One House, One Dream

Ternicille is our laundry lady.

Monday through Saturday she makes her way from the outskirts of Cap Haitian and comes at 8:30 AM, rain or shine, to gather our dirty clothes and linens, and anything else we want washed.  She sets up her work area on the concrete steps of the volunteer house at Manna, by getting a garden hose and filling kivets (large tubs) with soap and water and rinse water.  She can remove nearly any stain and has a way with whites that makes them practically shine as they bleach in the bright sunlight that falls upon our back porch in the afternoon.  When the clothes have dried she folds them and places them in a clean kivet and sets them by the front door with our clean laundry hamper.  It is the same most every day.

She is fiercely protective of what is entrusted to her and does not tolerate theft.  Ternicille says, "Rad pa kapab mache"(clothes can't walk) if something goes missing.  Sometimes this ethic has gotten her in trouble with those less scrupulous.

She is quick and diligent in her work.  If she finishes early she looks for more to do until her normal work day is over and does not leave early if her responsibilities run long.  She does not believe in waste, and would rather clean something well and use it again, than throw it away; she can clean practically anything.  Sometimes I have wondered what a marvel her home must be.

Last month the northern part of Haiti was inundated by rain that poured hour after hour through the night and then continued  the next day, too.  Low lying area were quickly saturated and then flooded with dirty, sewage-filled water, as drainage ditches and latrines spilled over their swollen banks.

Ternicille's house was in an area that was badly flooded.  She was late for work that day, but she came nonetheless.  She told me her house had flooded with a couple of feet of water during the night.  In the morning she had gotten her kids into a part of Cap Haitian that was not under water so they could be safe with her extended family.  She told me her house was a mess and the water had reached up to her beds which already stood on cinder blocks.

She washed my clothes the day her house stood in deep water.

A couple of days later she invited me to go to her home to see the flood damage.  I took the boys along, too.  Rikerns drove us in our biggest vehicle to make it through water and deep mud holes that remained on the roadway.  When we could drive no further, we walked on foot through mud-filled paths and up along a cement cannel wall for about a quarter of mile, then wove our way through some tin clad shacks with stick walls, through a narrow alley, on a mud path, to Ternicille's house.

Ternicille in front of her house.

The side of her house with water near the base.

The view from the front door looking into the first "bedroom".
The water stains can be seen 1/3 of the way up the wall.

Mud remaining on her dirt floor under the bed.  Algae has started to grow in the damp dirt.

Looking in the back door into the second room
of the house -- an old microwave is used as a stand
for her suitcase "dresser".

Ternicille has hopes for a better home and has been building a new house next door.  It's cement foundation is 4 feet higher than the house she lives in and has cinder block walls.  It only needs a roof for her to be able to move into it and have a safer, dryer place for herself and her children.  There will be no running water or indoor toilet, but she would be proud of her improved living situation.

Ternicille standing by the "front door" of her new house.

Looking from the first room into the second.
Although this house would still be just a
two room home, it would be dry and more sanitary
for her family.

I tell you Ternicille's story to let you know of one individual life in a personal way.  Her life interacts with mine on a daily basis, and she blesses me.

Would you pray for me as I face the daily challenge of how to serve and bless those God has placed around me?