Rain Rain Go Away

It's still raining in Port-au-Prince and expected to continue for at least another week. I've always loved the rain but this is starting to get to me. I'm grateful that the rain has cooled the climate but not so thankful for all the mosquitos it has attracted. Yesterday morning I woke up with numerous bites including my face which caused some swelling. We bombed my bed, windows, and I slathered on bug spray last night before bed. I woke up this morning with a few new bites on my ears which happened to be the only place I didn't spray. I'm slowly learning to battle the bugs.

Yesterday we went to Institut Mont Fort, the school for deaf children, in Croix des Boquetes. We checked in to see how the children and staff were doing with their new hearings aids that were dispersed in February. We found many broken aids and dead batteries! When they first received their hearing aids training was not included. We were able to train them yesterday on storing, battery changes, etc. They are supplied with batteries for life from the Starky Hearing Foundation. This is awesome because the batteries only last 7-10 days. The only trouble we are still facing is proper storage for the aids at night. The humid climate causes moisture to form inside the aid which causes it to no longer work. If the aids are stored in rice containers every night this helps pull moisture out. Haitians have a hard time parting with the rice because they would rather use it for energy then storage. Hopefully we can find a sponsor to supply dry aide kits for these children. The children were grateful for the repairs and showed their gratitude through communication on the chalkboard. To my surprise, the children wrote thank you in English. They handed me the chalk and I asked them their name. They all responded in English.. it was so neat! A lot of the boys approached Andrea and I once they figured out we were communicating on the chalkboard. All of the boys asked as the same thing: What is your name? Where are you from? Do you have a boyfriend? All in that order. It wasn't only from one classroom, but all of them. We found this kind of humorous :).
 

Today Randy informed us of a tent childrens home in Lilavois. The tents have apparently fell down from the wind and rain and the children are sleeping on wet beds. There is standing water everywhere which is bringing in thick swarms of mosquitos for breeding grounds. Our assignment as interns is to find a way to ward off the mosquitos. There is no electricity so zappers and light repellent is not an option. We were thinking of using a chemical called BTI which is poured in flooded areas and destroys the digestive system of the larvae. This still doesn't deal with the mosquitos flying around. I was thinking of something that we could hang on the children's bunk beds or perhaps giving them those new repellent bracelets. If anyone has any other ideas or resources feel free to comment! My bites are probably nothing compared to those poor children. I'm praying for sunshine and a quick solution for the children in Lilavois.

Anyway we are clearing out of the house soon because the bug man is coming to spray the house. Who would've thought a bug man exists here?

Photo of Andrea fixing a young girls hearing aid.

Photo of the classrooms after school as dismissed.

This is Elionel signing to the students. He helped us pin point problems with the aids.

The children learn not only from books but also skills such as sewing to use in everyday life.