Modelene and a Significant Event!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers over the last few days.  Mom, Walter, and Jason all got home ok, though there were some complications in travel due to all the ice and snow (on that end, not this one ;))  Ani and I ended up not having to go to PauP because a team of dentists is coming to Anse-Rouge this week!  Yay!

On Saturday we had a very significant event here on the Plateau!  Before I tell you what it was though, I should give you a little background.

In July 2006 I (Judy) came to the Plateau with my parents and some friends to fix up the Lemuel house where I would be living after marrying Manis in September.  The truck bringing everything for the house got stuck in customs and we ended up having a lot of free time.  While trying to find things to do and keep from stressing about the truck, I noticed four kids hanging around the yard.  I figured I might as well teach them a song to sing in church so I brought them over the porch and we started singing together.  All of the children were precious but one stood out to me particularly.  She was incredibly bright, picked up the song twice as fast as the other children and just had an overall eagerness about her.  I couldn't get her off my mind and I decided when I returned I had to do something with this little girl.

Fast-forward about seven and a half years to this past Saturday morning... Modelene sat at my dining room table putting the finishing touches on a floursack towel that she has been embroidering. 

Modelene (right) a few years ago with Mme Tiferne (center) and Josiane.

Modelene has been coming to our house every Saturday since shortly after I moved to the Plateau.  She learned to cook and clean with Mme Tiferne and we encouraged her to get involved in other activities and classes.  She was in my girls' group two years ago, then continued in the program last year when Wiltha took over to teach embroidery.  Modelene did well in the embroidery class, so this year I have been working with her more intensely, teaching her to do the little figures that used to be the hallmark of Haitian embroidery.  Reviving this form of embroidery has been a dream of mine since I was in high-school!

As usual, Modelene is learning quickly and soon will far surpass me.  For months she practiced on little scraps of fabric - pouring hours into little images that no one but she and I would ever see.

About a month ago I told her she was ready to embroider a "real" product.

Every Saturday after helping me clean, she spent hours doing, undoing, and redoing the embroidery on her floursack towel.

On Saturday she finished. 

 

 
And then, the significant event occurred... Modelene became the first local artisan to sell a product to our Natif Natal gift shop.  After finishing up and packaging her towel, Modelene and I headed over to Bonita's office where Natif Natal (represented by Bonita) bought its very first local product. 

Right now Natif Natal is a bookshelf in Bonita's office where we sell souvenirs and gift items made or produced in Haiti.  Our dream, though, is that one day men and women from our own community can produce items to sell, thereby earning an extra income that can help stabilize their families' economies.  


Q&A with Modelene:

DOB: 4 April 1995 
Current Grade: Tenth
Siblings: 4 brothers, 2 sisters
Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite Food: Rice with pinto beans and chicken sauce
Favorite item she has learned to bake: Oatmeal bread and oatmeal cookies
Favorite meal she has learned to make: Chili and cornbread
Favorite item to embroider: Plantain trees
Favorite skill she has learned: "I have enjoyed all of them but embroidery is my favorite because I have been able to actually produce something with it."
Brief Testimony: "When I was little my family never went to church and I didn't know anything about Jesus.  When I started working with Mrs. Judy I started going to church but I didn't really understand anything that was being said.  I went to children's church and Sunday school but I didn't really know what they were talking about.  Slowly, as I got older, things started to click and I started to understand who Jesus was and what He had done for me.  I continued to learn and to grow in understanding through devotions on Saturdays and in girls' group, the church services, and youth group.  I finally understood that I should die for my sins and that God could never accept me.  But, because Jesus died in my place, God can forgive me.  Now, when I sin, Jesus says, 'I died for her, her sins are forgiven.'"

After giving her first proceeds to the church, Modelene plans to put most of the money she makes into savings for future schooling and to help her family if they have a problem like someone getting sick. 

So far in 2014

Now that I am caught up with the New Years activities I can tell you a little bit about what has been going on since then!  Lots of exciting things have been going on!

First, we were able to start back up with the crochet project.  A group in Canada crochet's milk bags (yes they sell milk in bags in parts of Canada) into mats and bags.  Thinking this may be a good source of income for our ladies here they have kindly provided the necessary materials so that we could give it a try.  We had to take a break while Krischelle was gone, as she is the only one of us who knows what she is doing with a crochet hook!

Now, that Krischelle is back and all the holiday activities are behind us, the program is back up and running.  Quite a number of ladies have dropped out, but the ones who have held in there and kept working at it are doing very well.  Most exciting of all, though, is that through the program we found out one of the ladies from a neighboring community is excellent with crochet and we have now passed on the supervision of the program to her.  This has provided her with a job and also taken one thing off of Krischelle's overloaded plate.

We have a meeting with the ladies this afternoon so I will get some pictures then.  

In further exciting news, we have FINALLY been able to reopen the women's center!  Dadithe (Manis' sister) spent November and December taking refresher courses with the lady who originally taught her to sew, and the center officially opened on January 7.  I visited on the 8th and to my shock and surprise they had already made little embroidered pin cushions!  They have certainly kept up the pace and many of the ladies have already made multiple items (in miniature).  The center opened with only three ladies but Manis found out that more wanted to come but were either too shy or their husbands wouldn't let them.  He encouraged the shy and spoke with a few husbands and now there are seven ladies:)

Unfortunately the day I took my camera, my battery died after only a few pictures but here is a small taste for now.

Dadithe (right) and one of her students, Obedda, holding up the skirts and shorts that Obedda has already made.  The girls haven't learned to use the sewing machine yet so all of this was by hand.

Venise, another student holding up her products... and then my camera died.

One a side note: The center is closed this week as Dadithe had to take her second son, Obed, to the eye doctor.  Obed has been having trouble with his eyes for a few years now, but on Sunday they got worse than ever, leaving him blind for several hours.  Obed, who is living with a friend in Gonaives in order to attend an excellent school there, is extremely bright, always the top of his class.  His mom has high hopes for him, and it was incredibly frightening for her to hear how bad his eyes had gotten.  She left yesterday to get him and take him to Port-au-Prince to see a very good eye doctor there.  I talked to her this morning and they were in the waiting room.  I know both Dadithe and Obed would greatly appreciate your prayers.

On January 10 my mom arrived and two days later Bonita's dad and two other men arrived to begin work in her kitchen. (they were supposed to all get in on the 10th but there were some delays flying from Canada due to all the snow and ice).  

As I sit here on my roof I can hear the electric saw as Walter, Jason and some of our guys work hard to get the first phase of the kitchen finished.  Bonita's dad, Bryon, is not big into wood-working so he has been helping out with a ton of other things that needed to be done.  

Walter and Lucson working with some plywood

 Jason sanding pieces for the cabinet facings

Bryon fixing something... I have no idea what that is :)

Others of our development staff have been working furiously trying to get the guest house completely finished for all the teams we have coming in February.

 Robenson working on refinishing a bed for the guesthouse

Guilbert getting the doorknobs put into the new doors he made for the guest house

Adding to the fun mix we've got going, Sam and Petion arrived back from Germany last Friday, bringing with them Sam's mom! :)  She will be staying with us for three months so we are all working on our German :)  Actually, she is way better in English than any of us could hope to be in German.

  Sam's mom, Anke Schafer, heling with the dishes this morning.

Mom, Walter and Jason will all be flying out on Friday.  Mom and I will be going into PauP a day early in order to take Ani to the dentist.  She has had soe pain in a tooth so we are going to look into what needs to be done.  I would GREATLY appreciate your prayers as neither she nor I are looking forward to this!  

When I get back from PauP we will have one week of relative calm before the February storm :)  February will be a super busy month with teams and visitors back to back, an English Camp, and the school roof going on (YAY!!!)  We are greatly looking forward to everyone arriving and will try to keep the blog updated amidst the craziness :)

21 Days???

Can it really be 21 days past New Years?  How does this happen?!  Well, partly it happens when you have unexpected trips to PauP, your entire staff gets sick to one level or another, you have friends and family come, and multiple projects going on at the same time... but more on that later.  For now I am going to pretend I am not 21 days late and share with you a bit about the New Years program.

Unfortunately I can't share any pictures with you right now because Bonita's SD card accidentally got switched with someone else's and ended up in Port-au-Prince and the jump drive she had them on crashed.  As soon as I get them I will update this post so check back in a week or so for pictures...

On the 30th NOVA (the church youth group), the church committee and other volunteers from the church got together to separate sacks of food into individual sacks for each family in the community.  Christmas/New Years is the one and only time in the year that we regularly (through the church) give out food for free*.  Through some special gifts, we were able to make a donation to the church to purchase the provisions they wanted to share with the community. 

NOVA and the church committee worked together to put on the New Years Eve program as well.  They took full responsibility and we were happy to stand back and let them step up to the plate.  The New Years Eve program is the one time in the year that people who will never, for the rest of the year, step foot in church, come and participate.  It may just be for something to do, or for the ginger tea and bread, but regardless, NOVA decided to use the opportunity.  In addition to the normal program of praising God for the past year and committing the coming one to Him, they added times of sharing the gospel and singing songs about Christ's work on the cross.

The morning of the 1st (after everyone had gone home and gotten some sleep!) the church gave out the food baskets to each family in the community. 



*The only other time we give out food for free is in emergency situations such as natural disasters or for the sick, elderly, or handicapped.