Josiah asks

HI Isaac, 
My name is Josiah. I live in Minnesota and I am 8 years old. I love to ride bikes and play at the beach in the summer. 

My mom has been to Haiti 4 times and and my dad has been 2 times. Whenever they get home I love looking at their pictures and watching the videos. I can't wait to come visit Haiti someday. 

I noticed in many of the pictures taken in Cite Soleil that the boys are naked and the girls are too except that they wear underwear. 

My mom also follows your mom's blog and noticed that your little sisters also sometimes are naked except for underwear in some of her pictures. 

I think it is because it is so hot in Haiti but my mom thinks their must be a different reason that being naked in front of other people is acceptable for children in Haiti. Do you know? 

Thank you, 
Josiah

Josiah,
About the naked kids ... In Port au Prince you don't see many naked kids as much as you do in Cite Soleil and other more rural places. When parents are going to meetings or appointments they will dress their kids up. They have less so they will save the clothes for church and other things. Sometimes the parents are washing the kids' clothes.

Phoebe and Lydia get super hot every day that's why they love just wearing their undies at home, especially Lydia. When somebody is knocking on our gate and comes in she quickly and so rapidly runs upstairs to get her clothes on.

This might sound weird but when I lived in LaDigue for 2 1/2 years I saw like 10 naked kids a day. LaDigue is a rural place in Haiti and naked kids are common in rural places. Thanks for asking.

Megan asks

Hi Isaac! I have a question for you! Some of our family's best friend just left TODAY to go be missionaries in Haiti (about 2 hours outside of PAP). My five year old and four year old sons are going to really miss their best friends, even though we are excited for this new chapter in their lives. My question is this: What can we do as friends of missionary children do to help ease their transition? What do you think would be good things to mail in a care package to Haiti? Keep up the good work, Isaac! I always love reading your responses. Megan

(I meant cans of mixed nuts - not mixed nix - I don't know what I meant when I said nix instead of nuts.)

Sora asks

Sora has left a new comment:

Hi Isaac,

Our family is preparing to become missionaries in a developing country. What can we do as parents to help our kids adjust to all the changes this will involve for them? Is there anything your parents did or do that you and your siblings found particularly helpful? Anything we should NOT do? Our children are ages 10, 8, 6, and 4.

parental notes: 
1.isaac is Haitian but was adopted at 14 months of age and lived in MN from that time until he was four - his language skills developed in the USA therefore English is his first language. moving here as a Haitian-American kid and not knowing Kreyol was and is hard - mainly because the expectation when people look at him is that he would speak Kreyol fluently. the expectation is what all three of our Haiti-born kids struggle with and it has served more to discourage their learning of Kreyol than to encourage it.  we'll get there! 
2. we spent a ton of time with our kids at the beginning and tried not to jump right into too much work.  that kind of happened, i think. our kids have always been encouraged to tell us whatever they feel and think --- so from time to time that means "I hate it here" is what we're hearing. when we moved we had: 15, 10, 4, 4, and almost 2 year old (no Phoebe or Lydie yet).  I think it was by far the hardest for our 15 year old daughter at first -- which makes tons of sense. 

prayers for you as you move and transition and make lots of adjustments! 

Pamela asks

Pamela has left a new comment on your post "20 days till school starts!":

Hi Isaac - My husband and I live near Cape Town, South Africa, and I read your blog (and your mom's blog) several times each week. Thanks for writing - you're good at this! My question is: What are you most eager to do or to learn once school begins again?

Erin asks

Erin said: Isaac what computer games do you like to play?

Tricia asks

Hi Isaac!

Thanks so much for taking some more questions.  I really appreciated your advice the last time!  Unfortunately, I didn't get to do any of the three things you suggested to me (Basin Bleu, hiking to Seguin, and Wahoo Bay).  But good news, I have done ALL of those when I lived in Haiti!  I did go to Ile a Vache, which is close to Les Cayes, and you really should try to go there sometime!  It was the most beautiful and breathtaking part of Haiti I have ever seen!

Anyways, back to my question.  You have a lot of siblings!  I've been having a big disagreement with my sister for about a year.  What advice can you give me? She speaks meanly and disrespectfully to me.  We are adults so my parents can't figure it out.  What advice could you give about getting along with a sibling who doesn't speak nicely or respectfully to you?

Thanks so much Isaac!

-T

Hi T -

This one was hard for Isaac. He really wanted to get it right. :)  He tends to be VERY literal and he sometimes over thinks things. At one point he wondered if a judge could order mediation.  I told him I didn't think you and your sister were in the middle of a divorce so maybe not. We talked a lot before he wrote his answer and that might be evident in the examples he gave. He said "Well this just makes me very sad."  He really hopes this problem will get solved very soon. :)  With love from here, Tara

20 days till school starts!

This is what I read this summer ...

I started and just finished the whole series! 

Rosie Asks

Rosie said: Isaac, you have a LONG summer. Do you like that? Do you forget things you've learned?

Shelly asks

Hi Isaac. I've loved reading your blog. I think it is pretty cool that your parents are letting you do something like this. You owe them, bigtime for being such cool parents. Here's my question for you: I have been in the process of adopting Emilee for a long long time now and she is FINALLY going to be coming home this fall, when she will also be turning 5 years old. Can you tell me having been adopted and being Haitian just like her, what are some of the important things that I need to remember when she comes home to live with me? What will help her adjust a little bit easier and what kind of things should I not forget about in the chaos of it all? I am REALLY excited to bring her home, but I understand that it will be really hard for her to leave all of her friends and Haiti and all that she knows and move to a different life. Thanks for answering and keep on writing!

Shelly :)  

Tracey asks

Miss Koontz asks

Blenda asks

Issac,I love that you are so expressive with your vocabulary. What is your favorite way to learn new words? Do you have a "word of the day" or is the dictionary your favorite resource for astounding new words? I love doing crossword puzzles because they keep my mind thinking about words. Do you like crossword puzzles?

Tess asks

Tess said: What is your favorite video game? Do you like writing for the blog and do you write everyday?

Vonda asks

Hi Isaac. This is cousin Vonda. We sure miss you! Timmy would like to ask you a few questions. How would you compare Haiti before and after the earthquake. What has changed? What do people in Haiti do for entertainment? Did people have telephones in their homes before the earthquake? Or cell phones? Has a communication infrastructure been rebuilt since the earthquake? 

Dear Vonda and Timmy -
Here is how I'd describe Haiti after the demolishing earthquake: CRAMMED.

There used to not be as much tents on pieces of land before the earthquake. For example mountains and mountainsides by the beaches have like 108 tents on it now.

A ton of stuff has changed. We see more UN people and machines (that is a truck or car) than we did before.

What do people here do for entertainment?  That depends on if they are rich or poor and what age they are.Here are some things: watching soccer games, playing soccer, gambling or lottery games,  going to the beach, watching bands play music and night clubs.

Yes, people had telephones and cell phones before the FEARSOME earthquake. Ever since the earthquake only cell phones (and not land lines) are used. Yes, a new infrastructure for communication has been built. Digicel is the massively large company that gives people a phone card if they buy the minutes. Cellular services have been doing well.

Isaac


Disclaimers:
108 tents is not an official government total.
We might not see more UN.
"Fearsome earthquake" -  yes.