionally potted deeper so the soil covered the base of the branches.


Now, less than three months later, you can see that both branches grew roots which allows them to be separated into new trees.

This process can be repeated every few months for exponential multiplication.  By cutting off the growing point and removing the biggest leaves Cory can force the small trees to make more branches.  Roughly half of the trees will be allowed to grow normally while the rest will be used for propagation. By propagating the trees in Haiti the shipping fee and initial purchase price can be saved.



Today I'm thankful to live in the tropics. While hanging our clothes out to dry my eyes noted the green mountains and trees surrounding me. A gentile breeze will dry the clothes while the 84 degree temperature feels great. Sunshine brightens the day-not harshly but just right.

Praise-Dad doing well. Beth completed her 4th chemo treatment yesterday.

Prayer-Todd, my brother with an gout attack.
 LaGonave's Compound manager's 6 year old daughter died this week.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Nov. 14th

Tue, 15/11/2011 - 01:59

Monday the 14th.
     Dad went home from the hospital after doing well this weekend.
     Eli and Anna started new year of curriculum.
     Beth to receive her 4th dose of chemotherapy, tomorrow.

For the first time in a long time I saw 6 patients in clinic. If enough patients come to clinic I put in a couple hours seeing new patients and then return in the early afternoon to give patients who needed laboratory testing their results and treatments.

Today about 20 nursing students joined the crowd as they received orientation to the clinic and hospital. I do not know how long they will be with us but during my introduction by Pastor Rigo he mentioned the Creole health book. One of the students responded that she had the book and thought it was helpful. The other students will be able to purchase a book at the pharmacy if they wish.

I wrote the patient names, dates and a few medications on the prescriptions and prayed with some of the patients. I anticipated that the time in the afternoon between seeing the patiences for a second time and French class would be short. I arrived 10 minutes late to class.

Knowing that I was going to be late for class caused me to hurry with my last patient. I ended up rushing a bit and made an error. I explaned that because her pregnancy measurement looked to be one month smaller than expected she should get an ultrasound. She did not understand me so a student nurse explaning a second time what I wanted her to do.

 I thought I would check the dates again and got myself confused and thought that my error occured with the first calcuations. So I appologised and let her go...but that small voice in my head would not be quiet so later I recalculated twice and I was right the first time. Unfortantaly by the time I did this she had left for home. While it is  very doubtful that she would of gotten the ultrasound anyway I feel badly for the mistake. [She waited until 32 weeks to come for her first visit.] And I also know that if the baby is very small for dates there is little that could be done here to help but still I feel badly. [Or she could be mistaken on her dates and everything is fine.]

French class went well. School went OK. Anna put up Thanksgiving decorations while I read some of today's school books to her. I graded a couple things as well. A full day! I'm looking forward to going to bed.

Thank you for your prayers.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Mixed Feelings.

Fri, 11/11/2011 - 02:19

Mixed feelings filled me yesterday. Celebrating the completion of a year's worth of curriculum our family we spent the day playing games, talking, laughing and watching videos. My family in Michigan spent the day at the hospital waiting for Dad while he received a new hip and then settled in his hospital room. One of those days when the ability to be in two locations at the same time sounds like a great thing.

Our school year finished up well. All three of us learned many things about the world the Lord made and how us humans interact in it. Monday we will jump into a new year of curriculum-Anna looks forward to Ancient world history and revisiting some great books that we read together 3 years ago when Eli took this course.

New Garden-bananas and sweet potatoes

Eli and I will be spending the next months learning about history of God's kingdom as well as physics and psychology. Years ago I labeled homeschooling with words like 'painful', 'penitence' or 'punishment' but thankfully now the labels include: 'blessing', 'enjoyable', and 'rewarding'.


The hours of schooling, communication needs and working on a second book do keep me in the house most days. I find that without meaning to I can go through the week with very little outside contact other than Sunday morning church and some superficial chatting with Cory's workers and our cooks.

Wire cut and stolen on campus.

Once again I need to make an intentional effort to get out and mingle with the folks on campus and in the community. I really do not know why isolation becomes an issue with me. I like people. I like taking walks and visiting. The great weather recently cannot be blamed. The book and communication needs really do not fall into a category of urgent and therefore could be delayed an hour or so without problem.

Cory and I did take a walk on Thursday because of my contemplating and realizing again the need to make the effort needed. Perhaps we need to have one afternoon a week that school lets out earlier than 4 p.m.  After 4 generally I exercise, check E-mails, and think about supper. If I still retain some motivation I'll work on the book.

Interesting that even though our day to day schedule will not change from Friday to Monday-finishing up a curriculum year makes me reflect on life and contemplate change. More thinking needed.

Thankful: Dad did well with surgery and slept well last night. New school curriculum.
Prayers: Beth will be well enough to take Chemo #4 on Monday and Dad will be able to return home.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Thede November E-mail update.

Thu, 10/11/2011 - 21:34

Recent cooler nights and days indicate fall weather along with the turning of the calendar. Kris's folks, along with a family from the Allegan church purchased tickets to visit in February. We may end up with a few open spots on the team should you wish to join them and visit us. Let us know if you are interested.

Agricultural: Cory picked up two orders of banana plants at the Cap Haitian airport. One for here and another was Starfysh's which he brought to LaGonave. Visits to local gardens continue to show advantages of the imported banana plants over the local varieties.  Just south of our house we now can harvest fresh Moringa leaves from our own plot. In less than 2 months the scraggly leftover trees, in small plastic cups over the summer, now planted in well prepared soil, grew to over waist high!  Bamboo distribution in Ti Bourg resulted in increased interest when they saw the plants and requests for another delivery of bamboo plants. 
Medical: Clinics remain slow as is normal for the start of the Haitian school year in October. The start of the rainy season increased the number of patients suffering from cholera. At times over 17 patients lay side by side on cots in the area previously used for a chapel/ waiting area. Because of the swift action of this disease the numbers of patients can change rapidly from day to day. Because the government requires that cholera patients receive free care, the financial burden remains costly. Some Cholera treatment supplies come free from the government but not all that is needed and nothing is provided by the government for staff paychecks.
Travel: Cory and Gener traveled to Port-au-Prince to renew our residential visas on Oct. 24th. A quick visit and overnight trip to LaGonave on the 25th, picking up the papers and returning back home on the 26th. Thankfully the trip went very well and Cory met with Jeantiny and others on LaGonave. 
School: Eli and Anna remain on track to finish up one year's worth of curriculum this week [started in January of this year]. We will start the next curriculum year next week. In addition to our normal studies the three of us now meet with a French teacher twice a week to work on French grammar and pronunciation. Kris continues to research the ins and outs of high school record keeping and classes to prepare Eli to enter college. 
Country: Haiti's new prime minister, Garry Conille, received confirmation from the Haitian Parliament on October 5. 
Creole Books: Cory delivered a load of books to Pastor Dan and LaGonave on his trip. Here in the North, the Wesleyan churches can make the books available to their congregations as the pastors recently received books to sell at low cost. New groups continue to learn about the book and request copies. 
Family: Kris' sister-in-law, Beth is in the middle of chemo treatments. Kris' dad will received a new hip on Friday, Nov. 11.
Prayer Requests: 

• Cholera and medical patients.
• Church leadership
• Teams for 2012 visits & Travel arrangements. 
• LaGonave Hospital Summit meeting Nov. 29/30  
• New Haitian Government
• Eli and Anna's schooling. Standardized testing early Dec. 
• Impact of Creole health book. Translating "Natural Medicine for the Tropics" book into Creole.
• Beth. Kris' Dad. Health of missionaries and family. 

Blessings,Cory, Kris, Eli and Anna Thede

Categories: Planet Home Education

November 7th.

Tue, 08/11/2011 - 05:42

Left-Jontinny Cory's LaGonave gardener. Right-Gennier Cory's Fauche gardener. Only a few hours remain in the first week of November!

Saturday morning my studious children spend working on school work. Lest you think that the motivation consisted of only the love to learn....if they complete this curriculum year before next Friday we will spend the day playing games and watching movies. On Monday, Nov. 14th we plan to start a new year of curriculum.
Saturday at dusk I received a call from the clinic to come and consult on a laboring mother. The mother arrived in the early afternoon to deliver her second child but unfortunately her labor pains did nothing and I confirmed the lack of a heartbeat. Because of our limited testing and facilities we sent her to a larger hospital. I prayed with her. 
Haiti did not participate in day light savings this year so no time change for us.
Sometime last week-several wires stolen from the campus. Pastor to file a report with the police today.
Sunday morning heavy drizzle prevented many from attending church but we made it. Interesting the Pastor spend some time correcting a couple points from the message the week prior. See a visiting pastor shared and a couple points made did not fit with what the Wesleyan church teachers so Pastor Jonas clarified what and why.

Jontinny with his older childre

Sunday we enjoyed our first Moringa from the new plot near the house. One branch from each tree made a small serving for each of us. 
This morning after starting school I went down to clinic. On the way our French teacher who teaches high school here on campus informed me that due to a death in his family he would be unable to hold classes today. He will call when he can met with us again. Then because two Haitian doctors already had the small clinic under control I walked back up to the house to continue school.
With my 'extra' time I'll be working on an E-mail update, reviewing French, read a blog about homeschooling high school and if time remains work on the Creole plant book. 
Praise: Finishing up the school year and bananas to share with the Haitian school children.
Prayer: Problem with stealing. Health for clinic/hospital patients. 

Categories: Planet Home Education

Banana visit, trimming, and more.

Fri, 04/11/2011 - 23:41

 Cory enjoyed visiting some local gardens yesterday. During the walk he saw many of the imported banana plants, overall doing better than the local varieties. The nights continue to cool down and bring rains a few times a week.

The tall banana plant in the back with a bunch of green bananas was imported while the small plants in front are local.


Yesterday the guys worked to 'trim' some trees on campus. Cory calls it trimming while the rest of us would use 'major pruning' or 'tree mutilation' to describe the major limb removal. This work served two major purposes-to remove weak, dangerous limbs and open up areas for planting breadfruit trees on campus. Cory would add that the trees now look better after their shaping.

My Moringa tree garden by the house continues to grow well, with the trees now reaching waist high.

Kid's Club leaders met yesterday with ideas on how to expand and improve their impact on the community. They plan to hold a Christmas party next month for the children.

While looking for good movies for our family for Christmas we made sure to check if the disk included a French translation or subtitles. That way the video can be shared with the community as well as watched in French in our home to help Eli, Anna and I improve our language skills.

While we occasionally grumble about using the computers most of the time we remain very thankful for these machines that impact our lives greatly: communication with family/supporters/team, on-line shopping, school, information/research, entertainment [i.e. Kindle books], word processing, staying connected with the world and pictures.

 Having the right tools for the job can make a large difference. As I learn about preparing students for college many experts advise to take time to train them for life: taking responsibility for ones actions, attitudes and work, being organized, managing time, living healthy.....

I'm thankful for the 'tools' and skills that my parents and teachers taught me growing up and continue to work on adding the good while pruning the bad.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Balance

Wed, 02/11/2011 - 00:04

This morning I turned the page on our calendars to a new month, November. I took a bit of time to write down a few goals for this month on the side of my organizer. October 2011 fades into history never to return. A new month stretches before us will it be a balanced or unbalanced month?

Balance can be a difficult concept to identify, reach, and maintain. Priorities can shift subtly, slowly, escaping notice until suddenly a crisis draws our attention to the shift. One needs to stay alert and intentionally keep goals clear or they fade. Urgent problems can shift priorities as can day to day, 'normal' routines.

Thankfully the Lord grants us wisdom when we ask. Only He can help us identify health balance in our lives and reach balance. Balance requires making hard choices and sometimes saying 'NO' not only to bad or unhealthy things but sometimes to good things. Good things but things we just do not have time or energy for.

Thankfully many things in our lives the Lord balances for us. We do not normally think about these balances in our lives. My grandmother's can no longer produce enough blood cells-so she needs regular transfusions. Ironically my mom makes to many blood cells therefore needs to have blood drawn weekly to keep her levels down. Thankfully most of us do not need medical help to maintain normal blood levels.

Balance.
     Computer time with real life time.  Devotions and prayer time. Money-life needs vs. wants. Helping others enough without causing dependence. Personal time vs. sharing time with others. Family time vs. serving others. Work vs. rest. Busy vs. slowing down to enjoy earth's beauty. Order vs. random. Pressure vs. control. Details vs. basics......


Eli, Anna, and I continue to wind down the school year with each day seeing projects completed. Yesterday after a French quiz our teacher told us we were doing well. Grammar falls low on each of our 'like' list to study in any language but we continue to learn.

Most of the people sitting on the clinic benches yesterday morning turned out to be family of the 15 or so Cholera patients receiving treatment. Cory reported seeing a body removed after clinic. I cannot imagine being sick in a room with 15+ other people, staff and family members coming and going at all hours and witnessing the death of someone with the same diagnosis. But I remain grateful that the Lord continues to supply the resources [supplies and staff] to keep this vital ministry going.

My parents continue to work on getting tickets for a visit in February. Please join us in praying for the potential work teams for 2012: right people, right dates, right travel, right projects and right experiences.

Cory attempted to contact our friend for news about his wife but the phones would not work.

Praise: Ministries at Fauche-spiritual, medical, agricultural, educational.
Prayer: Ministry balance, effectiveness.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Learning.

Sun, 30/10/2011 - 02:52

Sunny, no wind, a slightly muggy and hot Saturday afternoon.

Cory arrived back home in the dark and in the rain on Wednesday night. Thankfully his trip accomplished the goals he left with: renewal of our residential visas, delivery of Starfysh banana plans, and some shopping. He greeted many of our friends on LaGonave and encouraged them.

We learned many things this week both in school and out of school. One after noon the rains kept Eli and Anna inside during their normal time to run around and play with their friends. Anna chose to spend her time on the computer learning with a art program while Eli worked on a on-line program reviewing math concepts. I think they do enjoy learning as shown by their choosing to continue to learn outside of school time and am thankful.

On our bedroom wall.

I too continue to learn. The past couple of weeks I've been learning about keeping high school records and the best way to prepare Eli for his goals of attending college and working toward a degree in mechanical engineering. Research helps us to expand the resources that will help Eli and Anna continue to learn and grow in their skills and knowledge base. Yes it is possible to provide good schooling in rural Haiti if you intentionally work at it.

 One concept stressed is learning your kid's passion and encouraging them. How true in life as well.

I'm so very thankful that the Lord uniquely equips each one of us with special combinations of likes and passions. I am very thankful that the Lord opened the door for us to move to Fauche, four years ago, where the conditions allow Cory to work with the plants and trees that he loves. I am thankful that I can spend every day encouraging and equipping Eli and Anna to follow their God given dreams and use their passions and talents to advance His Kingdom.

Our world would be a much better place if each of us tried to encourage those we connect with every day. How can we help others reach their goals and dreams?

Categories: Planet Home Education

Cory's Travels

Tue, 25/10/2011 - 21:39

I did try to blog yesterday but the Internet would not work for me when it was not thundering..sorry.Cory left yesterday at 4 a.m. for a trip to Port-au-Prince and LaGonave. Genier traveled with him and helped to load the truck with over 1300 banana plants purchased by Starfysh and heading for LaGonave. As many boxes of Creole health books that could fit on the truck also made the trip South.
At 10 a.m. knowing we would be enjoying a break from formal school Cory called letting us know they reached the Irvine's house, near the Wesleyan boat dock and unloaded the plants and books. Later about 2 p.m. he updated us on their way from Immigration [where he'd renewed our residential visas] going across town. They shopped and then spent the night at the Gille's guesthouse. 
Today they will head across the sea to LaGonave. Visit with friends. Visit the gardens and talk about the ongoing agricultural work as well as Starfysh's plans. Tomorrow they head back into Port to hopefully pick up the paperwork that should be ready at 10 a.m. If all goes VERY well in Port they will head back here tomorrow. The trip will take over 7 hours from Port.
Eli, Anna and I continue to work on school. I've found a hole in our English education-while learning our French 1,2,3rd person singular and plural tenses we noticed that my kid's cannot easily identify the pronouns in this manner. So our French studies now spill into English. I'm not sure what our teacher thinks about our progress but we continue to learn every lesson. I'm hoping for  'slow but steady' progress. 
My folks started looking into tickets to come visit next year! Anyone want to join them? A few churches continue to talk about teams and pray about a visit. The big prayer request would be that when folks do decide they would like to come that the plane would still have open seats for the dates the team wants. 
Prayers: Beth received her third round of chemo yesterday. Cory's trip. Thankful: Electricity. Great times of learning with Eli and Anna. Wonderful support team. 

Categories: Planet Home Education

Information overload vs. blind faith.

Sat, 22/10/2011 - 07:33

Monday my folks attended 'Joint Academy' ALL morning receiving a book of information and learning about what to expect before, during and after Dad's hip replacement next month.

Contrast this with our friend to stopped by yesterday to talk about his wife's brain surgery next week. All he really knows is the need for a large amount of money. Things that remain unknown include: why she needs surgery [no diagnosis], risks of surgery, possible outcomes of surgery [cure?], recovery time [important as the surgery will take place in the Dominican Republic]......

Remember a few weeks ago when I blogged about questioning how involved we should be in this case, should we visit her at home? She continues to experience headaches and remains bed ridden now in the DR. No one knows if this relates to her previous battles with cancer.

In medical care does a perfect balance exist where the patient receives all the information and not one fact more that they need to make the correct decision about treatment for their personal case? Not very long ago in the history of American  folks generally left the major decisions up to their doctor. While some positives existed in this method so did negatives.

So I wonder, has the USA swung to far to the other extreme-flooding patients with to much information to understand so that if a bad outcome occurs the medical profession can hide behind 'informed consent'?

In medical school training the idea existed to try to leave it up to the patient how much information they wanted. Yes the basics needed to be addressed but after that one could leave it up to the patient how much additional information to share.

Our friend came with some medical questions. With almost no information about his wife to base my answers, I answered to the best of my ability. "How to do they reach the brain?" "Do they remove bone?" "How?" "Do they put it back in?"  "Will it stay in?"

I confess, I also added some unsolicited advice [I know.... I'm working on this] noting a few questions that he may want to ask so the family can understand more what to expect.

Another line of thinking occurred to this as I pondered this dear man's dilemma after he left for his home. I wonder how our expectations of medical treatment apply to our faith? Take a person raised in a 'information overload' culture and a person from a 'blind faith' culture- would one be able to put their faith in God easier? Is it best to 'count the cost' before committing or commit 100% in faith?

Yet another instance in life where finding the right balance can be tricky. I do not want to get so caught up in the details and making the right decision that I end up waisting all my time thinking and not acting. Neither do I want to act before thinking.....that would not be living an intentional life but reacting to life.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Wake Up Calls.

Thu, 20/10/2011 - 07:38

I like wake up calls....let me rephrase. I appreciate timely 'wake up calls' that do not cost much.

Last week while happily adding free books to my Kindle library I clicked too fast and accidentally bought a book. Normally I do NOT buy books as the large variety of free books out there satisfies my reading needs. I bought some books for Elijah's next literature course because cost ended up cheaper. No shipping needed. Eli bought a few books that he wanted for the same reason.

Now I know it the grand scheme of life this $10 error boils down to a dumb mistake but I'll admit it bothers me that I made it. Now I double check the price before clicking the button that commits me and my money. Someday when I'm able to face this event calmly I'll actually read the book I bought and put a price on it. So far it represents a lesson, look carefully before you click.
[I'm thankful the lesson did not cost me more than it did!]

The second lesson also could of been costly. I thought I was recording all Eli's test grades for history and chemistry as well as grades on his papers for English composition in my organizer. Apparently those 'opportunities to serve' that frequently interrupt my life, and my being flexible resulted in many grades only being placed on the papers or tests and not being recorded in my book. SIGH.

Eli and friends, including Flat Freddy or Stanley

Again, not a earth shaking problem. I know how well Eli has done overall in each subject and did record many tests but the oversights make me feel dumb. Thankfully we have 4 more years and several ways to improve on my record keeping so I'm not panicking.

Yes, I need to be more intentional. It reminds me of when we decided to try to make a new path on the compound. At first we often forgot and found ourselves walking on the old path but with time, reminders and some work we became accustomed to the new path until the old one faded from use.

Right now I am working to be more intentional, improve my high school record taking, be more positive in attitude and encouraging in my speech as well as not judging as much. Lots of work represented in that last sentence-please pray for me.

May all your 'wake up calls' be timely and cheap.

Pray for MFI flights tomorrow and Friday. Medical flight tomorrow to Dominican for a missionary who broke both legs therefore Cory's cargo run will now be on Friday. Heard today Pastor Rigo is sick.

Thankful that on Monday only 7 beds in the cholera area were occupied. Thankful for home schooling high school advice [makes me feel like I'm taking a college course again] to keep us on track.

Categories: Planet Home Education

The sun brightens the many different

Tue, 18/10/2011 - 01:56

The sun brightens the many different shades of green that surround our lives here. A slight breeze starts up about 10:30 a.m. and generally builds to the afternoon when thunder may or may not herald an afternoon thunderstorm.

Emperor Jacques I-wikipedia.

I'm not sure why but the quiet strongly suggests that no school, other than my two students, occurred on campus today. Oh, yes the cook reminded us that it is a Haiti holiday today, Dessalines Day. Jean-Jacques Dessalines lead during the Haitian Revolution and became the first rule of an independent Haiti in 1801. He declared himself Emperor in 1804 and ruled until his assassination in 1806.

In the House of Hope the pastors of the Northern district discuss the various items on the agenda for their meeting. Cory hopes to offer each pastor some of the Creole health books to take back to their church making the books more accessible to the church members not in Cap Haitian near the book store.

I visited with an older lady with high blood pressure problems, the adult daughter who accompanied her as well as a young mother with a cute, chubby 5 month old who lost a big patch of hair when another child picked at his case of cradle cap. Before returning up to continue school with Eli and Anna, I prayed with each of the 7 patients in the cholera area. The staff thanked me for praying for their protection as well.

Cory's gardener on LaGonave called yesterday to let us know that his grandmother died from Cholera. The seven current patients include: one child, one teen, four elderly men and one old lady. Because of the rapid speed that this disease can cause one to become critically ill, the number of patients can jump rapidly. Please keep praying!

Yesterday we watched a DVD about the life of Mother Teresa. I too want to 'be the Lord's pencil' letting Him use me as He wishes. May I learn to see every one and treat everyone as I would the Lord. How easy it is for me to forget that each person contains the image of God because that is how we were created, in His image.

Thankful: Freedom of sharing the love of God publicly. Medical staff and supplies helping others.
Prayer: Cholera patients. Impact of the health books. Leadership.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Judging life...and people.

Sat, 15/10/2011 - 01:42

Do you know what the pods are?

Another week winding down.  Moments gone never to be lived again.

Overall this week went well. We celebrated Cory's birthday with thankfulness. We completed some school assignments so that all subjects are 'caught up' with the work schedule. The school days continue to be filled with review of known information and introduction of new.

Cory's plans for a trip to Port to renew our paperwork and visit LaGonave the end of the month appear to be coming together. He will make a cargo run on Oct. 20th to the Cap Haitian airport to pick up some plants for Starfysh. Then early on the 24th he will head to Port-au-Prince. Gener will go with him.

Eli and Anna's writing assignments for the last couple weeks consisted of writing a paragraph on 20 or so topics about Haiti and our lives here. I'm shaping these into letters from 'Flat Freddie' or Stanley for a couple of children's programs in the USA. Now Cory needs to proof read the letters and then we will add a few pictures and send the project off to Michigan and Delaware.

For school I'm reading aloud Bruchko by Bruce Olson. Many interesting discussions have spun off this book in our house. How badly the missionaries treated this young man. How hard it would be to eat squirmy grubs the size of a hot dog. Right now we just read how depressed and board he got when he first lived with the Motilone Indians. He had read his Bible so many times that even that became boring. He wished that the day only lasted 3 hours and that he could sleep the rest.

In thinking about this time of his life I find my self asking "Why, Lord." Why did Bruce need to go through days, weeks and months of depression? Asking why he was there? What good was he doing?

In my life, reading and ponderings I'm focusing on getting away from judging. Judging people, situations, events really does not accomplish much in my life because I do not have all the facts. We see such a small sliver of time or of a situation. We cannot see things from someone else's perspective to know why they act the way they act. I'm becoming more aware of how often my speech, attitudes and actions are judgmental.

 Even in writing this blog- "the week went well"  Did it really? In my limited perspective it did but what did God think about this week and what we accomplished? Did we do what He wanted us to do? Were our attitudes right or wrong? What did we do that will last forever?

 Photos of kids that picked cacao pods for Pastor Emmanuel in the church yard after the bamboo plant distribution.

Categories: Planet Home Education

Happy Birthday, Cory!

Thu, 13/10/2011 - 02:00

Fitting that Cory's birthday falls so close to Canadian Thanksgiving because we praise the Lord for him and are very thankful for him.

Cory's birthday will be low key with some special food, hugs and cards. As he can be difficult to buy for the kids and I told him that the visit back in August to the Asia supermarket would be his gift-he bought many exotic fruits that he wished to both try and gather seeds to bring back to Haiti.

The solar panels which arrived last week now reside on our roof. The recent cloudy days enabled the guys to work on the hot roof without to much trouble. This morning with the sun shinning fully on the panels our input shows an additional 500 watts which more than doubles our old system. YEAH! The next issue to be dealt with will be at some time replacing our aging batteries.

Yesterday Cory visited Ti Bouk, Pastor Emmanuel's church down the river from us to share bamboo plants. The people excitedly accepted the 40 plants that Cory brought and requested that he return next week with more. Cory plans to offer additional churches bamboo before returning to Ti Bouk. The distributed bamboo will grown and be able to be shared with others in time.

The bamboo can help with erosion as well as be used in building and furniture. As many of you know some types of bamboo can also be eaten but we will not be focusing this aspect for now.

Thankful for Cory: his love for the Lord and us, he shops, he's generous, he's ticklish, neat, clean, forgiving, good at packing, good driver, likes to teach about plants, smart, good steward of money, cooks, loves plants, supports Kid's club and video ministry....and much more!


Pray for cholera patients increasing numbers throughout Haiti because of the rain. Many Haitian schools started this week.

Categories: Planet Home Education

This and That

Mon, 10/10/2011 - 04:23

This week our Fall Newsletters headed for the USA to be mailed as well as went out on E-mail. I think most of the information already found its way on the blog but will share a bit. 

Banana PlantsBefore leaving Haiti Cory discovered, to our disappointment, that some of the 'disease resistant' banana plants appeared sick. He worried that Panama Disease had somehow infected the plants. He feared plants bought and distributed in the last few years would continue to grow and produce for a number of years but with time that the plants would become diseased. On our return to Haiti the plants looked better. More research and touring local gardens confirmed that it was not Panama Disease. He now suspects a nutrient deficiency or unbalance in certain soils. Several varieties still show better production and disease resistance over local varieties. So we will again start to purchase and distribute banana plants. {Photo-New baby banana plants from the USA that came in on Thursday}
Prayer Request: "New Christians to grow in faith: Haiti’s evangelical crusade in July reportedly reached 121,000 people for the Lord!"Some of the smaller bananas currently waiting to be shared and enjoyed by the Kid's Club members. Thankfully able to share. 
School week finished well. Both children enjoyed French but need to learn in mom's opinion to stay on task. By getting us away from common words we end up the French words for 'door frame' and 'veterinarian'. While I'm glad that they enjoyed the class I feel that we need to focus on common and useful words first!The almost daily afternoon rains water my growing Moringa trees. The sad trees we planted just three weeks ago recovered nicely. The large Moringa that the storm cracked the top out of now sports a nice green head of leafy new growth as well. 


Yesterday we learned that the hospital ran out of IV fluids the afternoon before. Thankfully by the end of the day a nice amount of IV's reached Fauche safely in the middle of a heavy rain storm. Please pray for John Pierre as he spends many hours traveling for supplies.

Categories: Planet Home Education