Sew, Sew Good!

July 5, 2015 Posted by Beate Rufft

Beate

So, Thursday night the local Disco blared music (rap) into the wee hours of the night…and Friday night, we were blessed with a church service that also lasted well into the night…just when I got used to the dogs, the roosters, the truck horns!

It was very humid yesterday, but the sewing club continued, and the kids will soon be ready for the big fashion show. It is amazing how well they have taken to this. I so want to thank the ladies for their generous time and energy. What troopers they are, even when they were melting in the devotion room. Today, we are putting some fans on in the room…whew…we should have thought about that earlier.

We spent Friday afternoon pretty low key by resting…

siesta in the afternoon

… or colouring with the kids. They love colouring and everyone was super quiet for at least an hour. I spent some time with Ti Luc as well working on a new blog. We come up with a sentence, and he sounds it out, types it…I teach some spelling and grammar rules and explain to Ti Luc that English is a silly language and if we al wrot it ot foneticly we wud al stil be abel to red it dont u thik?

colouring fun

Ti-Fi and Beate love to colour together

Ti Luc’s Friday blog

Heather and I set up a punching bag style contraption for Ti Luc to practice using his arms. Man does he have a great right hook..watch out! Of course he fell over laughing when it was my turn.

One of the families that we help to support is yet to pick up their box of food (cornmeal and rice), and Karen is worried that something has happened. There is no way for many people to communicate. Only the lucky ones have cell phones (which are about 5 to 10 years behind what we have) , and minutes are purchased by cards or by texting the phone company. I do hope that everything is okay with the family.

NEWS FLASH…you won’t believe this. We popped over to the market this morning and quickly drove through the hospital grounds. Karen sees a young man, and asks him to join us in the truck. Then she explains that he is the one who was getting the box of food. Halleluiah! What a message from above.

Food for Josue

As you know, Ti Luc is a very independent boy; however, he does need help with many things. It may be hard for visitors to jump right in and help because there are certain ways to help Ti Luc (boy oh boy, he let’s you know too … hee hee). I came into the kitchen last night, and saw Heather giving Ti Luc a drink. The first attempt wasn’t too successful, but water does dry fast around here. Ti Luc got Germaine to demonstrate how it’s really done. Then he said “now you do. “ Such a smart cookie he is, and la voila, Heather managed beautifully. Way to go!

Heather learning how to give Ti Luc a drink

This morning we woke up around 6:30 and since it’s Saturday, we don’t have devotions. Germaine made us her famous oatmeal again…YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY…Then we started sorting through the wonderful gifts people blessed HATS with. Karen chooses things for our kids, and the rest is distributed to the community.

sorting the blessings

~Beate

Ronaele

What a day today was! What I thought a would be a simple trip to the market was…A HAITIAN ADVENTURE! White girls at the market…hmm…who would have thought we would be so INTERESTING! The fact that we stuck out is an understatement. I will never again complain when Walmart is crowded, let me tell you!! And the variety of things to see & buy…from cosmetics, soaps, rice, cilantro & spices, fresh veggies…goat, chickens, roosters, pop, more goats…I said to my mom, who is my travel companion on this trip…”we’re not in Kansas (CANADA) anymore!”

looking for our car in the parking lot

two blancs, 3 machetes are we safe

When we got back home we ate & then got to work on the last leg of the sewing projects with the 5 kids. Smiles of pride on their finished projects. Gemima is the natural seamstress…so patient & perfection is her goal…no job is too tedious. Had we more time, she would be taken under mothers’ wing & taught further…she is simply an amazing sewer. At the end, we used scraps of fabric to make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle masks…the little ones were absolutely thrilled with this! Little Jonathan came over to give me a huge hug with his mask on…this was obviously right up his alley. Soon we had 16 ninja’s running around laughing in their game of make believe. This trip has been wonderful. I soon begin a course on Haitian Creole which I hope will allow me to at least get by for my next time in Haiti without someone having to interpret it lol. The sun is setting now in the Haitian sky & the kids are winding down for the day. Tomorrow is sure to bring a whole new set of good times as we spend our last full day with the children before heading back to Canada.

~Ronaele

Heather

Sew, sew good! You can’t imagine the sheer joy on the children’s faces when they finished sewing the legs on their shorts…eyes were wide, and so were the smile! Tomorrow…waistbands!

Under Laree’s guidance, we taught the kids to thread bobbins, as well as the machines. We had been doing it for them when we started, but the children need to be able to sustain the machines and learn to do it for themselves after we’re gone. They are SO focused and eager to learn that it took them no time to “get ‘er done”! But because we are teaching more children than there are machines, they have had to be very patient waiting their turns. That’s when we noticed one of the boys hand sewing on a piece of paper–no pattern–but there were just holes in the paper, and he delicately wove the needle and thread through the lines he made. It wasn’t long before the rest of the children had needle, thread, and paper, and they were sewing their names on their scribblers. Their joy at such simplicity was a little tap on the shoulder that it’s not about the bells and whistles for these children.

Once the machines were away, I had some time to hang out in the yard, but I wasn’t alone for long. Three beautiful little faces came to squish themselves on the green bench beside me. Before I knew it, they turned into a little team of hairdressers braiding my hair. Three tiny twigs broken off the tree beside us turned into combs for separating my hair into pieces. There was much twisting and tugging, but braids eventually made an appearance in my hair, and the girls were so proud of their work.

Then, with 16 kids in tow, we took a walk along the canal outside the orphanage, all the way to the mango tree, which really isn’t that far, but when you have that many children, from 3-13 years, it makes for a pretty significant family outing.

After some tree climbing and rock throwing, 4 year old Sandra in her little green dress, grabbed my hand and wanted to ‘kouri’ (Creole for ‘run’) as fast as we could, which was no easy task for me in this heat. I tried to interest her in stopping to ‘talk’ to the billy goats grazing at the side of the canal, but she would have no part of that, so I ‘kouried’ as fast as I could. I hate to admit that I was counting the hours until I could put my head down and zip up my tent, but there were computer lessons to be done first.

Moise, Djemima, Leica, and J.J. come to the main house every night around 7 for at least an hour to learn computer basics on their laptops. They have made great progress in only 3 evenings of work, but I will never forget the look of pride on Moise’s face and in his voice when he read me the 4 sentences he had written in English. The teacher in me was just as excited for him and very proud of him.

With laptops finally put away and crickets out in full force, it was time to make the trek up the concrete stairs and put another day to bed, and all I can say is it was ‘sew’…’sew’ good! :). One thing we all quickly come to realize, that this glorious place would not ever be possible without Karen’s hard work and dedication. She’s an angel on earth!

what an angel…wait is that halo a bit crooked

~Heather

About Beate Rufft

Beate Rufft, was introduced to Hands Across the Sea and our founder, Karen Huxter in 2010, after seeing the devastation of the earthquake and wanting to volunteer in the country. An elementary school teacher in Ontario, Beate has previously worked with homeless children in Columbia and orphans in El Salvador. Beate is currently serving as Board Secretary and travels to Haiti each year. She is a proud to support the vital work that HATS does for the children and families in the community of Deschapelles.

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Testimonials

It’s going to be impossible to put my thoughts into words about this experience, so I’d say this – if you can get here – do. I think most people probably think they’re coming to help others. To some extent, that’s true (at least this temporary blogger thought so). To a larger extent, you’ll leave Haiti a better person than when you arrived. Nelson Mandela once said something like “Everywhere I go, I wear you”. It means that none of us is our own person entirely. Rather, we’re the culmination of the people and experiences we have had. I leave Haiti wearing 16 HATS children, 10(ish) Haitian staff members, a Calgarian, 2 Winnipegian’s, and a Newfie. And I couldn’t be happier about it. Until we meet again my friends.

Rick
HATS Visitor
One thing that has impacted me on this trip is seeing the children and all the dedication in this orphanage. There is so much going on behind the scenes to keep the HATS orphanage and school running.

Donna Wheeler
HATS Visitor
After years of thinking about it and months of planning for it, it seems strange that our time in Haiti is over. We have been asked by a few if it was like we expected. Well, no. I’m not sure what we expected, but our minds could not have fathomed what we have experienced, and we can hardly believe that our 3 month stay has come to an end. HATS really became home away from home for us. We knew we would enjoy getting to know and spending time with the kids but we had no idea how difficult it would be to leave them. They sneak in and steal your heart without you even knowing it. We have left a piece of our hearts in Haiti and can’t wait for the day when we can return.

Mike & Nicki White
HATS Visitors
I spent a week in Haiti at HATS in November 2017 and it was a wonderful experience. Karen is an amazing woman and is doing amazing work. She is dedicated to the children in her care and is changing lives. I would love the opportunity to visit again and help out where I can.

Sandy Eastly
HATS Visitor
Culture shock for this Canadian team at first, but a ride through busy, vibrant streets proved terrifically interesting; busy markets, vendors selling exotic fruits, clothing and shoes, used tires and rusty metal… and then the gorgeous countryside: banana plants, mangoes, cows and goats and pigs and dogs, the Golfe de La Gonave by our side. Rice patties indicated we were close to our home for the next week. We were greeted by Magalie, a house mother, with hugs for all and, of course, the children themselves, so gorgeous and endearing. A beautiful meal was followed by a sharing of impressions: there is a lot of poverty but so much potential and hope. We are already in love with Haiti.

Team Canada
HATS Visitors
I am going to try to explain why a trip to Haiti is life-changing. No-one can be thrown into a group of people who have the common purpose of doing something for someone less fortunate and not be changed in many ways. As with those I joined in each of the first four trips I made to HATS, my respect and affection for each of the team members grows daily. To those who wonder if your donations and prayers are actually making a difference, I will answer you in this way…there are about 300 children in front of me right now and some or many of them God will use in a great way to change the future face of Haiti and its people. YOU have helped make that possible — AND THAT, FOLKS — is a fact!

Brian En
HATS Visitor
Personally, this is my first time here. I’ve never done a mission trip of any sort before and I’ve certainly never been anywhere this hot before. I keep seeing things that are different from what I’m used to, and hearing about things even more unfamiliar to me. One of the most surprising things to meis how quickly I’ve grown to love all the people here. Everyone here is great, and the team is wonderful too. Watching everyone support each other warms my heart almost as much as the sun warms my skin. I’ve learned a lot from this experience, and I know that this trip has already had a profound impact on my life.

Matthew Sketchley
HATS Visitor
We have so enjoyed our time here. The work we have done has been fulfilling, the fellowship has been memorable and our hearts are forever impacted by the sweet, sweet children. A piece of HATS will always stay with each of us and who knows, maybe a few will return!

Ashley Withrow, Nicki White & Deborah Gilbert
HATS Visitors
I have learned much about Haiti in my short stay here, much about generational, entrenched poverty, and much about hope. We can only be part of the bringing of hope if we become one small actor on the huge stage that is poverty. Thank you, Lynn Clark, for inviting me to share this life changing experience with you, and thank-you, Karen Huxter, for investing so much of your life in a work designed to bring hope to those who need it more than any Canadian could ever imagine.

Linda
HATS Visitor
The time has passed so quickly. We know what we’ve done this week is important and makes a difference here at Hands Across the Sea. But it’s easy in Haiti to feel that anything we do here is simply a drop in the ocean. So much need on so many different levels: political, organizational, educational, social, spiritual…But we remind ourselves that each individual life is of infinite value so changing the life of one child and one family is worth the effort.

Liette Wilson
HATS Visitor, Supporter & Board Member