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.

Valentine's Day

Progress on the roof is going well! It was cloudy for quite a bit yesterday which was nice for the guys so they were not directly in the sun while on the roof. Today is pretty humid so please continue to pray for safety and health for the men as they work.

Jenna's family arrived safely yesterday around noon and we were all excited to see them, but Jenna most of all. We had to say goodbye to Aaron (one of the men from the Canada team) yesterday and this morning Luke and Katie (two people from the Wisconsin team) left. We were sad to see them go but so thankful for Luke and Aaron's help with the school roof and Katie's help in the kitchen. The ladies really appreciated having her around. Katie spent four hours one day (Anke, Jenna, and Kelly helped for a bit too) shelling peanuts so the ladies could make peanut butter for all of us.

The Canada team brought dresses with them that a few ladies from their church made. We thought since yesterday was Valentine's Day that it would be a great time to give the dresses to the girls at the school!

Here are the teacher's picking out the dresses for their classes.

Some of the girls in their dresses.

They loved the dresses! Thank you to all who put the effort in to making these dresses, it was certainly appreciated!