Life here is very full and it requires our undivided attention. Each day starts early between 5 and 6 am and goes full blast until the sun sets at 6pm. You might suppose that we’d be on “island time” here but we are not, instead our life is as full as in the States and sometimes even more jam-packed.

November began in a flurry, as we hosted our first mission team solo (without Rick and Kathy). It went really well, but in truth, we had a lot of help. John and Debbie Winings led the group from Wake Forest, NC and they were able to set the group’s expectations. Nick Warren (along with his cousin Noa) traveled down with the group. We were very grateful for Nick, whose experience and expertise with our fish program, is (I hope) legendary. In addition, Jamie Rhoads visited for 4 days during the group's stay. Jamie’s history with the project as an intern and his extensive experience working in Haiti was an incredible gift and blessing. The NC team helped us continue to “red up” the compound by organizing supply closets and the two tool shops. Nick managed the re-organization of our breeder fish ponds and our fish supplies, while Mike and Jamie spent a day hiking the project, evaluating the present situation, and talking about the history of the project. The team hiked up to one of the schools CODEP supports and distributed school supplies and toothbrushes and also led a brief dental care demonstration. The team's experience was enhanced beyond measure by the inclusion of Nick and Jamie (unfortunately a rare event that we will not easily replicate). The time with the team was productive and included some new experiences, such as riding up the river near Narbonne on mottos and preparing a tilapia dinner (the complete experience; from fish pond to frying pan) as a whole team.

After the group left, we found that we needed a few days to regroup as a family. I think this will be the pattern for us as we are very relational and have a strong desire to connect with the group. We look forward to developing a routine with teams and our family that allows all involved to have a great experience.

Following the team, we have spent the bulk of the month working to better understand the history of CODEP from the Haitian perspective. It has been very challenging and enlightening! We planned for a retreat with the animators on November 19-20. We started on Thursday afternoon with a great meal of rice with Congo peas, pickles, fried chicken, and lettuce with tomatoes (don’t be too jealous). Mike opened with a reading from John 13 where Jesus expresses the 'full extent of his love' by washing the disciple’s feet. Nicole shared about the problem seen often in the world in which people aspire to certain jobs or roles to be a “gwo neg” or big shot. We shared that we had served them a meal and cleaned up afterwards ourselves because like Jesus we have come to lead and serve. We encouraged them to see their position as animators as an opportunity to not only lead but to serve their community. We then spent several hours listening and asking questions about the beginning of the program and the people involved. We learned of both Haitians and Americans who have played important roles in the development of CODEP. For example, we learned about the important role that a variety of early people played in the project and who worked alongside Rodney and how this was very important in the birth and growth of CODEP. It was great to see Madam Elysee stand up with her hands behind her back and recite from memory the origins of CODEP.

It was interesting to learn that the Haitian committee working with Jack Hanna requested a "blanc" to manage the project and not a Haitian. We had heard this from the board, but to also hear it from the animators was encouraging. We have witnessed a particular problem that we believe is common in poorer countries; when an individual is given responsibility for funds they are tempted to "rob Peter to pay Paul." They do not see this as stealing, instead they feel they need to cover costs for an urgent situation with whatever money is available. It was explained to us that an American brings to the project a level of accountability and assurance that the resources are used as designated. We closed Thursday with prayer and a song. Friday we began early with bread, hard boiled eggs and hot chocolate and jumped right in to an assessment of the challenges facing the project now. We discussed the financial status of CODEP and reviewed a list of requests that animators had put together, in light of the funds available. For a change, it was a moment of enlightenment for them! We spent some time discussing the difference between needs and wants, and we were able to utilize fertilizer as an illustration. Even though we have access to fertilizer now, this is not the best time to use it since we are heading into dry season. Instead, February would be a far better time to apply fertilizer when we are heading toward rainy season. We are realizing that Haitians have a "shortage mentality" and will utilize resources whenever they are available, because they are not always available. In this instance, we worked to communicate a desire to optimize our schedule and resources.

We are realizing on many levels that for the Haitians, waiting is hard (also for us, as we continue to learn the language), and therefore it is difficult to know the fertilizer is there, but that we are not going to use it. (On a side note Paul, our fertilizer distributor, is a studied agronome who works in the government. I was able to sit with him and secure fertilizer for our use in February). We finished our retreat by 10:30 am (meetings end early if you start at 6am!) and then after the animators headed into the mountains we hopped in the small truck and drove to Port au Prince to buy plastic bags for our nurseries! It was another busy day here in Haiti.

I have been encouraged by many things this past month, as I have walked in the project. I think it is significant to understand that CODEP is an amazing organization with some truly great accomplishments. Jamie Rhoads in his travels throughout Haiti told me that we have one of the most successful agro-forestry projects in the entire country (and as we have looked at other projects globally, potentially one of the best in the world). I wonder if we truly are aware of the work that has been accomplished. I used to think it was significant how many trees we planted last year. I think with what I have seen, equally important to planting trees in Haiti is the process of ramping and canals. Without them, all of the organic matter the trees produce will still be lost during heavy rains. Again, I marvel at the design of the project. Add to the success of ramping and trees, fish ponds, APKF as a lending institution, the seven schools that are currently being supported by CODEP, and what I want to do is give thanks.

November has also seen us spending an enormous amount of time re-shaping the work here at the beach. We meet on Mondays with the older kids or “Cadets,” Pastor Gabriel, and occasionally Paul (this does not include the many spontaneous meetings we have ended up having). We are working hard to explain thoroughly the changes we hope to make to the work at the beach. Pastor Gabriel has been very helpful with communicating the CODEP vision of development to the Cadets and to the Belvue and L’Acul communities. We have shifted the work of distributing medicines to Pastor Gabriel as he is the community health worker for the zone. We have organized a "bank" with a loan committee made up of three of the Cadets, Pastor Gabriel, and myself. Once a week we will meet to look at written requests for small loans and decide if we will lend the money. The group will know the total balance in the bank, the number and amount of the loans, and they can help encourage re-payment. It was decided that the bank will charge 5% interest on any loan made. The bank has been set up in a similar fashion to APKF. Once a student borrows money from the bank, they are unable to make another request until that amount is re-paid. The loans are being used primarily to assist with school expenses. Their parents can help remit the loans or as the Cadets find work themselves, they can remit the loans. In the future the hope would be that the bank would allow individuals to borrow small amounts of money to begin micro-enterprises of their own.

This will be a totally new system but we are hopeful that it will begin to alter expectations. We are also moving forward with our “ti Jardin” project that will see the Cadets beginning pepinyas for fruit trees, moringa, and chaya, as well as scouting for sites to place small fish ponds and vegetable gardens. We would like the program to produce vegetables that can be sold, perhaps even here in this zone. We are borrowing some current ideas being utilized in the states through urban gardening. You can look to www.spinfarming.com for an idea of what we are considering. Our hope is that the work that happens here will mirror the model that CODEP has employed so effectively in the mountains. At this point it is unlikely that we will continue to sponsor the Flag Day event for the zone, instead we want to utilize the budgeted money to finance the “ti Jardin” project. We want to build on the leadership skills and experiences that Kathy brought to the beach kids to help them establish a project that they can “own” and see growth and benefits to the whole community. There is especially great excitement about the suggested incentives which include composting latrines (there is a project near Jamie Rhoads’ work in Cap Haitian that has extensive experience with community run composting latrines. We are hopeful that we can utilize their plans and experience).

In closing, we are finding that we wear many hats here. Our roles here include: directors of CODEP, liaisons for groups, researchers, go-to people for the community surrounding the compound, visionaries, trouble shooters, and maintenance men (okay, Mike handles that)… and literally, as I was writing this we have become emergency room “nurses” with the arrival of a father and his 13 year old son who had almost completely severed his left index finger with a machete (Mike immediately drove them to the Medicines Sans Frontieres office near Port au Prince to see if they could re-attach the finger). We have had to diagnose ringworm and deal with pernicious anemia. There is no way to convey the number, diversity, and difficulty of the challenges that each day brings. December begins in a few days and we have no way of knowing what it will bring. We pray that we can continue to find a way to do what we need to each and everyday.