bump....

....idity....

........bump bump.

I'm here..fell asleep on the sofa reading a book. Acxtually that forum isn't as argumentative as it usually is at least not as sarcastic. So did you make it through the miserable heat?

The heat is still here. It's muggy hot, even with the sun down.

At least I have something to do. A friend brought her computer by and wants me to fix it. Should occupy me for about 30 minutes or so.

Heat has nothing to do with the train wreck that is called "hot topics". It's been burning since the day it was opened.

Can I ask a personal question? I've been gone for a while (vacationing in Texas...what was I thinkin?) and busy in other forums, but I noticed you have changed your sign-off. Does Elia have a meaning?

Do you remember when you translated a note for me for children in Haiti? Thank you again for your help. We just got done sending them school supplies for 400. Whew! That was a lot of supplies. The people that had to carry them in the country just about killed us :)

Lisa

Ouai, je me souviens.

Kinda got tired of the old one. And I had one of them James Joycian epiphaniacal moments about a month or so ago. It's the alias of a writer whose work I admire and life I seem to have parallels with.

Holy cow Michael - I didn't realize you spoke French Creole, that's cool. I may use your talent also, as we support a young boy in a Haitian Orphanage and I would love to include a little note when I send things down there.

Lisa- It's crazy but true, everything sent to these kids must be carried in by hand. Our group, some of whom were going to be building school desks and chairs for the kids had to take power tools in their luggage. The others brought school supplies and clothing in their suitcases, bringing only the bare essentials for themselves and doing alot of laundry! There is no other way to get supplies to them. No viable shipping possibilities. Sadly the kids live in the orphanage complex behind walls with razor wire. Why? Because they have "stuff" that would certainly be stolen and the security situation is dreadful.

Suzanne: I know, it's awful down there. We send two teams a year, a general team in July and a medical team in January.

Our group has had to be walled off too, with guards posted. Our orphanage is not huge, 30 or so kids, but we help with education support for 400 school children in 12 schools, including one in Cite Soleil (I'm not sure that is spelled right -- sounds like city solay.)

It was just a little amusing to see the face of the teenager who went down there when we presented her with the pile of things going....I told her, "didn't you know you only get to take one set of clothing?" She was a little concerned about finding room for her stash of beef jerky. She learned from her first trip to bring her own protein!

This was the first year we tried something quite so momentous, we were fortunate there was a large group going. My own little project has been sewing supplies/machines for the orphanage. The oldest ones are getting old enough now to need higher education and/or a trade.

Lisa

We send at least two teams per year, but we haven't been able to get in the country for a year now, due to the unstable conditions before and immediately after the elections. I haven't checked lately to see how the new President is doing.

The small orphanage we support is administered by Dr. Hubert Morquette, who is a wonderful Haitian physician who returned to his country after being education elsewhere.

You bring up a very important point....as the kids reach a certain age they need to learn some skills or advanced education to find some work, and even with those skills there's not much to do in the Haitian economy. Several of the older kids have been adopted and brought to the U.S. by families who were fearful of their future in Haiti.

As is the case in many parts of the world, the only ones left after the govt's leave are the faith based organizations, which is true in Haiti. The U.S. government has once again withdrawn Peace Corps Volunteers, and it looks as though they have abandoned the mission there. There are no plans to reinstate Peace Corps in that country.

What I speak is closer to Arcadian. But the basic French is the same.