Fun With Kids Last Week

The past few days I have had many quality…fun moments with the kids…from just sitting with them & singing songs with signs with them, cuddling with them to going for walks outside the gates for walks. 2 highlight moments for me were going for Sapebon’s with Den-Den, Joseph, & Mackinely. We walked downtown to find a vendor to buy enough Sapebon’s so that each child in the Miriam Center could have one (or some of one for the lower-functioning kids). I was a little nervous taking Den-Den as you have to walk down this steep, rocky hill & therefore back up the hill on the way back BUT he did amazing with Nahum’s help holding under his arms to help. We even walked around for about 30 minutes downtown before coming back. My favorite part though was once we got back. The boys handed each of their brothers & sisters Sapebon’s & I had helped feet the lower functioning kids. Den-Den kept telling me his “Moma’s” the workers didn’t get any…My heart broke because this boy did not want his Moma’s to be left out. So I snuck back out & bought enough for all the workers to have one & Den-Den proudly found each of his Moma’s to give them one  PRICELESS Moment.

Another moment for me was Saturday when I was evaluating Thamara… I was just blown away by how much she could do. Thamara I always thought was at a 2 year level all around mentally, emotionally, etc. But NO she is so bright. She was able to trace over shapes & letters, lace independently, color independently, stay seated on fine motor tasks unattended, & the list goes on & on. She was so excited to sit down & work together.

Kenderson is still fascinated with the back depot closet & since the past 4 days I have been super busy & focused on finishing the visibility boxes which involves tons of printing, cutting, laminating, hole punching & Stephanie has been busy using the Cricket to cut out stuff to make teaching materials to develop a curriculum we have spent a lot of time in the Luke 2:52 room. We have been letting Kenderson just hang out with us…or should I say hang out in his favorite spot in the closet. This boy fascinates me…I can’t wait to figure out what is so fascinating for him in that closet.

I have been drowning in paperwork as I try to finish up Miriam Home evaluations, OT sheets, Visibility boxes, & create an evaluation form for For Jonathan’s Sake so that I can start that process next week. Courtney & I just finished creating Nahum’s job description, making expectations, making him a binder with each child’s OT Goals, treatment plan, & evaluation all in it. He has a detailed schedule of what day he sees each kids so that each kid gets seen 1x a week. Courtney & I are now beginning to develop Presidue and our 2 nurses job descriptions & schedules. Please pray for wisdom & guidance as we do this. A lot of other changes are in the process as well that we would love prayers for wisdom.

This whole week we are having a staff retreat & today we did a SWAT analysis as a mission staff…during that time Courtney & I on the side did one on our Miriam Center programs. A little depressing that we had more weaknesses than strengths in most programs but excited because we have vision for many of these weaknesses & it confirms our need to revamp many of the programs. Please pray for the rest of this week that we are open to learn & open to hear from God.

Deaf Church

This past Sunday we started a Deaf Church. In Haiti Deaf people are not seen…they are not accepted & are not accepted into church. We have an amazing deaf community & were so excited to give them the opportunity to join together in corporate worship. Courtney spent 2 weeks at Deaf Missions in Omaha Nebraska & had the wonderful opportunity of collecting resources for this new ministry. It was a huge success last Sunday with 9 Deaf community members present & 4 Miriam Home Children. We watched 4 sermons & had a time of prayer. The thing that I loved watching the most was how hungry they were for the gospel. I am so excited to see this church grow. Please pray for this new ministry.

Today was week 2 of Deaf Church. Only the deaf teacher showed up this morning because a church in La Pointe was having a special speaker that was going to sign so they all went down there. We still had a great church with 8 of the Miriam Home children attending & watching a children’s deaf sermon after we watched the Adult one. The kids were so engaged & focused. I am so excited that we have videos to share with the children as well  Please keep this new ministry in your prayers.

Hand Therapy Clinic making Splints

The past 2 days have been amazing working in the Hand Clinic with Ann (CHT who came in for 10 day mission trip). It is truly a blessing because I had 3 kids I had to make hand braces for before I left this summer & truthfully I was putting it off because it is beyond my comfort zone & was going to very challenging…FUN…but challenging & with limited resources & amount of splinting material I was afraid of messing up & wasting splinting material. So having Ann here has been truly a blessing.

So we went around to all my kids in the Miriam Home & I told her all the kids that I wanted to have hand braces…In total their were 8 kids & in total 14 different braces. So far we have splinted 5 kids & 10 braces. It has been so much fun & I think we both agree that so much more so with the 2 of us working together & bouncing ideas off of each other. Most of the kids it took 3 people…1 to hold the child, one to hold the hand open & the other to mold the splint. I learned a lot from working with Ann…Ann sketched out all the splints for the kids & got the splinting material ready. Ann said splinting for these children has been really challenging for her because at her clinic at home it is mostly adults & so it is much easier to splint, the splinting material is old so harder to mold, & at home you have pre-fab splints or patterns that work but these kids are each so unique that we had to start from scratch with each. We had a lot of fun being creative & on 4 splints today I even got to use DUCTAPE & loved it!!!!! I was in charge of the ductape piece of the splints. As many of you know I love ductape…it is a necessity for therapy in Haiti…I make wheelchairs out of it, I make bolsters out of it…. I have to say we made some of the coolest splints I have ever seen before today. It was so much fun!

So yesterday there was a child I met in our For Jonathan’s Sake (FSJ) in our high functioning group who was born with congenital amputation of all fingers & toes. We did not get to interact much with him but Stephanie (our special education teacher) had the idea of bringing him back in today so that we could try to make him a splint that could hold different writing utensils so that he could color, write, etc. So we called his mom & she brought him in today. We were amazing to find out as we worked with him that he not only can he hold a crayon but color within the lines, he could hold a pencil & his mom has taught him to write his vowels. He was able to do a stacking activity with small pieces, he could put on & off his shoes, & pretty much so anything we asked him to do, He was able to do with his little stubby fingers & his thumb. He is the happiest kid & very bright. In Haiti many children never get the opportunity to go to school & if you are a child with disabilities it is almost unheard of. It was so exciting to sit down & talk to his mom & tell her he does not need hand braces to help him, to tell her how bright her little boy is & how much potential he had (which she got a look of relief on her face). I was excited to see that his mom has been working with him & she has such a desire for him to learn & has taught him how to count to 11, obviously how to color, & has tried to give him as much as she could. It was so wonderful to tell her how sometime soon we will be able to give him an education through the Luke 2:52 school & to provide her with a little baggie of goodies to take home to continue to work with her son including a dry erase board of Alphabet & number to trace then space to practice, markers, crayons, coloring book, & a pencil. The mom was just so excited. I really felt that no we did not make him a hand brace but we gave him & his mom so much more :-)

I was really sad to see Anne go…she was an amazing hand therapist & I learned so much from her. In total we made 18 splints & got new straps for 3 of the kids that already had splints. We had so much fun taking on this challenge together…many moments of laughter over our use of ductape to make parts of splints & our creativity to make these splints. I have been checking the splints the last 2 days on the kids to make sure no pressure areas & so far so good. The challenge now comes on training my staff how to care for these splints, put them on, developing wearing schedules, & facilitating follow through. Please pray for this aspect.

Trip to Bonneau to the new playground

So pretty much so since I arrived in Haiti a month ago I have been itching to go on a field trip with the kids to the new playground…today was a spur of the moment trip that was AWSOME! Since it has rained so much many of the groups were unable to cross the river over to the orphanage at Salines Mayette or go to the Bay. This left 4-5 groups that needed something to do. We decided to take a trip this morning to the playground. I had the wonderful opportunity to break the news to Den-Den in the hall of the Miriam Center. He proceeded to squeal really loud & try to jump up & down :-) which spread to 2 of my workers running over to find out what’s going on…when they found out we were taking the kids to Bonneau they began screaming & running to tell the other children. We got 18 of the kids ready to head out…all the kids got their shoes on, wheelchair were loaded into the bus, extra diapers were packed, plans to get water on the way through the market were made, the kids were loaded onto the bus with American buddies for each child & the 45 minutes off roading bus trip began. I was almost as excited as the kids to go see & play on the new playground. We arrived & it was a fun adventure getting the kids & their wheelchairs down the massive steep hill to the playground…our land in Bonneau is at the bottom of a very steep hill. THEN THE FUN BEGAN…kids were on the swings…other kids were being help up the ramp to get to the big roller sliding board, other kids were going down other slides…HUGE SMILES, Laughter, Joy was all over. I don’t even know how to express this priceless moment in Words…and internet to slow to upload pictures on video…so patience please & I promise pictures & video will come. A few highlight moments were kenderson going down the roller slide with me holding him upside down which he loved and then swinging with kenderson with him flipping himself upside down while I pumped the swing. That kid cracks me up with how sensory seeking he is. I also loved watching Den-Den climb the stairs up to the side & Moise having a blast playing in the dirt…watching Steven throw himself sideways down the roller slide, & the list could go on & on.

Changes…Frustration…Learning to Trust

Tuesday….
As I sit down to write this blog post my heart is hurting…part of me is angry…frustrated…worried…confused. I want to be able to change a situation that I can’t. I want to play God & make everything better & I just can’t with this one. As I sat with 2 amazing missionary friends I was reminded that I need to let God be God. That I need to TRUST my BIG GOD is really what I just said BIG…I need to trust that He is El Roi the God who sees. I need to surrender & release control…I need to lay my heart, my desire, my will, my problems, my fears, my everything at His feet…I need to lay my burdens down & let him lift them up. I am not ready to talk details about this situation but I do ask for prayers. I ask for wisdom for all involved in making some huge decisions for many programs in the Miriam Center. I ask for peace...ability to surrender…guidance…a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit…and the ability to be the face of Jesus.

“Committ your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5)

Wednesday…
So after some long talks with Courtney, Heather, & lots of prayer over the past 24 hours followed by a 3 hour meeting with Janiel, Courtney, Stephanie & I my heart still is hurting but with great Hope & some huge visions for the Miriam Center that include re-organizing For Jonathan’s Sake completely & narrowing the focus of that program because at this point that program is not thriving & in fact is really plundering if you really look at it as we have it defined now. There is so much potential for this program with some practical changes. One of the practical changes is making FSJ their own space a building that we will be able to run FSJ all day long. The hope is to eventually make each child their own visibility box like what we have been doing for each Miriam Home the past few weeks. We are looking at re-organizing how the Miriam Home runs both staff wise, kids schedules through rotations, & expanding space. We are looking to add an outdoor play area for the kids that the kids can go outside get sun, have an area to run, climb trees, play in a sandbox, have swings, & a place to kick/throw balls around. It will be like a big birdcage without a roof. Then off the back of the Miriam Center we are looking figuring out an area where Nahum can go to do 1:1 therapy with the Miriam Home kids & a place where the Americans can take the kids for 1:1 time to use their visibility boxes. We are having a huge response in the past week of Americans taking advantage of the Visibility boxes. The past 3 days 2x I have gone down & 6-8 boxes were out at a time meaning 6-8 kids were receiving 1:1 time working with a new friend. In order for these visibility boxes to be fully beneficial & used to their full potential we need to find a safe area for the American’s to take the kids to have good 1:1 time.

We also spent a lot of time talking about the new Luke 2:52 school & brainstorming what that is going to look like. We are so blessed to have Stephanie join out Miriam Center team with her special education credentials & experience. I am so excited to get this program up & running. So many of our Miriam Home & For Jonathan Sake children are so eager to learn & have so much potential.

For the new play area & a place for For Jonathan’s Sake we are in need of raising around $20,000 dollars. We are trusting in our BIG God who always provides for our needs. We are so excited for the huge potential these 3 projects bring to improve the quality of care of the kids, allow potential for huge growth physically & mentally as well as make progress toward their educational & therapy goals.

So as you can see above we are on the verge of many huge changes that I believe are going to open up so many new possibilities & potential for these kids. These changes are going to make huge leaps towards making the Invisible…Visible. I covet your prayers as we continue to make many big decisions & implement new strategies over the next few weeks. I ask that you pray for wisdom & guidance for all involved. That we would not run ahead of God but wait patiently on the LORD & his perfect timing. Pray that our staff will have open hearts to all the changes. Most importantly pray that God will be glorified in all we do.

Night of Fun

Most of my day revolved around paperwork but ended with lots of fun activities with the kids. It started with glow in the dark sidewalk chalk that the kids had helped make earlier in the day. After night devotions we went down to the bird cage & the fun began. The kids had a blast scribbling with the chalk. After about 20 minutes we turned the lights off to see the results. A few of the kids wanted to go outside the gates which turned into everyone wanting to which proceeded to lead to a soccer game. It was so much fun to see Den-Den fully engage walking around kicking the soccer ball, Mackinley & Joseph running trying to steal the ball & John, Owens, Joshua, Kem being pushed around in their wheelchairs using their wheels to kick around the balls. We ended this 4th of July by picking 2 of our kids to introduce them to pop-rocks. Our 2 victims…I mean lucky children were Kenderson (very sensory seeking & Autistic) & Moise (sensory Seeker). Kenderson had no response to the Amazing action happening in his mouth except wanting more of it…Moise on the other hand had the best facial expressions that were always followed by a HUGE smile. I can’t wait to slowly introduce all of our children to the Amazing creation of pop-rocks.

Busy few weeks

Hi everyone…I am sorry it has been so long since I have written in my blog or sent an email update. The past few weeks have been extremely busy and once again my plans for the summer changed… Relying on the verse… “For I know the Plans I have for you declares the Lord…” He is El Roi the God who sees…and I don’t know why he keeps changing my plans but I TRUST Him & know His plans are better than mine.

So a little over a week ago I had a meeting with Janeil Owens the executive director of NWHCM whom I work for and the Miriam Center is apart of. I went into the meeting just to discuss my vision & plans for the Miriam Center, my plans for the summer, & to just make sure we were on the same page. We had an amazing 3 hour conversation that lead to great brainstorming & a new plan of what my summer will look like. A plan that we feel will have greater follow through & sustainability throughout the years to come.

So as we were talking through things…we realized the most important thing for me to focus on this summer is a plan that will enable the Miriam Home Children to receive therapy/educational play throughout the year. I had started working on this by training Nahum who is going to be our OT for the Miriam Home but I have been having some difficulties with follow through on what I am asking & following a schedule. And truthfully 1 person trying to do therapy on 32 kids that all need therapy multiple times a week just is not feasible. So Janiel & I came up a plan that will incorporate my workers purposefully playing with the kids all throughout the day which consequently means working on their goals and setting up individual children box’s that will allow Americans who come in for a short-term trips to pull a box with the kids name, picture, biography, most appropriate positioning, there goals, & a variety of toys to help meet those goals all in one place. This enables a non-skilled person to now engage a child in purposeful play. It breaks down the barrier of I don’t know how to engage a child or how to play with a child down in the Miriam Center…I don’t know how to position them…All these barriers will be broken which will result in more Americans coming to play with the kids. This also allows the workers to have 1:1 time with kids & pull boxes as well. This has been my big project of the week. It is almost completely finished & ready to have its trial run later this week. I am so excited. We are also looking at expanding out the back of the current Miriam Center where there will be a big version of the current bird cage that will allow a space for these 1:1 to occur.

We have set up a rotation for the workers based off the rotation Courtney’s mom & Amelia set up during her 3 months here in Haiti. The kids have “mom’s” that travel with them through 3 rotations throughout the day. This makes sure the kids get moved & repositioned & get to spend an hour & half in 3 different environments. What I added to this rotation was that I made bins of appropriate toys for each group that will be dropped during each rotation & next week plan on going in & teaching the workers how to purposefully play with the kids to help each child grow & make progress toward their goals. So often only when American groups come in do the kids get to do fun activities & the workers sit back & watch. I feel like so often they watch the fun then have to clean up after it. I wanted to make it so that it is the “mom’s” who get to do fun activities & through this I believe deeper boding with the kids will happen & I pray a new excitement to work with the kids will also surface.

From previous blogs & emails you know that God changed my plans & really gave me a heart & vision for For Jonathan’s Sake (FSJ) this summer. I have been working on writing a Bible Study on the names of Christ to share with the parents to help them love God more & in return love their children more. Well…during my discussion with Janeil it was clear that I really needed to focus on getting the toy bins for the kids & training of the workers grounded so that all throughout the year the Miriam Center children will be progressing towards their goals. I am still going to run FSJ everyday but have decided not to make each an individualized home treatment plan as was my originally plan. I will still run Bible Study & teach the parents positioning & stretching. I will be providing the parents with a handout on stretching & teaching them how to stretch their kids everyday. I will also be sending them home with a plastic mat that they can lay their child on to get them out of the dirt as well as a homemade bolster out of big cans to allow them to position their children on their stomachs. At first my heart ached because I was not doing as much for this program as I wanted to but through other people God showed me that this is huge! Over the next year if they stretch their kids everyday, their kids are not lying in the dirt, & they can position their children on their stomachs that this is a lot. Also, I have set up a toy drop where one day a week they will have access to toys even when I am not here.

So here is my analogy of what we are doing with the Miriam Center. It is like building a DELICIOUS Sandwich. The last 3 years we have spent creating the “bread” for the Miriam Home and this summer we are filling our sandwich with the meat. Over the rest of this year we will be adding condiments like special education (Stephanie) and OT (Naham) and PT (Presidue). It is really excited to think of how DELICIOUS this sandwich is going to be. I have to be alright with right now that we are still at the bread stage of For Jonathan’s Sake & next year the goal is to lay the meat which looks like individual boxes for each kid that the parents come in & can pull their box to work with there child…pretty much so the system we just set up for Miriam Home children. So over the next year my goal will be to raise money & buy the supplies to form these boxes.

My role when I am not in Haiti will continue to be writing therapy companies for donation, going around speaking & sharing what God is doing here, & learning new therapy techniques to bring into Haiti. This year it looks like I am really going to focus on being in contact with group prior to them coming into Haiti. I want to set up with groups ahead of time & help them plan what their interaction with the Miriam center will look like. I want to give them specific kids that our “their groups” kids for the time they are here & send the kids bio ahead of time & have them begin praying for those children. I want to explain the boxes. I also want to give them a list of big group activities they could do with the Miriam Home children & have them plan for that. So if they want to do shaving cream parties they will prepare like they do for VBS & bring in the supplies. I also want to encourage groups to do VBS’s with the Miriam Home children. I am really excited to see what my role will look like in the states but really feel that God is going to use me while I wait to be full time in Haiti.
Stephanie our special education teacher has arrived & has been busy helping with the projects & we have been setting up the Luke 2:52 school which has been quite the job but extremely exciting as well.

Today we have been busy finishing everything up as Courtney has arrived back Home in Haiti. It was so fun to see the children prepare. They made a sign that said welcome Home with drawing of the sign language to spell Courtney’s name. Ju-Ju & Den helped me make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies which was a blast. I have a whole new picture of licking the bowl…lol They both after helping push each cookie dough off would lick their fingers & then re sanitize their fingers before the next one….It was a blast. Then this evening we had movie night & cookies. It was so nice to take the day to finally be with the kids. The past week & a half has been full of work & not so much play. The next 3 days till the next group comes in is all play with the kids…..AND I am super-duper pumped.

One of my highlights today as well was that Janeil & the male interns came down to test out my box system for the kids & it was such a joy to see them interact with the kids & have fun!!!! I am so excited about the box system.

So of course, since I haven’t written in a week I have left a lot out BUT quick overview…Plans have changed again…lots of new plans came about…many have already been implemented…God is BIG!!! YUP! EXCITED!

Thank you for all your prayers & support & I will get back on blogging every other day. Sorry for the big lapse.