Photo Story

Shelley-Ann in Haiti with children, her favourite people

Hatians Learning English
Shelley-Ann brought some lined booklets with her thinking
that she would need them for the children activities she planned. 
Instead, they came in handy for the ESL classes that she taught.

Some ESL Students from Haiti, now residents of the Dominican Republic.

Haitian girl showing off the toothbrush from Shelley-Ann.

Game on! Children at play with Shelley-Ann and Staff

"Campimento" EDIFY

What a Ride!!

“The English class was awesome!”  I was unable to get more information immediately about the ESL classes that she taught to Haitians but the one line above says a lot.

Let me continue by saying, although Shelley-Ann's heart has been for missions, she’s never actually had experience working in the field – well, not that I know of.  She now completely understands why there are few people who feel called to do Missions....

"Who could keep up this pace for any length of time??" she says.  She affectionately nicknamed Pastor Iris "Iris 'wastes no time' Hernandez!! That woman does not stop moving if she can help it."

Shelley-Ann went to Valiente and mentioned that it was fantastic.  She says the kids were simply fabulous!! They put on several dances and sang many songs. They were young but they were like little dynamos!"  She was able to to speak to the kids a little bit and although she didn't tell me what was said, I can imagine that she inspired and encouraged them to be their best selves.

She mentioned that the poverty of the kids was evident and that the church which is their main meeting place was basically a poured concrete floor and wood walls.

She talked about how there was only one light bulb hanging somewhat precariously from the ceiling.  Pastor Iris explained that they were just recently able to provide electricity for these children and they were so proud of the light! Everyone brought a flashlight though just in case the generator ran out.

When reading her note, I started to think about how privileged I am and that I take everything for granted. 

I remember last year sometime that the electricity went off.  I was beside myself with confusion….. and was not impressed that they (whoever they were) waited until it was getting dark to cause the light to go away.  I grumbled as I scrounged around to find the candles that are always so elusive when I really need them. That wasn’t all, the TV wasn’t working, the radio wasn’t working…. now what? What am I suppose to do?

When was the last time you turned on the light and didn’t expect it to come on? In 2003 when power was gone for days maybe?.

These children didn’t even have light much less have the chance to expect it.

Shelley-Ann shared with me that it is not unusual for the power to be gone for hours at a time, every day, at certain times of the day.  I puzzled over that for a while because I know that there is a lot of tourism there yet the locals sometimes don’t have electricity daily? I can only imagine why.

She also went to La Romana and described it as ‘REAL poverty’. and indicated that “it's hard to explain”.  I read through several articles myself on the internet and Haiti has been described by the majority of the articles as “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.”  When she was talking about the poverty in Romana, all I could think was, oh boy, she’s going to see more REAL poverty today when she lands in Port Au Prince.

Booked and Ready to Go

The arrangements have been made, accommodations are in place. Shelley-Ann will continue on her mission to Haiti and cross the border. The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region. After a brief stop in Port-Au-Prince, she'll be heading off to Jacmel.

Shelley-Ann is joining a group from Plan International who have been working in Haiti long before the earthquake - since 1973. Plan states, "Our experience and long-term presence in Haiti means we could respond with emergency relief immediately after the earthquake hit, and that we are remaining in the country to rebuild for the future. Our main focus right now is on helping children and their families build strong, resilient communities and create a better future for all Haitians." It's good that she's able to join this group and will meet up with Ngozi who is an Ambassador for Plan.

I'm not sure how much we'll be able to communicate with Shelley-Ann as she moves to the next part of her journey but one thing is certain, she is there being the best that she can be to whoever needs her help.

What Preparation!

Before visiting Haiti, it was important that Shelley-Ann receive vaccinations and medications for vaccine-preventable diseases and other diseases that she might be at risk for. 

She had to visit a clinic 4 weeks before the trip to allow time for the vaccines to take effect.  Medications recommended were:  Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Cholera, Rabavert, influenza, Tetanus, and Malaria pills (she has to take these up to 1 or 2 weeks after she returns).

Because Shelley-Ann is going back to the bobsleigh circuit, she had the added responsibility of ensuring that she would only be taking vaccines/meds mixed with acceptable ingredients so that she would continue to pass her random drug tests. 

She visited a clinic that specializes in Travel Medicine, squeezed her eyes tightly, flung out her arm, received her needles and pills and she was ready to go.  She will be visiting Port-au-Prince and Jacmel in Haiti. 
 
Did anyone see that article in the Globe and Mail about the struggle that Haiti is having to keep schools open?  There's also a blog from Jessica Leader from the Globe and Mail that I found interesting.  She gives an interesting account of her assignment in Haiti.

Camp EDIFY reaches across the miles

When it was discovered that Shelley-Ann has experience teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), they could hardly believe it. Plans changed for a reason! Here she is at the border of Haiti and the Dominican on the Dominican side and still in a position to help the Haitian people. 

Many many Haitians have left Haiti and crossed over to the Dominican to find work and rebuild their lives. Shelley-Ann will be teaching English today and Friday to Haitians who are in desperate need of work and whose chances of getting a job depend on their ability to have some English skills.  I am glad she is making a difference - but wait a minute, look what happens next.

On Saturday, she will be in La Romana where she will put together, get this... a program based on Camp EDIFY for 100+ children.  After she returns from La Romana she will meet with the officials in charge to discuss how to implement EDIFY on a permanent basis. Hello! This is too good to be true. Her dream to share her vision to children and youth worldwide to be whole in heart, whole in mind, whole in body and whole in spirit started in Scarborough, Ontario and is now in the Dominican.  What a great opportunity to help meet many needs. I'm so happy for her. Did I tell you how happy I am for her already?  Well, I am.

Ola! and that's probably the only spanish word you'll get out of me :)  Shelley-Ann tells me that her Spanish and I quote, “which is absolutely nothing is already starting to get better! I think I'll tackle that language next".

I made the comment that since she speaks French, she should be able to manage in Haiti but she had a different story to tell.

"Creole is hard! And not exactly like French at all... I understand some, but other times it is completely different. There are SO many Haitians here!”

She feels a bit nervous about whether or not she can do something on such a grand scale and says,

“Part of me is like, "Ummm....this is waaay beyond my scope of capabilities but I suppose that's probably the point. Please pray for me! YIKES!”

Aghh Shelley-Ann, relax, YOU CAN DO THIS!!

Update: ....so I'm sitting at my desk at work wondering if it is time to go home yet and she just called to say, "listen to this" - well, did she not proceed to sing the Camp EDIFY song that she wrote and play her guitar across the miles in Spanish – WoW! Love it, love it, love it and it sounded so sweet in Spanish too. I can't wait for you to hear it.  She tried emailing it to me but the file was too big - she'll try again.