Monday, October 16, 2006
I can see just fine!
On Thursday nights there is a prayer service at the home of a church member in one of the nearby villages. I caught a photo of part of the crowd during prayer. The guy in the turquoise shirt on the right gave the sermon during service.
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I helped the optometry guys with eye exams again on Friday. They had a white coat for me to wear this time so I could look official. Friday was a little frustrating as many of the people for whom they had prepared glasses in advance did not come to pick them up, but before leaving on Saturday morning they were able to deliver about half. Also, many of the patients on the second day could not read and did not understand some of the concepts for the eye charts, even the charts specifically prepared for those who are illiterate. This one spry 80-year-old woman we saw was hilarious! She kept hopping out of the exam chair and walking to the eye chart saying belligerently (in Creole) "I can see the letters just fine! Your chair is just too far away!"
One of the guards from Double Harvest brought in his adorable little granddaughter to get her eyes checked. It was immediately clear (for those of us who have working eyes) that this girl was very likely blind as her eyes were a very light blue, almost white. Russ determined that she had advanced cataracts in both eyes and there was nothing we were able to do for her - she would need surgery for any level of correction. Additionally, she was very small for her age (4) likely due to malnutrition and was not developmentally mature likely due to the state of her eyes. Please pray that God will provide a surgeon to give Wonchia the surgery she needs to correct her eyesight before it is too late.
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This week I also made good progress on the Double Harvest Employee Handbook - it includes some history of Double Harvest, rules, regulations, the code of conduct, plus new anti-drug and anti-harassment policies! Not that DH had a problem with those things in the past, but no employer is immune to those type of issues so better to have them written out now versus later.
Friday night was the Spalding's anniversary and they went out to dinner in the city while we (Mark and I plus the optometry guys from Tampa) made their kids and us dinner, and had a sleepover at the clinic! We had a fun time watching Jim make dinner from field veggies again then then Mark rushing to get a cake made for dessert before power down - we had no problem eating it afterwards!
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And get this - I got word from some of my cyclocross buddies that a team from Haiti hit a Noreaster UCI race last weekend. Wha?? My internet research hasn't been able to dig up much more information than a few brief mentions plus results and that some Haitian women showed up for Worlds last year. I knew I should have brought my cross rig out here!
Tomorrow is a Haitian national holiday (anniversary of Jean-Jacques Dessalines' death) so the Spaldings, Mark and I are heading to the coast tonight to spend tomorrow on the beach!! I hear that the beach is gorgeous and mostly deserted. Needless to say, I am excited!
# posted by A*Dub @ 6:50 AM 
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I was born in Haiti and my family stayed there until I was about 13 or 14. We stayed in Double Harvest so we know about almost everyone that you are talking about, especially the Spaldings! Its great hearing about what's going on down there! Keep posting!
Annette Kerpel
P.S. When you go back say hi to everyone from the Kerpels!
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Annette Kerpel
P.S. When you go back say hi to everyone from the Kerpels!
# posted by 
: 11/02/2007 4:32 PM
: 11/02/2007 4:32 PM << Home
