Organizing in
Haiti was a different kind of challenge indeed. We were not able to run to the local Target or Wal-Mart for an extra bin or container. The closest town that might have such merchandise was a 3 hour trip on partially paved roads with a hired driver. This also meant crossing over into the Dominican Republic to reach the town of
Santiago and being back before 4:00pm when the border closed. Needless to say, we did not attempt this means of obtaining goods.

Yesterday, the 15^th of July, we returned from 10 days organizing in an orphanage in
Ouanaminthe, Haiti. It was an experience that will never leave our hearts.

 When was the last time that you encountered a place with no electricity?  Now, I don’t mean when you were out camping or at the beach…I mean a city of 100,000 people who are totally in the dark at night.  This of course means that they have no way to cook a meal other than over an outside fire.  There is no way to cool their meager homes with a fan or air conditioning. Think of the items that we use in our kitchens…blender, toaster, coffee maker, microwave, oven, refrigerator, electric fry pan, ice crusher, coffee bean grinder, waffle maker, dishwasher..well, you get the picture.  Oh yes, it also means NO hot water…ever!!  Cold showers get old very fast…even after just 10 days.

How many of us have to run to answer the phone or carry a portable one with us from room to room…only because there is not one conveniently located everywhere? Well, this was the case for my Dad and step mom. I remembered hearing about the rather new “expandable” phone systems and decided it was time to look into them. The very knowledgeable young man at Wal-Mart was adamant that the only one to buy was the Panasonic. I believed him and went home with 2 boxes that each contained a base and an extra phone. (I later learned that Panasonic carries systems that include up to 3 extra handsets in one box, for a total of 4.)