Heading back and looking ahead

The end of our vacation is quickly coming to a close. Yesterday we took a bus from Puerta Plata to Santiago and spent the afternoon getting our hair cut/styled and enjoying a nice meal with friends. What a treat that was. While joking with Tammi (our missionary friend that we are hanging out and staying with) about life in Haiti, it was a reminder of life there. The unpredictableness of everything. The waiting. The poverty. No water or electricity. I was also reminded though, of the reasons why I love being there. The spirit and resilience of our Haitian brothers and sisters. The purpose of the health clinic that I'm attempting to help at. The laughs and tears that are shed there.

I don't feel ready to head back tomorrow. To have my heart broken all over again. It seems I was able to shut that all off for a week and a half while being in the DR. I don't feel ready to be in sensory overload: the smells, the sites, the noises, all the painful realities. Some days it feels difficult to have hope for this country. When you look at life in the DR you hope only that life in Haiti could develop to even a fraction of what they have here. I wish so deeply that there was some easy solution to creating jobs for Haitians. That they could have the choice to work. That they wouldn't have to rely on their children and the education that they are getting to earn an income to help the family. I just wish they had a choice. Do they? Where?

Over the next couple months I will be trying to ensure that the guys working as the accountants will be equipped with the tools that they need. How do you teach someone about accounting, about transparency, about all that's included in making good financial decisions and accountability for an organization, while at the same time attempting to teach them how to use a computer in order to do all that (all in 6 months time)? I feel like there's never an end to this task. They have been learning so much on their own with regards to Excel and Word, but there's just so much to know. And when you haven't grown up with computers, it's all brand new to you. And when you don't have training or experience in the field, it seems to just take a little longer. So, these next few months will interesting. I have no idea how the "wrap-up" will turn out.

I've been brainstorming about what's to come following the end of July. While here in the summer I mentioned in my blog that I had an idea or a dream as to what I would do if I ever came back to Haiti (following August 2009). It seems to still be on my heart quite heavly. I would love to teach people how to use a computer and how to type properlly. The internet and computers are an amazing thing and I so wish that the community of Haut Limbe would be able to have the chance to get to know the rest of the world through the internet (and talk to family for free on Skype, or at least know that it's an option!). So, over the next couple of weeks I hope to have some conversations with a few people about the realities of this task. I would love any ideas or connections that people might have for me regarding this. How would we find and get laptops down here? Are there good programs to teach typing? Is there a foundation that does work like this already in Haiti that we could partner with? Any suggestions or contacts?