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 The U.S. government has once again withdrawn Peace Corps Volunteers, and it looks as though they have abandoned the mission there.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.

@ Denise I wasn't here for any of the various dramas, but I do think the atmosphere toward vendors is too strict. Even when they aren't banned, it makes them too gunshy to speak freely, and that's a shame since they have lots to contribute. We just have to go elsewhere when we want to talk to them I guess. I never can tell what causes my Hoyas to drop their new growth - I can't tell if they're being sensitive or I'm being a dolt. Maybe someday I'll have enough confidence to try and diagnose what has gone wrong, but for now I just try to take it all in stride... After all, some knocking about is inevitable, both by nature and dopey human caretakers. You know, now that you brought up the whole red leaves going away thing.... I've noticed that my lacunosas show the full drama of their unique coloring during the winter. The Sno Caps gets more variegated, the reds come out in the Ruby Sue and Royal Flush... then in summer they all go fairly green and are much harder to tell apart. They are under artificial light the whole time, with just a north window behind them. Do you guys see this pattern in your lacunosas too? @ Teisa That pachy is rocking out! Nice growing! @ Doug Thanks so much for sharing the pictures of your pauciflora. It's so pretty the way those pink freckles show through the white. I have so much fun growing this plant, but it hasn't bloomed for me yet. I am so excited after hearing about the fragrance! My cystiantha is blooming right now, and I have to say that is one of my favorite scents I've smelled in a while. Kind of like a sugary lemondrop except with a more lemongrassy lemon.

Hi, Shax "Has everyone given up on trying to sustain our ever diminishing environment?" - always an interesting question on a slow-moving forum. I just got back from Scotland. Among other things, I confered with people in a group called Trees for Life (they're sort of inheritors of part of Richard St. Barbe-Baker's reforestation work). Interestingly, they told me that there is more interest in hands-on reforestation work, on the part of volunteers, in the UK than every before. They saw it as a steady growth. It costs them L250 per week to keep the volunteers fed, equipped, transported, safe, and sheltered... and they get the volunteers to pay L80 of it! So that's commitment. Yeah, let's not give up... Joel

Hi Clara (and Pamela and Leahcate)! I just saw your post. My sister was just here and she quilts (I don't). Quilting is so intricate and detailed that I wouldn't even be able to get started, least of all enjoy it! My hat is off to you for realizing it's supposed to be fun. Clara, I haven't really found any forums for support, but decided to do what I knew how to do when I was first diagnosed. (There were a few on the cooking forum who helped me out initially.) I jumped immediately into an old Weight Watcher's diet until I got Diabetes nutrition education, along with my blood testing kit. I felt like I was flying blind until I started testing my Blood Glucose (BG), but after that was easily able to see the correlation between what I was eating and how it affected me. What's important are Little Meals, with some protein always included, with definite snacks in-between keep your BG more stable. I've been eating apples with a little peanut butter, or celery with PB or cheese. You'll have to limit your carbs and spread them out throughout the day...it's amazing how many carbs are in a large apple! I started actively reading labels and seeing how much a portion was (much less than I had been enjoying.) Google Diabetic Gourmet Magazine; there is good information there, and I periodically check to remind myself of how important it is keep tight control of Diabetes. My doctor suggested ''Diabetes for Dummies'' which was very helpful to me. I still pull it out to read when I have a question about something. There's some good info on the Mojo thread about the Glycemic Index (good carbs that are slower to raise BG), which helped me a lot. The thing you have to do is eat! Then wait two hours before you eat again. If you'd like a support buddy, please e-mail me (My Page) and we'll chat. I know how overwhelming it is at first, but once you push through this and get regulated with meds/diet, you'll have so much energy you'll feel like your old (in my case very old!) self. I'll look forward to hearing from you!