What day is it again?
2008-04-01, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

This morning there was a bit of commotion as a small group prepared to leave in front of the house. I was up already so I stepped out onto my balcony to say good morning. As I waved them goodbye my fr...

They're here!
2008-03-31, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

The kids have arrived and their lives will never be the same. Never again will they worry about where their next meal will come from. Never again will they be neglected and alone. Never again wi...

Gardens!
2008-03-20, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

It’s 6:11 in the morning and I am wide awake. How can that be possible? Well when you go to bed every night at 9:30 waking up at 6:00 means you’ve had a good eight and a half hours of sleep! The k...

Broken
2008-03-30, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

I am not easily broken, but every once in a while my heart slips, falls and shatters into a million pieces. This morning I held a four year old child who was nothing more than skin and bones. Bare...

Chickpea Curry
2008-04-01, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Chickpea Curry 2 onions 4 cloves of garlic 1 tablespoon of oil 1 teaspoon chilli powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon tumeric 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon cumin 1 tablespoon of ground corrian...

Merry almost Christmas
2007-12-12, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Greetings friends, The Christmas season is upon us once again. There is something about Christmas that just makes my heart feel all warm and gushy. It is something about the smells and the songs, ...

All I want for Christmas is a little HELP!
2007-11-22, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

As scary as this sounds Christmas is just around the corner. Somehow it still feels like summer to me. The year round sunshine and constant heat might have something to do with that, but I’m not tryin...

Things I have only experienced in Haiti.
2007-11-22, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Things I have only experienced in Haiti. An extremely large insect can land on my space bar and I will simply flick it off without flinching. A trip to the grocery store literally can take the...

A thing called life.
2007-11-14, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

There are certain things that, no matter what is going on, will light me up from the inside out. Do you ever feel so completely content you feel like your floating? Like you’re sitting on top of the w...

Flash Flooding
2007-10-14, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Hurricanes. Mud slides. Tornadoes. Earth quakes. Flash Flooding. Natural Disasters. We’ve all heard of them before but I have never seen a natural disaster first hand. Until now. Thursday ni...

The haitian countdown
2007-10-14, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

2445 - Sponsorship pictures taken 98 - Degrees 80 - Boxes of emergency relief food handed out 11 – Dead mice 6 - Suitcases still needing to be emptied in the Depot 4 - New bulletin boards in Hop...

You never know...
2007-09-27, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

You never know what tomorrow will bring. I might be: - shaving heads at the Hope House. - pulling a piece of wood out from between a child’s teeth. - finding strange small cat sized orange sl...

You never know
2007-09-11, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

You never know what tomorrow will bring. I might be: - shaving heads at the Hope House. - pulling a piece of wood out from between a child’s teeth. - finding strange small cat sized orange sl...

Bouncing around
2007-09-11, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Our first trip was so much fun! Ed came and picked us up with his truck, the one the Canadian team painted last year. The kids were pretty excited when they saw that one side of the truck has two l...

My first week...wow!
2007-09-04, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Wow, it’s amazing to think that I have not even been back a full week! So much has happened already. It has been a truly amazing week. With the help of a few of the older girls in the Hope House we...

My big welcome back!
2007-08-29, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Wow, what an amazing welcome home. When we pulled up to the gate Welby was peeking through and saw me coming. He quickly shouted out “Rachelle is here.” I so wish I had a video camera so I could have ...

My welcome home!
2007-08-29, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Wow, what an amazing welcome home. When we pulled up to the gate Welby was peeking through and saw me coming. He quickly shouted out “Rachelle is here” I so wish I had a video camera so I could have c...

sweet deliciousness
2007-06-11, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Fruit. I love fruit. This seems to be the season of giving fruit and I love every minute of it. In the past four days I have been given: a pineapple, two watermelons, five mangoes and three cocon...

Swimming and eating
2007-06-03, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Yesterday we had so much fun! As an end of the year trip we’re taking all the kids in the Hope House to Kaliko Beach for the day. We took all the girls yesterday and will be taking the boys next week....

Explosive showers and sand paper.
2007-05-22, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Greetings friends! I just had what I will lovingly call an explosive shower. I’m not entirely sure how an explosive shower comes to be, but my blond female understanding of it goes like this; (This...

Form Coca
2007-05-14, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Greetings friends, sorry for the late email. I was uber tired last night and knew that writing an email with my brain half asleep would not be a pretty thing! Here we go.... Saturday, Elisha and I ...

Cultural Lesson #1 - The Cell Phone
2007-05-07, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Cultural Lesson disclaimer: Please note that the following email is based solely on opinion and my own personal observation. It should by no means been taken as the whole truth. Cultural Lesson...

The Best Recess Ever
2007-04-30, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

The Best Recess Ever At recess today I was standing in my kitchen getting a glass of water when three screaming/giggling kids came running to my door. It was obvious that something was up. When I ...

Tarantula Hunting
2007-04-29, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

I just got back from tarantula hunting with the Hope House kids. I’ve seen the kids in action before from afar. Today I thought I would see what it’s all about, and to be honest it was the most fun I’...

Mud and funk
2007-04-22, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Well it’s been a wild week. Christopher finally let me pick him up! I wouldn’t say that he necessarily likes me yet, but the fact that I could pick him up is huge! He was running and screaming if I ma...

Pizza and Peanuts
2007-04-15, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Today was a really good day. Worship was awesome at church. They sang lots of familiar songs and a few I have learned since I’ve been here. They don’t have power point anymore for some reason so it’s ...

Happy Easter!
2007-04-09, Titanyen, Haiti. By: Rachelle

Happy Easter! I hope you all have been having a wonderful Easter! As I was walking down the hill on Saturday I thought about Easter and all the things I normally do at Easter. I thought of the...

Curried Carrot Soup
2007-04-02, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

CURRIED CARROT SOUP 1 onion (chopped) 1clove garlic (minced) 2 stalks celery (chopped; optional) In large soup pot saute in 2 T. olive oil until soft 2 lb carrots or sweet potatoes 6 c. ve...

Pumpkin Soup
2007-04-02, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

PUMPKIN SOUP 2 T. butter 1/2 c chopped onion 4 c. chicken stock 1/4 t. ground ginger 1/4 t. ground nutmeg 3 c. cooked pumpkin Melt butter and saute onion for 5 minutes. Add stock, spices...

One Minute Update - Feb 21
2007-02-21, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Visitors from the home land. Happiness. Newly painted apartment. Laughing and crying. Visitors return to the home land. Walk through village. Eat sugar cane. Sticky hands. Meet children at th...

Crazy horses and Jolibris!
2007-02-19, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Today is a good day, a great day, a fantastic day! This morning I was up in the classroom with Junior and Georgie writing journals when I heard a familiar voice down in the courtyard. The kids and I w...

Hello friends!!
2007-02-08, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

Greetings friends and family. It’s been a while since I wrote (surprise! surprise!) I’m trying to get better I promise. Life is good. I know I always say that, but it really is. I recently had the...

Adaptability
2007-01-21, Titanyen, Haiti. By: rachelle

It’s intriguing how adaptable man really is once he makes the choice. Time. Climate. Lifestyle. Food. Entertainment. Music. Language. Personal space. Freedoms. Peace. Violence. ...

One minute update
2007-01-15, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

Surprise! Went home for Christmas. Had a great time visiting friends and family. Went to the movies. Three times. Was very cold. Came back to a group of dancing and laughing children. Was nice ...

Death to all cockroaches!
2006-12-06, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

It’s funny how Haiti is beginning to feel more and more like home everyday. I sometimes worry how I’m going to feel when I’m back in Canada. Will I ever feel like I fit in again? I don’t know. I j...

November update
2006-11-26, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

I heard a song this morning that made me stop in my tracks. I had hear the song a million times before, I was even singing along, but something about it hit me today and made me stop and think. The l...

MMmmMm Lemon Sqaures
2006-11-17, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

LEMON SQUARES Base: 2 c. flour                                1/2  c. icing sugar sifted 3/4 c. butter, sofftened Combine flour and icing sugar.  Cut in butter and mix until it's crumbly.  Press i...

My famous Chili Rolls
2006-11-17, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

CHILI ROLLS 12 oz. cream cheese              2 T. mayonnaise 4 oz. canned chillies               1/4 t. onion powder 1/4 t. celery salt                     3 T. finely chopped green onion 6 tortil...

Hot Cabbage Slaw
2006-11-17, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

HOT CABBAGE SLAW 1T butter               1 onion slice 4 leaves of cabbage shredded Fry these until the cabbage is crisply soft, 15-20 minutes.  Then make a dressing of the following: 1 t. sugar  ...

Back online!
2006-11-14, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

I’ve very excited that the internet is back, and working better than ever! It was almost two weeks without internet....I was missing it! Things are going really good. Classes are running well, the ...

October Update (a little late)
2006-11-14, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

Friday, October 13th was a big day here at the Mission. At 7:00 am Rachelle Senat was born on our front porch. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. Rachelle’s parents Claudel and Charlemene ...

Why I'm the worst vegetarian...
2006-11-05, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

I am officially the worst vegetarian on the Hispaniola Island! Let me count the ways... 1. I have tasted soup that had meat chunks in it. 2. All rice and beans (a staple) are made with chicken bro...

In need of a better filter!
2006-11-03, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

I hate when you say something and immediately wish you could take it back. It wasn’t anything bad, it just makes me feel stupid and I know I’m going to end up spending the next 3 days wishing I could ...

Baby on the doorstep!
2006-11-03, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

To my dear faithful friends, Friday, October 13th was a big day here at the Mission. At 7:00 am Rachelle Senat was born on our front porch. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. Rachelle...

Mangoes....MmmMm
2006-09-16, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: rachelle

Greetings friends! So far today I’ve played volleyball with the Hope House kids, had two pictures drawn for me, played Go Fish with Georgie, ate popsicles with the kids in my building, took some p...

August 25th 2006 request update!
2006-09-13, Ti Tanyin, Haiti. By: Rachelle

Praise God! Well I’ve been here for over 3 weeks now and feel totally at home. I’m still struggling with the language but am learning more everyday. It’s hot, but I’m really starting to adjust (I ...