HELP get the word out!!!

Please HELP us get the word out about the Haiti Health Clinic Dinner and Story!!!

We would like as many people as possible to attend this dinner. 

Fr. Alexis from Haiti is leaving and to hear his story is like you are there!  He will share first-hand the situation regarding health care in his village and surrounding communities. 

So SPREAD THE WORD!!!  Help be our ambassadors!!

Tuesday, August 30th @ 7:30 p.m.

St. Ann's Parish Hall

800 W. 13th St.

Cadillac, MI

Please RSVP if you can come:  either comment on this post, email us at HandsForHaitiTeam@gmail.com or call and leave us a message at 231-839-2919.



Haiti Health Clinic Dinner

Come and listen to our story about an inspiring nurse, a dedicated priest and a group of friends with a vision of helping one village in rural Haiti have the gift of much-needed basic health care. Come and journey with us into God's gospel message, lived by these wonderful people in Haiti!

Tuesday evening, August 30th
 at 7:30 p.m.

St. Ann's Parish Hall
800 W. 13th St.

Cadillac, Michigan

We invite you to come and just listen.  Let us share with you our experiences.  We have an awesome project that we would love to tell you about!!

Come for some Haitian food, some Haitian stories, some Haitian photos and some Haitian dreams.

Bring your families, your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers!

** drop us a note if you think you might join us.  If you don't know, you are always welcome to just drop in, too.  You will be warmly welcomed in Haitian hospitality!!

God Bless!!

A strong conviction...

“Lord,” I pray earnestly, “ please show me what you need for me to do in Haiti. Please lead me and I will follow You! I am struggling with lack of direction. Please, dear Lord, guide me! I am feeling lost!”

I pray this prayer almost daily lately. I have been torn between the requests of a priest to help fundraise for the completion of a health clinic and the desires to “do something more, something more hands on.”

The first 8 years Jeff and I have worked with Haiti, we have helped raised funds to build a school, build a convent for the sisters who run the school, build a well, build latrines, build the second story on the school, build an additional school in the country, help pay teacher bonuses, help pay tuition for students, and help with improvements on the main church building. All this time, following God’s lead and answering His call with our group, Hope for Haiti, but wanting more of a connection with the individual people of this country that we have fallen in love with.

For the last two years, we have done just that. We have started Hands for Haiti and have helped build shelters in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake, distributed school supplies to earthquake refugee students, built a home for a refugee family in Verrettes, helped distribute fruit trees to poor Haitian families in the mountains and brought 100 water filters to families that cannot get clean water. Now our next trip is planned for October and I am faced with the question of what are we going to do next? What is the need?

On our last trip, Fr. Alexis showed us an unfinished health clinic that he is helping work on. The nurse that is heading up the project has given everything she has and then some to this dream of hers and she is out of money. So the clinic sits unoccupied and waits for some miraculous way for funding. Enter, Debbi and Jeff, and Hands for Haiti. Fr. Alexis has asked us to help with this project. But here’s the catch – the help they need is in the form of funding, not in the form of manpower.

I have had the privilege of fundraising for eight years and really wanted a break from that and now would like the privilege of just using my hands in Haiti. So, dear Lord, what would you have me do? My heart is feeling torn. I see the hope in Fr. Alexis’ eyes when he asks about the clinic, but is this what I want to do?

Here comes the conviction… my prayer, “Lord, please show me what you need for me to do in Haiti. Please lead me and I will follow You! I am struggling with lack of direction. Please, dear Lord, guide me! I am feeling lost!”

Does God always call us to do what WE want to do? What WE feel comfortable doing? No, He calls us to do HIS will! He knows our gifts and our talents! My mother always said to me when I felt exceptionally challenged, “God won’t give you, what you can’t handle.” You just need to trust and rely on HIM! I have prayed this prayer so many times and all the while God is showing me, telling me what His people need. A HEALTH CLINIC! And I have been too blind to see it. Too concerned about what I want to do to see what God wants me to do! So, through many tears and asking God for forgiveness for my desires of self-fulfillment, I have committed to see this health clinic through. When we go to Haiti in October, we will be visiting the health clinic under construction and also visiting other Haitian families and possibly doing a little ‘hands on helping’ but we will become part of the dream of one local nurse to serve her brothers and sisters. We are now also her brothers and sisters.  Let the family circle of Christ grow wider this October!!

Joyfully for Haiti!!

Debbi Gischia

Watch the blog this upcoming week!!

Hello all our faithful followers and all our new followers!!  Continue to watch this blog site this upcoming week.  New photos of "Team May" will be posted all week as well as videos. 

We will also be posting information about our Hands for Haiti – 3rd Group Mission Trip!!!

We are now forming

“Team October”

Thursday, October 20-27, 2011

meeting date - to be announced!

If you are interested in joining us, or just want information to see what our trips are about,

please email us at handsforhaititeam@gmail.com.

God bless and thank you so much for all your prayers!!!!!  We are very blessed from them!!!!

Yes, we are back in Michigan!

Well, we have been back for 2 weeks now and finally getting back to normal.  Between kidney stones the last night in Haiti, 40 people camping at our house for Memorial Weekend, graduation and our upcoming open house for Bekah, I have been trying to play catch up and haven't had time to post - I apologize terribly!!  As for the rest of our team, I think that we all have needed some time to digest the wonderful experience that we all had. 

Hopefully, all the blog posting while we were gone, gave you a taste for what we experienced and accomplished.  This will be a trip that will stay in our hearts forever!!  As promised, I will update the blog with pictures and videos - but probably after this Saturday.  Please keep checking back to look for these!!

Until then, God bless and enjoy the summer!!!
Debbi

Yeah! Last day in Verrettes continued #2 - last one

Continued 2

Coming back down the mountain was just as exciting as going up!  We all now have a new appreciation of what a pick up truck can do!  Now off to visit a "buck" goat who fathers many other goats in the animal husbandry program. This particular goat is from Africa and has had 200 offspring in the last year!!! His species adapts well to this climate and produces a more hearty breed. At this moment it started to rain - so down the mountain we scurried!  Back to our truck to quickly make our way back to Tom's home while getting pelted with a much needed rain. Schmitty was very happy to see the rain come after our help earlier with planting the fruit trees in the mountains. They really need the rain for the trees to survive and the people are so incredibly hopeful. 
What fun we had back at our home base watching the downpour and the quickly running "river" that once was the road. Our friends all together under one roof, singing, talking, learning about eachother, watching our new friend Echo dance, and just an awesome sense of comeraderie. We are all working for the same purpose all loving the same people all worshiping the same God. How fulfilling our day was!!  We closed our day with Fr. Alexis joining our group discussion after supper. Tonight we shared all that we have learned over the week and everyone contributed wonderful insights. We have been so incredibly blessed even sometimes beyond words. But this experience has been engraved into our hearts, never to leave. We have become better people from of it and we will be challenged now because of it.  We believe in the goodness and love of the Haitian people and will keep them close to us always. 
Amen!  

Continued from last day in Verrettes

...last day in Verrettes...continued #1

Our trip would not have been complete without experiencing the sights and smells of the market in town. This was definately worth the walk, seeing women so carefully displaying their prized goods to sell and help support their family. Fruits and vegetables, rice and grains, spices, ingredients and who can forget all the fresh meat of every kind (complete with pig and chicken feet) just waiting for the needy shopper. With so many vendors, who do you choose to buy from? It would be difficult I would think. As we were following Limone, Tom's daughter, we were trying to take it all in. Christie was both friend and foe with her camera. Some were very eager for their livelihood to be documented and others not so much. Either way, we both respected and appreciated their contribution to their community.

After another fantastic lunch of Haitian macaroni and cheese cooked by Tom's beautiful wife, Fecilta, we were off to pick up more fruit trees to take up the mountain to the small community of Tewoug. Here we were able to immerse ourselves in the planting event, everyone in the community and on our team supporting one another. The whole exchange culminating with lots of joyful singing, dancing, game playing, and laughter among the children and young people. A wondrful highlight for Chase was passing out the soccer and tennis balls and seeing how much joy just a simple gesture like that can bring. One of the coolest things was seeing a couple of the boys that Chase had given tshirts to last June when we were in the same area. They were still wearing the shirts!!!
...to be continued again

*** I'm so sorry. I'm having trouble posting blogs from my phone lately. You will need to go to blog to find better posts.

Our last day in Verettes and Liancourt

Sorry. Post was disessembled. Read this one.

Our last day in Verettes and Liancourt. 
I think today was our busiest day yet. It was filled so many sights/ sounds/smells, joy/laughter/singing, heat/sun/rain, emotions/experiences and lessons that we could probably write a book but we'll try to keep it under a page!!
Our day began with stopping for a very short but exciting visit to the preschool next to the church. The happiness and excitement on these beautiful smiling faces so eager to welcome and touch us was both envigorating and contagious!!! We left here ready for our adventures of the day. 
When we arrived at Tom's (Faith in Action's headquarters) there were already people there from the mountains to get their water filters. Our brave boys set out to the roof to embark on the much needed task of clearing away the unruly foliage blocking the front porch. Daniel commented on how he felt really good to have helped Tom and his family out after they so willing devote their lives to helping the poor. 
Our next experience was to witness the unbelievable determination of three mountain women who, at the end of the day, were Fran's heroes!  These women had walked 5 hours down the mountain to listen attentively to learn how to use the water filters. Then they carried their buckets (with filters attached) to the tree nursery where they were given about 15 fruit trees to carry back in their buckets. We watched as they very carefully placed each small tree so it wouldn't damage another before they hoisted their filled bucket onto their heads to start the 5 hour trek back UP the mountain they had come down this morning. Not a single complaint about the scalding sun today or the lack of water to drink on their journey. Just gratitude and diligence and joy. Yes, Fran's admiration of these women was felt by all!!
... to be continued

Beach yesterday - Church today - Trees, water filters and goats tomorrow!!!!

Yesterday, we had some time to cool off at the beach, then to St. Marc to buy buckets for the water filters!!

Today, Sunday, we were blessed to first attend Mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish in the center of Liancourt and then to the chapel in Hatte Belanger.  We were able to really interract with the people at the chapel and passed out protractors and compasses to the school children there.  We also presented the water filters that are going to be used at the school that is located in the chapel.  Fr. Alexis was able to instruct the people on how to use them.  He also explained to them that just because the water may look "clear" it is not necessarily "clean."  These 5 filters that we left there will provide "clean" water for 331 students!!!!!

The people were very friendly and excited about everything we brought, but I think the loadest applause was for the SOCCER BALLS!!!  To think sometimes what small things you can do that bring great smiles!!

Schmitty's exlamation on the ride home, "Wow, I feel fulfilled!!" said it all for us today.

Love to you all,
Team May

Yeah!! Pictures are up!!

Many blessings today!!

Wow, we can’t believe it’s our third day in Haiti already!!! We are being blessed much more than we even anticipated! After another fantastic breakfast from Maude, Fr. Alexis’ cook, we were off to the first tree nursery in Verrettes. We worked and counted there before we went on to the 2nd tree nursery. There are hundreds of fruits just waiting to be planted. Unfortunately, we have been unable to distribute the trees to the farmers because the rains have not come yet. The ground is too dry and the trees will just die. We are hoping to do this in a couple of days though as it has started to rain in the mountains! Pray for more rain!!!

We have had such awesome experiences today and many highlights we would like to share. Gosh, there were so many – where to start? Well, I’ll start with one that is dear to my (Debbi’s) heart. Today we had the special opportunity to visit the home that “Team June” built last year. It was a very emotional moment when we crossed that river again and pulled up to the site where we spent so much time and energy building, learning, communicating and playing with our Haitian brothers and sisters. It brought back many memories for Daniel and Chase and myself. Chase commented on seeing all the work we did last year paid off and Daniel said it was cool to see where we played games with the kids and where he laid his first cement block. To see the house that was just bricks and mortar when we left, now a family home was an experience almost inexpressible. It was also extremely touching when Rosalyn, the mother, invited us in to show us her daughter’s handiwork in weaving mats. She was so proud of her surroundings and their talents that she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face the whole time we were there!!

After this, we journeyed down the trail to the children’s nursery and then even further down to take a rest and wade in the river. The children are so happy playing in the water, sometimes it’s contagious!!! After this we had the privilege (and we all feel it’s really a privilege) to visit some individual gardens that are supporting families. The excitement we saw in the man that so proudly showed us his “table tree nursery” is something that makes your heart leap with its own excitement! Did we mention that the joy that exudes from these people is contagious?!?!?! We are continually making friends everywhere we go!!! We found this at the soda pop and ice factory we visited. We were amazed that some very ingenious engineers and business men came back to their homeland to start this profitable business, providing jobs for fellow Haitians.

We also noticed that the kids at the clinic we visited were “just itching” to try and communicate with us and show us the English phrases that they had learned at school. Again – excited to be our friends!! Let’s talk about this clinic we visited today. Such inspiration to see this nurse who has put her life savings into building a clinic for the people in the Liancourt area. It was her dream and now she is almost seeing it come true. She just needs the finishing touches: doors, windows, generator, wall and fence to see her dream of serving her brothers and sisters come true. She will be out of funds after the roof is put on, but has hope that one day her clinic will open.

We can’t forget our tour of the famous Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Des Chapelle. This is the main hospital for miles and a very noted one where doctors and nurses come from all over the world to serve the people of the Artibonite Valley in Haiti. For some of us, the hospital was more primitive than we thought it was going to be. Christie commented that, “it’s amazing what they can do with the little they have.” Again, we were sizing up our perception of the world around us and how different it now is. We closed our night by talking about how we are continually learning about the Haitian culture and how to respect it by accepting it. “We serve and therefore are served, we love and also are loved, we are opening our hands to the many Hands of Haiti.”

Our love to you all!!
Team May

Good morning! Yesterday we were exhausted and didn't get a chance to post. "Eskize mwen." Sorry in Creole.

Thursday, our first full day in Haiti. What is the meaning of being a servant? Does it mean doing physical labor for someone or does it mean putting yourself out there to help someone else? We found that our role as servants on this day was very simple. Just to show interest in another's work and that we care sometimes is all it takes to bring loads of encouragement to a Haitian farmer who is working hard to provide for his family. We had the priviledge of visiting many Haitian gardens in the mountains and also their homes. They were so happy and welcoming and willing to share their lives with us. This experience has made us look at things from a different perspective and respect and appreciate our own lives. We also have noticed the opportunity not only to learn from the Haitian people but also from eachother in our group. We learned alot about joy from our new friend "Echo" and the utmost trust he has in everyone. We also learned this country and these beautiful people have unleashed in us a desire to think of them first and how we can use our gifts and talents to help make life a little easier for them. But from their perspective and not ours. What are the true necessities in life? We are beginning to answer these questions.

God bless you and your families! We appreciate all of you!!!

...continued first day.
What a blessing he and his staff are to us!! They had a fantastic meal waiting for the hungry travellers. After a tour of their home, some refreshing showers and great conversation, we are tucked in for the night. Tomorrow begins our new adventure in this mountaneous country filled with beautiful people bursting with love of neighbor, taking care of each other. Hopefully we will be able to take part in this exchange and witness firsthand acting on the scripture, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
God bless and sweet dreams!!
Team May

Our first day in Haiti - Flag Day.
Today is Flag Day in Haiti-a national holiday. It is the celebration of the day in 1806 (I think) when the Haitian leaders all met to redesign the country's flag after they won their independence from the French. The schools are closed and there are many festivals. In fact, we had the priveledge of having to pull to the side of the road as the new President of Haiti and his entourage passed by. It was very exciting. We felt like we were somehow drawn into this piece of their history. Because of all the extra commotion on the streets, it took us an extra hour to reach our destination - the home of our wonderful friend, Fr. Alexis. ... to be continued