The Team

Kevin, Amy, Casey, Angela, Katie, Bob, Lena, Eric, Helayna and Mallory

Some final pictures....

Kevin and Stephania

Mallory and Daniel

Donated diapers

Just some of the donations from PCC

The new and improved schoolroom

Schoolroom

Casey and Kevin, hard at work on the roof

Bethany and Helayna

Hanging out with the kids

More hanging out with the kids

Eric and Jean, accepting a donation from PCC for his boys/girls club

Lena, hugging one of her boys, Steeve

Amy with Jonathon and Reece

One of the cooks using her new stove

Lena, Helayna and the nannies doing projects with the kids

The new roof being built

The "old" roof

Working on the kitchen

The "old" stove

working hard to improve the cooking conditions

Katie and Katia

Arriving at the airport and trying to fit the new grill in the truck

Friday, 11/27/09

They have landed!!!! About 20 min. ago, which is about an hour late. But, they are HOME!!!
I will post pics in the next couple days...
Praise God...everyone is home safely....

Thursday, 11/26/09

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, I hope you had a wonderful one and spent it with loved ones.

I talked to Eric tonight and they are VERY busy....getting ready to leave the orphanage at 7am tomorrow for the airport and their 3 flights from Haiti to Miami, from Miami to Dallas and from Dallas to Phoenix. They don't get home until 10pm, so they will be TIRED....

They had a wonderful Thanksgiving. They cooked a "real" Thanksgiving meal, with turkey, stuffing, cranberries, etc. and instead of the staff serving it, the mission team served the nannies, the orphanage staff and all the kids. They brought a bunch of tables outside and they all sat down together.

They were very grateful and everyone had a wonderful time.

The team and staff were all sad when it was time to leave. I heard there were even some tears shed.

I know that they appreciate it so much when Parkway and friends come down there and I also know how much the team loves helping them and that there are definitely bonds being made.

Personally, I cannot wait to see my husband and daughter and hear all the stories and see the pictures and videos they took.

I will post some of them this weekend.

Please continue to pray for safe travels home for all.

Thanks for following their journey....

Wednesday, 11/25/09

Written by Helayna-

---

Hi mom!

Today we woke up early to get ready so we could be ready to leave at 8am. But OJ(the driver) didn’t come till 8:30 so we could have slept longer. Haha!

We ate breakfast then Abby came to the guest house so she could come with us to Mother Teresa’s Hospital for Children. Lena and Bob stayed behind so they could have the whole day with Steeve and Jean Baptist(the boys they are adopting). So we all piled into the van and drove for about 30 minutes.

When we walked in, some of the parents were there visiting with the sick kids. There are about three rooms with kids in them. One has the really sick ones with IVs and stuff… The others are for the rest of them. When we first came in and were looking around, a little girl came up to Katie with a little car and was rolling it up and down a little ramp. She was so cute.

Then, everywhere Katie went she followed herJ.I went into one of the rooms and saw a little girl in a crib whose parents weren’t there. So I fed her some lunch and then picked her up. I found out she was 22 months old. And she was TINY!

I sat on the floor with her for a while and she had no expression at all. I tried to tickle her and she pushed me away, so I kept holding her. I kept on trying to make her smile and finally she didJ She was adorable! Then after that she was laughing and smiling and acting like a normal kid. That was really cool. Then later she peed on me. Haha!

Dad found the cutest little boy and played with him for a long time. He loved his watch and would hide it in the cribs and then laugh so hard when dad would find it and take it back.

Mallory found a little girl walking around. She had this real sad face and Mallory tried to talk to her but she just kept saying the same thing in Creole. We asked Abby’s friend, Kez, who came with us to translate (she speaks fluent Creole) and she told us the girl was saying "my mom is coming to bring me something good to eat." Visiting hours were over so we guessed that her mom had said that and never came.

So today was pretty rough, so after Mother Teresa’s, OJ drove us to a resort so we could kind of recover from the day. It’s really nice. It had a pool and we ate lunch there. Most of us got cheese burgers and fries! SOOO GOOD!!! Then we went in the freezing cold pool, but it felt really good. After the pool we all laid out on the chairs by the pool and we all fell asleep. We slept for a good hour. Then we woke up, me and Mallory had ice-cream, and then we went back to the guest house.

Well tomorrow is our last day at the orphanage. It’s gonna be really hard to leaveL we’re just gonna play with the kids all day and spend time with them as much as we canJ Well byeJ

Monday, 11/23

From Helayna(13 yrs old)-

So today was fun! We woke up and got ready… Then me, dad, and Mallory got Sebastian and tried on his new clothes. Then we played with him and realized we were missing prayer/music time. So we went into the baby room and sat with the kids while the nannies sang and prayed:) that’s probably my favorite part of everyday.

Then we took the kids outside, played until Erick(the driver) and the rest of the group came and we played some more. Mallory got her hair braided by Lude-mia(a nanny). Then it was lunchtime so we went back to the guest house for lunch… Sandwiches as usual.

Then we rested for an hour. Erick took us back to the orphanage and we got to work (it’s easier to work when the kids are napping so that’s when we get most of it done) Katie and Angela took pictures of all the sponsorship kids at the school and had them make Xmas cards for their sponsors. Amy and Lena painted the supply closet. And me and Mallory redid the schoolroom/wall. They have their songs, verses, calendar and stuff up on the wall and Abby wanted us to re write them and laminate them so they look nicer.

Then we rearranged the wall and made a sign that says school with the kid’s handprints on it! So much fun!!! Abby and the nannies LOVED it!!! All the nannies stood and watched us while we finished it and they kept on saying “bell”(pretty) I was so happy to make them happy:)

As for the guys, they are done with the grill so they worked on building a roof over the grill so it’s not so hot. It was so fast! We looked over one minute and they were cutting wood, and the next minute it was finished! So that was cool.

Oh! Me and Katie did school with the older kids today also! It was really fun. They are so smart!

I have a bunch of fruit snacks still so me and Mallory took a couple bags downstairs and gave each of the kids a few. They were so excited and kept saying they didn’t get any while they had like three in their mouth:) then we took them on the jungle gym, as we do every night. We hung out for a little bit and Bethany taught me a hand clapping game (idk what to call it) She’s adorable:)

Then it was shower time for them and dinner time for us. We had lots of guests tonight. A bunch of Abby’s (the intern who lives at the orphanage) friends came for dinner. It was sooo yummy! After we had dinner we all played "catch phrase":) FUN!!! And hilarious.

Then they left and we took showers and that’s pretty much it. Tomorrow we don’t really have any work to do so we’re just going to relax with the kids all day. I will write more tomorrow. BYE!

From Kevin Jones-

The trip so far has been very productive and fun. Today we completed the kitchen and canopy goals so we're going to be able to spend even more time playing with the kids (YEE-HAW) Amy as well as all the girls are so awesome with the kids and trying to teach,play,nurture,cuddle,and just plain ole love them,it's really cool to watch. One of the boys ,Daniel ,was calling me "Damon's Papa" today.

(Damon is Kevin's son, who visited the orphanage a year or so ago with the team, so the boy remembered them)

Monday, 11/23

Katie, teaching the kids


Reggie, who works for the orphanage



Helayna and Mallory making a new sign for the school

Casey and Kevin building the roof
The completed kitchen!!

Building the new roof
Angela and Amy, painting the pantry

Helayna and her baby brother, Sebastian

Pictures! Finally!

Casey, working hard on the cement counters
Amy, Angela and their friends

Amy, reading with the boys
Helayna and one of the nannies, playing
Eric, Casey, Kevin with their Haitian friends
Katie, painting nails
Angela, holding Jamesly
Mallory and Helayna with the girls
Angela, Mallory and Helayna, holding their new friends
The cooks admiring their new grill
Katie and her friend
Angela, Amy and friends

Mallory, Helayna and Sebastian
Helayna, Eric and Sebastian
Helayna and her brother, Sebastian

Sunday, Nov 22

From Mallory Cross (15 yrs):

Today we woke up at 5:30 to the sound of babies crying….it was AWESOME!( Only not) Abby was already up and ready to go drinking some coffee and Eric we discovered is worse than a girl and takes FOREVER in the bathroom.

Helayna and I were super tired when we woke up because we were up late the night before blogging and trying to get internet access. Abby got this magical idea to make breakfast burritos the day before at the market so we had breakfast burritos with REAL EGGS! None of those gross powdered fluffy slimy eggs. We also had tomatoes, corn, salsa, and cheese in the burritos.

After breakfast me and Helayna went into the nursery and the kids were not allowed to play with us till they finished their breakfast so they were all trying to hurry….Jamesly ( one of the little boys) really likes Helayna and he was spooning his watery oatmeal stuff so fast that it was going all over his shirt and face then he went to climb on Helayna in her church clothes and she went to church with oatmeal crusted on her pants…speaking of church, we went to church with Abby today and it was fun. The guy talked a little slow but he was a good speaker.

After church everyone went to Epidor (the fast food place we went to dinner for last night) everyone liked it. Steve and Jean Baptist (Lena and bobs kids) went with us and they were so happy especially because they got ice cream :p. When we finished we came back to the orphanage and the kids were just starting nap time. So we went to work.

Lena, Amy, Angela and Kattie painted shelves in the pantry/storage area in the apartment while I and Helayna made a bunch of new posters for the kid’s school wall. The guys are almost finished with the kitchen area, today they finished everything all the counters and shelves, all they have to do is remove the boards that are supporting the drying cement.

When the kids woke up they were CRAZY! All over the place jumping on us and screaming. We played on the jungle jim again and the kids were yelling at us and hitting us (they aren’t very nice) but they are still cute. Everyone went home and we played with the kids for a little longer and they decided to braid my hair which hurt…..A LOT! So I went upstairs with Helayna and she sat drinking apple juice and undid a couple braids the kids did in her hair while I ripped and combed out my braids.

Then Helayna took a shower while I and Abby made dinner (salad) and Eric tried to get his internet to work (as he does every night). We ate dinner and then I took a shower and then Eric showered. Abby and I did dishes while Helayna got her new baby brother Sebastian . Her,Eric, and Sebastian got on a live video chat with Michele and Mia. It was really cute and funny. Sebastian fell asleep on Helayna and she put him to bed. Now we are sitting her being weird and bored . Well goodnight from your friends and family in Haiti ……we will blog tomorrow

BYE~ Mallory

Saturday 11/21

Helayna and Mallory, sitting in the dark at the orphanage....power is out (again!)

There is no Internet connection, so Eric and Helayna just gave me some details about what they did today:

Everyone woke up between 5am-6:30am this morning. They had toast, oatmeal and bananas for breakfast and then the driver came to the guest house to pick them up and take them to the orphanage.
Since it's Saturday, there was no school.

The men worked hard all day on the kitchen they are building. It turns out that the overhang over the kitchen area was all rotted out with termites, so it had to come down and be replaced.

They also worked on building shelves.

The cooks used the grill for the first time today for lunch and were so happy!
They funny thing is that their pots are rounded on the bottom, so they were sliding all over the place.

The women hung out with the kids and then Helayna,Mallory, Katie and Amy went to the upstairs apartment to make pancakes for the kids. 3 pancakes each, for 26 kids!

Then, Katie, Angela and Len helped the kids make Christmas cards out of their handprints for their adoptive parents.

The older girls (age 5-7) noticed yesterday that Mallory and Helayna had nailpolish on, so they brought it with them today, took the girls into the classroom and did their nails. When they were done, they walked around with their hands up to show everyone for 15 minutes!

They went back to the guest house for lunch, where they had sandwiches, salad, tuna and cookies.
They rested until the driver came back for them.

When they got back to the orphanage, the kids were all napping so the men went to work on the kitchen again. The women emptied the supply closet so that it can be painted tomorrow.

Helayna, Mallory and Katie went to the baby room and sat and talked with Ludemia, one of the nannies, for a while. Katie got a Creole-English book so they could communicate better and they each taught each other some of their own language.

Angela and Amy played with the babies when they woke up.

The older girls braided Helayna and Mallory's bangs so tight that they stuck straight out. They kept saying "bell", which means "pretty". But, Helayna and Mallory disagreed!

Some of the group went to the market and then to a "fast-food" type of place for dinner, where they had burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, ice cream, etc. Supposedly, it was really good.

Tomorrow, they will attend church and work on misc projects.

Everyone is doing well and making connections with the kids and having a wonderful, productive time.

Keep up the prayers....


*sorry no new pictures...

Friday 11/20 update

I just talked to Eric and here is the update from today:

They woke up and went to the orphanage after having a breakfast of eggs, toast, etc.
(They are fed very well there!)

The men worked on the new kitchen that they are building. The old one is just an open area with a large grate and piles of coal to cook on. It's very hot, dangerous to breathe in and expensive.
Casey, Reggie, Dr. Mike and Jack built up the back wall and island in the kitchen.
Eric and Kevin put together the grill. The cooks were so excited, they ran over to see it when it was done and kept saying "photo! photo!". They wanted to have their picture taken with their new stove.

Bob started on extending the roof over the kitchen so that they can cook in the shade.

They are about 50% done with the kitchen and plan to be totally finished on Monday.

The women/girls stayed with the kids most of the day, playing and just holding them.

They also did a Thanksgiving project with them and started making Christmas cards for their adoptive parents. Almost all of the kids in the orphanage are in the process of being adopted. The process is just a long one.

Everyone seems to be feeling a bond with the kids and like they are connecting. Usually, it's to one or two kids for each adult. They follow you around, or want you to hold them constantly.

After spending the day at the orphanage, the group went back to the guest house and ate beef stew, rice, salad, bread and chocolate cake for dinner.

Then, they played "Spoons" and had some time to discuss their day and how everyone was feeling, etc.

Sunday, they will go to church and out to lunch. They will also take a ride through some very poverty stricken areas of Haiti. The area of Port Au Prince that they are staying in is considered a "nice" area, so they will see the other areas of Haiti.

Parkway donated a "Net Book" computer to Alex, who runs the school and when he received it, he was so happy and grateful. His computer had crashed and couldn't be fixed.

Also, PCC donated $$ to an organization run by a man named Balfour. It is like a "Big Brother" program and serves over 200 kids. We were able to give him money so that the kids would have Christmas presents. Otherwise, there would be none. He was so very thankful and excited for the kids.

So, it sounds like everyone is doing very well and having a wonderful time so far.
Keep praying for them, their health and safety.I will write more tomorrow.

A few pictures

Casey, hard at work










and with and his new backpack!












Helayna, Mallory and their entourage...





















Helayna and her baby brother, Sebastian:)










The cooks, enjoying their new grill





Angela and Helayna








On the bus, ready to go!









Mallory and Katie