"Simple stories"-Phat or Fat?

I was married 15 months ago and was at least 10 pounds lighter then. I continued to lose weight for the next six months. HCH Nannies approached my husband in concern, "your wife is losing weight, what is wrong?" (what?#!?)

Last Sunday, I was walking home from church. We have a very large deaf community that goes to our church. Nixon walked behind me along with some of our boys. I passed one house where a young man sat outside. As I was passing, he sang, "I wanna know what love is.." LOL!! Later my husband told me he wanted to sing out, "why don't you ask your mom to s.h..o..w you". LOL!!

As i was nearing our building, I felt someone coming up on my left hand side. It was one of our "deaf" boys from church. He obviously did not say anything but had an "ear to ear" smile. I said hi and then he proceeded to motion, grinning the whole time. He pointed to me, then held out his arms around his belly and puffed out his cheeks. My interpretation, "ou pi gwo". Translation, "you are fatter,.....thumbs up". I politely accepted the compliment(?!) and kept on laughing as he continued to walk ahead. What a different world I live in. I would have been either crushed or would have socked that person if I was back in the States. Here, not quite the same. As I reflect on my struggle to lose weight in a carb enamored country, I can't help but giggle. And yes, I would still love to lose 30 pounds, no matter the compliments I might lose as a result.

Recipe for Haitian Spagetti

Here is the recipe for spagetti, haitian spagetti. Boil 1 pound of spagetti noodles. Be sure to add salt to your water. As they are boiling, mash up 2 or 3 long green onions, with one chicken bouillon cube, as well as 3 garlic cloves. cut up some white onions and set apart. When your spagetti noodles are almost ready, drain it until there is only a little water left and set aside in another bowl. Set the pot on the stove again and add about 4 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, Fry up your sliced hot dogs or any meat of your choice. Then add your spice mixture and simmer on a real low flame. Dont let it burn. Let it float in the oil and simmer without browning. Add about 3 tbsp tomato paste, and let it simmer as you drain your noodles completely into another bowl. Use the noodle water to add to the tomato paste. The tomato paste will turn thick as you continue to stir. Let it simmer and fry up real nice as you move it around. Add your noodles as you continue turning the noodles to get the sauce mixture to evenly coat the noodles. Then let it fry on the bottom to make it crispy, dont turn any more, just let it toast. Let it toast for about 7 minutes on a low flame. Dont cover. Then turn it off. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Top off with some raw slices of onion. Try with a dollup of ketchup(haitian ketchup is better) and a half dollup of mayo, and dont forget the Louisiana hot sauce (hotter here in Haiti). Voila, Haitian spagetti. Enjoy! Modify ingredients to your liking the next time around. Add more chicken bouillon for saltier spagetti or less for less salty, more tomato paste for a deeper red spagetti, add less oil for health consciousness, that kind of thing. :)

Hope

Hello Church,

The life in Haiti is difficult for many reasons. Today I realize the greatest battle that is fought is hopelessness. Life here seems so dim sometimes, the hope for a better future barely visible at all. We had a team last week, from North Carolina. The group was a medical team and saw a total of about 2000 people during the week. The last night of clinics, one of the team members burst into tears. She verbalized her concerns about how she felt they only put a bandaid on the physical problems that people have but really didn't make a difference at all. I could feel the heartfelt sorrow and hopelessness that she felt. We deal with it so much here. I believe that I deal with it sometimes by just not thinking too much about it at all. But does the Lord stop thinking about the person that suffers, hungers, is in despair. Should I just be numb to it, or should I weep and pray,....pouring out my heart before the Lord for these people? The latter is not the easiest but clearly it is right. Even as I write these words, tears stream down my cheeks. We live our lives in comfort, having treats, having outings, being bored as I have been for the last couple of days. And at the same time, so many suffer. It just blows my mind to realize it. I don't understand it. A young woman started to work with us about a month ago. She is the daughter of a woman who has been working with HCH for a long time. Lucette is 27 years old and had 5 beautiful children. Her 9 month old baby died a few months ago in her sleep. My husband said that they say the baby was the most beautiful one. When it was proposed that Lucette start to work for the ministry, cleaning and washing for the team floor, I was thrilled. I knew she had been through a difficult time and that she was poor. I met her and though she could not clean as I liked, I had an incredible patience and love for her. I asked to meet her children. She brought the two girls and later the two boys. They are absoulutely beautiful, I was struck by their good looks. My heart is just so mysteriously fond of this family. Nixon and I send goodies to the children and think of them so much. This morning I asked Lucette if she ate, I had some leftover porridge. She said, "no". I asked if her kids ate and that was a no too. Nixon then proceeded to ask her why this was so if she is getting paid. He reminded her that she was just given additional money a couple of days ago for some wash she had done for a team. "What happened to that?", he asked. She said she had given it to people. What!I walked away and let my husband talk to her, knowing my husband would fill me in on all she said. She lives with her man's mother. Her four children and her and her man live in one room. Her mother in law and her children live in another room. And there is another couple of rooms rented out to others. All of the people know that she is working. Before she was working she would look for work, washing or doing anything she could to help her man provide. He works in construction and works whenever he can find work. But even before she was working, it was the same. There are so many people living together. When the family is not there, people come into the room and look through the families things. They take anything they find whether that is money or food. If the family gives the people nothing, the people around them come with stories that would break your heart or with persistence that cannot be fought, and the family feels there is nothing to do but give the money. As Lucette told her story, she laughs it off. Perhaps if she did not, she would be driven to madness. They are stuck. They have no money, no savings, no room to call their own. The people live off of those that have anything. If she cooks, all bring their bowls and scowl if they are given too little. The children are left with a morsel. The boys came to the house last week and I had given them a muffin. I thought I would just delight their taste buds with a sweet treat. I did not know that they probably had not eaten anything that morning. Just thinking of the injustice makes me so angry and all I can do is cry. How can a person fight against such things? How can this family move forward? What is the solution for Lucette's family? What is the solution for the countless number of families going through similiar situations?How can Nixon and I make a difference, even a dent in such poverty, ignorance, evil? How can our ministries make a difference?I honestly don't know. But I know Him who does know. I know Him. I have walked with Him, I have felt His comfort and seen him do marvelous things. He knows, He sees, He hears. I am struck by the fact that my tears and my compassion are nothing compared to His tears and compassion. I know many heartbreaking families, He knows them all. His heart breaks for every one of them. Most importantly, He has not forgotten them. He will not forget them. Knowing that gives me hope. Through this hope I pray and then move,... in faithfulness to my Master, The LIVING God. I am His servant. We are His servants. Blessed be Your Name Lord, Blessed be Your Holy Name. God bless all of you, Sandra & Nixon Altidor (serving Him in Haiti)

Our life at the Village

I would love to start posting some blogs again, haven't done it in such a long time. Life here in Haiti is busy in a very different way. And in almost 1 year since our marriage, we have gone through a lot of ups and downs. But i must testify to the fact that the Lord has been more than faithful.This was our life at the Village. We spent the first 9 months of our married life together here. Nixon's day consisted of leaving our little two room house at seven or eight in the morning.

He would leave to do his HCH ministry stuff. He would run around all day and depending on how busy his day was, he would come home between two or five.

Then he would catch up on our day and visit with the elderly. We ussually did not have electric till eight so we would sit and sing or just talk to the old folks.

They were nice peaceful nights. The village of hope" was in Cyvadier, in the outskirts of Jacmel. We loved the peace and Quiet at our dear "Village of Hope". We miss it.

My day consisted of waking up at 6am. I would make my hubby a nice breakfast then i would give the elderly their medication as well as sit with Benoz, to lift some songs up to the Lord in prayer. They were special times. Often i would give my elderly women a pedicure or just sit and talk for a while, giving them some TLC. Then it was off to handwash clothes, iron, or clean house apart from try to find time to go somewhere where i could have internet access so I could answer emails and write updates.

Pluses: having peace and quiet and being able to do things at my own pace.

Downside: Was a bit lonely at times. And we were always on call.

We loved our Village home and we continue to love our elderly.

In August of 2008, Hurricane Dean swept through and when we heard the wind dying down, the mountain broke and we found ourselves in the middle of a mudslide as well as a flashflood. The Village of Hope was lost on that day and Nixon and I lost our little home.

With that came a lot of changes. Strangely, those changes turned out to be wonderful ones.

Helping our Community

Everywhere we go in Cyvadier, children call out our names. It would seem that the Lord is preparing us to be able to impact lives for Jesus. The other day one boy came to the Village to ask for Nixon. The little boy explained that he was not being allowed to go to school anymore because he did not have shoes. He showed Nixon his torn shoes and Nixon then shared it with our good friend Michelle who gave the boy shoes. The Lord is opening up all sorts of doors for us to be able to do good in our area and give the Lord all the credit for that.

Lancia is a 15 year old girl in our community. She is the girlfriend of one of our good friends who has gone to the Dominican Republic in search of a good job and steady income. Two months after he left, his mother approached Nixon with a problem, that her son's girlfriend thought she was pregnant. Leann, HCH, gave Nixon a pregnancy test and I did it. Lancia tested positive and has a bad home environment, no money, and no real support. Madam Robert is the mother of our friend Schiller, the baby's father. She really wanted the baby aborted and Nixon convinced her that that was not an option. Danny, Director of HCH, gave us all his support in helping Lancia. Since then, Lancia is now 5 months pregnant and Nixon and I try to find things for her to do and we pay her a little every week. Though our finances are tight, we want to put the "put others ahead of ourselves" into practice. We are grateful that the Lord is giving us opportunities to help those in our community. Blessed be the Lord. May it be for His glory and not our own.

Haiti

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere though it was once called the Pearl of the Carribean. It began as a French colony and thrived in the 18th century due to importation of large members of African slaves. Slaves revolted and declared their independence in 1804. Since then unrest and political turmoil are common to see. It's poverty is striking, 80% live in poverty. The people are plagued by a lack of education, many times due to not having enough money to pay for tuition, uniforms and the books needed to get an education. There isn't enough work and so many families are starving. Yellow hair on children is common to see. The Haitian people very often are involved in voodoo, looking for that chance to escape misery. It seems like one voodoo holiday after another around here. And yet it is an island in the Carribean. The water is beautiful and (where there isn't deforestation) it is lush. The weather is always warm, too warm and humid for me. The people are friendly and curious when it comes to foreigners(blancs). And Haitians are very hardworking, it always surprises me that even though life is so hard for them (having to haul water daily, cook on coals, and handwash) they still smile so much and often sing as they work. There is nothing like Haiti and I know that the Lord Jesus longs for all His Haitian children to come back to Him. This is why my husband and I are serving in Haiti, to reach the Haitian people for Christ.

The Children of Haiti

They are beautiful! They run and play and yet they are accustomed to work as well. Many of them haul water and the girls handwash at an early age. They are better than I am at the handwashing thing. It is also common to see the children taking care of their siblings. They walk miles and miles to get to school. Sadly, many stop going to school at an early age. And sadly, many eat once or no times a day. Hunger is an epidemic in Haiti. Way too many children are malnourished and have yellow hair as well as bloated tumies, ussually filled with worms. They are very beautiful. Michelle, a fellow missionary friend, and I often talk about these Haitian children being the most beautiful children we've ever seen. Nixon and I both love children. They often come to the gate of the Village and yell out "Monsieur Nixon" in hopes that Nixon will give them candy. No matter what happens, they always seem to be smiling. Nixon and I had the opportunity to work with children when we were working with YWAM Jacmel and since then have had the opportunity to teach them English and we are now taking charge of a Junior church program at the church we attend here in Haiti. We are proud to say that we have 50-80 kids on a weekly basis, who are learning more about who God is. We are assisted with our Junior church program by HCH, Directors, Larry, and the children of HCH. We have a lot of fun with the kids, often doing skits, learning choreographies, and doing little presentations for the church who meets downstairs. Originally we started the program because the church had grown so much and the children no longer fit downstairs. You never know what the Lord has in store. Nixon and I will also be starting a children's Bible hour on Saturday mornings and taking advantage of that love that the children have for us so that we can introduce them to One that is SO MUCH GREATER!! AMEN?!