Barlow Family - Haiti

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The WHOLE crew

 

Ted & Rebecca

(Haiti)

Tania Grace

(Texas)

Ana & Oliver

(Germany)

Tynan

(California)

Emma

(California)

Olivia

(Texas)

Syndie

(Haiti)

 

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In Prayer, For...
  • the orphans in Haiti
    a smooth moving process
    calm during the transition
  • our kids -
  • Tynan & Tania in college
  • Ana working in Germany
  • Twins' homeschooling
  • the future "additions"
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Entries from November 1, 2011 - November 30, 2011

Tuesday
Nov292011

a peek at the WO - Haiti guesthouse

Many of you have asked what the guesthouse that we are managing is like. Well, thankfully our recent guests captured a few pics that give you an idea...take a peek here:

 

entry from carport into the kitchen

Dining area

Back patio

upstairs common area

Shared bath

large upstairs multifunctional dorm-style room

upstairs bath

front balcony

stairwell

air-conditioning system

Side note:

We are working on getting a website up and running, but in the meantime, if you or anyone you know is traveling to Port au Prince & in need of a place to stay, our guesthouse is available for accomodations. $40/night (includes bed, breakfast & dinner) All proceeds go directly to benefit orphans and help us sustain, reach out and expand the OVC program in Haiti. 

Contact us for more details:

ted@worldorphans.org

 

Thursday
Nov242011

Giving Thanks.

There is nothing like a trip through Port au Prince, past earthquake ruins, tent camps, garbage strewn roads, and the slums of La Saline & Cite Soliel to prepare a heart for Thanksgiving. 

 

 That was our experience today. Rather than rising to thoughts of baking & roasting, whipping or basting, we rolled out of bed for a busy day out. It started with a trip to the airport to pick up our friend Pastor Jay & his wife, Princess, from Calvary Chapel – Sawgrass. They arrived to spend the holiday visiting their “girls”-  8 & 12 year old sisters,  that they are in the process of adopting.

We excitedly introduced them to the guest house, our temporary home, the ladies that help with our household chores and Joseph, our 19 year old caretaker for the property. Once their supplies were reorganized we all set out for Carrefour, about an hour drive away in traffic. Our destination was a small orphanage that Haiti’s Hope has helped support during the post-earthquake recovery. It is currently the home of 28 children ranging in age from 3 to nearly 14. Two of them are the Scutt’s daughters, Michaela (12) and Fortuna (8).  

We arrived to the scurry of excitement over receiving guests. Most of the kids were at school still, but we were welcomed warmly by the caretakers. As the arrival crowd dispersed, a little one remained, listless & sad-faced, sitting on a low cot in the gravel yard. Kevensly, is 3 years old. He is the most recent addition to the orphanage. When asked about his parents, the caregiver’s response was “they didn’t want him”. At such a young age, he is abandoned and left to their care. To make matters worse, Kevensly was taken for an initial physical and tested positive for HIV. The caregivers say that they haven’t told the other children yet, but are using precautions. However, they say that they cannot provide the care that he needs and will probably have to find another place for him to live. Sad as he appears already, he has no idea that another move, another loss, is looming in the near future. Another little girl, Cindy, has the same issue & the same fate awaiting her.

Out of the remaining twenty-six others only two have the hope of a forever family. This orphanage isn’t a “crèche”, a home preparing children for adoption, so all of the kids here will grow up & “age out” one day. Though they are being fed, educated and cared for, which is a true blessing in their lives, the hunger & sadness on their faces indelibly changes my worldview. As it should!

So, this Thanksgiving I am thankful for the opportunity to see with new eyes…to watch Michaelle & Fortuna’s faces light up as their parents arrived, to share my day with those who need love and treasuring more than anyone I know, and to snuggle up with a 3 year old facing loss and an uncertain future. I just can’t imagine anything that I will ever be more thankful for than our new Haitian lifestyle and all of the “reality checks”, lessons & blessings that it affords! -R

a cuddle with Kevensly

the gorgeous Scutt family

 


Monday
Nov142011

A Mile down the Road: 

the LONG Process of Settling In 

Haiti is called the land of NGO’s, yet in any given day or week I may see no other foreigner or Caucasian at all outside of my own family. This week was different. We ventured into the “American – style” shops and restaurants, had dinner with American friends and went to an English speaking church, which was at least half full of “blan” (white). It was refreshing to feel a taste of the familiar, but somehow a mild “guilt” slowly crept in.

I understand that it is normal to feel more comfortable to be in settings and with people that remind me of my own culture. That’s just natural. So then why do I feel sort of bad about it? Perhaps my sense of commitment to acclimation reminds me of how far I still have to go. Every day that I have to rely on a translator for basic needs sounds off the loud speaker of my failure to learn much Kreyol so far. It is the same with my confidence in driving, my ability to shop alone, to read the faces of locals as I pass, or to simply gain directions to a location nearby. My expectations of language acquisition, learning “the ropes” in the outdoor markets, meeting neighbors and getting about town are not very high, but at this stage there remains a “zero” sense of accomplishment in any of the necessary areas for daily life here.

This is the “long haul” of acclimation. Trudging the miles of learning, just as we clocked them on our cross country road trips the past 6 months…one…at…a…time, until we see our destination draw near. There is no air travel nor can we switch to “auto- pilot”. We will have to earn every kilometer with our full attention to the task at hand, in order to stay the course. That’s the sobering, yet hope-filled reality that is setting in as we get ready to mark the completion of our second week “in country”. 

blessings, RB

 

 

A special thanks to my brother Bob & his magnificent photography!

Tuesday
Nov082011

The Sands of Time...in Haiti

More from Bec's journal:

"In a place like Haiti time has its own universal measurement. Sometimes it speeds up, like the fact that tomorrow will be a full week since we arrived, and it seems to have gone by in a flash. In other ways it passes like watching each piece of sand fall one by one in an hourglass that is more like a one-hundred hour glass…endless unfilled moments. That’s the way it can often feel in the middle of any given Haitian day. Yet before you know it the sun has fallen beyond the horizon (by 6 pm) and the day has come to an abrupt end.

Today has been “one of those days”.  I woke up early a little groggy still, picked up my iPod to check the time and saw that it was only 6:30, I had another hour of sleep until I needed to be up, so dozed back off to the warm morning clatter on the streets.  An hour later, Ted crept in to say that he was leaving to pick up Ron, our Haitian, co-worker and travel to Petion-ville to set up our internet. I told him I was planning to go with him, but that it was still only 7:30, an hour before he had planned. He said check again…so I did. It was 7:30 central time & we were now on eastern. I had forgotten to change the zone on my hand held “brain”. So, I clamored out of bed, washed up quickly & threw on an outfit to go “uptown”.

It was my first time in that area of town, which I had heard was the “nicer” area…maybe we didn’t go to the parts that had been described to me, because it didn’t really seem much different from my point of view. We drove about 9 miles, yet it took an over an hour to get there. Finally we arrived at the internet store.

In a tropical-version flashback of my travels in Russia, we proceeded through the four step process of ordering internet service. First, we waited around for direction and an available representative. Next we sat down with said rep, who (via Ron), explained all of the plans available, as well as pricing. We narrowed it down, chose a plan, he spent quite a bit of time ordering and setting up the contract.  Once Ted had signed the agreement we waited a little longer for him to complete and copy the paperwork. With paperwork in hand, we were ushered next, past an armed security guard, and down the hall to the cashier’s office. We handed our contract through the glass window, then waited some more. She finally asked for the payment, in cash, and issued a receipt. That accomplished, we were shuffled back down the hall into a different, glass-walled office, where a final representative spent another 10-20 minutes opening our new modem, configuring it to be operable in their system, then packing it back up again. Internet acquired!

Now perhaps I don’t appreciate yet the fact that by Hispaniola standards that was an amazing feat! While I gave it some serious value, we were done by late morning and there was still plenty more to be accomplished in a day. So we drove back another 40 minutes through traffic to get to the power service office nearer to home. This was actually the most important task of the week, in my book, since we cannot move in until it is up and working. We had planned to do it on Monday, but yesterday passed by in its slow/quick manner with a long morning of car tune up & washing, taking my brother to the airport, then Ron home, where we visited and discussed our work for several hours, and arrived back at the guest house just as the sun fell.

Today, Ted awkwardly perched our car on the side of the road, left John in charge of “watching” it, and three of us clambered into the office together. Ron checked in and we were sent into a long hall-like office with multiple stations where a woman behind one desk answered some questions. He turned and said, “Let’s go”, then “We will have to do this tomorrow.” Apparently we didn’t have all of the documents or information necessary to complete the transaction. Ted disclosed later on the reason we didn’t have one of the documents, our house contract. Apparently, it was dropped in a puddle the day before and was now illegible, so Ron was going to have to get a new copy. So, despite the fact that we have been in the country nearly a week, bought a 50 foot electrical cable in order to hook the house up to the local wire, paid someone to do that, AND gained approval for access to use it by payment to the “neighborhood co-op” we are still days away from receiving our allotment of “patchy” electricity. The good news..? Payment at this office is actually going to be “cheaper” than we had planned by $20 or so. That was a first!

We made our way back to the guest house a little after noon with one hit and one strike out to account for the entire morning. Since there was still a bit of time before our mid-day meal would be ready, we asked to go to a place that Ron had recommended for appliances. In figuring out the rest of our budget, we needed to shop and price things out. The local Deli Mart shopping area was only a few minutes away. Once there we waited 10 minutes to squeeze into a parking space that took most of that time for a large truck to miraculously angle his way out of, with assistance and a 50-point turn. The appliance store was across the complex and up the stairs. It was compact but did have some items that we were looking for. We discussed the possibilities & prices listed, looked at the inverters available also, and left wondering if that was it for selection or whether we should try anywhere else? Before heading back we grabbed a few overpriced food items in the market and then drove back to our temporary “home”.

Our mid-afternoon “dinner” was fabulous as usual, but all at once during our meal, I could feel my heart sinking and some discouragement setting in. Yes we had gotten one important thing done but my thoughts were suddenly turning to “I’ve been here almost a week, I have a house here that I still can’t live in, no furniture, no appliances, no electricity, and our suitcases are starting to spill out all over the floor in our rooms at the guest house despite our attempt to minimize unpacking due to our ‘temporary’ stay here. I can’t find anything anymore; there is nowhere to put anything here even if we did want to partially unpack! I have to go back to the states in another week for a specific event and then return to Thanksgiving houseguests…and HOW will we ever get the guest house up and ready for a large team in December if everything takes THIS long to do?” Attitude quickly depleted, I went looking for a personal spot to “deal” with things and could only find my uninviting mosquito net trapped, hard lower bunk. 

Alone in my bed the tears finally poured and mini-melt ensued. I reminded myself that I’m glad to be doing the work that God has set out for us here, and will have to trust in his mercy and love to get us through this weary stage the same way he did the others, faithfully and beautifully. I allowed the release of anxiety and tension and embraced his provision.

I'm also thankful for the fact that this day and all of it's hour glass moments will be followed by another…here in Haiti...my time-challenging, world rockingly unfamiliar, but interesting, new home."

 

Monday
Nov072011

Orphan Sunday 2011

An excerpt from Rebecca's Journal on our Orphan Sunday activities here:

Well into our first week of life here in Haiti, I am acutely aware that we remain outsiders looking in. Arriving for the long haul has a very different feel than the last time, when I was with a short term team. In some ways I still feel like a short termer. I’ve been in the world of chaos & inconveniences only a few days, am “rolling” with the schedule, have a cook preparing at least one hot meal a day for my family and still have clean clothes in my bag. The long term chatters at me: “beware”, “this may get old one day soon”, “you’re going to have to think about laundry in another few days”, and “you need to get on the stick to find appliances & a few pieces of furniture for your new house”, “btw…you are NOT going home any time soon”, “this is the end of the line for the foreseeable future…get used to it”.

There are some things about Haiti that I DON’T want to get “used to” though. Yesterday we drove up along the north coast to Archaie. Miles and miles through city and countryside and not one “decent neighborhood” according to American standards, did I see.  While I didn’t cognitively expect to see one, subconsciously I felt such thoughts hovering in the shadows. “Where are the ‘good’ neighborhoods? …the vacation homes? It’s gorgeous here! There must be a more upscale community somewhere…?”

The fact is there are not many places here that my American forged ideals would consider “nice”. Yet there are plenty of comfortable, simple, and love-filled homes woven throughout both city & countryside. The thought that ran through my mind as we drove past the, even by Haitian standards, miles of slums and impoverished neighborhoods was, I hope that I don’t get used to this! I hope that I don’t become a typical mulatto or live up to the reputation of a “blan” by getting to the point where I become insensitive to and begin to ignore the need and the poverty, just because there is so much. Rather, I want to remember and embrace the beauty of people that may live in ways that I’ve never dreamed of, but do so with love and hope & passion. 

Our trip to Archaie was to visit a little church that has been caring for 26 orphans since the earthquake last year. Pastor Emmanuel greeted us with a tender smile spilling forth from a heart of love for his Savior. He was a gentle, wise yet humble soul. We arrived to the children seated on benches in a canvas church that doubles as their school room, singing praise songs as their welcome to our small crowd. The laughter & joy in their eyes touched my innermost parts. These children had lost everything, yet they shared all that they had with us: their vivacious spirits!  As they finished their songs we followed the pastor to his home which had 2 average sized rooms in the front that had been converted to dorms for the children. He explained that his family: he, his wife & 4 children lived in the remainder, a couple of rooms in the back. Besides the concrete block home, there was a leaning, rough wood and tin shed for cooking and the church/schoolhouse made of blue tarp material. Pastor explained that during the day it was usually too hot to do school under the tent so the kids would work under nearby shade trees where the air moved better instead. I noted a couple of brown wooden “chalk boards” with their teacher’s colorful etching on one side.

According to Pastor Emmanuel all of these children were orphaned due to the earthquake. All but 4 had lost both mother and father. The remaining have only their fathers alive. He stated that many of the older ones he had found wandering the streets with no one to care for them, so he invited them in. The youngest, “John” at 18 months must have been born in the midst of the aftermath. He states that when the baby’s mother died some relatives brought him there to be cared for. John clings to pastor’s trousers like a mother’s skirts – where he feels safe, cared for and secure! I saw that and the thin, yet thriving children as a good sign that they were in God’s hands through this gracious man.

When we asked Pastor Emmanuel if we could pray for him he quickly assented and immediately descended to his knees on the dusty concrete in his white slacks. We laid our hands on him and Ted prayed over his ministry, thanking God for his pure heart and asking for continued provision for him, his family and the children that had come into his care. We shared that out of our group there were 4 that were once orphans (Ted, the twins & Joseph the guest house caretaker) and yet He has given each of them a future and a hope and that it was clear that he was a part of God’s provision of that for these children as well. We committed to continuing in prayer for them all.

As we had approached this orphanage through winding deeply trenched roads there was a small candy stand being run by neighborhood children. With a quick thought Ted, Tynan and my brother Bob hopped out & went back for some treats to share. Now the crowd chortled & giggled with “lollies” in their mouths and wrappers littering the ground. We played and visited, worked on learning everyone’s names, and carried the littler ones around for the short hour and a half that we were there. Stevenson one of the smaller ones has a smile that lights up the world when he shines it on you. But I think it grew even brighter with the stick of his lolly hanging out!

We departed with a short lesson in how our family waves goodbye to those we love...we wave the one handed ASL sign for “I Love You” as we go. So we departed waving just so, while the children worked their hands into the same sign and joyfully waved them at us in return. The chorus of “bon jou’s” echoed in my mind as we turned toward home.

I was reminded again at that moment that selling our home, everything in it, leaving family and friends, entering a culture worlds different than my own, learning a new language, taking cold 2 minute showers, and foregoing the luxury of reliable electricity, dishwashers, air conditioning, and just plain “quiet” was all worthwhile. All hardship was simply erased with the single “lollipop smile” of an orphan.