Both Ends Burning

Adoption policy has become a frustration for me.  Adoption policy worldwide varies.  Here in Haiti those looking to adopt must meet these requirements:
-age 35
-less then 2 biological children
-married for 10 years (if married)

Yet, if families looked to another country for adopting the policy would be completely different.  I definitely see the great need for policy, yet wish that the policy could be more uniformed. 

Chante (a staff member at COTP) shared Both Ends Burning with me.  This is an organization setup to "to promote a culture of adoption and to implement policy change."

If you would like to read more click the image above.

I decided to sign the petition.  This petition will allow the organization Both Ends Burning to meet with the United Nations to discuss this issue.

Guest Sunny1

Hello, everyone.
I'm sunny(sunghee) from Champaign, Illinois. Mateja and I have been friends for a couple of years.
I'm visiting Barrett's in Haiti. It has been quite an adventure to get here in Cap-Haitien.
Well. I recommend to come directly to Cap-Haitien.
Before i forget.. there are good things to have husband in mission field.
1. You don't have to translate. Have him to learn the language. (of course, mateja can speak creole :) )
2. He can be good light-offer. Did you ever feel being lazy turning lights off?
3. He can eat what you don't want to eat..

I'm keep making a list :) Adam is so nice and caring for Mateja!!~ So good!~~~

Well...
First day, I woke up with organic alarm clock i didn't set up and expected.
Rooster...They started crying around 4:00 clock..

In the afternoon, we went to get cokes. Not to gas station or Hybee haha~
It's quite a journey with bumy road. But, it was fun.
The coke tasted better than i had in the States.


The next pictures were taken when we went for a walk.
Isn't the sunset beau~~~tiful? :)

The next day, we went to the beach. It took about 1 hour due to gravel road.
We all are relaxing and swimiming.

I have a few more days with Barrett's.
I'm learning a lot here that i can't tell all about it. But there is one thing I can tell on top of everything.
The most thing they need is your prayers :)

The second one will come soon..Stay with us... :D

What God Will Do

In the last 2 days I have been getting some of the best emails.  One of them linked me to this blog.  If you have time read What God Will Do.

Update on the Rat-Beware Animal Lovers

We were disconnected from the Internet for some time, so I am sorry this update is late.  But, here is what we think to be the fate of the rat.  (I didn't get a close enough view to tell if this rat had a hurt hind leg.)

Last week I went into the office to call Adam's parents.  While sitting down at the computer out pops this little fellow below.  I am tired of chasing rats, so I recruited Roxie (the dog) to assist.  She thought the rat a yummy snack.

The photo is a bit dark due to it being night.

Welcomed Home by a Rat

Traveling to Haiti can be exhausting.  Even though Haiti is just around 700 miles south of Florida it still takes forever to get there.  Adam and I left early morning on Monday and got to Haiti at noon on Tuesday.  The 30 hour trip was accompanied with sleeping in the Ft. Lauderdale airport.  Therefore, when we arrived at COTP we were excited to get unpacked and go see the children.

After entering our apartment it became evident we wouldn't be unpacking too much that night.  Despite our efforts to clean before we left (Adam bleached the floors.  I packed up what I thought was all the food and we got our clothes washed), the apartment we came back to was not clean.

The window screens were chewed out.  The corner of our door was gnawed on.  The guitar case also had various nibbles taken out of it.  And, our almond package was partially eaten.  Our clean towel pile had rodent hair on it.  The clothes in my drawer was made into a nest.  Droppings were scattered throughout our room. All the evidence pointed to one thing...a rat.

You would think after cleaning all that disgusting stuff up we wouldn't be able to sleep.  Not so.  We looked everywhere.  I mean everywhere.  My cousin told us a story about how rats entered a prison through toilets, so we even looked there.  After all our searching we went to bed assuming the rat had vacated his new home.

The next day after school I came into our apartment to find a new dropping, just one on the fan.  Adam and I debated whether the the dropping was in fact new or had we just missed it.  We determine since we could only find one we must have just missed it.

While laying in bed I told Adam that I heard scratching.  We got up and looked around for awhile, but found nothing.  Adam told me it was probably just the rain.  (It rains pretty hard at night and all kinds of weird noises happen during rain storms.)  After falling to sleep Adam jumps out of bed startling me too.  He claims now he hears scampering.  The noises I heard too confirm there is a rat.  Not outside, but inside our apartment.

The rat attempted hidding from us, but his original spot wasn't so good. 

Adam hit him with a broom, but failed to kill him before he escaped out our front door.  Now there is a gimpy rat running around the COTP compound.

What do you miss most?

Since we arrived back in the States I have been answering the question, "What do you miss most when your in Haiti?"

It seems like a retorical question in the way that I believe the answer is obvious - people.  I miss my mom and dad, and the rest of my family and friends.  I knew that being away from the people I love would be the biggest struggle before I left.  Now that I have been gone for 3 months and been away from these people it seems even more overwhelming to return.  Who would choose voluntarly to live apart from the people they love.

But, after the past 3 months my emotions have become even more jumbled.  As I currently sit at my home in the States I miss the children.  I just want to know how they are doing.  I want to be there.  I await Tuesday when I am able to hop out of our red Toyota and hold the children I love.

I wish that I could gather all the people I love and live with them in one place.

Second Mile Ministries

Amy and Jenn worked with us at COTP.  They are starting their own ministry that will, "provide for the physical needs of sick and malnourished children while empowering their mothers through health education and small business opportunities." 

If you would like to see their website click here.  I also wrote about their ministry in an older post click here if you would like to see it.

E-Newsletter

While at home some people have asked us how they could follow us in additional ways.  We have two e-newsletter options.

Barrett Family Newsletter

Adam and I plan to send out our personal e-newsletter bi-monthly.  If you would like to receive our e-newsletter please email mateja.b.barrett@gmail.com

Children of the Promise (COTP) Newsletter

COTP also puts out an e-newsletter quarterly that you may receive.  If you would like to sign up to receive that newsletter click the link below. 

World AIDS Day

The past 3 months children who are HIV positive have been on our hearts.  A few of our children at COTP are HIV positive.  These children contracted HIV through mother-to-infant transmission.  Mothers who are HIV positive infect 15-20% of their babies with HIV.  Thankfully moms who receive proper treatment can reduce that percentage to less than 1% transmission rate.

With the current ARV meds these children who are HIV positive have the hope of living normal life spans.  We are so thankful for these meds.

In honor of these children take time to read some facts about HIV:
HIV Transmission (Loved this website.)
HIV/AIDS - Myth versus Reality

Please pray that HIV positive children awaiting adoption will soon be matched with their forever families.

Supplies Needed

Recently I have had some friends contacting me on what supplies we need at COTP.  Here are the supplies we are in need of currently:
cotton balls
4x4 gauze squares or any other gauze
rice cereal
6-12 month old baby snacks
hand soap (bar or liquid)
hand sanitizer

If that was you, here is our address.

Teacher, Teacher, What do you see? I see Children looking at me.

Bill Martin's book has just become one of my all time favorite titles-thanks to six students in my morning class.  These children have determined we are the characters in this book. 

Upon entering our classroom they toddle to the book shelf to find his book, flip to the page of the teacher, and proclaim, "Mateja, teacher!?"

"Oui, Mateja, teacher," I reply. 

Their proclamation is conformation that we are doing something in school.  When they heard this is an illustration of a teacher, they saw me.  They have learned I am their teacher. 

The Joy of a New Language

One of the greatest challenges here is communication. Little English is spoken, therefore Mateja and I often fall into situations which require us to "speak" Creole. It is usually a tag team effort when Mateja and I are together. I listen to words, while Mateja reads the body language. Combining these two powers we can somewhat come up with a meaning.

The culture plays into this as well; Haitians will speak at the same time. Miraculously they somehow understand each other. Many times when I am handing out supplies nannies will ask for something and I don't understand what they want. Then 2-3 other nannies will come to help the original nanny try to communicate with me. They don't realize that this does not help. Instead of not understanding one nanny, I now have a group of nannies all speaking at the same time creating even more confusion.

Another thing we deal with is the speed in which Haitians speak. They talk so fast that we can't hear the distinction between words. We will ask for them to speak slower, but many will ramble the same thing at the exact speed and ask, "Do you understand now?"

Although these scenarios can sound difficult, they turn out to be amusing and great stories for later.

One language story I will never forget occurred with our laundry ladies. When we first arrived, Mateja and I met Madam Sergow. She is quite the character. She heard my name and immediately lit up making the connection with Adam in the Bible.  Madam Sergow then pointed to Mateja and exclaimed, "Eve!"

We all laughed, but that was just the beginning. Madam Sergow proceeded to teach us some Creole by reenacting the beginning parts of Genesis. We were unsure of what she was communicating until she got to the flood. She pounded her fist on the cement wall showing how God was angry at the people. To further emphasize God's anger she grabbed my fist and pounded it against the wall too. Then to show us the flood, she grabbed the hose and sprayed everyone in the area. When finished, we walked away 30 minutes later with a whole new view of Creole and the adventure we stepped into.

Don't you see that children are God's best gift?

"Don't you see that children are God's best gift?"

                                                                      -Psalm 127:3

Everyday I feel so blessed to be working with these wonderful preschoolers.  What a gift?  I love each of them so much. 

I never knew being in Haiti would be so hard on my heart.  I want these children to have homes.  I want them to have moms and dads.  Most of my preschoolers have families, but are just waiting for their adoptions to be completed.  Yet, other children aren't even matched. 

There is one little boy that I would take home if I could.  Everyone who comes to COTP falls in love with him.  A few weeks ago I became acutely aware of his eating disorder.  Therefore, I began researching eating disorders in children.  The studies said that there is no such thing as eating disorders in children of his age, but what he really needs is love-consistent love.  Then he will feel safe and secure.  It is more of an attachment disorder.  I thought this couldn't be right, because it appeared in his eating habits.  I contacted my aunt who is a councilor.  She too gave the same opinion as my research. 

This little guy has gone through many things that don't allow him to feel secure.  Abandonment being one of them.

As for now I plug away at loving on him.  Giving him consistency at preschool.  But, it is still so hard, because I know he is not matched.  He doesn't have a family waiting for him. 

We still don't know whose gift he will be.  For now he is mine.

Second Mile Ministries: Monia's Story

Amy and Jenn are past COTP volunteers. They are starting a very cool ministry. Here is the story that started their ministry...Second Mile Ministries: Monia's Story: Meet Monia. Her story, set in the spring of 2011, inspires the vision of Second Mile Ministries in a huge way. Monia is a wonderful mot...

Strange Feelings

On Sunday Adam and I called his mom.  To call we usually like to go into an open area so our signal isn't disrupted and we don't drop our call.  We decided to stand in the playground area.  This happens to be Roxie (our guard dogs) favorite area, because geckos live on the equipment.  Roxie eats geckos, rats, and anything else she can hunt.  So while we are talking with his mom, Roxie chases a Gecko across the playground.  In fright the gecko mistaken my leg for equipment and scurried up my calf.  Everyone was alarmed when I began jumping, including Roxie so the gecko got away.   

Did I tell you about when the wolf spider climbed on me?  I will tell that story a different day.

The Things That Happen

When preparing to come to Haiti people would tell us about how random things would come up that would deter our plans. The other night, we were preparing to go to bible study and all of a sudden we heard a large bang. Then we hear Mateja coming down saying something is in the roof! We all ran to see and to our disbelief a ladder was stuck in the roof of the playhouse. Don't worry, no one was hurt.

(The ladder after falling 20 ft from on top of the roof.)

We then proceded to remove the ladder which was a 45 minute adventure. Luckily, it did not rain and we were able to patch up the roof the next day. But hey, it sure turned out to be an entertaining story. Miss you all!

Our First Baby Overnight

Last Tuesday night we were given the opportunity to watch a beautiful baby girl.  We have had her the last 4 nights and just loved it.  We are waking her up every 3 hours for her bottle.  Every time I have to wake her I feel so bad, because she looks so peaceful.  She will usually give a little yawn, then take the bottle.  She is a slow drinker, so she often falls asleep while feeding.  My mom told me to stimulate her by rubbing her feet, unfortunately she finds that relaxing as well.  Adam and I have felt blessed being able to watch and care for her.  Her newest development is holding on to fingers.  She started that yesterday.  Cute!

Camping Out in the Rain

Last week the baby house was given a new concrete floor.  But, in order to do that the old tile and cement below had to be removed.  Adam worked with the other men for 3 days on this task.  Haitian men are extremely hard workers and were not discouraged to have hammers as their tool for such a difficult job.  After all the flooring was removed they worked another long day to lay the cement.  Yet, the day wasn't done...

with over 40 displaced children there was much more work to be done.  About 15 of those children found refuge in the volunteer house.  But, the other 30 were camping out under the pavilion.  Mosquito nets were hung from the rafters in order to cover small groups of children. 

The kids thought this was great fun and would have been fine, but then the rain came.  Rain has come most nights since we arrived, but this was not like any other night.  I would venture to call this a monsoon.  All of the children camping out had to be transported to the volunteer house.  And,the camp out ceased.

With all that action we had some grumpy kiddos the next few days.

Note:  Adam and I did not help the volunteers or staff transfer the kids, because we woke up after the monsoon began.  I still feel really guilty.

Our New Roommate

This little guy was hanging out in our room this afternoon over the door.

Our New Home

After spending an incredible night in Ft. Lauderdale we awoke at 3:45am to catch our 6:30am flight to Cap Haitien.  Adam and I anxiously watched out the window awaiting of view of Haiti.  When Haiti finally came into view we were amazed with the beauty of the water and mountains.  This is our home! 

Nick picked us up from the airport which is a quick process and off we went to Children of the Promise (COTP).  Upon arival we were orintated and attempted to jump right in.  Unfortunately we had no idea what we were doing and provided more work then help.  The nannies were gracious with us.  Mostly we played with kids, but we were given a chance to do some other stuff as well.  We fed the children lunch, fed them snack, brushed their teeth, and joined the nannies in singing/praying.  These children are such a joy. 

One of my favorite parts of the day was shadowing Amy while she provided medical care to some community children and adults.  Adam and I would both love to make friends with the community members.  Therefore, we snuck away for a short walk through Lagossette.  The town isn't very big, so it was short.  This walk was incredible.  Everything is beautifully green and lush.  When we looked up into the mountains we had a great view of the Citadelle.  And, we were able to greet some people of Lagossette.  The people are kind.