And So it Goes: Our thoughts on Haiti

2011-02-04T00:29:00.001-05:00

Here's a recent article from the Washington Post that brings some of our mistakes to the surface. Read it if you have a moment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/01/AR2011020102030.html

2010-12-08T13:16:00.000-05:00

Another day off

Well it's back to the old stuff in good ol Port-au-Prince. The elections took place last week but the results weren't released until last night. Schools were our all yesterday and today. Actually yesterday there was no good reason for them to be closed since all was peaceful at least until the late afternoon. That's when I was coming home from Heartline where I see the sick babies and mothers on Tuesdays. Things seemed relatively normal as I was driving home except for the fact that the amount of traffic I found myself in was gradually growing by the minute. What I had not realized was that "they" whomever they are, had announced that at 6pm there would be an announcement about the results of the election. So as I drove by the stores that I was supposed to have stopped at to buy the food for our dinner I found them closed or closing as the streets quickly were changing from somewhat full to full.

So I gave up the idea of obtaining food but made my goal change to getting home by 6pm so I could get the car in a safe place before the rocks and fire started flying.

After eating I noticed my neighbor was outside our living room window and calling for me. We don't see Phillip very often since he's a very famous Haitian Artist and spends much of his time in other countries at shows and sales. He had just come up the mountain also and said that he had a new phone number and wanted me to have it and wanted me to have his just in case things got dangerous around here. He had heard rumors that Martali, the famous "Sweet Mickey"Rap star, who was running for president had not placed within the top two vote getters and it was expected that his supporters would try to burn the country down or other idiocy.

Actually the announcements came much later than what had been expected but was right on with what Phillip had called. Actually though the only violence happened down town in Port and Petionville. We did here some of the gunfire that was going on but luckily it never moved up our mountain. The biggest disturbance of the night was simply a lot of drums from the local voodoo temple that let us know that we were probably not only in a political battle but also a spiritual battle and no! we're not going to debate that one.

So anyway, it seems that Martali's gangs are still in the streets but to be honest I doubt if this going to go on all that much longer since these guys are going to get tired and they'll simply give it up. It always happens. Not that they won't get a new breath of air and start over again sometime when we least expect it but they will take time off to eat. Another day in the life of a young (200 yo) democracy.

Now it's time to get back to school and work.

If you're interested in seeing some of the pictures that a friend of ours posted on their website from this morning go to : http://allthingshendrick.blogspot.com/2010/12/haitidelma-758-10-am.html

And so it Goes

John

2010-11-02T11:39:00.000-05:00

My wife Jodie left for another girl. Actually it's two girls, Jessica and Jacquie. Since I got to move Jessica into her Indiana University dorm room in August and Jodie was already in Haiti because she has to begin her teaching assignment. Jodie got to go to IU for parent's week and today is back in the college classrooms experincing the greatness of Indiana University. They 're even going to go to the IU football game on Saturday when the Hoosiers will be soundly killed by Iowa. But it will be a first Big Ten game for Jodie and a first football game of any kind for Jessica. She'll hate it just to be different than her old man.

I get to keep the home fires burning. That's the way you say it isn't it?

And So It Goes!

John

2010-10-24T20:43:00.000-05:00

A Good Find

Junior and Eden

I have worked at the Prospere Clinic since 1992 and ever since then I have worked with Eden, a Haitian Registered Nurse. In the earthquake in January, she lost her 12 year old son Junior and her 17 year old daughter, Whitney was rescued from the rubble after five days. At present Eden and Whitney are still inNew York whee Whitney is still going through therapy. I came across this picture on my computer this summer. It turns out that this is the only picture that Eden had and now we know that it is the only picture of him that she will ever have. I'm so happy I took it and was finally able to find it.

2010-10-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

Cholera

Many of you have probably heard about the recent outbreaks of Cholera in Haiti. I have a special friend who is so very knowledgeable and has all the inside news on these kinds of things. The following is an email that I received from her this morning.

"Some of you have seen the news about an outbreak in the Artibonite Valley. It looks like a microbial infection, and so far there have been reported about 150 deaths. But the good news is that there seems to be some waning in the attack. For instance, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, not far from the epicenter of the outbreak, has only 45 hospitalized and they are all stable. The program I work for, Supply Chain Management System, has been put on alert by USAID, and we have mobilized our hospital-based products and staff to help as needed. No, so far no real problems in Port-au-Prince, but everyone is keeping an active eye out, especially for the camps. Please continue to remember us in your prayers, this has been some year!"

2010-10-08T10:13:00.002-05:00

2010-10-08T10:12:00.000-05:00

Friends,
It seems like my blogging skills has gone by the wayside so I've decided to integrate my Twitter and this website which will at least get updated if I Twit anything. I'll be able o Twit by using my cell phone so hopefully you may hear a little more about the small things in my live.
John

2010-10-08T10:08:00.000-05:00

2010-10-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

2010-10-08T09:33:00.000-05:00

2010-02-10T08:14:00.001-05:00

want to keep this update short and at the same time really give you guys a good feel of things in Haiti now.

I still really appreciate the emails and updates I get from each of you. I might not be able to write much but please know you are very appreciated.

Last time I wrote to you I asked you to pray about an orphan situation....I literally stopped writing an update to check out what was going on. I do not want to kick anyone when they are down but it involved the lady who has been on the news for child trafficking. Long story short we gave her some advice for about 3 days. I want the people (children) who need help to get it but there are correct paths that people must follow. I am glad for the wisdom God gave me and some others here at the school. I am saddened because the parents and workers who have followed the correct procedures now have a tougher road. I still know that God loves each orphan and cares for each one personally. I would ask you to continue to pray that each child gets the love and care (while still following the appropriate steps) they deserve.

I just returned from a 4 day medical trip to Jeremie Haiti. Jeremie is a remote town on the far west of the southern peninsula. It is a city of about 80,000 and has had 20,000 more people move there since the quake. Many are taking a tough 12 hour truck ride and others are going by overcrowded boats. The team of doctors were able to see many cases that would not have gotten care. There were a few "life-saving" operations as well. One lady had a compound femur fracture in her right leg and fractures in her left tibia and fibula. She had gotten to Jeremie on a board in the back of a truck. The doctors were able to set her bones correctly and give her the hope of walking correctly again.

One of the growing needs in Haiti is going to be getting needed medical attention where the people are. While there I was able to visit 4 other small hospitals with Miquette. There are many people in those regions that need care as well but are staying at home. The hospitals are just not able to give much care. We are working now to figure out ways to get aid and supplies to the necessary locations.

The trip was productive in meeting doctors and the main hospital in Jeremie for future trips.

God continues to be at work here. There are so many questions that have no answers but I know He is here. I can see Him at work in so many ways each day. One of the most humbling things has been the Haitian people continuing to praise God each night. I am not a singer. Each night in both Port-au-Prince and Jeremie people join together to sing and praise God...people who lost their homes, their jobs and possibly loved ones. It is such a lesson to me that these people have not allowed their current surroundings to change their passion and love for God.

Here are a few prayer requests/concerns I want to share:

1) Nurses are needed. If you know of nurse teams or individuals interested in coming please let me know. Most operations, etc have been done....good follow up care is needed to help the people heal.

2) Please pray for the many people without homes. Tent cities have been set up. The rainy season is coming and there will be other health concerns as the rain comes.

3) Good organization of the aid and supplies coming. I know so many people in the States want to help in many ways and all want that help to get where it needs to go.

Thanks again for your prayers, support and all sorts of emails that make me smile.

Art

2010-01-15T01:32:00.003-05:00

A Note to Don 3 days post earthquake

Today has been crazy and I still don’t have all the pictures ready to go up. So, go to ND and do a great job. I’ll try to get them in order so you can get them up sometime this weekend. I may have a couple first hand experiences also.

I’m working on hopefully getting a trauma surgical team from Methodist in but I’m afraid Dr. P may step in and screw up that also.

We’re Seeing lots of dead around. When the Montana went down it took an entire family, one of which was one of Jodie’s student two years ago.

The pressure, although we think we are riding it out well, is slowly climbing. It just seems to be sneaking in and grabbing on tight. Please keep us in your prayers.

And so it Goes!

John

2009-10-23T21:00:00.004-05:00

We have an annual insurance that we have to purchase for each vehicle that we have. Actually we simply view it as more of a tax for driving than anything like insurance. If and when I have had an accident in the past and would report it to the insurance office they were nice enough to look at the damage to my car, told me they would be in contact with me but I never heard from them. I guess I never expected to hear from them. You see, it is simply a tax.

The main problem with this little tax isn't having to pay the tax but rather the time and hassle it takes to get it done. First of all you have to find a place to park and take your papers into the building and give the car ID and old insurance papers to someone there who will then give you a paper in return. It has questions all about the car that is to be filled out by the inspector downstairs.

So the next move is to drive the car into a line and then into the basement of the building that I had just walked out of. After a long wait in line you (I) was to raise the hood so the workers filled out the papers with all the numbers, colors, license plate numbers, and number of rocks in the tire tread. Finally after this fun was completed you again try to find a parking place and take the "golden" paper into the building and wait the decision to see if we would be allowed to pay the costs. In my case they came out and advised me that the color was wrong. How could the color be wrong? Their own inspectors filled it out! They pointed out that the color written on the paper was beige. Well that is the color of the car! No, it's Champagne. For cryin stinkin out loud! So I again went downstairs and luckily the inspector wasn't at lunch so he changed the color to Champagne and all was now legal.

I did go in for the inspection a couple years ago and since the engine had a little dirt on it's numbers the inspector took this dirty, ugly rag from the ground and proceeded to dip it in my brake fluid well so he could wipe the mud off. I wanted to kill him. (This is my Christian missionary side coming out at this time. Actually the Christian part was that I didn't.

And so, after this fun I waited about 45 more minutes and paid about $150 to people who never had the right change and left. End of story. There are just days like this.

I know, it's my fault. I chose to live here.

And so it goes.

2009-09-05T22:52:00.007-05:00

Delmas from our front porch.

Delmas is the area of Port-au-Prince where we spent the first eight years in Haiti. It isn't all that bad as long as you like heat,mosquitoes, and lots of noise. As you can see we don't live there any longer But Jodie's school is there and I spend most of my days in that area. We haven't lived there for 15 years. Not only does the altitude mean that our temperatures are usually lower, we also have the privilege of looking down on this beautiful site almost every night unless we're socked in with clouds. Delmas is beautiful, From a distance.

And so it Goes

John

2009-08-28T23:23:00.010-05:00

Back At It

At the clinic on Thursday this little guy came in, sat down and proceeded to do this.

He wasn't rude. He never cried like so many others. He just stared! I couldn't even get him to talk. I finally looked at his mother and asked,"Has Tomas ever seen a Blan (Creole for a white person) before?" "Well No, I don't believe he has." she answered.
I guess I would have stared too.

And so it goes.

2009-02-04T21:47:00.003-05:00

A Native Perspective

--Lakay

We'd gather in the yard
Under the haunting Haitian sky
With no witness but the stars
We'd whisper stories of old
Through memories false and fair
Truths and myths as Siamese twins
Opp'site sides of the same coin

A Haitian woman

2008-10-15T14:08:00.005-05:00

Couldn't happen to me!

Well, maybe it could. I got an email from a lady on the west coast that I knew very little about other then I felt she was a good person and was basically interested in humanity. She was originally an Australian but I came to know her when she visited Haiti a number of years back and spent a day at one of my clinics. That happened to be one of those sort of unforgettable days that we have occasionally at the clinic. On that day a mother brought her three week old baby of whom she had given it nothing to eat for the past five days because the baby was sick and she thought her milk "wasn't good." We spent most of our afternoon pumping the mother's breast, collecting the milk, and giving it to this almost comatose baby via a 3cc syringe. Since Kay had little else to do she was the designated syringe/milk handler. We took lots of pictures and have used that picture of Kay's hands at work trying to keep this extremely little one alive at almost every church where we visited for the past four years. I have kept in occasional contact with Kay and we even recently became official Friends on Facebook. You should know that a friend on Facebook is almost one step above marriage if you know what I mean.

So now to the email. Actually it was not an email but rather a direct message that was sent to me through Facebook. She first told me that she had something very important to talk with me about as soon as she heard from me. I wrote back and asked her about her problem.

Kay introduced it by letting me know that she had been traveling in Africa with a group that visits one of three extremely impoverished countries and works with clinics that deal with the HIV problem. She was in the country of Nigeria for the past couple weeks but yesterday she was riding in a taxi, forgot her purse when she got out, and had the purse, all her money and credit cards stollen, and her passport was gone. Knowing Kay, this could all be credible.

Then she went on to tell me that the management of the hotel where she was saying was irritated with her knowing that there was a chance that they wouldn't their money. She went on to say that she didn't know what else to do except write to me to see if she could humbly ask me to loan her $1050 for her hotel bill and $1350 to help her get another plane ticket and also for food until she make it home.

Now Kay is a friend of mine (I did say that we were friends on facebook didn't I)but not one that I would think of as a last ditch effort to keep me from being roughed up by hotel owners in deep dark Africa. So, I told her I'd get back with her.

I then wrote to her via her Hotmail account which I didn't think would be used by anybody but her, let her know that I thought someone else had probably stollen her Facebook account and was using it to try to get money out of her friends. BUT, if it was really her in need that I would try to get some money to her in time for her to hold off those evil hotel thugs.

A couple hours later I got the followup via Hotmail that she understood why I had question but that it was really her and she was still in great need.

I responded that I needed her to send me the name and address of the hotel where she was staying along with their phone number. Also I needed at least her home phone number and the phone number of at least one other friend that is near her home on the coast.

Then it hit me that I had the email of the person who first directed Kay to my work here in Haiti. So I wrote to Sandra, sent her all my emails both received and sent from "Kay," and asked her to try to get hold of someone who could confirm this awful story before I began to break my piggy bank to send it to Africa.

Well, Sandra called kay at home. Someone had stollen her Facebook account, did away with all her contact information, and somehow got the password to her Homail account.

So, there you have it. I just let them, whoever them is that I will call them soon as I can when I get in from my clinic tonight. Would love to get these guys.

And so it goes

A little wind for a couple days

2008-09-03T12:12:00.001-05:00

2008-08-31T01:26:00.007-05:00

ONE OF THOSE GOOD ONES

There are those weeks that just go by but occasionally I find one that helps me feel that maybe there really is a reason for my existence. Don't get me wrong, it's not all that frequent.

This past Sunday after church I was asked by a friend if I could help them out and give a shot to a young boy for them. He was 17 years old but when you're 60 he was still young. It seems that he needed some penicillin Benzathine Penicillin as a prophylaxis for a mitral valve regurgitation that he has been under a doctor's care for for a couple years. I said that I would do it but I wanted to take the time to listen to his murmur before giving him the shot. I am rather personally involved with mitral valves since I had a rather massive prolapse in my 40's and would have long gone by now (or at least displaced) had it not been for a number of very loving and proactive friends of mine who happened to be in the medical field.

When I listened to Robert's chest I heard nothing but a normal chest with no murmurs. Well, since I was there to give a shot and not to play doctor I went ahead and gave it which was no fun. This type of penicillin is almost a glue-like substance especially when it is given in 5cc doses. Needless to say this young man was not without complaints about his treatment. I didn't blame him.

Just to satisfy my personal questions I asked Robert's mother if I could get a copy of his medical records to look at and possibly have someone else to check through. By last Wednesday she got them to me and since they were in French and also in detailed medical terms they were basically useless to me but when I stopped at Dr. Theard's office on Friday he was kind enough to look at them for me. He wasn't surprised that I couldn't hear a murmur since he discovered that Robert's heart was still of a normal size and this mitral regurgitation was extreme minor at the present. Not only will Robert not have to have the shots every other week but he would not need the expensive echo cardiogram every 6 months but would have to be checked out when he had time in "five years or so."

I wish you could have seen the shear relief and tears of joy when I told Robert's mother that Robert wouldn't have to have those shots and that he should have a relatively normal life. It was giving her a new son back.

Sometimes we have these days! I'll take them.

And so it goes. John

2008-08-26T12:06:00.004-05:00

The Deluge

We didn’t know anything about a low pressure system until we woke up, checked the email, and found a few people who were concerned for our safety because a hurricane named Gustav was supposedly passing through Haiti. You couldn’t prove it by me but we did check the weather websites and did see that Gustav was heading to the southern coast of Haiti. So of course we got breakfast in preparation to go to school and out to our daily chores. That idea ended when we got a call from the school telling us that school would be canceled because we were to get 20” of rain. I know, you would say that there are no such days as rain days but you just don’t live in Haiti I guess.

As we sat finishing our breakfast it quickly became obvious why we didn’t go to school. The mountain in front of our house disappeared in a huge rain cloud and the rain began falling at a horrendous rate. That was five hours ago and it is yet to leave up.

Feel sorry for us? Don’t. We are still warm and dry. This gives us a chance to catch up on some things that needed done. Since we returned from our Home Assignment in the States just last Wednesday there is still a lot to unpack and clean up. I’ve done some of that but feel that this little article for the blog is more important. I stopped writing sometime last Spring since I just couldn’t get motivated to do it. I am now writing because I have a mother-in-law who continually wants to know “why do you have a blog and not write on it?” Well, this is for her. My life’s obligation for the week is almost finished. Thanks, Jacq, I needed to do this. Now back to the rain.

If you’re a praying person do ask for protection for the many Haitians who because of the rain are now or will later be struggling to keep the heads of themselves and their children above water. We are so blessed to have the mountain to our backs to protect us from the rain, wind, and flooding and also a dry cement block house to keep us dry. Most of the people here live in houses in low lying areas that are very vulnerable to flooding. Their tin roofs don’t protect them from the rain like ours do, and their floors are made of packed mud. Even the foundations are in danger of being swept away by the raging flood water.

And so it goes, Not always the way we like it to go!

John

2008-04-13T20:27:00.012-05:00

Instead of Bringing Down the Prices
They Brought Down the Prime Minister

Well, it has been a fun week! We spent most of it inside our house since it was too dangerous to get out and run around. School was canceled for the week and I went ahead and gave into the obvious and canceled the Thursday clinic.

One thing that made it particularly difficult for us was that we had visitors. Jessica's friend from South Carolina was here. They spent most of their week watching DVDs of Gilmore Girls. Now wouldn't you like to take your spring break and fly to the Caribbean and watch old videos? Also Jess, a young teacher from Michigan who used to teach at Quisqueya was in town and was stuck in another home where we couldn't get to visit with her. Anyway, on Friday we did get out and went to see Jess,who had been sick all week. I guess if you're going to be closed up in a home for a week you may as well be sick.

So both the visitors are now gone. The looting, rock throwing, tire burning, and demonstrations are now history. Of course the prices are still going to be too high for most Haitians to purchase food for their family but they have the satisfaction of knowing that their mass destruction has led to a change in the government. It seems that those who were protesting agreed to stop if the Prime Minister was fired. So it happened. One more out of a job and a population who still can't eat. Sounds normal to me!

And so it goes!

John

2008-04-08T17:25:00.002-05:00

The family just got to the bottom of the mountain and are safe.

Just wanted to let you know.

and so it goes!

John

2008-04-08T16:33:00.004-05:00

BRING DOWN THOSE PRICES!

It's been a fun day. Because food prices are high Haitians are protesting. They think their president should do something about it. They actually believe that he has the power to make the prices go down. Maybe he should have emphasized the education of the general population so they might have an inkling of understanding about how finances work.

I tried to get down the mountain to get fuel for the generator today and couldn’t due to the stones being thrown and people in the streets in Petionville. Also as of now Jodie is stuck at school along with Jessica and Jess’s friend Rebecca who is visiting this week from South Carolina.

I doubt if I’ll see my wife tonight. The 5^th grade teacher’s husband has been setting on Kenskoff road since 11 this morning. Can’t get up or down. There are about 6 other teachers who have a big possibility of not making it home tonight. Luckly CSI guesthouse has a group of theirs stuck out in the provinces. So the teachers can at least find a bed for the night.

Life is great. Claudette is here fixing a big meal possibly only for me. But I got the water fixed so it's again coming into our house. I'll get to take a shower anyway

This is the official stuff that the US Embassy is putting out:

WARDEN MESSAGE NO. 50 Tuesday, April 8, 2008 AM

This Warden Message is being issued to alert American
Citizens traveling to or living in Haiti that sporadic
protests have escalated in Port-au-Prince and its
environs. The protestors are blocking main routes
with burning tires and barricades in Carrefour,
Martissant, La Saline, Canape Vert, Delmas and
downtown Port-au-Prince. The Embassy received reports
from MINUSTAH and the Haitian National Police (HNP)
that protestors are scuffling with the police,
throwing rocks and committing acts of vandalism
throughout Port-au-Prince. The HNP also reported that
several businesses and gas stations have been damaged
in Port-au-Prince. The HNP stopped protestors from
breaking into the National Palace. Tear gas and
rubber bullets are being used to disperse crowds of
protestors. Random gunfire has been heard in the
capital. Many schools, stores and businesses have
closed because of the tension and violence. The
airport remains open and commercial flights continue
on a normal schedule, though traffic on the road to
the airport has been disrupted at times by some of the
protests. As reported in Warden Message No. 49,
protests continue in the city of Les Cayes, located in
the South Department of Haiti.
The Embassy urges all U.S. citizens to maintain a high
level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to
increase their security/safety awareness. Americans
are encouraged to remain indoors if demonstrations are
taking place in their vicinity. Monitor the local
news and maintain contact with the U.S. Embassy in
Port-au-Prince. Also be sure to keep friends and
family updated on your welfare and whereabouts. The
Embassy reminds all citizens to avoid crowds and
demonstrations as even those intended to be peaceful
may suddenly turn violent. The Embassy will continue
to evaluate the situation and notify U.S. citizens of
any potential security threats.
Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor
the U.S. Department of State's travel website at
www.travel.state.gov , where the current Worldwide
Caution, Travel Warnings, and Travel Alerts can be
found. The U.S. Embassy also encourages U.S. citizens
to review to "A Safe Trip Abroad," found at
http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/safety/safety_1747.html
, which includes valuable security information for
those both living and traveling abroad. In addition to
information on the Internet, travelers may obtain
up-to-date information on security conditions by
calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. and
Canada, or outside the U.S. and Canada on a regular
toll line at 1-202-501-4444. Citizens living and
residing in Haiti are advised to register their
presence in the country through the U.S. Department of
State's automated online
registration system,
https://travelregistration.state.gov.
In case of emergency, please contact the American
Citizen Services Unit in the Consular Section of the
U.S. Embassy. The Consular Section is located at 104,
rue Oswald Durand, Port-au-Prince. The telephone
numbers are: (509) 223-7011, 223-6440, 223-6443,
223-6421, 223-6426, 223-6424, 223-6407, and 223-7008.
The fax number is: (509) 223-9665. Our e-mail address
is acspap@state.gov. If you have an emergency when we
are closed, please call the Duty Officer at (509)
417-2399 or (509) 558-9099, or you may call Post One
(U.S. Marine Guard) at the Chancery at 222-0200.

So, here we are again back to the unstable stuff. Isn't it crazy how you can love a place and hate it all at the same time? At least I had something to blog about.

And so it goes!

2008-04-08T16:26:00.002-05:00

Jessica, Jodie, and John Ackerman

2008-03-09T21:39:00.005-05:00

A QUICK UPDATE

Sorry that I've been so lax in blogging. Not sure why but I wanted to check in and let you know a couple things.

The first thing is to let you know that I'm still alive. I'm just finishing the second week of South Beach I and everything tastes like lettuce because it is. Not much effect on the weight yet though. Maybe if I shaved it would cause me to lose weight.

Secondly, for those of you who don't know, I had a double knee replacement back on June 18th. Since then the knees were pretty good. I certainly couldn't complain. But yesterday morning I played tennis again. Now that may not seem like much to you but it does to me. That was the first time I sweated in a year and a half. It actually felt good and I had no swelling and may even try it again next week.

I know this isn't much of a thought on Haiti but it was a thought on at least one that lives here.
Thanks for your prayers.

And so it goes!

John

2008-02-05T22:40:00.000-05:00

Mardi Gras and Super Tuesday all in one Hunk

Yes, a big day in the history of the world but certainly no bigger then SuperBowl Sunday. All in all though I am getting my side of the bedroom cleaned up and can even see my desk. I even discovered that there is still a computer under all that paper. I just wish that was the only reason not much was being posted to this blog recently. Any excuse is as good as none. Please forgive.

Here are a couple pictures for your beholding. The first is of Jessica and the next is of Jessica along with her friends Josine, and Natalie all dressed up (sort of) and ready to go downtown for Carnival. I really don't believe my mother would have allowed me to go there at that age.

And So It Goes!

John

2008-01-15T16:58:00.000-05:00

A Neighbor Dropped By

Last week’s clinics were well beyond full. Actually there isn’t too much strain even when there are large numbers, since usually after I begin seeing patients I simply just keep plugging along one at a time. By the end of the day I usually make it home without much trauma to myself. One thing that is necessary though is a protection system that has a sense when people are there for the sole purpose of having their physical, psychological, or spiritual ills evaluated and treated, rather than persons who simply want to get to see the white Dr. to see if he will give them some money. (Please know, I have told these people over and over that I am a Registered Nurse and not a doctor but in recent years I have even given up on the explanation since it seems that the only thing in their understanding that differs between the two is their sex.) My usual interference for this job is Eden, my nurse helper, and Pastor Francois, who helps Eden out and also collects the money. They usually do a good job, but Thursday my first patient was a lady who was about 60 years old. She came in, greeted me, then when I ask her what her problem was she let me know that her only son had died. She told me that she had no husband and as she teared up she explained in great detail that she didn’t have enough money to go on with life. At this point I explained everything that she didn’t want to hear: the reasons why there was such a thing as a medical clinic, which was to treat problems of the patients who were having pain, sickness, or other things like that. I also told her that it was not my responsibility to take care of these problems for her but that of her family, friends, church and neighbors. . .

Then it hit me. I didn’t know the book or verse but I knew someone somewhere asked something like “Then who is my neighbor?” And I was simply defenseless.

Well, time passes. I got through the other patients that day, although it would have been easier had the first patient had a severe case of bronchitis or arthritis. I deal better with those. Did I give her money? No. Should I have? I still don’t know since I do know the reason for both sides of this argument. I did encourage her in her struggles though. I hope her other neighbors do better for her than I did.

And so it goes!

John

2008-01-04T16:53:00.000-05:00

Are You Kidding Me?

I have a bachelor's degree in biology. I am a Registered Nurse. I have practiced medicine in Haiti for the past 22 years. Then I take this test. It's just not fair. I think I'll go eat worms.

And so it goes!

John

2007-12-19T18:01:00.000-05:00

CHRISTMAS

In John 1 verse 10 the Bible says that the word became flesh. The Message puts it this way, “The word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We could probably even rephrase that to read that the Word of God became flesh and blood and was laid just outside our door. From there he will move to save all of creation.

For a number of years the concept of the Christ of Christmas has been difficult for me to get my mind around. I just couldn’t find a way of understanding how the God of the universe had anything to do with gift giving, Christmas trees, and Santa Claus. So, for a number of years I went along with things as usual but really desired to spend the holiday all wrapped up in the things of the nativity. I really had no desire to have a Christmas tree and would have gladly sacrificed it for a life size nativity scene in my living room. But I never did. I guess I succumbed to social pressure and jingle bells.

I guess the way I came to confront the issues of it all was when I wrapped my mind around the fact that Christmas was REAL. Not that I came to believe that it happened exactly as some think on December 25^th or that there were three wise men instead of two or twelve. But I did come to the reality in my mind that a little, helpless, and hopefully breastfed baby was born and lived a human life and after growing up struggled with eternal questions and overcame those questions enough to become a human sacrifice for me and you. Thanks be to God!

I think of this most often when I see some of the little babies at my clinic. If you don’t know it yet I will tell you that 6-7month old babies are perfect. They are old enough to be fun but not old enough to be prejudiced. They don’t know a white person from a blue. When I take them in my arms and talk to them believing they must have a great vocabulary, their mother is quick to advise me that “they can’t talk.” Then they begin to smile and laugh and in their own way let me know that if I were holding the Christ child he would do the same. He would smile at me then wiggle his body back into the comfortable folds of his mother’s body.

I pray that this Christmas will bring with it the knowledge of the reality of the Christ child. May he be real and smile with you.

May you and those you love have a Blessed Christmas.

John, Jodie, and Jessica Ackerman

2007-11-24T08:16:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving

We always celebrate our Thanksgiving on the Friday after the traditional Thursday Thanksgiving. We have a tradition of going to our friends the Vervloet's home after the clinic and school on Thursday evening just to have a chance to spend some quality time talking and in general solving all the world's problems during that evening. Then on Friday we, along with about 20 missionary and embassy friends, do the turkey thing. We stuff ourselves sort of like our parents used to stuff the turkey then we stop and wait till we have enough room to ingest the great deserts. Following that it's back to more general talking and even a great football game, that is if you're not an LSU fan. But of course that went to three overtimes, which delayed our traditional time of sharing.

For about ten years now as our celebration winds down in the evening we always gather in a circle and each share those things for which each of us individually give thanks. Surprisingly, we have never had one person who wouldn't be part of this tradition. Although the Kleenex box is usually depleted by the time we finish it has always been a time of renewal and often even healing. I thank God for giving us this time. Although many would say that what we do is give thanks to people instead of God, I would say that if you actually do this in honesty and openness just the opposite happens. We end up giving thanks to God for all these things and people that he has brought into our lives. No, this is not a time to worship people and appreciate God; it is a time to appreciate and verbalize our dependence, appreciation, and love to people in the context of worshiping God. I believe that maybe we should be doing more of this kind of thing instead of sitting (or standing) in lines together, singing words that others write, and reading about and listening to someone talk about things that we believe we are doing in the way God would have us do anyway. I tend to believe what I have described is what is today referred to as worship. I believe that definition needs to be broadened to include more the speaking of good words and doing of good things to and for those we are called to love: our families, friends, the Church, the world, and God.

Now that my tirade is ended here is what I give God thanks for, especially today:

The job he has called me to do and the country he has called me to serve, Haiti. Not a lot of people get to do exactly what they want to do in life. I do. In that context I especially give thanks for the the little 6 month old babies who when I speak to them smile back at me knowing that they are loved.
I thank God for my wife Jodie who puts up with all my weirdness and loves me in spite of it.
My daughter Jacquie who is far too much like her father. One of these days that may haunt her with lost jobs, fewer friends, less money, and at times a tough life. But what she does give that makes her so special is truth and honesty. We never have to question where we stand with her. She tells us she loves us in no uncertain terms whenever we communicate and is never afraid to disagree with us when she knows she is right (and sometimes when she doesn't).
I thank God for Kevin Bonewitz who I really don't know well but upon Jacquie's recommendation (she married him) he must be a great guy and someone who is will be a large part of our family.
My daughter Jessica who is just one of the neatest kids around. She is now in process of a major life change in that she is starting to take her education seriously and finally all those things that she knew she couldn't do, she now can. She is unswerving in her beliefs and life style. Last year she started practicing a vegetarian diet and since then is yet to eat something that could smile back at her. She has been practicing the discipline of fasting one or more days a week. Although I bug her about not losing too much weight she just tells me to go away and goes about living her life certainly much better than I ever lived mine.
Our fellowship at CSI. For a little over a year we have been worshiping with a group of missionaries and an occasional government worker. It isn't all that I've ever dreamed of in the worship sense but it really fills a void in my life with something good.
My friends. As you can probably tell if you don't know me personally I'm not all that easy to live with. As a friend introduced me last week, “this is John. You don't have to worry when you talk with him. He'll tell you where you stand.” I trust it's not quite that bad but I do realize that occasionally my overemphasis on honesty does make it hard for those acquaintances to take me on as one of those people they would most like to hang around. So those of you who are left, I do love you and thank you for being a big part of my life.
I thank God for Steve Hersey, truly the finest high school teacher I have ever met and who could have taught in most any university in the States. Two years ago he stepped down from his teaching position at at Quisqueya Christian School and took over as the director. This was necessary because of some prior “stuff” in the leadership of the school that I won't go into. But Steve is doing such a great job and is helping to mold possibly the finest PK-12 school in this country.
I thank God for all our supporters that sacrifice to keep us here and let us do the things that we believe God is calling us to do. (Refer to #1) We have a number of churches and individuals who make it possible for us to live here and do what God calls us to do. We thank God for sending those supporters our way.
Lastly, You. Thanks for reading the blog. I hope it hasn't wasted your time and hope you don't leave here an enemy because you disagree with what you read. Remember, most all my friends disagree with me. They just love me in spite of it.

Part of the group at dinner

And So It Goes!

John

2007-11-13T18:50:00.000-05:00

A Strange Sight

When visitors come to Haiti one of the things that many of them are surprised to see are the number of people who are carrying and using cell phones. Actually we have three very active cell phone companies in Haiti. Two of them, Voila and Haitel are under Haitian management but Digicel is a fairly large international company who has just recently (two years ago) come to Haiti. When they came in they came in with a bang. The first month they offered free phones to anyone who had Voila or Haitel phones who would exchange them for a better phone and charges that were cheaper. Needless to say the Haitian companies weren’t all that happy to have the new visitors in town and often let it be known that it was just unfair that their government would allow foreigners to come in and give competition to the home team. But there seems to be enough room for all three companies to function here without a lot of loss in income. It’s still fascinating to watch each of them come up with new gimmicks in order to get the people in their front doors.

This is a picture of the front wall of a Digicel office located in the Delmas Area. If you can’t make it out, it is a line of people waiting with their cell phones and chargers to get a chance to charge their phones from the extension cords that come from the Digicel office. That seems like a great idea to me. They must have realized that most Haitians only get two hours of electricity a day. I would say Digicel has done their homework.

And So It Goes!

John

2007-11-07T12:48:00.000-05:00

So You Think You’ve had a bad day?

Check this one out. Our neighbors woke up this morning to this sight of their front wall having fallen into the road. The pressure against these walls from the waters of the many days of rain is tremendous. Now about two months of a lot of manual labor and about $5000 and they will probably have a new and even higher wall. And this is one of the families with money. Can you imagine the effect of all this rain on those who are poor?

And so it Goes!

John

2007-10-31T14:57:00.000-05:00

No School

It continues to rain and there’s no school. But we still had to go down the mountain to Quisqueya Christian School (where Jodie teaches and Jessica attends) for a memorial service. On this past Saturday morning a lovely 25 year old teacher and staff member from the school was found dead in her bed. Katie was one of the really loved and appreciated persons on that campus and this has been a real downer for the QCS community. In addition to being the teacher recruiter, basketball and soccer coach, athletic director, and student council director she was an all around loved person who lived out her Christian life in ways that impacted most of the students she came in contact with.

I guess my rag with the whole thing besides the obvious is the fact that we have to have a reason for it all. I heard more than once that “God had taken her home to be with him” or “today she is up in heaven having a better time than she ever did here on earth.” Why can’t we just grieve? This beautiful young lady died far too early in life of probable natural causes and she never had a chance to marry, have kids, grandchildren, nor had she a chance to do lots of other things that many of us think are a desired part of life. I think that really sucks (I didn’t say that!) and I get tired of seeing people avoid that reality when simply stating it would help us to get through the difficult times. Now don’t get me wrong. I have no knowledge about the afterlife. I simply have beliefs just like everybody else. Katie may be having a great sun soaked day in heaven and I personally hope she is. But she isn’t here and she should be. It’s time to grieve. We miss her and want Katie back.

And so it goes!

John

Katie Broecker

2007-10-30T17:12:00.000-05:00

A couple days of Rain

It was so strange that yesterday during the clinic it began to rain. Hard! I used to tell friends that if they would come visit us I would guarantee that the weather would be beautiful. Don’t get me wrong: we have our allotment of rain in this Caribbean haven but the rain almost always happens at night. Actually, this rain did start at night, two nights ago, rained all day yesterday, poured all night last night, continued today and is still raining as I write. This morning they cancelled school because of rain. Have you ever heard of that one? In my time here I never remember it raining so much for so long a time. So what has changed? We’re not going there.

Actually the culprit is a tropical depression named Noel. Like the others, he formed off the coast of Africa about a week ago and drifted our way but unlike most he didn’t keep drifting to the west. He just got big and started to move north and quietly is in process of devastating lots of lives here in Haiti. To be honest I haven’t heard that on any news reports but because of the length of time the rain has continued and with the “heaviness” of the rain, I just take it for granted that we will begin to get reports within the next couple of days that someplace in Haiti some community or communities will be an afterthought. Their people will be ravaged with water and mud and their families will be mourning losses again. It always seems to happen. So, prove me wrong this time. Show me that no communities will be wiped off the side of a hill killing every last one. Feel free to write a comment telling me how dumb I am. I hope you’re right.

We are already seeing some of the effects of this rain in Port-au-Prince. The usual dark blue color of the water in the Bay of LaGonave is now brown. Check the picture out. I took it a couple hours ago.

I ask you to join with me in prayer for those who are (probably) at the present time fighting to keep their families out of the water and alive.

And So It Seems to Always Go!

John

2007-10-17T16:41:00.000-05:00

Still Crazy after all these years

31 Years of shear marital bliss. Doesn't that sound crazy? It has been fun.

And so it goes!

And continues to go.

John

2007-10-10T10:15:00.000-05:00

Now We’re Really Back

Although we began to see patients at the clinic last month there has been something missing since our return. The missing part has been the people from Bellefontaine. Now they’re back.

Bellefontaine is a small, poor farming community that is far from the main streets of Port-au-Prince and even far from the doorstep of our clinic at Prospere. I have noted a number of our regular patients were walking for many hours over the mountain but had no idea what sacrifices they were making to get to our humble clinic. Just for our own knowledge Eden and I took a day and drove out to Bellefontaine about three years ago. It took about 8 hours to get there driving on roads on the ridge of mountains then down in river beds where the 4 wheel drive was an absolute necessity. The wear on our bodies and the vehicle was enough to make us realize that a clinic out in this area, although having large numbers of patients, would be impossible to do on a regular basis. We were happy to visit the home of many of our patients but a regular visit was just not in our future.

So instead of our going out to them the people of that community have become regular visitors to ours. But, since our return in September we were seeing none, until this week. The lady at the bottom of this blog is Mdm. Charles Mandeau. She and a friend came in complaining about their aches and pains. (Who wouldn’t have aches after walking all that way?) They said that they had left home the afternoon of the day before and arrived at 11pm that night. They spent the night sleeping in our new waiting area. They had crossed a number of streams on their way and said that the persistent rains have been what was making it impossible for them or anybody else from Bellefontaine to make it to the clinic.

We’re happy they’re back.

And So It Goes!

John

2007-09-29T15:41:00.000-05:00

Ain’t it amazing?

My firstborn little girl grew up just like her old man. Well, not exactly but she certainly has a little edge of me. We knew about the plans but she emailed us the official announcement yesterday afternoon. It went somewhat like this, “Well, I'm now married, and like most birthdays, don't feel too much different, although we are wearing rings so that is one practical difference.” Thus, we now have another male in our family. Actually I was never even asked if I even wanted another one in the family. His name’s Kevin, he drives a new Corvette, was driving a new Cadillac two months ago, is a finance counselor at a bank, and Jacquie loves him and plans to spend her life with him. So I would say that was a pretty full Friday.

And so it Goes. At least once in our lifetime.

John

Jacquie and Kevin

2007-09-28T10:32:00.000-05:00

It’s Nuts

The Church of God Global Missions, with whom we happen to be here, have a wonderful rule in their books that says that whatever we purchase with mission dollars are not ours but actually the property of the Church of God. It may seem like a downer, but not to me, at least now. Let me start at the beginning.

Our friends and work partners of almost 20 years, Phil and Lonnie Murphy, have recently retired from missions and have returned to the United States to live. Well, last year Phil purchased a great Outback inverter and 12 batteries to go along with it. For you who don’t know what an inverter is for, well let's just put it this way, it makes life awfully nice when you don’t have much electricity coming in from the country where you live. When I tell you that we are getting fewer then 4 hours of electricity a day you will mostly not believe me if you are living in the States, or if you’re living in Haiti you will say “what! How are you getting that much? We’re only getting 2 hours a day at best.” I’m not here to argue that, but I just want to tell you that because Phil’s inverter was legally not his and I was in need of a new or at least a newer inverter he gave his to me. But realize it isn’t mine to keep. Just to use. Understand?

I told you all that to tell you that even with this wonderful blessing in our home all is not well. Even when we do get our pittance of electricity from our beloved Electricity d' Haiti the transformers are so far from our house that the line drop makes our power too weak to charge the batteries, and when we attempt to do anything with electricity during those times the inverter clicks in (due to the low voltage). So not only can the batteries not get charged, but they get run down.

Now I do realize that I’m living in a house which has more electricity in it on a daily basis than probably 85% of the rest of this country. I’m sorry for complaining but please try to find it in your heart to forgive me. I just feel like some days I’m living in one of those endless loop movies that end then start up again back a few days ago. This is one of those start-up days.

And so it Goes!

John

At least it looks good.

2007-09-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

We Treat our Visitors Well!

We have a couple of friends, Ron and Carol visiting us this week from Newton Falls, Ohio, my home town. They are here evaluating our work at Prospere for a work team to come in the near future. The week has been busy with the added problem of having to drive to the clinics through the fields instead of on the roads, due to the recent flooding and the added dental clinic that Medical Mission International did in Prospere. All considered though, the week went well.

Then last night just after midnight we were awakened by a loud swish, a loud bang, and a bright light just outside our bedroom window. I got up to check what was happening just in case our unarmed guard was about to be overrun by an army or something. I couldn’t have done anything to help him but figured I should know what had happened just in case his family would ask. Leaving the room I walked out on our porch and found the following.

Yep, fireworks as big and loud as any I had ever experienced right over our house. They went on for about 15 minutes and I stayed out on the porch until I began to get hit by the ashes that were falling from the sky. Nobody else in our neighborhood showed their faces, not even Ron and Carol. I thought they would have heard Jodie and me talking out there but when I never saw them I just didn’t bother them. It was reported in the morning that they were scared stiff and spent their time trying to stay away from the windows in order to avoid whatever was making the banging sound. They avoided it.

And so it goes!

John

Ron and Carol Baker

2007-09-07T11:04:00.001-05:00

We Made It---Finally!

It wasn’t easy but we finally made it to Prospere and the clinic. Yes, it was more than 21 days after we had planned to start the clinics again but It actually happened. Of course we only saw 7 patients this time since they actually weren't expecting me to make it. But wait till Monday. I’ll probably go nuts and complain about there being too many patients.

The Pictures are of the NEW road we took to get out there.

And So it Goes!

John

2007-09-04T21:13:00.000-05:00

A New Idea

I haven’t posted anything like this on this blog yet so I guess I’ll try something different. I was reading some other blogs tonight and came across the following. What first pulled me to this piece was the name of Paul Farmer. He is a dynamic medical doctor who is making a huge impact in many lives in many countries which include Russia, Peru, and Haiti. But to me he is much more. I figure we all have persons we would really desire the opportunity to sit and talk with them for an hour. Well, Paul Farmer is pretty close to the top of my list. I hope you enjoy what he has to say.

Pity and Compassion are not Enough

Paul Farmer gave a talk recently at the University of Utah as part of Tanner Lectures on Human Values.

Paul talked about the fact that more than 80 million Africans might die from AIDS by 2025 with a similar toll on that continent by tuberculosis and malaria. He states that “these numbers have lost their ability to shock or even move us.”

Paul goes on to ask, “What sort of human values might be necessary to save a young man’s life (someone dying from AIDS, for example). Compassion, pity, mercy solidarity and empathy come immediately to mind. But we also must have hope and imagination in order to make sure that proper medical care reaches the destitute sick.

“Are the human values of compassion, pity, mercy, solidarity, and empathy all there is to it? How might the notion of rights reframe a question often put as a matter of charity or compassion?

“Do the destitute sick of Haiti or Kenya ask for our pity and compassion? Often they do. But can’t we offer something better? The human values required to save one person’s life, or to prevent children in a single family from losing their parents, surely include pity and compassion and those sentiments are not to be scorned. Often it is possible to save a life, to save a family. But “scaling up” such efforts requires a modicum of stability and the cooperation of policy makers and funders, themselves unlikely to suffer the indignities of structural violence.

“To move from pity and compassion for a sufferer...to the values inherent in notions of human rights is along leap. For many, especially those far removed from conditions such as those faced in rural Haiti, the struggle for basic rights lacks immediacy. But sometimes we can entrap ourselves into becoming decent and humane people by advancing sound policies and laws. The road from unstable emotions to genuine entitlements is one we must travel if we are to transform human values into meaningful and effective programs that will serve precisely those who need our empathy and solidarity most. In other words, we are not opposed to pity, but we’re anxious to press for policies that would protect vulnerable populations from structural violence and advance the cause of social and economic rights.”

Paul finishes with the following:

“The language of political rights has become meaningless to many people living in the world’s unimaginable poverty. Conversely, the language of economic rights is sometimes viewed as excessive, menacing, and irresponsible in the eyes of people living in the midst of plenty. This growing rift, I would argue is the most pressing human rights problem of our times.”

2007-08-31T08:40:00.000-05:00

GUILT!

I’ve always been one who had a pretty easy time of not feeling too guilty about things that I’ve done or didn’t do. That attitude probably comes from my psychology classes in nursing school when we were taught that guilt really didn’t accomplish much of value except in the occasional instance when the guilt encouraged the person to do what he or she had been avoiding. So they emphasized that all we could do of value is to avoid the guilt feeling, admit what we have done to make things worse for ourselves or others, then go on with life.

With all that said I still find myself feeling guilty about not starting the clinics yet. You see, we returned to Haiti early in August since I felt a pressing need to get the clinic up and running by August 16^th, the day I had promised my patients that I would be back. Now, due to the almost continuous rains and the passing by of hurricane the roads to Prospere have been totally impassable. So on clinic days I write emails, get the cars serviced, putter around the house, do my leg exercises, visit friends in the hospital who are having surgery, and even blog.

But that still doesn’t take the guilt away. So for any of you who need an apology for my not reaching my goals, I am truly sorry.

Now, let this guilt garbage just go away. Now!

And so it goes!

John

2007-08-27T19:57:00.000-05:00

THE ANNUAL PICTURE

It’s that day again. For about 19 years now we have taken a ‘first day of school’ picture. Before Jacquie and Jessica came along we never really got into the habit with only Jodie starting her first days of teaching.

I never really remember having my picture taken on a first day of school. In fact I don’t even remember a lot of years when my parents ever brought up the subject of a new school year beginning. I guess it’s a family tradition that my family never got into. But this leaves only two more years of pictures to come for us. After then is when I’ll really miss taking the ‘first day of school’ picture. Isn’t it strange how the time flies? Isn’t it strange how old I am sounding at such a young age.

And So It Goes!

John

First day of School 07

2007-08-24T17:10:00.000-05:00

Here We Go Again

We tried again yesterday to have a clinic. I even had some good news that a friend of ours, Jan Flanagan, had agreed to come with me and help out for a while. I'm still limited on the amount of time that I can stand on my feet so she’ll be a great help to me.

But this thing that I wasn't expecting happened again. As we got within hollering distance of Prospere the roads began to be running with water and we again came to a place where passage was impossible. There were large ruts in the road and when I drove off road in the fields I came to areas of flooding that were simply mud. If I would have tried to get through them I would have ended up to my axles in mud and Jan and I would have spent most of the day out there waiting for the young guys to figure out a way that they could get my car out of there. Here are a couple pictures of the young guys that came around to talk. They were trying to convince me that I would have no trouble getting through. None of these guys drive anything more mechanical than a donkey. So we returned to town.

And So it Goes.

John

2007-08-20T09:56:00.000-05:00

Lessons of the Hurricanes

We have been through a number of hurricanes since moving to Haiti and all of them seem to be somewhat different than the others, but there are some consistencies that we have discovered in all of them, at least so far.

Almost all hurricanes develop off the shore of Africa and become a REAL storm as they pass westward through the warm Caribbean. Now, there are advantages of this fact to us personally since our house is on the side of a mountain perched above Port-au-Prince. This location makes it necessary for any hurricane which would have any major wind effect on Port-au-Prince and especially our home to come directly over mountains to get to us. In most cases as hurricanes pass over elevations their wind speed decreases, which mean that in most cases a category 4 or 5 has little chance of reaching us. The worst I remember thus far has been that of Hurricane George back in (a long time ago) getting up into the high 80-90mph around here.

Probably the only way hurricane winds could devastate this area of Haiti would be if it were to pass Haiti, say on the south side, then reverse course, and head into the Bay of LaGonave. This would set up a very highly dangerous situation since Haiti’s capital has no protection from the west. If this scenario were to take place lives would be lost by the thousands in City Soleil alone and most of the city would be devastated. I have never seen this happen in Haiti, never knew of it happening, and certainly hope that it never happens.

Most of the problem we run into in our area is with water. The rain is usually heavy and almost unceasing. Thus we have flooding and also due to the lack of ground cover in many areas the soaking rain causes large layers of land to simply slide down mountains destroying total communities and the loss of life is great. This happened about four years ago in the area of Prospere, where my clinic is located. In one village that night almost 2000 persons perished.

So what about Hurricane Dean? We personally saw very little high wind. I would say the top speeds were possibly in the high 30mph range. Yes, there was a great deal of rain but we have yet to hear about any major devastation from it. Word is that there were three who lost their lives from the storm in Haiti

Please understand, I am not saying that Dean didn’t have any devastation on the lives of Haitians but simply that the effect was fairly minimal in our living area. Especially the areas near Jacmel, LesCayes, and Port Salute, where they were much nearer to the eye of the storm, the lives of many were simply devastated. Do keep these in your prayers as you walk in the sunshine.

Our Thoughts on Haiti

John

2007-08-16T22:52:00.000-05:00

The Reopening of the Clinic or is this just a joke?

Luckily Jodie had agreed to go out with me to the first scheduled clinic since our return. This wasn't easy for her since she is already active at school testing kids for admission and getting her classroom in shape for their opening day. But we both felt that since Eden wasn't available I shouldn't go alone. There was always the chance, especially with the roads being flooded, of getting stuck and having to walk long distances while still on new knees. So we got back into the usual morning routine of "up at five, showers, breakfast, become presentable then leave the house by 6:45.

The traffic wasn't bad since schools hadn't opened yet and the roads were in better shape until we got to within a couple miles of the clinic. Then we saw the water flowing in the road. I'm not exactly known for giving up midstream but I did consider it. As we continued the roads became more rutted out with more and more water running in the ruts. One thing I hadn't seen before was women with their large basins of laundry sitting in these water swollen areas doing their laundry.

But we slowly continued. When we came to the area where we could see the church and clinic in the distance we had to leave the rutted road for the irrigation ditches beside it then sort of by surprise we actually arrived to the turnoff and drove into the fields that led us to Prospere. They were dry.

(editorial) When I turned off the road there were men cultivating the field. They didn't stop their work. I waved and they waved. It was like I was just one of the many passers by for that hour. But I know that mine was probably the first vehicle to pass that area in more than a week, possibly two. If I had been working in that field I would stopped my work, run to the car, and asked how in the world did you get through the flooded road? But no, they almost didn't take the time to look up from what they were doing or take their hands off their tools. It was as if a steady stream of cars had been passing all day. I've lived here 21 years now and this place never ceases to amaze me. Back to the clinic.

So we finally arrived. There was nobody in sight and all was quiet except for the roosters. I walked up to the pastor's (Pastor Francois) house and finally woke he and his wife up. We asked if anybody had come for the clinic. He said yes, but said he had sent them away since he knew we weren't coming back until the end of August. The last thing I told him was that I would be back in early August and our first clinic would be on the 16th. I love these people, I love this country but one of these days this place and these people are going to drive me to drink. Enough said!

To make a long story short Jodie and I cleaned the clinic for the next three hours or so and left very tired and sweaty, but with the clinic was much better prepared for what will be happening on Monday: a clinic.

Note: From Prospere we drove directly to downtown Port-au-Prince to the American consulate where we needed to go to renew our passports. We got our photographs taken. When the guard at the consluate asked us what we were doing here we told him and he told us the office was only open from 9:30-12:30. It was 1:00.

And so it goes.

John

2007-08-13T13:19:00.000-05:00

Just Checking It Out

Last week Jodie and I took the time to drive out to Prospere just to see what condition the clinic was in and to do anything that may need done to it prior to the clinic that was coming up next Thursday. As we got within about three miles from Prospere it became evident that we weren't going to make it. It seems that the nightly rains that have been coming down recently have filled the canals to overflowing and the road to a stream. Over time the streams gouge out the dirt road to make it impassable even with a four wheel drive truck. So we simply hope for the rains to subside for a while and permit some heavy equipment back in this area in order to again make the roads passable.
There is one thing that I see as good about this though. In lots of places and times I could feel all guilty that I wasn't doing what I could to keep the clinic open but this situation is absolutely beyond my ability to overcome. I just can't imagine my knees walking the last two miles through flooded fields in order to get to the clinic. In fact I can't imagine my knees walking a mile over good sidewalks, where there are none that I've seen recently. And So It Goes! John

2007-08-09T17:07:00.000-05:00

We're back

After a long week of collecting stuff, packing, making last visits, then packing some more we again made our way to the Indianapolis airport on August 8th for our return trip to Haiti, new knees and all.

It seemed so different this time. Most of the time we are excited to return and get back to the work we love (except for Jessica who would rather stay in the States and shop) but this time, for me there was a sense of wondering if we may be returning too soon and unprepared for what we had to come. I'm not sure if the reason for that feeling was due to the continuing discomfort of the new knees or maybe it was due to our friends who would frequently remind us that "maybe you should give those knees a chance to feel well and go back later." When you hear that from so many friends who really do have your interests on their minds it just starts to make you question what you're up to.

So we ignored the advice of our friends and find ourselves back at our home on the side of a mountain in this strange country that we have learned to love so much. Yes, the knees are having a difficult time with the stairs inside and outside our house and when Jodie says that she will go up back to help get the generator started I simply have to tell her in all honesty that there will just be some things that I'll have to do for us since, even though she knows much more about running the house then I do the generator is something that is in more my ballpark then hers. So we continue on.

And so it goes!

John

2007-08-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

An Important Time

Yes we are pressed by the need to get everything packed up and ready for our return to Haiti but this weekend has been filled with that which is more important that our simple return. It was the 75th birthday of Jacquie Gross, Jodie's mother and Jessica and Jacquie's grandmother. And did we party! It lasted two nights and was attended by all the family except for Chip who had some pressing work to do in Afghanistan and David, one of the grandsons who had other pressing needs.

There are not a lot of people who age well but Jacquie is one of those few who does it with gusto. I'm happy we stayed around long enough to be part of this party.

2007-08-03T06:02:00.000-05:00

Good Morning

As you can tell by the vast amount of blogging that I haven't been doing recently that I'm either sick, tired, or simply dead. It's certainly not that there weren't times when I didn't feel dead or dying but rather most of the time there was enough pain to distract me from any desire to try to bring others into my world. I am truly sorry about that and hope you didn't feel ignored but, as you can see from the last couple blogs which Jessica wrote for me, there were other things going on that simply distracted me from communication. So, just to bring you up to date: It's 6am and I'm the only person awake in the little house where we have spent most of the summer. We are located just off the Anderson University campus right across from construction of new housing for seminar families. The workers start very early so, even though we do some sleeping in we do it to the tune of brick layers and heavy equipment trying to get these places finished for the fall semester. Actually I'm awake due to Ibuprofin. I never realized that it could keep you from sleeping but since coming off the Vicodan I've had a daily appointment with daybreak around this hour. That is your "medical moment" for today. The house is a mess since we are in our final packing sequence for our return to Haiti this coming Wednesday August 8th. We're trying to get all those things that we have purchased over the summer that will never be able to fit in our luggage into boxes for shipping. In between these packing and sleeping hours we are visiting all those friends and supporters who were ignored during the time of new knees and pain. You see, the blog was not the only thing that was ignored. On a serious note I am so very grateful to those that supported me and my family during this long difficult summer. Your prayers, emails, notes, and kind thoughts kept us going. My sincere thanks to all of you. One last note. No, this is not over. I still have daily pain and continuous minor pain that is associated with the process of healing. I will be returning to Haiti still wondering how I'm going to make it up those steps to the house and still more up to the bedroom. Then there's the clinics that will be starting on August 16th with hills to walk on and sore legs to stand on for long periods of time. I ask for your continued thoughts and prayers as I take on these challanges.

And So It Goes John

2007-06-22T14:23:00.001-05:00

Again, it is Jessica.
No, not the pictures, the person writing. I'm sure dad would have loved to write this post himself, but isn't quite ready for that yet.
But the pictures are of my dad and his lovely hospital lunch of chicken fingers, bananas, and green peas; my dad and me; and one of his right knee.
Dad got moved into rehab yesterday. He's doing rehab at the St. Vincent's since he likes that place so much. I've got to give them some credit...they're a pretty good place.
But he is doing much better than when I last saw him. He can walk, with a walker of course, down to the elevator and back. (He decided to see us off when we came to visit today.) He's still having some pain and swelling, but it's not as bad as it was before. At least to my knowledge.
My mom commutes from Anderson to Indianapolis pretty frequently to see him, but I've only been a few times.
He's doing better, but keep him in your prayers.
Jessica.

2007-06-18T14:15:00.000-05:00

This is Jessica (John's daughter) and right now I'm at the St. Vincent Orthopedic Hospital Center Thing. (Which isn't acctually the real name, but it's close.)
My daddy, who is lying in a bed in this very room, requests that I update for him. Well, not really a request, but more of a demand. So here goes.
On May 30, John had an arthroscopy, in other words, he had both his knees cleaned out. They were planning to do this thing where they drill holes in the knee, and the cartilage is supposed to grow back. It had a pretty high success rate. But when they saw his knees, they said the cartilage was pretty much gone.
So today, June 18, my dad had a double knee replacement. At 9:20 in the morning. (I hung out at the hospital all day, checking out the cafes and cafeteria, and reading. And let me tell you, this building is COLD!) But dad got out of surgery fine, except for some pain in his right leg, but that is from the positioning of a pillow. He had a lovely meal of applesauce with cinnamon and green jello, which I got the honor of feeding to him. They gave him hot chicken noodle soup, and hot mashed potatoes, but he didn't want to eat those. Weird what those surgeries can do to you.
He also took a few steps forward and a few steps back, just a couple of hours ago. With a walker of course.
He'll be in the hospital a few more days, and then be going to rehab probably.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the picture is of my dad and his rhino stuffed animal I got him. It's really soft.
But all is well.
Keep him in your prayers.
Jessica.

2007-05-09T09:47:00.000-05:00

OLD!

I feel old today. Tired too!

We just got back yesterday afternoon from Anderson, Indiana where we celebrated the graduation of Jacquie, our first born. It was great, she was great, all was great except that she's just too young to be doing things like graduating from college. She's just 21! Why didn't she work hard and cram four years of college life into five like her old man? And her grades! She was the first in line to graduate with the Bachelor's degree. She was first not due to anything other then her last name starting with 'A'. So you see I did give her something of quality in life, her first place in line. But when the Dean of the School announced "Jacqueline Esther Ling Ackerman, magna cum laud, with honors in Political Science" I figured he was talking about some Nestles ice cream bar. I am proud but I am also smart enough to know that she didn't get her brains from her father.

Now to add to that there was Jessica's birthday that we told you about last week. She was 15 but really should be only 12 or so. Then today I woke up to find myself another year older. It's like they never told you when you were a teenager that tomorrow you would wake up and be 59 years old

Well, I guess it has happened though. Life goes on as it is supposed to do. We'll ignore all this and get back to the clinics tomorrow. I'll ignore it until they wake me up again singing "Happy Birthday to You" next year then I can really get depressed again.

And So It Goes! Life.

John

Our Jacquie

2007-04-30T19:10:00.000-05:00

Time-out for a Birthday

This young lady is my lovely daughter Jessica who, on April 30th celebrated her 15th birthday. She is a special person both in looks and all those other things that make kids great. She's really great to live with and you can plan on a daily trip down "Fun" street. She bakes everything she can get her hands on and hopes (at the present time) to become a famous pastry chef. Thus, for her birthday we got her a cookie and cake carrier and a "Spring Form" pan. I'm not sure if that is spelled correctly but it a pan that one uses to make cheese cakes. I look forward to her trying them out so I can try out the results. Anyway here she is! Isn't she beautiful? Just like her dad.

And so it Goes!

John

2007-04-25T16:54:00.000-05:00

Day 2: The Canopy Tour

Let's just call this one the second world “Super” playground in a jungle setting. Actually we rode on the bus about two hours this morning to get to the tour area. The setting is a mountainous area (not Pike’s Peak, more like the Appalachians) with a lush covering of Canopy trees.

Arranged at various places in this forest are towers that remind one of the fire towers you would sometimes see if driving through areas of the mountains of West Virginia or Georgia. These towers are connected with other towers by 1/2” metal cable.

Now, that is the setting. Here is what happens. Humans just like you and me get themselves in a harness, climb these towers, hook our three safety cables and roller wheel to the cable and launch ourselves, suspended only by a harness, down this cable at high speeds and often high elevations until we reach another tower or platform high up in one of the trees. From there the same thing is repeated again and again to other trees and towers.

Why do we do it? I guess because we were in Costa Rica and that is what you do in Costa Rica. Some people say it’s because of the ability to be out in the open to see the beautiful jungle (flying past at 90mph?). No. I believe we do it because we’re human and there’s something that is God given inside us that calls this little bit of abandon “FUN.” It was a fun day.

I wish I could show you some great pictures to give you an idea of what it was like but I don’t know how to put videos on this blog yet so you’ll have to put up with my still pictures. If you really would like to check out some videos of what actually happens simply direct your browser to www.youtube.com and search for “Costa Rica Canopy Tour” and you will be shown about 150 different videos you can see first hand.

Tomorrow I’ll try to give you a little idea of the wildlife on a river tour that we took in the city of Limon.

And So It Goes! John

This is where the Crazy people go off!

Jodie in her fashion Hat

Jessica now wants to be a sky diver!

Poor, scared people knew we were going to die!

The Whole Gang

2007-04-24T09:52:00.000-05:00

Costa Rica

It seems like forever since I’ve updated the blog. So here you go, a week long update.

Anyway, Jodie, Jessica, and I left on April 11^th to attend the Church of God Latin American missionary retreat and conference in the country of Costa Rica. About all I can tell you is that it is geographically somewhere bordering Panama on the south and Guatemala on the north. I actually spent the whole week and a half there having no idea where I was and to be honest have only looked at the map for its location once, three minutes ago.

How did we get included as a Latin Missionary? (You thought they spoke French and Creole in Haiti didn’t you?) Ask me that sometime when your humor index is high and we have some time to waste and I’ll let you in on the secret. Back to the subject.

Our group consisted of 12 missionaries from Belize, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Haiti J, 7 MKs (missionary kids) and one person from the United States. Actually the one from the U.S. was Sharon who came from Anderson, Indiana and is an executive of Chog Global Missions, our boss. We had to invite her. No! Really they paid for almost everything we did there, she had all the scoop on the “inside stuff” that we had to work on during our conferences there, and besides that Sharon was great fun. She even went on the high zip lines. I didn’t have the guts. More about those tomorrow.

We flew with our friends Phil, Lonnie, and David Murphy from Port-au-Prince to Panama City, changed planes then flew to San Jose. If you ever get the chance to fly out of Panama city at night don’t pass it up. The lights of the city are stunning. Actually, when you live in Port-au-Prince a lot of lights coming from any city would probably seem rather exciting.

So tomorrow, barring a tidal wave on our mountain we’ll get to the Canopy Tour, which consists of lots of hills, trees, and many zip lines. I’ll even try to find some pictures.

And So It Goes! John

2007-04-10T17:24:00.000-05:00

And you think you have it bad?

I saw on the news last week about a person in Cleveland, Ohio who build themself a 90,000 squair foot home on a small street. The neighbors were already complaining because people were stopping on the small street in front of it just to gawk at it. This is before the home was already finished.

I guess that's what I was doing when I took this picture. But realze I wasn't blocking any traffic nor gawking at one home. I was gawking at a bunch of them. Also realize that this picture is taken with a 420mm lense from quite a distance away so what you are seeing is a minisquel part of the whole picture. I guess what I'm trying to do here though is show you what life is like for those human beings who just want to have a place to lay their head and call a little something "their place." I don't want this to make you feel guilty (unless that's the way you get your kicks) but I do want you to realize how blessed you and I are especially when it comes to places for lying our heads.

And so it goes!

John

2007-04-06T16:53:00.000-05:00

Adam Hughes

Adam is a senior nursing student at Anderson University. As part of his nursing requirements he is to spend some time in a foreign country researching and simply finding out first hand what it would be like to be a nurse in a country other then the United States. He was given my name by the director of the nursing department and after a few email things were worked out and he found himself in the strange country of Haiti.

Actually I was really impressed with this kid. Yes, he's a kid to me! He was positive about almost everything, didn't complain about my driving, loved the food, both Haitian and the rest that we ate in our home, and when there was nothing else to do he would ask if it was OK to take a hike on the hills around our home. Then when he got back he would tell me about how much fun the kids were that kept asking him "Give me fifty dollars?" He would just give them a lollipops and tell them in perfect Creole that he didn't speak Creole. He was lots of fun.

Lord, please send me more like this.

And so it goes.

John

2007-03-27T07:59:00.000-05:00

Communication?

This week I had a lady come into the clinic claiming that she was 7 months pregnant. She actually didn’t know her age (a very common thing here) but from all I could decipher she was at least in her 50’s. Of course I did check her out and although her abdomen was rather large it obviously wasn’t a fetus that was making it that way.

So I went on to explain to her that she wasn’t pregnant, and I advised her that she would probably never again carry a baby in her uterus except through a miracle. I then advised her that I wasn’t in the practice of miracles today so I went on to find out why she did think she was pregnant. The reason was that she had missed periods for seven straight months and there was no other reason for that that problem then pregnancy.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen this number of times since I’ve begun working here but it never stops blowing my mind that someone in this lady’s life has never explained the simple basics about what lays ahead for her. Has she never seen this happen in others around her and question it? Did her mother do nothing for her other then teach her how to wash clothes? Does she communicate with nobody intimately enough that they would discuss such things? Do people talk in this country? Got me!

And so it goes!

John

2007-03-09T09:20:00.000-05:00

An Update

Remember the man I saw on the road a couple days ago? Well I have more information on that one. Actually the information came to me due to a personal occurrence at our house two nights ago.

It seems that a group of men were trying to climb over the walls that surround our house at about 2am. We have an armed guard at the house already due to the fact that a couple years ago we were getting robbed so often that it was getting hard for us rationalize paying the TV cable bill because our TV was being stolen so frequently. So, our guard heard the men attempting to get inside and simply shot over their heads which instantly turned these future robbers into sprinters. Don’t tell anybody but our guard doesn’t imagine actually shooting a person. He just treats his little pistol as a scare weapon which usually works when the intruders are usually extremely afraid of dying. I have no idea what he would do if anyone would challenge him.

So the next day I come to find out that there was an attempted robbery further down the hill on the same night. Robbers broke in a home and found the owners wielding their machetes which, it seems they really knew how to wield. One of the intruders was killed before the other two escaped without fatal injuries. We believe the dead one was later deposited on the road as a sign that robbery was not the profession to be in.

What bothers me most about this though was that I felt better knowing that the person on the street was one of the “Bad Guys.” I don’t know if Christ would have felt that way. I think he would probably simply have wept for humanity. I am supposed to be one of his disciples. I guess I’m not doing a very good job. Keep me in your prayers.

And So It Goes!

John

2007-03-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

Death

One thing that is different here in Haiti then what I had experienced while growing up in the US is that the dead are not protected from onlookers. Before coming here I had seen at least one blanket covered body lying beside an accident site but never one where the body would lie there unprotected for all to see. Here a death attracts crowds. There is usually a circle of people who just stand hanging over the body and gaze like it was something they had never seen before. This has always amazed me since there is so much more “open” death here. They don’t usually sterilize death here by putting the dying in a curtained area in a hospital room so family and religious leaders can pray and sing hymns as the loved one leaves the earthly life. That’s the way I remember it was when my father and mother died.

When a parent or elder in the majority of Haitian families die they usually die at home with all the kids and neighbors around staring as the person passes on. It’s noisy. Usually at least one of the kids or attendees are screaming and letting God know that it isn’t time for this person they love so much to die. This is often done by a person who doesn’t even know the dying person. Even on the roads or highways when there are persons who are hit by a car and die or who are sick and just happen to be in public when they die there is usually a group of persons who simply gather in a circle around the body and gaze. Why?

That wasn’t the way it was yesterday morning though. As I went down Montagne Noire (Black Mountain), where I live. There were a few persons standing in the general area of a body but none seemed to have a desire to stand too close. No prayers for this guy. The body of the man who was probably younger then 30 years old and was lying on the left roadway which made it easy for me to avoid it. As I drove by I noticed that it had been an awful death. I can’t say that there were gun shots in the body but it had been badly bruised and beaten before finding its final home on the blacktop. All I could think was “I hope this wasn’t here when Jessica and Jodie went by here to school this morning.” It was. That was the first thing Jodie asked me about when we talked later.

I’m not sure how long this young man’s body had lain there. But on my return after a couple of hours it was gone. That was good. I have seen them lie in the road for three days before taken away. I haven’t heard any of the stories about what really happened but only because I didn’t feel all that safe to ask.

And so it goes! Life in Haiti.

John

2007-02-16T22:03:00.000-05:00

An Email

I just got an email from a sort of acquaintance from my college days. Actually Diane was one of the pastors of the church Jodie and I attended and Paul, her husband helped out with youth while he spent most of his time in the seminary in order to finish his graduate degree.

To be honest Diane and I were not all that close. She was certainly friendly but when push came to shove I was more of a person on the outskirts of her realm of influence. I really wasn’t all that great a guy. I certainly didn’t dress like a church leader. And it was maybe that self image that gave me the idea that neither Diana nor Paul really cared if they ever really “knew” me. I figure everybody has people in their lives like this so you probably understand the situation. Or maybe I’m just a paranoid.

Eventually Paul and Diane moved from Anderson and settled into a church somewhere up in Michigan. Then after a few years the news started coming that Paul was having some physical problems and was eventually diagnosed with cancer. It seems that Diana now works in a local hospice program while Paul continues to go in and out of remission and continues to have less and less strength for living daily life. But they keep on holding on with a faith far beyond anything that I could ever come up with. If life hit me hard like it has this lovely couple I would fold. Then she says how much she respects and appreciates our work here in Haiti.
John
That’s just not fair. I wasn’t ready for that one. Now don’t get me wrong, I want people to think highly of our contribution to life in Haiti. But I feel like a real nothing when good people who are struggling every day for their last breath continue to do far more in their neighborhood then I ever did.

And So It Goes. Not only in Haiti.

2007-02-12T23:12:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day will be here in exactly two more days. That is not a very hard thing to remember around our house. It's not that I'm a natural at those love kind of things but I am married to a lovely young lady who really gets into it. This is a picture of Jodelle (Jodie) my wife of 30 years now. Isn't she pretty? This is one of my favorite pictures of her. For some reason she doesn't take a very good smiling picture so I just have to enjoy this picture and imagine that she's telling me how much she enjoys me with her eyes. Actually she seems to get irritated with me when I say that she's not photogenic so I've given up trying to tell her that there are simply people who, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE VERY BEAUTIFUL, are difficult to photograph well. Now, does that sound like criticism to you? You need not answer.

So anyway I just felt the need to introduce you to Jod. I am blessed beyond anyone I know to have found such a great wife. She even likes me and those persons are hard to come by. We have fun together, actually talk with each other every day, and try to make some time for each other. In the missionary field there are many couples who are forced to spend periods of time apart. I'm sorry but we don't do that unless absolutely necessary. When I got married I got spoiled at having this lady with me almost all the time and I don't do well when we're separated. At the end of May I will be leaving Haiti early for knee surgery and Jodie and Jessica will be flying in about two weeks later, which should give me a chance to get up and walking prior to their arrival. But know, I'm already living in fear of those days. As I said, I don't do well without her around.

And So It Goes!

John

2007-02-08T20:57:00.000-05:00

Ain't This Neat?

I never really thought about where a cashew came from and how they got into those little cans. I only had three basic thoughts about them. First, I really liked to eat them. Secondly, they were really expensive. And thirdly, they are high calorie fat bombs. You can tell by the simplicity of my statement that I really had never done a lot of intense research on this topic. If I saw them in a dish at a wedding or grad party I would usually park myself near enough so that I could make the best of a nice situation. Other then that, well you can see how deep a thinker I am.

Last year at a missionary retreat that someone invited me to attend I found this little puppy on the table. Isn't it cute. These things grow on trees. Yes, one nut to a fruit! Get this! The nut that looks like an apple stem is encapsulated with a very tough pealing and below that pealing is a layer of very toxic pith (good word?) that covers the nut. So what this means is simply that Cashews are harvested by hand. Persons who clean the nut prior to roasting them must wear gloves to protect their hands and work hard to get the nut out. Then they go and sell it in a can for somewhere around $5.00. Can you imagine that? If I were doing that much work I would charge at least $50.00 for just my work. And we get a can of these for $5.00 or so. Doesn't that make you want to run to the store tonight and buy them out of this GREAT DEAL!

Isn't it amazing what you can learn on these blogs?

And So It Goes

2007-01-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

When You Try To Help

This little guy is Nicodeme. I first met him at the Prospere clinic just this past Monday. He was a cute little kid. The complaints were that he had a fever, cold, cough, and he wasn't eating. These are the primary things that parents complain about with their children. So I checked him out. I found a light cough but very little conguestion in his chest. So I gave him someTylenol and cough medicine. It was not until I told them that they were free to go that Nicodeme's father let me know the real problems. He's not able to walk. "Well how old is he?" He seemed small to me. "28 months." "What?" So the REAL examination started. I allowed him to stand by holding onto a stool and although he was able to stand up he was certainly unable to walk.I then put Nicodeme on the exam table and checked him for congenital hip disorder and I believe this is what I'm looking at. I am hoping to be able to get him to go to a Haitian Orthropedic surgeon who will be able to give us a definite diagnosis through X-Rays. The two biggest problems for children like this is that their parents are working for about $3.00 a day and even if they had the money to cover some of these costs there are no surgeons in this country who does those surgeries. If you have any ideas let me know.

Now, the reason I get a little emotional about this situation has much to do with this little girl in the picture. Her name is Jacqueline Esther Ling Ackerman. At this time in her life we had just moved to Haiti and we were yet to know about our future dealings for our little girl. By the time she became 16 months old she was just starting to begin to walk and when she did it was with a great deal of pain and difficulty. Due to some special friends and a geat pediatrician, Jacquie was blessed to be able to go to the Shriner's Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, who came to her rescue when she was in need. After a few months of braces, casting, and more braces she began to catch up with other children.Wouldn't it be great if all children of the world would be so blessed? And so it goes!

John

Jacquie at 3 months

2007-01-04T17:22:00.000-05:00

It has been quite some time since I have done anything on the blog. I had a rough start and after working on it for quite a while to get it worked out someone stole my pictures! Yes, one day they were in my blog and the next they weren't so I've had to quit for a while in order to get over my depression from my loss.

So what I'm doing now is to start our slowly and try simply posting some pictures. I got a new wonderful camera for Christmas and will show you some of what it can do. These first two pictures come from Wahoo Bay Beach where my family and I spend a couple days between Christmas and New Years.

The first is a blossom of what I know as a bottle brush tree. My name for it is a toilet brush tree but my wife tells me in no uncertain terms that that's not the correct name for it. It is a very beautiful tree in that it is made up of almost leafless branches but in the morning these very bright blossoms break out at various places on the tree. Isn't it neat?

The next is a near sundown shot taken as the sun drops on the other side of La Gonave Island. I thought the colors were really striking. I'm easy to please.

PS. Nobody stole the other pictures but I still feel bad about not being able to find them in the blog.

2006-11-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

A Happy Drive to Church

We went to church this morning. Nobody ever admits to these kinds of things but even on Sunday mornings Jodie and I don’t always get along concerning certain aspects of life. This morning it was the question of when should we leave home in order to stop by the bakery to pick up some junk food (You see, this is not a church but rather a fellowship. Who would go to friend’s house without taking a food offering? Certainly not me:) Our problem is that Jodie likes to arrive on time but I have a tendency to try to arrive early for most everything. I just feel more relaxed when doing that knowing I wouldn’t be late.
So I decide that we should leave at 8:45am and she lets me know that there’s no reason to go that early. How about 9:00am? Why fight it? She agrees to 8:50. We finally leave the house at 8:55am. We drive down the mountain and park in front of the bakery, go in and return in about 5 minutes.
When I return to the car it is surrounded by the “street kids” who are trying to convince me that they’re hungry but more poor than hungry. I claw my way through them, we pay a market lady for bananas then drive off. No we don’t. One of the kids outside tells me we have a flat tire. Now I wouldn’t mind this but these tires have only been on the car for about two months. Of course the roads are a little harder on tires here thean the highways in the States. I remember going almost 15 years in the States before I had a flat tire. My first week in Haiti I had 3.
So I jumped out of the car, chased Josine, Jessica, and Jodie out of the car, and tried to fix the tire problem.
When I put the tire iron on the nuts I discovered that I couldn’t get the nuts off with my less than human strength. So I gave one of the “hungry” guys that were still standing there a job of doing the job for me. He did. I paid him some money. He was happy. It took us about us about 15 minutes.
I jump into the car and drive off thinking “I’ve got her now.” But being kind I calmly said “that’s why I like to leave early.” Did you feel that tender loving knife going into her back with those words? So we didn’t discuss it any further. I knew I lost that argument. She’s always right. Don’t tell her that though.
The food was good.
And so it goes!

John

2006-11-05T20:46:00.000-05:00

The Loss of a Friend

We Received the news today that Gib W died yesterday evening. He was surrounded by his loving wife, family, friends, and many very loving pastors. A good church is so very important to have at these times. He and his family were part of one of a great and loving church in Anderson. Jodie and I attended there many years prior to coming to Haiti.

John

2006-11-03T20:32:00.000-05:00

YOU JUST DON'T GET USED TO IT, EVEN AFTER 20 YEARS

I just received an email that Gib W, a long time friend had a cardiac arrest yesterday afternoon, is now on a ventilator, and is non-responsive. I don’t expect for this to depress you as most of you have no idea who he is. Gib is a good man, and English professor at Anderson University, and his wife Georgia was one of the finest nurses I’ve ever known.
I tell you about this since these are the things that make it hard to live far away from those people who mean so much to you and where it is impossible to be of any good to them when they need the support.

John