It's hard to believe we are almost two full weeks into the month of July already! Having returned to Be Like Brit on July 1st while hosting our Britsionary group Team Sweaty Spaghetti, I definitely walked into a full and busy house - as per usual! It was a welcomed sight, indeed, as the walls and halls of this building are best when filled with activity! There's been no shortage of that lately!

While Team Sweaty Spagehetti left on Saturday, July 4, Len and Bernie came in that same day, and so while there was a pause in the amount of people in Haiti at Be Like Brit, there was no slowing down for us on the ground! With my return, Len wanted to be sure that we sat down with the entire staff as a whole here, explaining to them my new role, and setting a tone for clear expectations. With 89 full-time staff members, getting everyone together for a meeting can be quite challenging! We decided to break it up into two separate meetings, so that we could best accommodate our weekend, part-time staff and our regular full-time teams. 

Len, Bernie, Weenshy and I set off for Port au Prince on Tuesday of this past week, making visits with our lawyer who has been working with us to navigate the NGO licensing process, and also to stop at the IBESR (Institut du Bien-EtreSocial et des Recherches), the authority in Haiti for granting orphanages and creches the right to legally operate. You may recall that back in April of 2014, we celebrated what we felt was a great accomplishment - the seemingly simple and straightforward process of having our application accepted was a lengthy and complex process, in and of itself! More than 14 months later, we're still waiting for that paperwork to be processed and for our license to be granted. Our friendly visit to the IBESR office, speaking with the Executive Director and with every level director along the way, we are hopeful that tomorrow, my call to the IBESR office to confirm that paperwork is being processed will be met with a much-anticipated and long-awaited YES!

These kinds of things in Haiti can be so frustrating. Not only is the process long and complicated, but because rules are so inconsistently reinforced and laws can be so antiquated, those in the positions of power and authority to both guide and govern the processes often are not full sure of what needs to be done or of how to answer questions. A simple Google search for a process we might need to complete in the USA yields countless resources and sources for how to go about a process. This simply doesn't exist in Haiti, and even what is established seems to be ever-changing. It's these long days where we might treat ourselves to a nice lunch, as Bernie, Amanda and I did this past week, stopping in at the Karibe Hotel in Port after a long day of navigating Port's both suffocating traffic and bureaucratic processes.

 Yes, it is the little things like being able to get a nice, familiar lunch at a place like the Karibe that helps on the days when things get overly frustrating or stressful. Though, it's certainly not the only thing that helps! We are blessed to be near the very beautiful Taino Beach, and with our friend and long-term Britsionary Caroline here in Haiti for a month, as a certified Lifeguard, we are really enjoying the time we have in the ocean! Caroline has had some major achievements this week, too! She's taught a handful of children how to "float" - something that they have not yet done on their own, and just weeks ago would have been even terrified to try! Caroline's approach, in line with our own efforts, have been to build trust with each child first before working on specific skills. I think it's working, and we're so thrilled to have Caroline on board with us! Taino Beach is a big hit with Bernie, too, and the children just love when he is here to spend time with them, too!

Indeed, it is great to be back among friends and family alike! With Len and Bernie's arrival on Saturday, July 4, we also welcomed Gama back to Haiti, finally bringing back with him to their beautiful new home, his wife Angela and their children Nathan and Nyah! Gama has given Be Like Brit an incredible 4 and 1/2 years of his life, and as he prepares to phase out this last six months in a full-time capacity, we know how much his family sacrificed for him to be able to do the incredible work he's done for The Gengel Family. We were so happy to see them all travel back in together!!!

Gama and I have worked very closely over the past two and a half years, from the days of my first arrival in Haiti on December 27, 2012. While I am a MSW and have next to no experience in construction work, being the son of a small-business owner and having worked in his business for years, I have become fairly efficient at task-oriented work. When Len handed me the checklist to get the last details of work completed in the building before the Dedication Ceremony to be held with more than 100 guests, I wasn't quite sure what to think. 

Gama and I quickly became great friends and colleagues as he patiently helped me through that process. From that point on, Gama and I have worked very well together, and when it was announced that I was coming back to Be Like Brit, Gama reached out in his very sincere and authentic way, saying how happy he was that I would be taking on aspects of his role ahead of his departure. It's a great feeling when people you respect so much express such confidence in you ~ even when your own doubts make you worry. It's great to see Gama and his family back together and I am so excited for them on their new adventures!

While Len left earlier this week to attend to some business on a project he's working on in Florida, Bernie stayed on with us through the weekend, By the time you read this, he will be landing back in the USA, but is sure to be headed back to Haiti soon! We've also since welcomed our newest Britsionary group, along with Melissa our USA Coordinator! It's great to see so many faces on this trip - a group of 14 with nearly all of them being returning Britsionarys - some as many as FOUR times over! We love this commitment and we love these friendships. Indeed, for me, coming back to Be Like Brit was like coming home just because of the children and the staff. It is groups like this most recent group that makes one realize how far the reach extends around here -- that through this volunteer program and through this orphanage, so many wonderful relationships are forged, and so many memories are made.

Be sure to follow along with our week's adventures on our facebook and twitter pages! As always, we thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!!!