Gade 8 Graduation

Last night, my nephew, Ryan, graduated from grade eight at Queen Elizabeth School in Sarnia. It's hard to believe that I now have seven nephews and nieces in high school. Man, am I ever getting old!

I was really proud of Ryan last night. He's worked really hard to get good grades and still be involved in athletics. He even received the male athlete's award.

Way to Go Ryan!!!

Family B-B-Q

Yesterday, we had a family B-B-Q at my sister, Tania's house and it was loads of fun! The three youngest kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline....
Tania's husband, Ken, made amazing hamburgers on the B-B-Q....
Everyone LOVED the food...
especially dad!

It was a really great day to spend time together as a family. All my sisters kids have grown so much, in the past eight months I was away. It was so good to see everyone again and to share all my stories and pictures from Haiti.

It was really hard to say good-bye to everyone down in Haiti, but I'm so greatful that God has given me such an amazing family to come home to!

So Hot

This is the kind of beauty and warmth I remember from Haiti.
Ahh... fond memories....

Adjusting to the Cold

Apparently, the weather here has been quite warm lately. It just decided to cool down when I came home....

We had our church picnic tonight and I was absolutely freezing!!! I'm used to sweating all the time... not shivering! I'm told things should heat up around here early next week and they say its supposed to be a hot summer, so that sounds promising.
Here's a picture of some people from my church going through the dessert table. There were so many wonderful things to eat, and I think the fact that I haven't been able to eat all this stuff for the past eight months, made tonight a really special treat!

Home Sweet Home!

I arrived safely in Detroit at approximately 8:30 last night, and boy was it ever good to be home!

It was really hard to say good-bye to all my friends, students and church family in Haiti, but I have to admit... it feels really good to be home!!!

Here is a picture of me with my parents. I had my hair braided in extensions just before I left Haiti. It took two girls to do it and it still took 9 1/2 hours! Needless to say, I wouldn't get it done every week, but it's fun once in a while!

Thank you once again, for all your prayers for me during my time in Haiti, and as I made the trip home. The Lord has been very good to me and has blessed me abundantly. I have felt your prayers every day. Thank you and may God continue to bless you for your faithfulness in serving Him!

Last Mango Eating

Mangos are one of the many things I'm going to miss from Haiti. They became part of my everyday life down there, and I realized that they can be a social thing too. Many of my students would often come early to class to eat mangos and it was not uncommon for all my students to head to the mango tree, as soon as class was over.

This is a picture of me eating mangos after class with Francklin, one of my students in the pre-intermediate class. Man, who needs Tim Horton's when mangos are free? lol

Final Days...

The last few days of classes at Haiti ARISE Technical Institute were a load of fun. Since we did exams a week early this term, I decided to spend the last week teaching my students some Christian songs in English.

We had a blast in the classroom. Of course, each class has a different dynamic, and some of my students really got into it and everyone had a good time. I'm going to miss their eagerness and enthusiasm to learn. I've been blessed by each one of my students and my prayer is that God will continue to open doors for them to grow and learn.

Keep practicing your English, guys!

Passing the Baton...

My time here, as an English teacher is almost finished, and it's time for me to pass on the baton. This is a picture of me with Jessica, who will be taking over the English department next year. Here she's helping me tally the students final grades and get report cards ready.

Jessica's here for a couple weeks this spring, helping me get things wrapped up with my classes and letting me show her the ropes a little. It's been really fun having her for a roommate for the past week or so. It turns out, we have a lot in common. Actually, we're both Anne of Green Gables fans and one day we'd like to live in a house on the beach, each with our own motorcycle! haha! :o)

Beach Days...

I'm enjoying catching the last few rays of Haitian sunshine before I head back to Canada next week. I have to admit, I'm really glad I'll be coming back in the summer, and not the winter!

I still have a feeling that I'm going to freeze when I return home, no matter how 'hot' it gets! lol

Almost Home!

I’ll be home in less than two weeks! That’s right, June 20th is the day of my flight. I’ll be spending my summer working as the head cook at Forest Cliff Camp, and then in September I’ll be starting school at Fanshaw College in London, Ontario. I’ve been accepted into their Culinary program and I’m really looking forward to all that lies ahead… as with everything in life, I’m sure it’ll be an adventure!

I had malaria about a week ago, but have now fully recovered. It seems that with the rise in heat and increase in rain in our area, there's an epidemic going around. My students seem to be dropping like flies. The temperature in my bedroom is averaging thirty degrees celcius, sometimes even at night. Outside in the sun, it's often up to thirty-eight or forty degrees!

We've been finding ourselves at the beach a little more often than normal, so for that I really can't complain!

One Last Washing

Since I’ll be back in Canada in less than two weeks, I decided to do one last washing of clothes before I go home (As soon as I get home, all my clothes will get thrown into a washing machine, with some tide and then thrown into the dryer with a Bouce sheet, and in less than two hours, all my clothes will be clean, dry, wrinkle free and they’ll even smell good! I can’t wait! :o)

Washing clothes in Haiti is no easy task, but I feel as though I’ve finally mastered it. That doesn’t mean I like doing it, but at least I can do it!

Before I came to Haiti, like most North American girls, I had no idea how to hand wash my clothes. Now, it’s just one of the many things I’ve learned to do in my time here. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to keep changing the water and pumping it out of the well. It’s a lot of work!

I spent three hours washing clothes last Thursday afternoon, only to have a major thunderstorm pour down on them as we were eating dinner. The rain tends makes my clothes smell like vomit, so it makes me look forward to the smell of Tide even more!

A Mountain Miracle

I recently had a special opportunity to go on a hike through the mountains near Grand Goave, with a Haitian friend of mine and her little cousin. It was an amazing experience! Haiti is soo beautiful!!! I loved being able to climb up so high and then look down to see Grand Goave right next to the ocean.

I went with my friend and student, Judith. She took me to a piece of land that her mother owns on one of the mountains. On our way to her mother’s property, a man, with a machete, met us on the path. He was actually quite friendly… just wanted to know who we were and what we were doing in the area. When he discovered we were working with the mission, he asked us to come pray for him and his family.

We decided to take him up on his offer, and followed him through the corn field to his house made of mud walls and a tin roof. When we arrived, we greeted his pregnant wife and their five children. They invited us into their home, so we all gathered in there to pray. I shared the gospel with them, in Creol, and Judith gave her testimony. Then we prayed for them and they also prayed with us.

To be honest, I felt as though I was in shock about the whole thing. I’ve never before had a complete stranger approach me out of the blue and ask me to please come pray for him and his family. He admitted to needing God in his life. It’s a true testimony of what can happen in this country when a person just makes himself available to God’s leading. The doors for ministry are wide open!!!

New Life

One of our pastors wives had a baby a couple weeks ago, and I was given the priveledge of helping to name him. I submitted the name ‘Tassilynn’…since my name is Stacey Lynn but the Haitians often pronounce it more like Tassy Lynn. The father of the baby combined my given name with a name he had chosen and named his new baby boy, Rovelt Tassi Berlynn. So, now there’s a Haitian baby named after me… how cool! Lol :o)