Easter Weekend

We had a full Easter weekend. We started off by having an Easter celebration at the children's home Saturday morning. First we did a cross craft then an egg hunt in the yard (with candy and coins inside). Next I taught an Easter lesson using the resurrection eggs, the kids really enjoyed them. Last, we showed the Jesus film for children. We were planning on showing it on the projector but when Jake open the projector up he realized the cords weren't there. So 30 of us gathered around the laptop but it was actually fine. We made a bunch of popcorn, roasted peanuts, and juice, so it was a lot of fun. It's wonderful to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with these precious children.

Then I headed to church for worship practice. We decided that Easter Sunday would be a celebration service, with mostly praise and worship with a short exultation at the end. I stayed at practice for three hours and finally headed home before we even started singing (3 hours of praying, choosing songs, writing them down, phew!). 

Sunday service was really special, the praise and worship was great and really uplifting. It is amazing just to be in the presence of God. My fingers were aching by the end and I broke a string, but a really awesome time. Jake gave a short exaltation and did a fantastic job at preaching the gospel. He certainly didn't mince his words. Praise the Lord, one lady came forward for salvation and many come up for prayer. It was a wonderful service. Then we headed out with our good friends, the Dibbits for pizza. Not very traditional I know, but a special treat for us. 

Making cross murals

beautiful Dorcus

Kingsley's cross

And the hunt begins...

Searching...

With their eggs

Sakina won some chocolate

Watching the Jesus Film

Our little Jordan all ready for church (I know, the purple shoes don't match but she doesn't have any black patent leather ones :-)

Our boys (a rare occurrence for them all to be so clean!)

Jordan and her buddy Miracle

Our kiddos before service

Sandrine update

Praise the Lord, Sandrine will be back home tomorrow (and Pa of course)!! It's been just over fours weeks that Sandrine has been at the hospital and she's done incredibly well. Her legs have already started to straighten and she's gained a couple of inches in height because of it. I know the rest of the children at HHCH will be so happy to see her.


I did go and spend the weekend with Sandrine a couple of weeks back. She has a tiny little room with one single bed. I managed to set up the pack 'n play for Jordan so it was just Sandrine and I in the bed. It felt a bit like being in the village with pit toilets, authentic African food, and everyone being super friendly and not even bother to knock when they come into your room. My whole evening was full of visitors, chatting with those also staying at the hospital. One person had come from the extreme north just to be there and another from the capital city, Douala. It is amazing to think this place is only 30 minutes away from us. On Sunday, Sandrine and I just hung out, playing games, reading books, and going for walks. It was so nice to have some one on one time with her. I didn't see Jordan much as she just got taken away by everybody. 


Some things did make my stomach turn though... it is also a home for mentally disabled children. I guess the families pay for them to be there and find a caretaker. A couple of young boys were close to our room, the caretakers were less than compassionate, even whacking them across the face when they wouldn't eat. At one point I went and tried to rub one of the boy's hair and he cowered away from me, so sad! I did get them to smile at me after a while. I know they are probably the fortunate ones to have a family that actually pays for them to have someone to look after them and not just left in a hut somewhere but it still was very hard to see. I also saw mothers making their children (with braces on) walk by hitting them with switches... arrrh it is so hard not to interfere in such cases. I know the mothers have the child's best interests at heart but it is hard to see the kids so upset. 


On a happier note, Jordan is now walking... her clothes are staying a lot cleaner! We are also 7 weeks away from being done with the school. It has been a great home schooling year, 3rd and 5th grade next year... yikes!

Stormy weather

Last night we had a major storm, it felt like we were in a hurricane for a few minutes. This often happens at the start of rainy season. It made us realize that we need to get our roof patched in a few places! Also my favorite pear tree snapped in half :(... we have 4 others but this one has the best tasting "pear" ever. Thankfully the bough fell away from the chicken coop and only knocked down a little bit of their fence. So the boys and I spend the afternoon chopping up the wood (for firewood) and collecting all the avocados. I think the tree will continue to grow, yay! Looks like we will be eating pear nonstop for the next couple of weeks. The children's home will get a bunch plus neighbours. I'm still trying to figure out if it's possible to can guacamole... any suggestions?

Car wash

Well you know what they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I should feel very flattered right now. A car wash in town just put up some new signs and they seem very similar to those of Helping Hands Car Wash that Jake runs (all profits go to the Children's Home)

 Here is the one that Jake designed and I painted

And another one that Jake got made here...

And then here is the ones that the other car wash just put up...

They even stole our motto! Oh well, it must mean that we are doing a good job if they want to copy us so bad, right ?

Rabbit Farm

HHCH was blessed with some extra money from a church in the States to start up a rabbit farm. This will add some extra protein into the diet of our children. Hopefully it will also add some more monies to their food budget through sales. Jake grew up raising and even showing rabbits (he won $300 for a rabbit once!) so he is really enjoying designing and making their cages. I must admit the rabbits look too cute to eat but the kids don't think so :D. 

 Norbert, Jake, and Tim hard at work

 Cages with nesting boxes

We bought our rabbits from a Catholic farm where they raise rabbits, pigs, chickens etc. plus teach people about raising them. They have an amazing setup.

 We have one more of these cages made now plus a few more rabbits. They are currently in the garage but will be moved outside once a lean-to has been built.

Four bunnies already! The mother rabbit pulls her fur out to make a nest. They are so cute!

Delanee Scone

So I have mentioned Delanee Scone, an intern that has been staying with us for the last couple of months. She is from Satalite Beach, FL. She has a blog going too, check it out, it might be nice to see what is going on over here from another person perspective:


http://ready2impact.blogspot.com/


Lanee only has two weeks left here, I should have put this up sooner!

Front Wall Project

This month the front wall of the new Helping Hands Children's Home location has had a face lift. Delanee (our intern) has been busy painting and putting the logo up on one section. She has also put a scripture with a mural on another. On Saturday we spent the morning with the kids, getting them to put their hand prints all around the logo. The kids had a blast and it looks fantastic. No one will be able to miss the orphanage now!

What it looked like when we moved in

After a layer of plaster and a lick of paint

Delanee hard at work

Just about done

And the fun begins...

Marvelous (in his Sponge Bob PJ's no less)!

 Derek, Kingsley, Marvelous, and Noel

Getting their hands painted

We went through a lot of paint thinner

Jake was our step ladder

Our little Dorcas

Just about finished

Sandrine and other news

Wow, it has been well over a month since I blogged last, where does the time go? So much has been going on, hmm, where to start? Well, we do have an intern staying with us, Delanee Scone, who will be here a total of 8 weeks. It is so nice having an extra pair of hands around and she has done some awesome artwork at the orphanage. All the kids love her and we will be sad to see her go home in a couple of weeks. We have also got a rabbit farm up and running at HHCH, plus a chicken coop built. The rains have come and the farm has been turned and ready for planting next week.  I will post pictures of all this soon.

Much has been going on in the life of Sandrine too, she went for a consultation at a hospital that specializes in crooked limbs (only a 30 minute drive, amazing!). The doctors said her problem isn't serious and that her legs should straighten out just fine. They measured her for braces and then we took her back there last week. She will be at the hospital for about a month as she learns to walk with braces and has physical therapy every day. Pa is staying with her. The biggest issue was her fear of the hospital and doctors as it wasn't too pleasant for her last time when they dug 60 parasites out of her hands and feet.

We went to visit them yesterday, Sandrine ran out to meet us, she was so happy. We took Ma plus Bena and Dorcus, our two youngest, as Sandrine requested they come and visit her. She was so excited to see them and it was great to see her all smiles. It was a big relief to see her not upset or sad about being there. She had just got her braces that day, and is starting to wear them a few hours each day. Eventually she will be wearing them all day long. It is already pushing her foot forward which is great, but you can tell it is a lot of pressure for her. She can't walk independently with them yet but it won't be long. She does her exercises everyday with lots of other children that are in the same situation. Pa is doing great job of looking after her. I was hoping to take over next weekend to give him a little break but since I'm still nursing Jordan, I don't think it will be possible. I would have to do all the exercises with Sandrine which would be hard with a 9 month around. Pa said it's not a problem but hopefully we will get to give him a bit of a break somehow. Please keep Sandrine in your prayers, that her legs will straighten the way they are meant too and that the process won't be too painful for her. Once she can walk well in the braces she will come home. She could wear the braces for up to one year. 

Inside their hospital room

Sandrine showing us her new braces and shoes (she is very excited about them)

My handsome boy

And Jordan chewing on the new braces...

Happy Sandrine

With her braces on, still big smiles! It's amazing to think how far she has come in such a short time.

Our wonderful Ma and Pa

Bena, Sandrine, and Dorcus (best buddies)