It’s that time again

Well folks,

Here it goes. It is finally time for another trip to Haiti. It feels like it has been so long since I have been. The last time I was in Haiti was April 2008. I will be leaving on June 15 and arriving in Haiti on June 16th. This trip will be a little different for me. I will not be going in as an intern, but rather as a member of a summer team. On this team will be my sister who has been to Haiti 2 times before, my mom who will be going on her first trip, my fiance, Rolgard who lived in Haiti until this year, and two other members of my church at home.  Together we will be doing various activities around Northwest Haiti Christian Mission from June 16-26. We will be working a lot with the special needs program, the Miriam Center, which Rolgard and I spent much of our time in previously. We will probably take some side trips out to the new orphanage and some other churches the mission has started in other areas of Northwest Haiti.

After June 26th, the rest of our team will head back to the states while Rolgard and I remain in Haiti for another 10 days. During this time we will be traveling to several other locations. We will spend some time in LaPointe with his aunt and brothers. While there we will visit and work at a children’s hospital in the area. We will also be able to spend some time with a couple of friends that will be in Haiti at the same time. After that we will travel to the southern coast of Haiti to a city called Jacmel. This is where Rolgard’s parents and sister live. We will be able to spend a couple days with them and go to church with them. We may also try to go and visit the children’s home of the Hands and Feet project that the band Audio Adrenaline started. This will take us up until July 6 when we will both head back to the states.

During the first half of the trip while we are at the mission, I will have my computer and will be regularly sending out e-mail updates and updating my blog as a way to keep not only all of you, but the rest of the friends and family of our team updated. If you would rather not receive these, please let me know. After the rest of the team leaves I will no longer have my computer and will send a final  update once we return to the states.

During this trip there are a few things that you can be praying for:

1. Safe travels in and out of Haiti and within the country.
2.  Understanding of what projects God would have our team to be involved with while at the mission
3. Opportunities to reach out to the people of Northwest Haiti and show them God’s love.
4. God’s direction for me and Rolgard as far as our future in Haiti
5. Open lines of communication with Rolgard’s family
6. No problems getting through immigration for Rolgard on the way home (he is here on a student visa)

Thank you for your prayers. I will send out another prayer update and last minute information before we leave next Monday.

God bless,

Erin Tulenko

There is a ring on my hand!

So as many of you have already heard. I got engaged on Easter Sunday!! I have put the story below as well as some pictures. ENJOY!

 

Easter Sunday 2009. Rolgard and I were at my house all day after church hanging out, exploding coke bottle with mentos (see pictures), and watching the Masters (yes we are exciting!) When all of a sudden he says we need to go because he is meeting a friend. This is a little unusual for him to make a spur of the moment decision to go somewhere, but I just kind of blew it off and we left the house around 7:00pm. We got back to his apartment and walked about the back of the house. There were flower petals on the walkway, but they were really spread out and random. I looked up thinking they had blown off of some plants on the deck up above (there are no plants up there!) Then he opens the door (with no key which I did not notice) and we walk in to a path of flower petals from the door to the table and candle all over the apartment. There is a vase full of roses on the table and an Easter basket on the table. He tells me to open up the basket. It has gummy bears, hershey kisses, other chocolate candies. It has a picture frame with the first picture we ever took together back in March 2007 when I had been into Haiti on a short trip over Spring Break. It is funny to look back at that picture now! There was also a book by Beth Moore, who I love! 

So then he tells me to sit down and open the eggs. I start to open them and they each have a few gummy bears in them. He says open the ones with the numbers so I find the number 1 and open it. It has a little piece of paper in it that says, “WILL”. See where this is going? So the next one says “YOU” the third one says “MARRY” and I get to the 4th one he gets down on a knee and the 4th one says “ME” and has a ring in it! I was so excited!! 

By the way, he had friends come over and set this all up while we were over at my house. I had no idea! Once they had it set up they called him to come over, which is why we left so suddenly from my house. It all made sense then!

There is a story behind the ring that I figure I will share as well. The ring that I got is a family ring that is from my dad’s side of the family and is I think from a great aunt. Anyway, it is big on me and it is gold (I am more of a silver girl!) So we are going to keep the stone and have it re-set in a new band. I will post pictures of the new ring when we get it done. 

What I saw when I entered the apartment

Me at the table after opening everything

The Roses

The eggs that had the words in them

The easter basket

The walkway outside

The original ring

We are not in Haiti anymore Toto…

Nope definitely not Haiti weather here in central KY. Part of the fun of being a teacher is getting those surprise calls of snow days. Now when there is a whole week of snow days, things can be a little crazy. But that has been this week for me. I dont work Monday anyway, so that snow day did not really effect me. Monday night into Tuesday we got about an inch of snow… but it did not stop there. Then there was about an inch and a half of ice on top of that. I even took my ice skates out on the driveway to try to skate around our front circle. It didnt quite work… the skates cut right through the ice, but I had to try it. Well Tuesday night we were eating dinner and “blackout.” No power, which in Haiti means no lights at night, and not much water, here means NO HEAT! So we started to find candles and flashlights and a battery powered radio (there was a UK game coming on in an hour.. gotta have your priorities in order around here!!!!)  The following pictures are from Tuesday. 

 

Me trying to ice skate

The driveway after I tried to ice skate

Iced over branch in front of my house

 

Ice covered berries on our tree

 

 

The bushes in front of our house

But that was just the beginning. Wednesday morning when we finally willed ourselves to wake up in our 55 degree house, I looked out my window to see a downed powerline stretching the length of our yard and across our driveway. I thought “we are not going anywhere soon.” Well that was our small obstacle we would soon find out. We then realized a large portion of a tree had fallen across our driveway. So a little bit later, my dad and I attacked the tree with a chainsaw and cleared a path. This was after another 2 inches of snow fell on top of the previous concoction of ice and snow from the day before. We spent a couple of hours at a neighbors house and then ventured into Lexington where we stayed last night. The next set of pictures is from Wednesday and shows our obstacles to getting out of the house.

 

Obstacle # 1 power lines over the driveway

Obstacle #2 - tree over the driveway

After cutting down the tree

 

icy tree

Another tree in our yard... after the extra snow

A view from the top of our hill

A fence on our street

So basically that has been the last week of my life. Definitely not Haiti and makes me miss it even more, but I have to admit, it is in a strange way really beautiful even though some areas look like a war zone. I have one more snow day tomorrow, and then hopefully I will be back at school on Monday (well Tuesday for me). I hope all of you are enjoying whatever weather you may be experiencing wherever you are right now!!

 

**EDIT** We went by the house this evening and it was a whopping 43 degrees INSIDE! And that is exactly why we are not staying there right now.

I think it is about time

I recently realized that it has been a very very very long time since I last posted anything. As I was talking with Heather Owen this week, I promised her that I would post something… so Heather… here it is!!! 

Now where to start? It is a new year. A new stage in life. I could not be happier right now. God has been blessing me more than I could have ever imagined. The last few months have been busy. I have completed my first semester of teaching which included my first Christmas program. It was a good experience and now I have a better idea of what to do for next year.  A lot of traveling has taken place. We gone to Cleveland twice for the holidays and drove out to Oklahoma for the National Missionary Convention. We have been to St. Louis to visit with friends and back and forth to Grayson (KCU) a couple times.

Rolgard and I are continuing to look to God for guidance and direction toward our futures. We are hoping to go to Haiti this summer for a month. It will be the first time back in a year and we are both anticipating that time. He is in school and getting ready to start his second semester. We have been blessed by great friends and family and thank all of you for your prayers and support.

There is so much to say and yet I am having trouble coming up with what to say. I will hopefully update this a little more frequently now. Or at least I will try. I will work on getting some pictures up from the last few months of some of the main points. In the mean time, I would ask for your continued prayers for the following things:

- Guidance and discernment as to future plans
- financial support for Rolgard’s schooling
- prayer for me to be a positive influence to my students 
- prayer as we begin to make plans for our return trip to Haiti

Plea for a Program

Please read the following letter I have written. If you would like to print it out to give to others, please feel free to contact me and I can send you the file or a paper copy of it. 

Dear friends,

My heart has been torn recently. I love my job teaching. The kids are great, the other teachers are great and it has been a really good experience. But recently I have just wanted to jump on a plane and head south to Haiti. I knew it was bad down there but today I come to you with a “Plea for a Program.”  That is what I am going to call it! The program that God drew me to last year more than anything else was the Miriam Center for Special Needs kids. These kids are the ones that no one thought could do anything for themselves, but have the biggest hearts in the world. They get thrown to the side that they will never amount to anything. I have seen different. They have learned to feed themselves, to dress themselves, and can even run the DVD/VCR better than some adults! They have personalities beyond belief… and right now their program is in jeopardy. 

Due to the lack of finances and the rise in prices in Haiti, everything is being cut back, not just in the daily life of the Haitian people, but also in the programs at the mission. One of these programs suffering is the Miriam Center. They are way in debt, and are not able to pay for all the workers. There are some that were laid off due to lack of funds. During this time in the country this will be extremely hard for those families. At one point it was thought that the program may have to be cut, but that is not an option for these kids. So, at this time a plan is in motion to give them a new home on the mission campus. This facility will give them bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen area, a porch, a yard, and hopefully a pool and sand box eventually! 

I am writing to ask you to join with me to help this program. Help my kids. Some of you may remember me writing back in October about getting them a room finished. That seems so small now compared to the current situation. I am asking you to please send this to whoever you know. Please talk to your coworkers, your churches, Sunday schools, missions committees, anyone. This program needs your help. I am not going to give an exact number of the financial situation. I think sometimes big numbers deter people from giving because it seems impossible. I trust that God will provide what this program needs. I am asking you to pray for how you can help and give whatever you feel led to give. 

Please make checks to NWHCM (Northwest Haiti Christian Mission) and send them to PO Box 829 Versailles, KY 40383. Please indicate on the check or in the envelope that it is to be designated for the Miriam Center fund. I would ask that you prayerfully consider helping these kids. I have put some pictures attached with this so that you can see exactly who you are helping out. 

May God bless you,

Erin Tulenko

Pictures of the Kids

Printable Version of letter

 

A Child’s Heart

 

I had to write this note tonight. For the last couple weeks I have had a box sitting outside my classroom at school labeled Haiti donations and Hurricane Relief. I had sent an e-mail to the teachers that if they wanted a project for their classes, I was going to be collecting items to send to Haiti to help in the hurricane efforts. It has been amazing to be able to tell the students and staff about some of my experiences and the great need in the country. The students have been so excited about the opportunity to do something for someone else. I have had kids come up to me with cans of beans and say “Miss Tulenko, here. These are for those people.” How precious is that? It brought me to near tears. Today’s though topped them all. We were at lunch with the teachers and one of the fourth grade teachers told me that one of her students came in and said, “Here, Mrs. Cecil. I emptied my piggy bank.” So this afternoon she brough to me a basket full of cans of food as well as two ziplock bags of change and some bills. I have not even had a chance to sit and count the coins yet. She thought he said it was around 4 dollars. I will have to count and see. I wanted to cry. What is it about a child’s heart that makes them want to empty their piggy bank, their life’s savings to give to people that they have never met? They are giving me everything they have and trusting that I will do the right thing with it. It makes me thing of us and God. We want to hold on so tight. We need to have the heart of a child. Give Him everything that we have and trust that He will do the right thing with it. I will never forget those two bags of change and the simpleness of a fourth grader who was willing to give everything. I would ask that you look at yourself and think, do I have the heart of a child when it comes to letting go and giving of myself??

The bags of coins

Haiti Hurricane Relief

My heart has been heavy this week. Hearing the reports from those at the mission and elsewhere in Haiti, makes me long to be back there. I know that God has it in His plan when I will return, but I feel for right now, that I can be doing something here in the states to help. The reports on the news out of Haiti have been few, but this country has been hit in one place or another by all three of the hurricanes that have come in the last few weeks. The last two, Hanna and Ike dropped substantial rains on the Northern part of the island where the mission is located and all of the mission churches. I am not going to go into details accounts of their experiences because I am not there. If you would like to read about the effects on the mission you may check out the blogs to the right. Castillos, Owens, Rogers, and Jumps all have good updates. From there you may find even more links of other people’s stories. There have been many e-mails going around with information that is not true about those at the mission so I would ask that you check out their personal blogs for the real stories.  

HOW CAN YOU HELP??

#1 Pray. Pray for all of the Haitians who have lost homes, family, possessions, crops, etc. Pray for the missionaries that are there that they are able to handle all of the requests that are coming in. Pray especially for the Jumps and Rogers as they go back to there house to assess the flood damage and see what they lost personally. Pray that the road from the South gets fixed so that aid can reach those in the North. Pray that the flooding at the airport in Port-de-Paix goes down so that planes can reach that area. Pray for the Castillos, Wisley, Janeil and Mary Beth as they prepare to travel back in this week while Ike is still storming around in the gulf. Pray that God can be glorified through this tragedy and that people would come to know Him in the midst of this.

#2 Financially. Northwest Haiti Christian Mission has set up an account for hurricane relief. There are many families in the area of the mission  who have lost homes along the shore and lost belongings due to flooding. If you would like to donate to the Hurricane Relief fund you can write checks to Northwest Haiti Christian Mission and mark them “HURRICANE RELIEF”  Please send these donations to NWHCM – PO BOX 829,  Versailles, KY 40383. You may also choose to donate online and you can put a note on it to designate it Hurricane Relief. Go to: http://www.nwhcm.org/donate.html

I would ask that you pray about this and consider how you can help out. If you have any questions feel free to contact me and I will do my best to find the answers. May God bless you all.

What a year!

Where to start! I know most people review their years in January when the year changes. My year review is going to take place now.

As I sit here writing this today, I am amazed at what God has done in the last 12 months. Last year at this time I was in Haiti working with my band program and finding a growing joy in working with the special needs program. This time in Haiti ended in November when I returned to the states. I returned on a last minute trip to Haiti right after Christmas and over New Years. I started student teaching only a few days after returning from Haiti. I had a wonderful experience at a small school district in Ashland, KY. During Spring Break (or what should have been SB but was cancelled due to snow days!) I returned again to Haiti for a week, this time working at an English Immersion school. I had a great time there being able to teach music and fellowship with the other teachers there. I finished up my student teaching in May and following that, graduated from college 6 years after starting in the fall 2002. I ended up with 3 degrees and a lot of uncertainties of what I was going to do! I quickly got a summer job working with special needs kids in Lexington and during that time ended up getting a music teaching job in Midway, KY for the fall. School starts on the 14th and I am going to be a for real teacher.

As if this wasnt enough to keep me busy for a year…

As most of you probably know by now, while in Haiti (the first time!) God brought someone very special into my life. This was not something either of us had planned and really tried to avoid for a long time! But it was just right. As we continued to learn more about each other and our passions and callings in life, we knew that God was blessing this 100%. Leaving in November was one of the hardest things ever, but knowing that if this was God’s will, everything would work out. We began discussing his desire to be trained in Physical Therapy to help the special needs population in Haiti. Looking deeper several options became available for schools in the states. The process began in January and went for a long time with doors opening and closing all the time. To make a long story short, in June, God put everything in place better and anyone could have imagined and last night at 11:50 pm, Rolgard arrived in KY tired after a long day of flying. Classes will begin for him on the 25th as he begins to work toward that goal of a degree in Physical Therapy Assisting. We both greatly appreciate the prayers and support of everyone around us during all of this process. 

Who would have imagined a year ago that I would be in this situation and extremely happy! I can not wait for the school year to start to be a real teacher. I can not wait to see what God has in store for the future. And I can not wait for the day that Rolgard and I can return to Haiti together and work to make lives better for those who are disregarded and not given a second look because of their disabilities of challenges. I am looking at getting my masters in special education to be able to help in this calling even more. We would appreciate your continued prayers as we continue to look to God and follow what He has for our lives. 

Thanks and God bless!

 

Job Search = OVER!

Yes that is right. I am officially a teacher. Well I have not signed everything yet because I have to do that at the board office and they only do it on certain days and times of which I have to work, so I am still working out those details. Anyway, within the last three weeks I have had a job interview, which did not hire me but sent my name to another school in the district who called the same day, scheduled and interview for two days later and was offered the position the next day! I accepted. It is pretty much perfect. It is in my home district of Woodford County. It is an elementary music position at Northside Elementary School in Midway. The one drawback, but could also be a positive is that it is a 7/10 position which means I work 3.5 days. So I have ever Monday off as well as Wed mornings! This could be a good thing in doing KTIP that I will have that extra time available to work on things. I will keep updates on this as my room develops and all that good stuff.

Camp… is over halfway over. WOW I can not believe that. I said I would post pictures, but we have been informed that because of consent and privacy, we can not put pictures from camp online. If you would like me to personally show you pictures sometime feel free to let me know and we can work something out. I have loved this summer. It has been totally different for me since I have been away for every summer since 2004. But it has been a pleasant change.

Room… is painted (sort of). The first coat is on and I love it. I guess it is a good thing since now I will be living in it for a while with my job being in Woodford County. I have decided to just live at home instead of trying to worry about finding and apartment in the same county and rent and all that. I can just save money and live at home. With that in mind we are going to get some new furniture for my room that can last me a while since the ones I have are falling apart and have been in my room since I was about 8 years old! It is time for some new stuff. I will try to put some pictures up as the changes take place. 

Life is still kind of crazy in other aspects. I want to be able to share it with all of you, but at this point I am still going to hold off. If you know me well you know what is going on, for the others of you, hopefully I will be able to update you on everything in the near future. What I can do is ask for prayer. Specifically for timing. That God’s timing would be perfect and His will would be done. 

God bless

Camp has started… plus Kings Island and my 2nd Haitian meal!

Hello again…

I was thinking it is about time I posted something again. A couple weeks ago I got to go to Kings Island with my family and we met up with a bunch of friends there as well. It was a nice relaxing day, mostly spent at the water park. It was kind of ironic because that was the day that the first group was going into Haiti for the summer and the group I was at Kings Island with had all been to Haiti at some point! So it was a nice transition for me to spend the day with them since I was not going to Haiti. Thanks for the fun guys! Here are a couple pictures of the group from the day!

  

Also in the last couple weeks I have made my second Haitian meal. I really messed up the plantains, but the Creole chicken was really good!! Here are the pictures of that!

   

The biggest thing this past week has been the first week of camp. God has blessed me with the amazing opportunity to work with some great kids. It is not every day that you see a child completely entertained by hitting a small book against their face or dragging a five foot piece of yellow yarn behind them or making traps on the trees out of sticks and strings. These are the kids I work with. They all have different backgrounds and stories, but are amazing to work with, even though they run and wander and can be difficult. It is a rewarding experience none the less. I can not wait to the next five weeks to see what I can learn from these kids. Not only are the kids great, but I have also been blessed by a great group of fellow counselors. It has been neat to share our own stories with each other. We all come from different backgrounds and have different experiences, we keep learning new things about each other. Thanks you guys. I can not wait for the rest of the summer!  ** Pictures soon to come **

On the job front… I have had a phone interview with Jefferson County, but outside of that, have heard nothing. Other than the fact that positions are not open anymore. I may be making some personal visits to schools to see if I can find things out and get myself in the door. We will see.