"Lessons From Me" (until I think of a new clever title)

Hello everyone.  I know by now most everyone knows that we are okay here in Haiti.  We did feel the earthquake and it lasted a long time.  We have felt several aftershocks since then.  There does not appear to be structural damage to our buildings.  Our children are okay, but they are heartbroken by what has happened to the people in their country.  I have shown them pictures so they are aware of the reality of the situation.  As you know, the worst is in Port-Au-Prince.  We have several staff that have left to go there, trying to find mothers, fathers, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.  A few of them have returned.  One young man that I have known for years came back today letting me know his family is alive, but some of his friends had died.  He said, "Mami Karris, I have never in my life seen anything like that..."  He said he had to step over dead bodies as he walked the streets.  He saw limbs and body par...

Our mission at Danita's Children is to rescue, love, and care for orphans. There was an orphan crisis in Haiti BEFORE the earthquake hit and now the numbers are beyond comprehension. We feel that God is leading us to take in orphans from the earthquake. Danita will be traveling to Port-Au-Prince in the next few days. Our decision to take in these orphans is a long-term commitment, so we need your help and support! Please click on the link below to find out how you can help. http://www.danitaschildren.org/earthquake-relief-effort/ Thank you! Karris Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

First of all, I just realized from looking at my 1st two posts that they were both written at about 2:30 a.m and now this one is no different!  Obviously, my sleeping patterns are a little off schedule.  Not too smart because when 5 a.m rolls around and the kids need to be woken up, I can't think of anything else except café con leche.  Davidson and I left the hospital yesterday!  Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  I am so grateful to God that we were able to get him to a private hospital with good medical care.  I remember listening to Danita's stories of the early days, having to go to public hospitals (which is another story), trying to sleep in metal chairs.  When I first moved to Haiti, I went to those hospitals in the DR on numerous occasions as well.  So, the past couple of days, being in a hospital room with a semi-comfortable couch, has made me grateful to God…once again!  I have learned to come prepared on every ...

Its 2:30 a.m in the morning (Saturday) and I'm in a taxi heading to Santiago with Davidson, one of our 10 year old boys in the orphanage, who has been having major breathing problems this past week due to asthma and bronchospasms (which is a new word I learned this week...I should have listened to my dad when I was little when he wanted to talk to me about medicine). I never wanted to be a doctor or nurse, but the past 7 years has taught me more than I thought I'd ever have to know. I don't want to make this too long, but one of our missionaries, Brittany, was with Davidson in Santiago for almost 3 days in the hospital. They returned to Haiti and it didn't improve much. Brittany and I kept a close watch on him at the girl's house because we had to administer meds and nebulize him when he was having the breathing crisis'. The girl's house is the only house that had a working generator, which gives us electricity. Our other main generator blew up 2 weeks ago (...

(Written Sunday, November 22, 2009) It is 2:30 a.m. here in Haiti and I can hear the roosters crowing from my bedroom window.  The roosters here have no concept of time!  I can’t get to sleep, but it is not the roosters’ fault.  Tonight is my first night back in Haiti after being in the States for 5 weeks, so my time schedule is slightly off.  Wow, I don’t even know where to start, but I will start off by saying that I should have started a blog about 7 years ago, when I first moved to Haiti. The truth is that so much happens in one day that it is difficult to take the time to sit down and write about it.  I am not the type of person that can just sit down and throw something together.  I have to “feel” what I am writing, simply because if I do not, how can I expect someone else to?  So, my dilemma is, “Where do I start from?”   Do I start from when I was little, dreaming of being a missionary one day?   Do I sta...