FOLLOWING THE SON FROM MY LITTLE CORNER OF THE WORLD :)
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Sunday, April 18, 2010

A Post From Dixie (GLA Founder and Director)

I had the pleasure of working (playing) with Dawinsky aka Da Da this week.  Please keep praying for Jocelyne, her boys and the rest of her family.


Jocelyne Pierre Louis has been at GLA since 1998.

Posted by Dixie
Jocelen 12 10 03
Jocelyne or Ti Jocelyne as we call her has been at GLA since 1998.  We first met her when someone from a UN medical group brought her to the orphanage along with her 3 month old baby, Endy. 
Joycelyne was living on the street with her baby. Endy was sick and near death.  Jocelyne had been kicked out of her home by her family when she had Endy.  Jocelyne was very young at the time.
Jocelyne and Endy lived with us 6 months.  We really liked Jocelyne and she was a hard worker while she lived with us.  When she left, we rented a house for her and another young mother with twins.  We gave them seed money to help them get set up in a business.  Jocelyne sold clothing and the other mother sold vegetables. 
When Jocelyne went to live downtown, Endy never did well.  The heat really affected him and he was sick all of the time with diarrhea and vomiting.  He lost weight and spent more time with me than he did his mother.  Eventually, I took him back into the orphanage and he lived here until he was 2 years old.Endy February 2010-3
Jocelyne also came back to GLA in 1999 to work and has been  working here every since.  Endy moved from our house to another orphanage and stayed there until he was almost 4 years old.  By then he moved back to be with his mother full time.
Jocelyne is one of my most trusted and hardest workers.  The rest of the staff have always made fun of her and called her my child because I have always depended on her so much.  I do not depend on her as much any more but she is still very important to the running of the orphanage and I call her my head nanny.
I remember going downtown during some great unrest and Jocelyne refusing to let me go by myself.  I truly think she would have protested me with her life if it had been necessary!  I love her very much and am thankful God sent her to GLA.Dawinsky April 2010-4
After the earthquake, Jocelyne brought Endy back to live with us since her home in Carrefour was completely destroyed.   She also brought her youngest son, Dawinsky, who is 1 1/2 years old and terribly spoiled!  :)   He is very active and escapes from the nursery all of the time and finds his way downstairs to visit with everyone!  I think Jocelyne is content to have her 2 days off each week and go to visit her family and leave the kids here with us.  It gives her a little break from having him with her 24/7!
We hope that Jocelyne will be able to find a piece of land to lease in Petion-Ville where we can help build a home for her and her family.  All of her family is living in tents in Carrefour.  We would like to see her get into a house where her children could live with her.
Keep Jocelyne and her family in your prayers and especially pray that we can find land for her to build a house on soon.  Jocelyne was very traumatized by the earthquake and the fact that all of her family lost their homes completely.  She needs to get a home and get her life back to normal.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

KD'S Korner In Haiti (Arrival and Day 1)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010
After a full day of traveling which was pretty much uneventful I arrived in Port Au Prince, Haiti.  Where I was to be picked up and taken to God’s Littlest Angels orphanage.
When I arrived at the international airport in Port Au Prince (PAP), Haiti’s capital, I had a hard time believing that I was in Haiti.  I think that most of it had to do with the fact that I grew up in Miami which has similar sights, sound and weather to what I saw in Port Au Prince.  But there is one thing that is VERY different and that is the roads and the way people drive. 
For the most part the roads are VERY bumpy and very few were properly paved.  On my way up to GLA,  I was very surprised to see two stop lights up in the northern part of PAP.  Thankfully we had great Haitian drivers who knew how to not only drive the roads but knew how to get us up into the mountains where GLA is located. J
A feeling that I had thru out  my entire travel experience was one of PEACE…one that I can only explain as God’s peace that passes all understanding.  I feel that this peace comes from being in the smack dab middle of God’s will by being here with GLA.  I also feel that being in God’s will is also why I am not dealing with any kind of culture shock J
So all that happened yesterday, Tuesday, April 13
Today, Wednesday, April 14, was what I considered the beginning of my GLA experience. J   After having a great night sleep and a wonderful time with God, we headed down to the Main House from the Toddler House where I sleep.
A little back ground on that …
GLA consists of two houses that approximately 15 minutes away from each other when you walk…less if you drive it. 
The Toddler House is where they take care of the children ages 2 years old and up.  I am staying in a smaller house just adjacent to the Toddler House.  My room is big enough to hold a single bed and two bunk beds.
The Main House is where the offices are and where they house the babies under the age of two years old.  They also have a NICU where a nurse helps to take care of the babies who are premature, ill or need more specialized attention.   The third floor has a balcony where volunteers can take a baby at a time up to in order to give them one on one attention.  The view of the mountains from the balcony is absolutely gorgeous and I will be posting pictures of it tomorrow.
So today I helped with babies and was given permission to help work on some issues related to child development and how to help the babies grow and thrive while they are at GLA.   I am very excited to be able to use my child development degree to help GLA and the kids and look forward to how things evolve while I am here.
Thanks for reading the first entry of KD’S KORNER in Haiti!  I look forward to writing more tomorrow.






Saturday, April 10, 2010

This is for RANDY T :)



I am in the pink shirt in the upper left hand corner...the rest of these people were in my chorus class from my SR year in HS (1989)

SO BRING YOURS ON BRO!!!!!! :P

Thursday, April 8, 2010

The Adventure Begins! :)

I tried to post this on FACEBOOK but it wouldn't let me :(

"KD's GREAT ADVENTURE begins!!!

Getting ready to get on the plane at the Springs Airport...going through Dallas and then I will be home with the parental units, my bros and sister and their families!!! :)

WARMTH HERE I COME!!! WHOO HOO! lol

Will try to post an update during my layover in Dallas!!!

Much love to my Colorado Springs Family!!! XOXOXOXO":)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Gmail - The Inner Kiddies - 365 Surprise - kdizne@gmail.com

A meaningful life is measures not by the outside world, but by how we feel about the person staring back at us in the mirror.

Laura Fortgang

My Last Day In Colorado Springs Brings...

SNOW!!!!!


View from my living room window to the front yard














Video of the snow falling :)

Monday, April 5, 2010

From a Friend going through cancer treatment

Dr. Seuss on authenticity and acceptance:

Be who you are and say what you feel,
Because those who mind don’t matter,
And those who matter don’t mind
.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

KD's Korner is going to Haiti and Needs Your Help! :)



I want to let you know of any opportunity I have to serve in Haiti and how you can be part of it.

Growing up in Miami, Florida I was greatly influenced by the Haitian culture through my church’s involvement in ministering to Haitians living in the city.  As an adult, Haiti has always been in the back of my mind and whenever tragedy,such as the hurricanes of 2008, hit the country my concern was voiced via prayers.

When the earthquake hit on January 12, I realized that my concern for Haiti and her people ran much deeper than just saying a prayer on their behalf.  Seeing the children who lost parents and everything that they had known greatly touched my heart and renewed my passion for Haiti.

I have known of and prayed for God’s Littlest Angels (GLA) for several years. When the earthquake hit, GLA was one of the first organizations that I looked up on the internet to see how they had fared.   GLA is an orphanage located in Petion-Ville, Haiti which is in the mountains a hour north of Port Au Prince. Since 1997 they have been taken care of orphans and also provide opportunities for adoption when it’s appropriate.

One of the things I realized when I went to the GLA website is that their US office is located here in Colorado Springs.  It was while helping the office with loading up a shipping container of donations to send to GLA in Haiti, that I was made aware of the need that the orphanage had to have volunteers go down and help during the month of April. 

God has orchestrated circumstances in my life to allow me to go and spend 18 days down with GLA in Haiti (April 13 – 30).  The last thing that needs to be taken care of is the financial side of things and this is where you can help.

I need to raise $1500 to cover my expenses which include airfare and room and board.  I would like to have the money raised by the time I head for a family gathering in Miami on Thursday, April 8. 

Would you please consider making a financial donation to God’s Littlest Angels on my behalf? All donations are tax deductable.  When writing a check, please make it out to GOD’S LITTLEST ANGELS with VOLUNTEER SUPPORT DEBARDELABEN in the memo line. 

Please send donations to 
God’s Littlest Angels - c/o Ms Jean Bell
 2275 Waynoka Rd, Suite D       
Colorado Springs, Colorado  80915

Any questions about this please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Serving Him Always
Kelly DeBardelaben
kdizne@gmail.com/786-427-5674

Friday, April 2, 2010

Quote


I am not what I want to be, I am not all that I could be, but thank God I’m not what I used to be. 
Jack Boland