night shift

i have just written a long post on my facebook site but cannot transfer it over for some reason..computers are not my speciality..and definitely not at 230am!

Night shift is going well, cool breeze flapping the tarps but no rain which is nice...needing to help the mom's with breastfeeding, not an all too familiar area for me..especially trying to provide direction in creole..but we are getting there! most of the mom's here do not like to breastfeed as Nestle came in a number of years ago (seeing a large baby market) and convinced the women of Haiti (and many other developing countries) that formula was better..for them maybe but not for the poor women and babies here. Formula is expensive (families don't have a lot of expendable income for stuff like that), needs to be mixed with clean water (not always available and also expensive) and is not as good for the babies as breast milk so we are all on the breastfeeding only kick here which is great and has required me to bone up on old, long forgotten knowledge...

I find the night shift interesting also because although our little clinic is winding down there always seems to be more people then the night before, some man who is on crutches and missed his bus so is staying the night, the pastors daughter who has been here for weeks but no longer needs to be here along with multiple family members and staff of the orphanage that still work here..there are cots and mattresses strewn everywhere you look and step..it's neat, kinda like one big perpetual sleepover with a bunch of people thrown together by circumstance...oh and don't forget the 2 dogs and 2 security guys...

I was able to go to the women's center today and look at the purses. They are well-made originals and are not expensive at all. They are made by some of the women at the women's center and the women that make them have to pass a course prior to making them for quality control standards. The women use old Singer sewing machines and I will post pictures of them when I get back to the house. Its a great program that provides these women with income combined with training. The women receive I believe 30% of the profits directly and the rest go into materials and other areas of programming at the center. In North America we can have "purse parties" which I plan on having when I return so all of you guys who have had me attend your parties in the past get ready (yes you know who you are my Optionelle/pampered chef/norwex friends to name a few!)

Must head out and do a round...its neat to walk amongst the sleeping people..they are literally sleeping out in the open (most still won't sleep inside for fear of another quake)...It makes me appreciative of the fact that I have a roof over my head and a place to call home...sure could use a warm shower right about now... :)

goodnight everyone, thanks for listening

lise