WATER!!!

As any of you who got our most recent emails know (if you didn't get the emails sign up at right or click here) it has been incredibly dry here.  Well, it still is, no rain still... BUT!!!  Today I was doing some work a the computer when Wilda called me somewhat urgently to come see something.  I went outside and...

Can you see it???!  WATER had burst into the ravine that runs below our property!  It had been raining much of the day in the mountains north of us and the rain had filled the ravines and flowed down toward us.  It does not solve all of our problems but it sure does alleviate some of them!  This ravine will water gardens, and the livestock will have a place to drink at least for a little while.  The land is so dry it will soon soak all of this water up.  

I quickly called Manis, who was over at the Lemuel campus, and then Ani and I decided to go take a closer look.  She was SO excited to see so much water...

 

 As I was taking pictures the pickup pulled up near me.  Four very excited guys jumped out and started setting up the trash pump so that they could pump water from the ravine into Manis' garden.

Looking at our house from the ravine. 

Goats starting to gather on the other side of the ravine.

Some of our school kids (yellow shirts to the right on the picture) live up past the ravine and are stuck on our side until the water recedes.  More guys gathered to set up the trash pump...

Water finally arriving in the garden!!!

 Manis, Mezou, Lucson, and Ani watching the water pour into the garden and directing the guys inside as to where to dig trenches. 

Please praise God with us for His provision as we continue to wait for rain!

More Embroiderers, More Embroidery, More Towels!

Some time ago I posted about Modelene and the embroidery work she has been doing.  Your responses have been so encouraging.  The poor girl can hardly keep up with orders! :) 

Last week was Mardi Gras break so everyone was off of school.  Modelene was able to come a lot during that week and got a lot of work done.  But in addition I found 4 new embroiderers!

 
Wilda, a woman from our community who is now helping out at our house through the week, casually mentioned that she had learned to embroider about 12 years ago when Lemuel (then based in PauP) had sent a lady up to teach sewing and embroidery.  Modelene and I had been (half!) joking about how many orders she had to fill so I gave her a piece of fabric to practice on and lo and behold, she was great!  I quickly traced an image on a towel for her and put her to work! :)

Josiane, whom some of you may know from past posts, had come home for the week from the city where she is in school.  She hangs out at our house a lot and was there during my shock of Wilda knowing how to embroider.  The NEXT DAY (yes, she waited a whole day!) she told me that she too had learned to embroider from that same woman and asked if she could try too.  I was floored!  I gave her a little test piece and she too did great.  I again quickly traced her an image and put her to work too. 

Since I already had a veritable embroidery workshop in my dining room I decided to call the two top students in Wiltha's embroidery class, Kesline and Naphtalie, to see how they were doing.  They had learned well and after tweaking a few little things, I got them to work as well. 

 Wilda, Josiane, Naphtalie and Kesline are not yet able to do the figures like Modelene does, that will take some time (and since everyone is back in school now, probably won't happen very soon).  BUT they are able to do some beautiful outline images.  At the end of the week we had quite a stock.  Three had already been purchased (two of which Modelene had done in the weeks before) before I got these pictures but here are some of the towels that were embroidered last week.

 

Modelene's took the longest to complete as it is the most complicated.  She was able to use new techniques she has learned such as using stem stitch to fill in and to shade (the house).

Josiane finished two of these towels.  Under the nest is a Haitian proverb that means 

"Little by little the bird makes its nest."

Wilda didn't have quite as much time to embroider but she was able to finish this one of a hibiscus.

Kesline finished these two hummingbirds.

Before I show you the two that Naphtalie worked on I have to tell you that this next image is in honor of all of those who have spent at least one night here and have enjoyed the melodious sound of the roosters WAAAAAY before sunrise...

At the end of the week all of the girls were able to sell their towels at Natif Natal.  It was exciting to see them make an income, but even more exciting to see the realization hit them that they, with their own hands, could do something to EARN an income. 

Kesline and Naphtalie at Natif Natal with their products and their payment envelopes.

Wilda continues to work on another towel every day after work.  Kesline and Naphtalie come every Tuesday and Thursday morning and work for a few hours before school (they go to school in the afternoon).  Josiane is back in the city but she took a complex towel with her to work on when she can.  Modelene continues to come every Saturday and whenever she can during the week as well. 

I don't know what the future will hold for these girls, but I do know one thing... they have learned that they are capable of creating something beautiful - something that has value even to others.

Happy Day!

On Friday morning, everyone but Rick and I (Kelly) left. Before they flew out, they were able to go over to the school with the kids. All the kids and the teachers were so excited for the roof on the school! We were able to get a picture of all the students, the teachers, most of the roofing team, and most of the Lemuel staff that we could find!

So many smiling faces!

From left Alan, Steven, Ian, Bert, Rick, Marcus, Russ, and Mark 

(Luke and Aaron were already gone when we took this picture)

It was a crazy day with two different flights coming in and out of Lemuel! On the first flight, Jane, Krichelle's mom, came to Lemuel for the first time! She will be staying here until Friday. It was quite the day and with all that was going on, I wasn't able to post pictures until now.

Today was the first day that they used the school for their classrooms. It was a blessing because we got a few sprinkles of rain and this time the kids didn't have to go running into the church to stay dry! I went to the school right a way this morning and got some pictures of the kids in and by their classrooms.

Grade 1 with their teacher

 

Grade 2 in front of their classroom

 Grade 3 watching their teacher write on the chalkboard

Grade 4 listening to their teacher

Grade 5 sitting in their classroom

Grade 6 smiling for the camera

The kindergarten classes will still be held in the church until the next phase of the school is finished. Thank you again for all your prayers and support for the roof and for the ministry here at Lemuel!

Last Day of Work

Well today is the last day that the men will be working on the school. The roof is looking great and we are glad to see so much progress in such a short time!

We are so thankful for these men. Also we are thankful for God who provided all the things for the roof, for His protection of all those who had a part in the project, and for giving us opportunities to display His love to the people on the plateau. Tomorrow we will be having the kids work on decorating their classrooms, so look for more pictures to come! 

Climbing the Mountain

This morning Jenna, Chelle, Steven, Tiga and I (Kelly) woke up early so that we could climb one of the smaller 'mountains'. The one we climbed was more of a hill but it was still pretty tricky to climb up. There are a lot of loose rocks on the side when you climb so it can be a bit slippery. We left around 5:45 a.m. and we were able to catch the sunrise and see Lemuel from the top. I wanted to share with you guys the beauty of God's creation here on the plateau!

This was a little before the sunrise.

What a beautiful sunrise!

This is the 'mountain'; it looks really small from this angle.

I zoomed in quite a bit for this picture. We were actually a lot farther away than this!

Work on the roof is going well and I hope to post some pictures from today's work this evening. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Tuesday Roofing!

This morning the men began putting up metal sheeting on one side of the roof! Yesterday people began carrying over the metal sheets and this morning they were drilling holes in them to prepare them for installment.

Things are going fast with three men screwing on the roof sheets at the same time. I was there right away in the morning to watch them put the first couple on and then when I came back about a half hour later they had a lot more on already!

The roof sheets are green but this picture makes them look blue. If you look at the one on the ground you can see more of the true color. I will be taking more pictures as the day goes on, so expect to see another post on the blog soon!

One Week of Progress!

Well it's been one full week since the men began working on the roof and you can really see how far they have gotten! Today they will be working on getting the rest of the trusses and some of the purlins up on the one side and they even hope to start putting on some of the metal roofing sheets today. We are so thankful for the work that these men are doing!

 Getting the truss on to the roof.

Working on getting the truss upright.

The side that is almost ready for the metal roofing sheets.

Yesterday we were blessed with some rain. It wasn't enough to make much of a difference but we are thanking God for the amount we did get.

Speaking of yesterday, Sundays are one of my favorite days because of church and the ability to rest and prepare for the coming week. Morning Church service is at 9:30 a.m. and there is an evening service at 7:00 p.m. One of the things that has stuck out to me in my time here is how wonderful it is to hear so many voices talking to God. Most of the time when groups get together to pray, everyone is praying at the same time rather than one person praying for the entire group. I've only ever seen that happen here and I have to say it is a great thing to see and experience.

Today, Lemuel is buzzing with activity and as I am sitting in the house I can hear the ladies working on lunch, the men at the school working on the roof, the Lemuel staff working in their offices, the buzzing of the generator, the wind in the trees,and many other noises mixed in with those. What a joy and blessing it is to be able to be a small part of what is happening here.