Greetings from Karen and Ti Luc (or Luc as he is starting to want to be called.) He says he is no longer ‘ti’ (small) and so Luc or Luckner suits him better. It will take this mama some time to say his name regularly without the ‘ti’.
Haiti – Canada. We, Karen and Luc, have a love relationship with both countries. Our heartstrings are tied to both. When we leave one for the other we prepare for the vast differences in culture, and the people who await us on the other end. When we are in one or the other we accept and fit in that culture, and love spending time with those who await our arrival. When we have to leave one country for another we are sad to leave ‘home’. When we land in the other, of our two countries, we are always delighted to be returning ‘home’. Our two countries, Haiti and Canada, all that they entail, and all the wonderful people, are extremely special to us.
While in Canada right now Luc is receiving both Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy. He wants so badly to be able to speak clearly and to be able to take care of his personal needs, including feeding himself. While working on getting his arms to listen to his brain he decided to feed himself another way.
When hungry find a way to feed thyself
Last month, before leaving Haiti for Canada, we had a fairly heavy rain. Our trusty Canadian fellow worker, in true Keith style, arrived for dinner in a new type of rain hat. You just gotta love having him around.
Keif sporting the newest in rain hats
Also at that time exams were being written at our HATS school, IMKH. All the HATS kids were to do review and study up for the exams. Our Moise needs a lot more than encouragement to keep him sitting down with his book to start studying. Up and down off the chair, squirming, and looking around at everything was more his style. Our Keith stepped in to keep Moise on the chair.
Moise needed to be taped to the chair to study
Taping to the chair was not enough
Joan and Keith left for Canada the same day we did. The plan is for them to return to HATS in October. A huge thank you to them both for their commitment and work in helping keep things going onsite at the mission. Having Keif’s humour there makes our work loads easier to face. Thank you Keith. Having Joan there as teacher for Luc makes a big difference in his schooling and in how well he learns and understands. Thank you Joan.
While here in Canada Ti Luc is attending a recreational gymnastics class. He has our own Mariah as his personal coach and our Josiah as a helper so he is enjoying trying out new things.
Mariah introducing Ti Luc to the balance beam
Having fun with Jos at class
Luc loves to jump in the pit
Last week Luc’s other big sister, Dana, made arrangements for us, between his therapy appointments, to visit them in Kelowna. It was a fun and relaxing five days with her, Jared, Ronel and Alexa. Ti Luc was delighted to have time with the family, which included dogs and cats that he dearly loves.
Happy to see Ronel again
Ok, let’s go Jared
Bonfire with Jared, Ronel and Josiah
Guess who was the winner in the game of fishing with our feet
We will be travelling back and forth from one of our beloved countries to the other often during the next few months, as the other children at HATS need time with their mama too. ‘HATS is all about the children’ and returning to spend time with them is extremely important. We will blog from both Haiti and from Canada to try and keep you up-to-date somewhat.
Thank you everyone for all your past and ongoing support, including prayer and encouragement, for the children living at HATS, and all those attending the HATS school. What is done through the HATS mission is possible only through you – our supporters in Canada and the USA.
May God bless each and every one of you.
~Karen
