Gauvreau en Haiti

Thursday, May 19 2011

At the beginning of the month we were in Quebec to visit our children and our families. We also had a lot of business to attend. We are glad that we could see our families, though it was too quick, also we saw friends the first Sunday at our church when in Montreal. The second Sunday, we gave a presentation on Haiti at the church of our son Clement. Ladies from this church had made beautiful dresses for little girls. We gave some to the orphanage and others to girls in the ravines. Thank you for your good work, we appreciate it a lot.

Our new President, Michel Joseph Martelly, was sworn in on Saturday, May 14. We are waiting for changes and we pray a lot for him and the those who will counsel him. He said in his speech that he has 4 E to do: Education, Employment, Environment and E… (I forgot.)

Yesterday, May 18, it was Haitian flag day, the 208th years of its creation. There were many activities with cheerleaders, music, games, etc. There is a choregraphy on the music of the Haitian national anthem. Last Sunday, the girls did the choregraphy (dance and song) for us and it was beautiful.

Yesterday also, when we came back from the orphanage, we realize that our two lap-tops were stolen, also my camera and a pouch with our USB keys for back ups. The person who did the stealing left the old lap-top that we gave to the girls for their homeworks. (Glad that we have it to look at our e‑mails). In our reasearch to see where the person came in, we realize that one of our doors appeared to be lock but in reality was not. It seems that the person had entered that way and knew that there was no one home.

I am really frustrated because we lost all our pictures, documents, PowerPoints to show to churches, etc. For now we are trying to contact all the companies to resolve our passwords problems. We must trust God and it is not easy. We know that He is in control even if everything seems lost for us.

Here is a thought that my friend Sophie had written on Facebook: "Resilience is the art to navigate through life’s quick waters."

Right now we are in the quick waters and it is hard to navigate counter-currents. On top we learned that one of the girls who live with us had her purse stolen in the appartment during our stay in Quebec. We are putting together little incidents that make us think that the person tested the ground before doing the stealing.

Friday, May 20

Georges went to the bank to tell them about the theft of our bank book and the bank told him that he had to change the account number because the signature was in the book, we did not know about it. To change the account it costs us $51US. I did not know that the bank would charge to make a change because of theft. No wonder the banks are riched, they charge a lot of money for everything.

Monday, May 22

Today it is our 35th wedding anniversary. No special party, we just went to work at Fort-Jacques as usual. With Dixie, Molly, Joyce and I, we picked up medical supply, baby food, diapers for 60 pounds +, around 400 bags of dry soup, etc. And all this went to an orphanage and a clinic in Cazale.

Thursday, May 26

Yesterday morning, first Georges went to the city hall to have his identity check and then he went to the police station to declare the theft and it costs 100 gourdes (around $3). After that, they sent him to the Investigation Department.

When he arrives in the office of the investigator, the investigator thought that Georges was an Haitian so he talk to Georges in Creole. When Georges told him that he knew only a bit of Creole, the investigator told him to learn the language very well so he can understand what they tell him. This morning, Georges goes back to see the investigator who thinks that it is worth to do an investigation.

On Wednesday afternoon, Georges picked up Kim Fenner (from our church) at the airport. She wants to help at the orphanage and will visit some friends here.

Friday, May 27 2011

The two investigators came to our house. Georges went to their office to pick them up and he did drive them back after the questionning. It is more complicated than we thought. In Haiti, nothing is easy. We have no more news about the lap-tops.

The construction of our house at Fort-Jacques keeps running with ups and downs. Unfortunatly, it was realized that two of the roof thrusts were built with a rounded plank sot hey must be redone. Also, the masons flattened the ciment but not with a level. There is a lot of adjustments to do.

We had a blessing during this hardship. We had a volunteer, Brennon, who is very talented in working with metal. During the last week, he built a new bumper for our car because the old one was broken. We are so glad for this new one because the car is more stable on the road and it costs us only the metal parts. (See photos May 2011)

Sunday, May 29 2011

Yesterday, Locita came back with her Haitian passport. We were so happy, because she had her purse stolen with the stamp for the passport, her pictures and the money to pay for it. When she declared the theft at the city hall and then to the police, they decided to give her the passport in a very short time (5 days) without her having to pay.

This month we do not have a lot of pictures because my lap-top and my camera were stolen.

We wish you a wonderful day!

Cordially,

Jocelyne and Georges