Money

I have been learning a lot lately - which probably goes without saying. One of the things that has been tossed around here in front of me a few times is that it may be a possibility that I take over another missionary's job because they eventually want to lead another base up north. They haven't necessarily been training me to do this, but through my daily interactions I have been learning quite a bit about what he does (there is A LOT to learn and most of it in a new language).

In addition to the money related post from this morning, one thing that I learned today is the amount that the Haitian workers here get paid. I really had a hard time believing it. The average Haitian earns about or less than $1 per day. These guys here at the Mission make about $5 US dollars per day (roughly...some more and some less). That's $25 per week or $100 per month. They shop at the same grocery stores that we do and go to the markets for food (which is probably a little cheaper than the stores). The first thing that I thought of when I heard this was "How do they possibly by food for themselves let alone their family?" I thought about trying to live on the same dollar amount per week for a week or two. I am not sure that we will really do this, but I am interested in trying it for myself to understand and for the kids to understand. The mind numbing thing for me is that I have been blessed so much that I can call it quits and live like we have been any time I want - these guys, and others far worse off, cannot simply do that.

Coincidentally, today our friends (the Livesay's), posted a great post that can help to clarify the earning and living situation in Haiti.

Hesitantly and reluctantly, I took the kids for ice cream today because it was warmer and I wanted to give them a treat. We spent about $8 US dollars for ice cream (or about two day's work). I will forever remember this number and apply it to everything that I buy. I almost don't feel like eating. I can't believe the amount of money that I used to make at my desk job and that I would waste it away at times.

This is one of those times that I feel like I have so much more to say, but there is so much there that I cannot spit it out. Not just about the money stuff, but other things as well. So, I'll just post a couple of pictures...

Here is Lou. Kayla slowly ate a spoonful of peanut butter (I won't even tell you how much that costs) and Tina gave one to Lou. Well...he saw that Kayla was eating it but didn't watch how. He downed the spoonful in one bite and this is what he looked like...


Kayla, our artist, took a look at her spoon and said "Hey, this spoon looks like Grandma Schilling!" (without the face)...



Boring car stuff...

I worked a bit creating a database for the Mission to use regarding the Mechanic stuff. It sounds like as I have time, there are other things that we'll incorporate into this database. It is in Access and this is what it looks like...

I swapped a rear tire with the spare in one of the Toyotas because the cords were showing - that's the only real car stuff I did today.

The #2 generator had high oil pressure as I mentioned two posts ago and so I changed oil and filters (oil, air and fuel) and tomorrow I will see if it helps. I also cleaned the air filter pre-cleaner. I took a measure of the air temperature in the room and it was 135 degrees F - HOT. There was a water leak in the roof of the generator room that leaked on generator #1 and I fixed that today as well. So, lots of work for the generators today!

Smelly / Money

A couple things that I forgot to mention yesterday:

Our kids are getting bigger, there is no doubt about it. For years Carter has wanted to use my deodorant. He thinks that it is a sign of getting bigger and older - which it is. Today he came to me and said that his armpits stink, so I entertained him and took a whiff and sure enough, I had to gasp for fresh air. I told him where my deodorant was and he put some on. I think that made his day, week, month, year...

A couple days ago, I had my second worker at the Mission as me for money. This time, the person told me that he wasn't asking me for money, but if I wanted to give him some I should keep it a secret and not tell anyone. This is a person that I respect and he is very nice to me and to my family. I would very much like it if I didn't have to deal with these things. I ended up not giving either person money (this time or last). They have outlets within the Mission and other sources by which to get money if they need it.

I have always struggled with these things. My heart says that we should help them out. We were told that if we want to give someone money, that we should talk with others to find out if they have been soliciting money from them too and how much and so forth to determine the real need. I haven't done that yet, but I may. Another side of that coin is that if don't raise enough support, we won't be here that long ourselves.

When we came we knew that it would be on our dime and if didn't raise enough support that our line in the sand would be drawn and if we came near or crossed it, we would be leaving. The people who ask for money may not know this aspect of our situation. The other missionaries have funding for their stay. I don't know if even the other missionaries knew/know that this is the way we came. I recently told one of them this and they were quite surprised. God called us here and if He wants us to stay, we'll stay as long as He wants - one way or another, giving money to Mission workers or not.

One last thing: God's graces are so wonderful! In so many things (lots of them are little), we see Him working in our lives. From putting things and people in our path to teach us lessons, to being sick, to the big things like even being here in Haiti - God is good - all the time!

Family, Another Trip, Misc.

Tina was feeling pretty sick yesterday - headache, stomach problems, etc... but today she is much better. Carter did much better today than yesterday with his schoolwork.


I will probably be going on another trip up north (with the director this time) this weekend. Lord willing, we will be leaving Saturday AM and coming back Sunday PM half way and then Monday AM the rest of the way. This trip will be at least an hour longer than the last trip - it's the same direction but beyond the last destination. The director (who is a pastor) will be preaching on Sunday and he has some other things to check out while he is up there. We'll be taking the Ford Ranger which was occasionally making a goofy noise towards the end of our last trip. I checked it all out and didn't find anything wrong - hopefully it (and we) make it there and back!

It rained tonight and before the sun went down, the kids found some snails (high res):


We are thankful to have food (I am wondering why much of the food has been labeled for export, though...)


Boring Car Stuff...

I have been just working on regular vehicles. The two Pathfinders that we have are having issues their front autolocking hubs, so their 4x4 doesn't work. One is also having minor idle issues - it's too low. I have adjusted the idle speed, but it goes back to being too slow again. I went to fill up the Montero's power steering fluid because a guy was taking it out and someone had put water in the power steering fluid bottle without re-labeling it. I put about a quarter cup in before I realized it. I'll have to drain and replace the fluid next time it comes back (in about a week).

The generator oil pressure was real high this evening when I shut it off. It was at 120 when it should be around 60 to 80 at most. I'll have to look at it tomorrow.

A Good Weekend

We had a nice relaxing weekend. I didn't work in the shop at all. We cleaned up our place and moved the kids around a bit. We switched the rooms that Kayla and Carter were in because we moved Lou with Carter. The room that Carter was in is smaller and so Kayla, being by herself, got that room. Carter and Lou got the larger room. Saturday afternoon nap was the first time that Lou got to sleep in the bed. After he got up three times, he fell asleep and since then he seems to be loving his new bed (which is more comfy than the portable crib).


We have been limiting Lou's food to certain items and it seems to be helping with the spit-up. Tina is doing a bit of research trying to figure out how to handle this. It is more difficult to put up with in an older child than it is with an infant. The food is worse seeing it the second time and the volume is greater.

We are persevering through the church situation. It is very difficult to sit through a service with three kids and none of us can understand what is being said. It concerns me that they may be saying things that I do not think the Bible supports and it may appear that I am there support what is being said. The sooner we learn the language the better. Now that we are more settled in and are starting to have a decent routine, we will be hitting the language study harder. Tina has included it as part of the homeschooling routine and I am asking her to have them study things that I will find useful in the shop as well. The more we start talking the same things in the house the better!

Plan Update

I wanted to provide what I believe will be the last plan update that we will have until we find out that the adoption of Lou is complete.

Our intent is to travel to the States when the adoption is complete, so we can visit friends and family. When we find out that we are near the end, we will plan our travel dates. After we arrive, we will speak with our church mission leader about possibly supporting us here in Haiti. We hope to get Lou checked out by a pediatrician (one that specialized in Down Syndrome we hope) and take care of whatever his needs are. I would anticipate being in the States for a couple to few months, then it will be back to Haiti. All of these steps are Lord willing.

Tropical Storm Fay

This is our first tropical storm - it came in last night and mainly brought in rains all night long. The Weather Channel said there was 45mph winds, but we didn't experience it that I know of last night and it isn't windy now - just a little breezy. It is normally not too breezy or windy where we are.

Mission Grounds

Dinner / BCS: Canter - A Resolution

We went out last night with a mechanic who used to work here a the Baptist Haiti Mission. We went with his wife and son to do a little running in town and then we went to eat. We ate Kibby (which was like rice and ground beef in a corn dog casing) and beef shishkabob. It was so very good and so very American tasting! At about US$15 per person it was a little expensive (as usual, Tina and I split with the kids so we got two servings of everything), but we haven't had food like that in a very, very long time. We had great conversation and have continued to build this new relationship. They are great people and live close by.

Here is a picture of a pretty flower with a pretty flower:


I now have generator duty (starting and stopping). Here is Carter helping me out - there are two of these big, loud things:


When we patch Lou's eye, once in a while we have to hold his head so he moves his eye instead of his head. I thought it was funny yesterday when Tina was holding his head, so I took a picture:


I am finding out that my clothes are not lasting very long. I have two pairs of pants that I wear 3 days in the shop before having them washed. I have a total of 4 pair here and I don't want to mess up the other two pair. I am going to be ordering another pair for working in the shop. My boots when I bought them were purchased because they were cool in temperature. My next pair will be leather so the do not get ripped. I am looking forward to a package that my parents sent (thanks Ma and Pa!) because it has Mechanix gloves in it. My hands are getting pretty beat up and I seem to have a new cut or gouge everyday. I do not remember where more than half of them came from.

Boring car stuff...

I started working on the four wheeler with the two boys here (Carter and Christopher) as a way of having shop class for homeschooling. We got interrupted (this is the second time), but from my perspective is was a good thing. After talking with another mechanic for a few days in a row, he stopped by and walked through everything that I had done. There was nothing that we went over that sounded incorrect. After looking at a number of things, he looked at the travel on the brake pad through the viewing hole and saw that it was moving too far - it would be using all the fluid up just to make the pad travel that distance.

The brakes on the Canter have a manual adjustment (not automatic like on most cars). I had adjusted these once (twice in the case of the rear wheels). Two things happened that I learned from. One was that the other driver/mechanic had adjusted the brakes (the wrong way apparently) since I had last looked at them and he didn't do it correctly. I should have started all over from the beginning and looked at it as a fresh new vehicle (which is hard after looking at it for a number of days in a row). The other thing that I learned is that parts are made differently as the vehicle ages. There is an arrow on the back of the hub that points in the direction that you are supposed to move the adjustment wheel. Well...that arrow was pointing the wrong direction. The wheel needed to go the other direction. This may be why the other driver/mechanic did it incorrectly. So I made the adjustment and the Canter now has brakes. Praise God! (coincidentally it was after I had my revelation yesterday morning, my life-lesson learning experience).

One of the Haitian guys wanted to take a picture of me working (yes, my pants are 2-3 sizes too big and I have to add a notch to my belt):


Before we figured out the Canter, I needed a break and so I worked on a mount for a hubodometer (the odometer doesn't work) on the big dump truck. I measured and had the metal workers make it for me. I put on the final touches (like rounding the sharp metal corners and enlarging the mounting holes) on the mount using my die grinder (which I will need a new one soon because this was a $15 cheapie from Menards and is starting to fall apart). I found out that it could be fun to use a die grinder as an art tool!

Canter - A Revelation

Today will be day four of working on the Canter and I finally realized something - and it's not how to fix the truck's brakes.

What I realized is that God works in EVERYTHING whether I (we) see it or not. Through my constant struggles with the Canter's brakes, numerous Haitian men have been watching me. Some of the Haitians are welders, some of them are drivers, some of them are landscapers and some of them are carpenters or masons. They work for the Mission (some have even come to visit me that do not work for the Mission). Not all of the workers at the Mission are Christian - I do not know how many are. They see that I have been working on the Canter and that I am always trying something to solve the problem. I am never sitting and staring at the vehicle. I am diligently working on trying to resolve the issue. I am not getting upset (outwardly at least).

I had two guys come up to me and tell me, in as much English as they know, that I am a hard worker. They see that I am there at 7:30 or before and that I am there until 4:30 or later. I am beginning now to see the ministry opportunity that the Lord has laid before me.

Through my efforts in working on the vehicles, I can be an example of hard, diligent work (as often as I can, thanks to God). I can be an example of perseverance and patience. And in all that I do, I can point to the Lord as the reason for the way that I work and for the reason I am here.

My language skills are increasing and I am learning new words every day. I have not been studying books, but rather I am in the shop with the drivers and others who stop by to see what is going on. I talk with them about what I am doing and ask what the words are for various things and usually have many opportunities to use the new words in the following days.

One of the few young Haitian boys who lives on the Mission (because their parent does) was hanging out with me at the shop yesterday. He was teaching me creole and I was having him use the big air tools because he wanted to help (he could hardly lift the air gun). I had to bury my opinion of him because he is sometimes a crazy kid that causes trouble. The more I let him help me out, the more he may become less crazy. He may even become a mechanic some day.

All of these thoughts thrown out on this blog to say that I am beginning to see the fruit of my labor thus far. I am seeing that others are watching me and that I should be a good example. I am seeing that there are people here that may want to become involved in mechanic work. Whatever the Lord is pleased to have me do is what I want to do and I will be doing it willingly (or trying to do it willingly). I want to give Him as much credit as possible. God is why I am here. God is why I became a mechanic at a mission working on concrete from being a product manager for a broker/dealer who sits at a desk all day long. God is the reason for everything that I am. To God I am thankful!

Doctor Bernard & Louinard

I had been working occasionally on Doctor Bernard's car - the alternator was not installed correctly. He asked me how everyone was and I told him how Lou is doing. He came to see him. He had perscribed decongestants and antibiotics in the past and recommended them again (the blessing is that is has been free of charge). I personally think that his the raspiness of his breathing is due to reflux. The next time we feel it is bad, we'll ask the good doctor for this type of medicine. Lou is doing pretty good healthwise. Once we get rid of the urpiness and raspy breathing, he'll be better than new.


Lou has been doing pretty good with his English. He can (when he wants) say Dada, Mama, Louinard, and Kaykay. He hasn't said Carter yet. He seems to be getting so big and strong - really walking good and fast. He still seems to not have much or any depth perception, so when he comes to a spot on the ground that has a different color he'll completely stop and not move without holding someone's hand or scoot his feet across slowly to make sure that it isn't a drop off.

He was getting crazy in his playpen yesterday with Kayla on the outside taking pictures. She got a couple horribly ugly and scary pictures. Here is my favorite:

Donations

We found out who our donors are today via email from the Mission office in Michigan. We sincerely appreciate everyone's donations and we'll be sending a communication to everyone who donated in July. Thank you all very much! It is such a great blessing!

Boring car stuff...

Since I didn't have the parts to install the rest of the front brakes, I worked on replacing the knuckle boot (like a CV boot) on the Canter. That was a lot of work taking off lots of big greasy parts. My own body parts are not used to all this work - I am used to a desk job. My muscles are tired, but my farmer's tan is awesome! I spent 80% of my time crawling around on the greasy concrete working on my reverse french manicure (which looks almost as good as my farmer's tan).


I got the boot replaced after about 5-6 hours of work and then worked on the brakes because the parts came in. After about 3 hours, I got all the brake parts installed. Bad news, the pedal still goes to the floor. I tried two different methods of bleeding the air from the brake system and still the pedal goes to the floor. I checked the vacuum in the tank for the booster and it was reading 23 inHG which should be enough. There is nothing else to replace that I can think of. I have no idea why it's not working. I need to sleep on it and hope for a miracle thought. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Since I am frustrated with this thing, I think that I'll set aside a couple hours tomorrow to work on that four wheeler or the motorcycle.

Donations

I wanted to let our donors know that we have not yet received information about who has donated to the Lord's work through us in Haiti. I will be doing what I can to get the information so I can communicate with those who have donated. I hope to have it soon!

Electricity / Thankful

We have had a lot of electricity lately. We run our generators from 7:30AM to 5:30PM every day and lately when we have electricity when we go to bed around 9PM. When we get up at 4:30AM, there usually isn't electricity but sometimes there is. The country seems to be doing a better job with the electricity and it's great! Our fridge is colder in the morning and we don't have to be as concerned about opening it.

Things to be thankful for...

The Lord provides for us in so many ways. We see (and appreciate) this so much more since we came here to Haiti. I want to start sharing the things that we are thankful for and that we give God all the praise for - it is thanks to Him that we have these blessings. Today's list...

• My own tools - I am glad that I brought them
• Food in the grocery store
• Water that doesn't make us sick
• Warm water for showers (while the electricity is on)
• Cool weather here on the mountain (we usually range from 68 to 82 every day)
• Friends and family to talk to/chat with
• Great kids

First Day of School

Today was the first day of homeschooling. It was a little rough. Carter is not very motivated (why would he be?). Lou is doing good with the eye patch (he is doing a little more schooling than that). Kayla did very well and is pretty motivated. Most of the learning was being done by Tina as she figured out the way things should work (well...she will figure it out). She could use prayers insofar as homeschooling is concerned. It is not easy to do it with limited resources and access to resources (including the internet).

Boring car stuff...

I figured out by pinching the brake line on the Canter that the driver's front is the problem corner. They sent for new brake cylinders up front, so I am hoping that it is finished tomorrow. I struggled for about 3-4 hours getting the passenger front off when the driver's front took only a half hour. Each vehicle has too many things to do that I am just taking care of one thing at a time. I also replaced the ball joints on the Landcruiser and took care of the doctor's alternator for good this time (there was another bolt missing from it that I didn't see the last time).

Ran Out of Eye Patches

so we are now using knee patches. I think Lou is thinking "I think eye kneed an eye patch, matie."

Blog Colors

I changed my blog colors this morning, but I am not finished. I feel like there is a beautiful sunrise coming up over a freshly laid drag strip. There are tall, green trees lining the track and the stands are empty. All the track equipment is new and the temperature of the track is perfect, yet there I sit - with my feet on the pedals of my tricylce with the lights on the starting tree shining a bright green.

This internet connection may just be the end of me. I am working on prioritizing my time and leaning more towards my family and this internet connection (used mostly for blogging and mechanic stuff) makes me feel like I am sitting on that tricycle.

Face Full of Fluid

Shopping this morning lasted a long time. We left at 9 AM and got back at 2 PM. Nothing is simple. Since the place was like Sam's Club we spent a lot of money and got cheap prices. The price was lower the more you bought of each item. We went in with another family so it was even cheaper. We should be set for a while. Oh...if you ever go to a Chinese restaurant in the States and want more MSG, I can hook you up...


Boring car stuff...

When we got back we ate and then I ran off to do work. I got the oil changed in the Nissan Patrol (SUV) and it has two oil filters. It took 11 quarts of oil...11!!! Then I worked on the Canter's master cylinder. I ended up getting a face full of brake fluid (face includes eyes and mouth) during the bench bleeding process. The unfortunate thing is that replacing the master cylinder didn't seem to work. I have to replace the front tie rods before I can take it for a spin to see what happened. This is frustrating me...seriously frustrating me.

Shopping

Lou's potty training seems to be only beneficial to us in terms of number of diapers we use. It is saving us diapers, but he is not understanding enough to tell us when he has to go. I guess that is the deciding point in when he will be ready. So we'll try to continue to do #2 in the potty and leave #1 alone until he is ready.

This morning we are going shopping at a Sam's Club-like place and doing a little grocery shopping. We are leaving at 9 AM and expect to be back around 1-2 PM. Then I have a bunch of mechanic work to do until dinner.

Tina and the kids are doing great! We are still adjusting to a number of things and slowly struggling with how to handle them. We'll be fine, but could use your prayers as we work through these things.

My parents shipped the first package that I am aware of yesterday and we'll see how long it takes to get here. They seemed to find that FedEx was cheaper when sending 10+ lbs. boxes.

Boring car stuff...

I got a lot done yesterday. I got the master cylinder off the Canter in an attempt to solve the brake problem. I also took off the ball joints to replace some that had been fixed incorrectly. I will also be doing that on the Toyota Landcruiser and took them off yesterday. The Ranger that we took up north started making some driveline noise and I took a quick look at that yesterday as well. I will look at it closer Monday. Yesterday I also worked on a big dump truck. The back was not coming down. As I checked the hydrolic fluid, there was no cap on the resivoir. The sock-like filter on the inside had little rocks on the bottom. Apparently it's been that way for quite some time and no one told anybody. Now that may have messed up the hydrolic system. I'll be playing with that Monday. It's kinda cool to be in such a large vehicle! I also cleaned the carb of the motorcycle and it seemed to run a little better, but I didn't ride it much. I went down a big hill and then back up. On the way up near the top, the idle started to surge fast and slow so I still have a bit of work to do on it (Mr. Storm...any ideas?).

Trip to the Northwest

What a trip! I thank the Lord for keeping us safe as we travelled! I am having a hard time determining where to start and what to say, so I'll just start at the beginning.

We left at 5:45 AM on Wednesday and drove about 2.5 hours to St. Marc where we had a little trouble. On the way, we picked up a 50cc Honda Wave motorcycle that we were delivering to someone on the way. We put it in the back of the intercooled turbo 4 cylinder Ford Ranger. The Haitian police had a check point and we got stopped. They wanted to check our papers for the cycle which we didn't have - the owner had them. After waiting for 15 minutes, it dawned on me (I feel stupid it took me so long) that I should pray about it. I prayed that the policeman would understand that it was being delivered for a Mission and that he would simply let us go. Immediately after I got done praying, the back door opened and one of the two Haitians travelling with us got it. He said that he told the policeman that we were delivering the cycle for a mission and that then he let us go. God is good! (It was only God that kept that thing in the back - those roads were so rough!)


We drove though some amazing countryside and on some incredible "roads" (as always, you can click on the image to enlarge):





Check out the size of this fishing net - it's not even in the frame of the photo:





The water here was about 2-2.5 feet deep.


We stayed at a missionaries guest house which was real close to their house and was where we ate a great dinner. This was my bed:


This was one of the churches we stopped to look at. It was very nice and served a lot of people. We ended up looking at about 3-5 of the schools and churches in the area and others were pointed out to me as we drove by them. Some of them needed extra things done and some changes (this was the primary purpose of our trip - to check out the buildings and the construction - it is definitely necessary work).


On our way back home this is what the GPS said after 3.5 hours in the truck:


It said that we went 55.4 miles in 3 hours and 23 minutes, averaging 13.8 MPH. I learned real quick to keep my elbows and knees away from the arm rests and doors, so they didn't get bruised. It was a good workout for our neck muscles! It was about 130 miles one way and it took us a bit over 7 hours to do it.

I learned many things on the way there as we talked. I got to know Kyrk whom we had only met a week ago - he is a good guy. I learned more about the Mission and where things were and about Haiti itself. It was an excellent trip and I continue to pray the work that is being done will be used to bring more people into a relationship with Christ.



There are more things that I would like to say, but this is about all the time that I have this morning. This whole experience of being here is simply beyond words and pictures. My hope is to be able to simply present a glimpse of what life is like in Haiti and what great work the Mission is doing for the people.

Ken Will Be Away for Two Days

Tina made some awesome bread that we just got done eating. She's getting this cooking thing down! She is getting ramped up for homeschooling - preparing a plan of action. She MAY even post in the next couple of days because she says she has some things to say.

I will be leaving tomorrow morning around 5:30 - 6:00 AM to go up north and west. We're going to check out one of the Mission's places. It's going to be a long trip - 6-7 hours. We're just staying one night. The "we" is Kyrk (the missionary who has been here the longest (10 years) and whom we just met because they were away our first month here), the head Haitian carpenter, and a Haitian pastor. I have no idea where we will be staying nor what it will be like. I am just going. I'll bring my camera and will take as many pictures as possible. Tina will hold down the fort and I will be back Thursday afternoon.

Here is a picture of a cool spider I found. I thought others may enjoy it, too.


Boring car stuff...

Today was a good work day. I got lots of things done - mostly on the beat up Toyota Landcruiser with the cage that I posted a picture of a little while ago. It is so beat up that a couple thick pieces of metal that were welded at the factory to the frame were broke off. One of those pieces is for the front driver's side shock (which it doesn't have right now). I will have to fabricate a new mount. I will be trying my hand at welding soon and am very excited to start. The other piece is where the front swaybar mounts to. I had someone else weld that. I will be trying my hand at welding in the evening, so it doesn't look like I am trying to take anybody's job away.

I lost my flexible head 3/8 inch ratchet wrench yesterday. I was pretty sure I knew where it was, but it wasn't there when I looked. I told a couple people and they told me to get the word out. I did and a little while later a Haitian guy brought it to me. He took them because he thought that I forgot about it and he couldn't find me to give it to me. He hid it and then gave them to me today (the next time he saw me). It was so nice to get that back because I use that thing all the time!

Routine

Not much happened yesterday. Just a bunch of:

Boring car stuff...

I was busy doing fairly routine maintenance yesterday. I changed airfilters, oil, and oil filters. I spent a bit a time in the afternoon with the driver/mechanic and another guy learning creole words (I hope to be able to remember some of them). Today is going to be a bit busier, at least in the morning. I will be working on a few vehicles to get them working before they take them out. One of the trucks front end fell apart yesterday and had to temporarily swap a bolt from the other side to limp home. It is a Toyota Landcruiser pickup (with a metal cage over the bed) and is in rough shape. Today is the first day that they will leave it here for me to look at. They take it out quite a bit, so I don't get to see it much.

I have to look at the Canter master brake cylinder because that still isn't fixed. The ball joints on the tie rods also need to be replaced on it. They have some wacky modification that helps it last a bit longer, but with the modification when it breaks, it will break completely and they just better hope they aren't going fast down a mountain with a heavy load because they will lose steering control.

I am starting to feel a greater sense of responsibility for the care and condition of the vehicles. I don't want anything to happen to anyone using the vehicles that I maintain. Some things are out of my control, but I am responsible for what is done, checked, and fixed.

Lunch with Elanor Turnbull

We have seen and talked with Wallace and Elanor Turnbull a number of times. Today after church service, she said that she would like to have lunch with us to get to know us. It was a great lunch!

We talked for 2-3 hours and listened to many stories of their beginning here. Back in the 1940's they came as frontier missionaries. There was no electricty, no plumbing, no "stores" for things like groceries. There was very little of anything. Their first "house" didn't have a roof. They lived among the Haitians and helped them in any way they could. They did it in Jesus' name. They mostly let their actions and reactions do the preaching. They built this facility here in Haiti and a couple years before they turned 80, they turned over the responsibility of the Mission to others. They are now 83 and are still involved with the Mission. Here is a picture (with a tissue box holding up the camera):

Some Additional Pictures

Here is a picture of the paper money. The name of their "dollar" is the Goud. The exchange rate is about 40:1 (40 Gouds to 1 US Dollar). They have this thing that they are trying to get rid of that is imaginary. It's called the Haitian Dollar which is just Gouds divided by 5. So there is a 8:1 rate between the Haitian Dollar and the US Dollar. The Haitian Dollar was created by the people (apparently) and the current government doesn't want it because it never changes - it's just the Goud divided by 5. The government is trying to get stores to go back to Gouds. Most of the paper money is very dirty in appearance and very used looking. It makes me wonder how much money the US government spends just to keep our dollars looking pretty. Anyway...

The US $5 is in the picture for reference. It is worth 200 Gouds. They just started making the 500 Goud bill last year. The only cheap thing that I have run into is a 20oz bottle of pop. I got 7up at the market while I was at camp for 20 Gouds or about 50 cents - and it tasted like 7up. It was great!



On the weekdays and Saturday, the workers start working at 8am. Around 7:30 the older gentleman here named Antoinne holds a devotional meeting/service for the workers who want to attend. The gentleman in the foreground is Richard, one of the security guards. He is a great guy and speaks a good amount of English. I am looking forward to knowing more Creole!

Communication

Tina has been fairly successful saving diapers. I made the decision for her to stop using cloth diapers, so her life would be a little easier which means that we are using disposables. Tina is saving diapers by attempting to train Lou to use the toilet. At 3 years old it's about average time to learn. With his Down Syndrome, we are not quite sure what to expect. He seems real smart so she's giving it a try.

She has put him on the toilet a number of times today and after no longer than five minutes at a time sitting on the toilet, he went poo twice and pee thrice. Now the next additional step is to get him to tell us when he has to go. Sign language seems to be the best way right now. He is saying please in sign language now and he does understand some Creole and English.

Boring car stuff… (with a good lesson learned at the end)

Today was supposed to be a putz-around day. I was going to work on the parking brake of the Canter because it is currently not functional. But, I ran into the guy who bought the rear brake cylinders for the Canter and so we started working on that. After banging my head twice pretty good (chock up one reason for having hair – padding) and initially installing one of the cylinders upside down and stripping one brake line, I was correct in saying that installing the cylinders on the passenger side would not help the brake issue – the pedal still goes almost all the way to the floor. Also, in the process I learned how the former driver-made-mechanic bleeds brakes. It was not the right way, but that is not is causing the problem.

Now I am thinking that the master cylinder is the problem and it may need to be rebuilt or replaced. The truck is a 2004 and has only 42,000. It’s strange because there is so little room in the front. The driver and passenger actually sit in front of the front axle which leaves little room for parts. I think that will be the next step in trying to resolve the issue. So far only the passenger side rear brake cylinders have been replaced unnecessarily, so not much has really been lost or wasted.

That took all morning and I was tired and discouraged, so I didn’t do any more mechanic work. Also, I was humbled in that I was thinking that something the driver-made-mechanic did was really odd, backwards, and unnecessary. After he humored me by letting (and actually helping) me do it my way, I realized that what he did was necessary to get the parts apart. If there were no language barrier, I would have figured this out right away and not made any negative assumption regarding his methods. I would have simply asked if what he did was necessary.

What amazed me the most was that he was more willing to humor me in what I was doing than I probably would have been if the tables were turned. I probably would have insisted that it been done my way and he would have never learned (like I did). Not only did he not insist that it be done his way, he helped me do it my way (the wrong way which created unnecessary work). My learning curve is steep.

Shipping Information! And Today's Work

We have the address information for shipping things to us. Please send us an email if you want to know what it is. I don’t want to post it on the blog only to have naughty people send me hunks of lead. If you ship us a letter or box of things, we will be required to pay the shipping from Florida to Haiti. Because people have asked: If you want to help with the shipping costs, feel free to include US Dollars in the package to the tune of $1.50 per pound.

Tina is having a much better day so far! Lou has only thrown up once and her spirits are up. Thank you for your prayers!

Boring car stuff…

Today Carter came with me to work on the Canter (I should have gotten a picture of him in the big truck). He was the brake pumper while I bled the whole brake system again. It didn’t help the situation. One Haitian guy thinks that the passenger side rear brake cylinders need to be replaced to fix the problem – I don’t think so. That side wasn’t leaking. The cost for doing one side is $250 US dollars, so my mentality says that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. I am excited to see what happens tomorrow when I replace them and see who was right.

Carter also helped me to change the BLACK oil in the tan Pathfinder. I went to check the air filter and found that it didn’t have one. That may not be too big a deal in the US, but here there is dust everywhere. The filters that I have looked at are caked with dust and dirt. I don’t think that the Pathfinder has been running long without it, so that’s good news.

I think Carter wanted to help me out because he knows that at some point today I would work on the four-wheeler again. We ended up working on it all afternoon. There are some electrical problems because some are chewed up (rats), others are missing and still other connectors are broken. Christopher, one of the older missionary kids, wants to work on it too and he comes back from camp tomorrow. I am trying to save it for him too.