Sunday, August 5, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
TROPICAL STORMS - ERNESTO, FLORENCE
TROPICAL STORM FLORENCE JOINS ERNESTO IN ATLANTIC
(MSNBC) -
Jamaica on alert as forecast calls for Ernesto becoming hurricane
After a lull in the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Florence formed
on Saturday, joining Ernesto as both moved west on paths that could eventually take them to the U.S. coast.
Florence has sustained winds up to 45 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported.
It was still in the deep Atlantic, but on a path towards the Caribbean.
Ernesto was packing sustained winds of 50 mph and should pass south of Jamaica on Sunday, the center stated. "Ernesto is forecast to become a hurricane ... in a day or two," it added.
After Jamaica, which issued a tropical storm warning, Ernesto will likely head toward Grand Cayman, arriving Monday, and then Cancun/Cozumel in Mexico on Wednesday, weather.com reported.
Weather.com added it was "unclear whether Ernesto poses a threat to the U.S. late next week."
On Friday, the storm swept over the tiny island of St. Lucia.
Businesses and government offices were ordered closed until noon on St. Lucia as Ernesto passed over the island, churning up 12-foot waves a few miles off its north shore.
It moved so quickly that St. Lucia got less than an inch of rain and there were no reports of damage or injuries.
August and September are usually the most active months of the Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.
Prior to Ernesto forming on Thursday, the last Atlantic tropical storm was Debby more than a month ago. It drenched Florida and eight deaths were tied to the storm.
U.S. government forecasters in May predicted a "normal" 2012 season, saying 9-15 named storms could be expected. Between 4-8 of those were predicted to become hurricanes.
(MSNBC) -
Jamaica on alert as forecast calls for Ernesto becoming hurricane
After a lull in the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Florence formed
on Saturday, joining Ernesto as both moved west on paths that could eventually take them to the U.S. coast.
Florence has sustained winds up to 45 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported.
It was still in the deep Atlantic, but on a path towards the Caribbean.
Ernesto was packing sustained winds of 50 mph and should pass south of Jamaica on Sunday, the center stated. "Ernesto is forecast to become a hurricane ... in a day or two," it added.
After Jamaica, which issued a tropical storm warning, Ernesto will likely head toward Grand Cayman, arriving Monday, and then Cancun/Cozumel in Mexico on Wednesday, weather.com reported.
Weather.com added it was "unclear whether Ernesto poses a threat to the U.S. late next week."
On Friday, the storm swept over the tiny island of St. Lucia.
Businesses and government offices were ordered closed until noon on St. Lucia as Ernesto passed over the island, churning up 12-foot waves a few miles off its north shore.
It moved so quickly that St. Lucia got less than an inch of rain and there were no reports of damage or injuries.
August and September are usually the most active months of the Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.
Prior to Ernesto forming on Thursday, the last Atlantic tropical storm was Debby more than a month ago. It drenched Florida and eight deaths were tied to the storm.
U.S. government forecasters in May predicted a "normal" 2012 season, saying 9-15 named storms could be expected. Between 4-8 of those were predicted to become hurricanes.
Haiti Update - August 4, 2012
“Receive my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.” (Proverbs 8:10,11)
Hi! We received some great news this week. Wednesday the Ministry of Education announced the results of the state exams for the students who are in 6eme AF. 6eme AF is the last level of schooling for elementary students. Passing these exams allows the student to proceed to secondary school. We had 8 students participating and all 8 passed. The special part of it is that these students were all 5eme AF students at the beginning of the school year and they completed 2 years of education here at Coram Deo in one year. Yvens Cherisier is a 5eme AF student at Adoration Christian School and studied here at Coram Deo to for the 6eme AF state exams and he passed. He now will be skipping Grade 6 at Adoration and enrolling in 7eme AF at their school. Manu is in Grade 6 at Christian Light School and he wrote the exams too. He passed as well. That makes 10 for 10 and a 100% pass rate! Across the nation 255,540 students participated in these exams and 72.39% passed. It is great to have a school program that is about the national average and you can’t get better than 100% :) Everyone here was happy with the results and we are going to hold a celebration meal here for everyone! Josue Marcelin and Jn. Eddy Alexandre not only helped these students during the regular school hours but gave of their spare time to help these students study and prepare them for the state exams. The parents did their part by making sure that their children did their homework and studied at home. Praise the Lord for this special moment!
The first day of classes for the new school year will be September 3rd. The government will once again be subsidizing some of the textbooks used by the students and we will be eligible to buy some of them at subsidized rates through Henri Deschamps. Next week we will also determine what books need to be purchased. Pray for funding for this year. It was a tight year last year but we made it through alright. We try to make the textbooks last for at least 3 years. Before handing them out to the students we tape the soft-cover corners and sides and then make plastic covers. Our students and sponsor students were given the books at the beginning of the year and all the books that were handed back at the end of the year were in good condition, ready to be used for another year!
The Mission of Tears/Coram Deo committee has been busy for the last couple of months preparing to hold a golf tournament fundraiser for our work here in Haiti. If anyone would like to do some golfing and support Coram Deo at the same time please contact Tim Bos. I give the Lord thanks for a supportive committee who strives to help our work here in Haiti. Pray for all the preparation work that is being done to host this golf tournament.
The beginning of the week were holiday days here in Haiti. Carnival des Fleurs was held here in Port-au-Prince. Tens of thousands of people attended the festivities. 8 people died, 350 were injured and 38 people arrested during the festivities. 5,000 policemen provided security during the carnival days. The first Carnival des Fleurs was held in 1916 and the last one was held in 1973.The government will now make the Carnival des Fleurs an annual event to be held in the last weekend of July.
This coming week will be a busy one. A team of 60 people coming from the states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas and Washington will be in Haiti to do mission work. It is always great to see people come to Haiti to give of their time and skills in the love of Christ. The Haitian people appreciate this assistance. On August 7th and 8th there will be a chiropractor clinic and also teeth cleaning here at Coram Deo. Health education seminars will be held for our teachers and other interested people in the community. A few of our Coram Deo people will be helping as translators during the busy week of activities the team will have at the various mission locations. Pray for all the arrangements the team is making and that everyone will stay safe and healthy. Pray for all those who will be helped. We will be going through the neighbourhood to announce the clinics.
Recently we have experienced some of the effects of crime in our neighbourhood. On Friday Manu was walking with a friend near the market area of Cite Aux Cayes when he saw a man running down the street. A policeman too was running trying to catch him. The policeman was shooting in the air and people ran for cover. Manu ran into a corridor area.
A couple of weeks ago a thief entered into a garage in our neighbourhood and was removing the signal lights from vehicles. Before entering into the yard he poisoned the 2 guard dogs. Someone in the neighbourhood heard the noisy thief and a police patrol came to investigate. The thief ran from the police. He was pursued down our street and the police shot at him. This event occurred around 3:00am. The thief died on the street 2 houses down from ours. In the morning the people here at Coram Deo went to the site. The man had been shot in the back. The owner of the garage was angry to find that his 2 guard dogs were killed. He came with his vehicle and drove over the dead thief lying on the road. Then he turned his vehicle around and did the same thing again. In Haiti thieves are not respected. The body was finally removed around 11:00am. The police have a difficult job. On Tuesday in the Martissant area an armed gang set up an ambush and attacked a police patrol seriously wounding two police officers. Several policemen have been killed this year. Pray for the police as they attempt to provide security here in Port-au-Prince and also for the people here as they go about their everyday activities.
To end this update on a happy note, Aflac and her ducklings are growing. It is so fun to watch these baby ducks. Aflac will bring them into my room and quack to get my attention. They then gobble up the food that I give them. As I was writing this update Pachico came into the room and asked me to look. He had a pigeon perched on his shoulder. It looks like our animal population here at Coram Deo is expanding. Next on our children’s wish list is a rabbit and parrot.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week-end!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo
Hi! We received some great news this week. Wednesday the Ministry of Education announced the results of the state exams for the students who are in 6eme AF. 6eme AF is the last level of schooling for elementary students. Passing these exams allows the student to proceed to secondary school. We had 8 students participating and all 8 passed. The special part of it is that these students were all 5eme AF students at the beginning of the school year and they completed 2 years of education here at Coram Deo in one year. Yvens Cherisier is a 5eme AF student at Adoration Christian School and studied here at Coram Deo to for the 6eme AF state exams and he passed. He now will be skipping Grade 6 at Adoration and enrolling in 7eme AF at their school. Manu is in Grade 6 at Christian Light School and he wrote the exams too. He passed as well. That makes 10 for 10 and a 100% pass rate! Across the nation 255,540 students participated in these exams and 72.39% passed. It is great to have a school program that is about the national average and you can’t get better than 100% :) Everyone here was happy with the results and we are going to hold a celebration meal here for everyone! Josue Marcelin and Jn. Eddy Alexandre not only helped these students during the regular school hours but gave of their spare time to help these students study and prepare them for the state exams. The parents did their part by making sure that their children did their homework and studied at home. Praise the Lord for this special moment!
The first day of classes for the new school year will be September 3rd. The government will once again be subsidizing some of the textbooks used by the students and we will be eligible to buy some of them at subsidized rates through Henri Deschamps. Next week we will also determine what books need to be purchased. Pray for funding for this year. It was a tight year last year but we made it through alright. We try to make the textbooks last for at least 3 years. Before handing them out to the students we tape the soft-cover corners and sides and then make plastic covers. Our students and sponsor students were given the books at the beginning of the year and all the books that were handed back at the end of the year were in good condition, ready to be used for another year!
The Mission of Tears/Coram Deo committee has been busy for the last couple of months preparing to hold a golf tournament fundraiser for our work here in Haiti. If anyone would like to do some golfing and support Coram Deo at the same time please contact Tim Bos. I give the Lord thanks for a supportive committee who strives to help our work here in Haiti. Pray for all the preparation work that is being done to host this golf tournament.
The beginning of the week were holiday days here in Haiti. Carnival des Fleurs was held here in Port-au-Prince. Tens of thousands of people attended the festivities. 8 people died, 350 were injured and 38 people arrested during the festivities. 5,000 policemen provided security during the carnival days. The first Carnival des Fleurs was held in 1916 and the last one was held in 1973.The government will now make the Carnival des Fleurs an annual event to be held in the last weekend of July.
This coming week will be a busy one. A team of 60 people coming from the states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas and Washington will be in Haiti to do mission work. It is always great to see people come to Haiti to give of their time and skills in the love of Christ. The Haitian people appreciate this assistance. On August 7th and 8th there will be a chiropractor clinic and also teeth cleaning here at Coram Deo. Health education seminars will be held for our teachers and other interested people in the community. A few of our Coram Deo people will be helping as translators during the busy week of activities the team will have at the various mission locations. Pray for all the arrangements the team is making and that everyone will stay safe and healthy. Pray for all those who will be helped. We will be going through the neighbourhood to announce the clinics.
Recently we have experienced some of the effects of crime in our neighbourhood. On Friday Manu was walking with a friend near the market area of Cite Aux Cayes when he saw a man running down the street. A policeman too was running trying to catch him. The policeman was shooting in the air and people ran for cover. Manu ran into a corridor area.
A couple of weeks ago a thief entered into a garage in our neighbourhood and was removing the signal lights from vehicles. Before entering into the yard he poisoned the 2 guard dogs. Someone in the neighbourhood heard the noisy thief and a police patrol came to investigate. The thief ran from the police. He was pursued down our street and the police shot at him. This event occurred around 3:00am. The thief died on the street 2 houses down from ours. In the morning the people here at Coram Deo went to the site. The man had been shot in the back. The owner of the garage was angry to find that his 2 guard dogs were killed. He came with his vehicle and drove over the dead thief lying on the road. Then he turned his vehicle around and did the same thing again. In Haiti thieves are not respected. The body was finally removed around 11:00am. The police have a difficult job. On Tuesday in the Martissant area an armed gang set up an ambush and attacked a police patrol seriously wounding two police officers. Several policemen have been killed this year. Pray for the police as they attempt to provide security here in Port-au-Prince and also for the people here as they go about their everyday activities.
To end this update on a happy note, Aflac and her ducklings are growing. It is so fun to watch these baby ducks. Aflac will bring them into my room and quack to get my attention. They then gobble up the food that I give them. As I was writing this update Pachico came into the room and asked me to look. He had a pigeon perched on his shoulder. It looks like our animal population here at Coram Deo is expanding. Next on our children’s wish list is a rabbit and parrot.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week-end!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Haiti Update - July 31, 2012
“But You, O Lord, are a shield, for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill.” (Psalm 3:3,4)
Hi! I just got back from a vacation to Canada to visit family. Some days the weather was just as warm as it gets here in Haiti! It was great to enjoy air conditioning during those days.
Michelle is recuperating from her 2 surgeries one week apart to remove most of her liver, which was cancerous. She now has healthy liver that is growing back. It has been a difficult time for her with the recuperation from the surgeries, especially when she had to have a tube inserted between a couple of ribs to drain an abscess near her diaphragm. The week that I left Canada she was starting to get her appetite back again. Her next surgery is scheduled for August 13th, when she will have further surgery to remove the tumour in her colon. She will also be getting a temporary colostomy. The good news is that when a colonoscopy was done the doctor couldn’t even detect the tumour. The surgery will still go ahead as the surgeon doesn’t want to take any chances. The cancer levels in her blood have also gone down from 74 to 1.4. We give the Lord thanks for this measure of healing. Please keep Michelle in prayer as she prepares for her next surgery.
My nephew John was also in the hospital while I was in Canada. He was brought to hospital in an ambulance after having seizures and vomiting. Because he has a shunt the first thought of everyone was that he had problems with the shunt. After testing and IV’s to rehydrate him, it was determined that he had a bad migraine headache attack. He recovered quickly and a week later he was able to attend the Easter Seals Camp for 10 days. The care they receive there is amazing and so are the facilities. Imagine zip lining in a wheelchair and that is one of the many activities geared to specials needs children! Pray for John, that his shunt continues to work properly and that his seizures stay under control.
We have experienced a few bad accidents here at Coram Deo in the last 6 months and I hope that no more happen. Back in December we planned an outing to Sous Zabette to go swimming with everyone here at Coram Deo. It took 2 vehicles to make this possible. Amos was driving a rented tap-tap and lost control when trying to avoid a vehicle that had suddenly slowed down. As a result the tap-tap rolled twice. Everyone was banged up and Benson and Reginald were the most seriously hurt. Benson suffered a broken leg when the tap-tap rolled on his leg and Reginald had some severe lacerations on his head. The visitors from Canada who were with us had brought truck tire inner tubes with them and they were inside the tap-tap between the 2 rows of people. They acted as air bags during the accident. We think it was a miracle that no lives were lost. It is amazing that a vehicle rolling 2 times and that 19 people wearing no seatbelts all survived. We give the Lord thanks for his protection during the accident.
In May we were bringing Marie’s sister Chrismanie who was in labour to the Medecin Sans Frontieres Maternity Hospital, early on a Sunday morning. We were stopped on Delmas 33 waiting to turn left into the gates of the hospital when a bus drove into the back of us. Poor Kimosabee, his left back end was crumpled like a piece of paper! 3 friends and family members of Chrismanie were sitting in the box of the truck. They were thrown in the box of the truck but again everyone came through the accident well accept for some bruises and soreness. Chrismanie’s baby was born 1 hour later. We followed the Haitian Insurance process and the company which the bus belonged to was ordered to pay for the repairs. The driver of the bus had been drinking and it was the second accident of the bus that weekend. The driver got fired by the company after the insurance hearings were completed. While I was in Canada the garage which is located on our street put Kimosabee back in one piece again and he now looks as good as new. Pray we don’t get any more accidents and also pray for a new truck. Kimosabee is getting battered and old and we are having more expensive truck repairs now.
Being back in Haiti, it was a quick introduction again to how the people here struggle to make a living. Pachico’s mother is a street vendor in the large market area in downtown Port-au-Prince. Early yesterday morning she went downtown to prepare for a day of sitting in the heat trying to make a sale. Gunmen approached her and others in the market area and ordered them to give them their money. They were lined up against a wall at gunpoint and were searched by the gunmen. Anything of value was taken. One woman who refused to hand over her money was shot and killed. Later in the day Pachico asked if he could bring some medicine to his mother because she had a headache. Pray for those in Haiti who every day try to make a living on the streets of Port-au-Prince. Pray too for the police as they attempt to keep security on the streets. I still can’t figure out why the UN doesn’t maintain regular patrols in the downtown area.
Haiti is a country that is susceptible to natural disasters. In the mountains of Kenscoff, where Pastor Pierre’s church is located there was a landslide in June. Suddenly part of the mountain just slid away. Pastor Pierre called me and said that an earthquake had happened. It didn’t make sense at the time because we had felt no tremor. Families in the area suddenly lost their fields and in certain areas other ground is cracked, susceptible to another landslide. Scientists have studied what caused this sudden collapse and the theory is that the earthquake of 2010 unsettled the rock and ground, and the rains of April and May contributed to the collapse. To lose a home is one thing. But these mountain farmers have not only lost their homes but also their fields. The government is finding a way to help these people. The mountain area is located 25km from the epicentre of the 2010 earthquake. Pray for Pastor Pierre, the church and the people living in the area of the landslide.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week!
Hi! I just got back from a vacation to Canada to visit family. Some days the weather was just as warm as it gets here in Haiti! It was great to enjoy air conditioning during those days.
Michelle is recuperating from her 2 surgeries one week apart to remove most of her liver, which was cancerous. She now has healthy liver that is growing back. It has been a difficult time for her with the recuperation from the surgeries, especially when she had to have a tube inserted between a couple of ribs to drain an abscess near her diaphragm. The week that I left Canada she was starting to get her appetite back again. Her next surgery is scheduled for August 13th, when she will have further surgery to remove the tumour in her colon. She will also be getting a temporary colostomy. The good news is that when a colonoscopy was done the doctor couldn’t even detect the tumour. The surgery will still go ahead as the surgeon doesn’t want to take any chances. The cancer levels in her blood have also gone down from 74 to 1.4. We give the Lord thanks for this measure of healing. Please keep Michelle in prayer as she prepares for her next surgery.
My nephew John was also in the hospital while I was in Canada. He was brought to hospital in an ambulance after having seizures and vomiting. Because he has a shunt the first thought of everyone was that he had problems with the shunt. After testing and IV’s to rehydrate him, it was determined that he had a bad migraine headache attack. He recovered quickly and a week later he was able to attend the Easter Seals Camp for 10 days. The care they receive there is amazing and so are the facilities. Imagine zip lining in a wheelchair and that is one of the many activities geared to specials needs children! Pray for John, that his shunt continues to work properly and that his seizures stay under control.
We have experienced a few bad accidents here at Coram Deo in the last 6 months and I hope that no more happen. Back in December we planned an outing to Sous Zabette to go swimming with everyone here at Coram Deo. It took 2 vehicles to make this possible. Amos was driving a rented tap-tap and lost control when trying to avoid a vehicle that had suddenly slowed down. As a result the tap-tap rolled twice. Everyone was banged up and Benson and Reginald were the most seriously hurt. Benson suffered a broken leg when the tap-tap rolled on his leg and Reginald had some severe lacerations on his head. The visitors from Canada who were with us had brought truck tire inner tubes with them and they were inside the tap-tap between the 2 rows of people. They acted as air bags during the accident. We think it was a miracle that no lives were lost. It is amazing that a vehicle rolling 2 times and that 19 people wearing no seatbelts all survived. We give the Lord thanks for his protection during the accident.
In May we were bringing Marie’s sister Chrismanie who was in labour to the Medecin Sans Frontieres Maternity Hospital, early on a Sunday morning. We were stopped on Delmas 33 waiting to turn left into the gates of the hospital when a bus drove into the back of us. Poor Kimosabee, his left back end was crumpled like a piece of paper! 3 friends and family members of Chrismanie were sitting in the box of the truck. They were thrown in the box of the truck but again everyone came through the accident well accept for some bruises and soreness. Chrismanie’s baby was born 1 hour later. We followed the Haitian Insurance process and the company which the bus belonged to was ordered to pay for the repairs. The driver of the bus had been drinking and it was the second accident of the bus that weekend. The driver got fired by the company after the insurance hearings were completed. While I was in Canada the garage which is located on our street put Kimosabee back in one piece again and he now looks as good as new. Pray we don’t get any more accidents and also pray for a new truck. Kimosabee is getting battered and old and we are having more expensive truck repairs now.
Being back in Haiti, it was a quick introduction again to how the people here struggle to make a living. Pachico’s mother is a street vendor in the large market area in downtown Port-au-Prince. Early yesterday morning she went downtown to prepare for a day of sitting in the heat trying to make a sale. Gunmen approached her and others in the market area and ordered them to give them their money. They were lined up against a wall at gunpoint and were searched by the gunmen. Anything of value was taken. One woman who refused to hand over her money was shot and killed. Later in the day Pachico asked if he could bring some medicine to his mother because she had a headache. Pray for those in Haiti who every day try to make a living on the streets of Port-au-Prince. Pray too for the police as they attempt to keep security on the streets. I still can’t figure out why the UN doesn’t maintain regular patrols in the downtown area.
Haiti is a country that is susceptible to natural disasters. In the mountains of Kenscoff, where Pastor Pierre’s church is located there was a landslide in June. Suddenly part of the mountain just slid away. Pastor Pierre called me and said that an earthquake had happened. It didn’t make sense at the time because we had felt no tremor. Families in the area suddenly lost their fields and in certain areas other ground is cracked, susceptible to another landslide. Scientists have studied what caused this sudden collapse and the theory is that the earthquake of 2010 unsettled the rock and ground, and the rains of April and May contributed to the collapse. To lose a home is one thing. But these mountain farmers have not only lost their homes but also their fields. The government is finding a way to help these people. The mountain area is located 25km from the epicentre of the 2010 earthquake. Pray for Pastor Pierre, the church and the people living in the area of the landslide.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week!
EVERYBODY PASSED!
Education Nationale released the exam results today for the 6eme AF exams. These exams need to be passed in order to qualify to move up to secondary school. We had a 100% pass rate here at Coram Deo. Praise the Lord! Josue Marcelin did a great job teaching this year. The students who wrote these exams did 2 years of education in one year and they came through perfectly. Yvens was in 5eme AF at Adoration Christian School and studied here at Coram Deo in his spare time for the 6eme AF. He too passed and now jumps ahead of his Adoration classmates :) Manu is a student at Christian Light Ministries and he passed as well. You can't get any better than 100%. We are going to hold a celebratory party. I'll post photos of all our graduates! It sure is good to give good news!
Karen
Karen
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