Driven

Out there it is, in the distance. Anse-a-Galets, the largest village on the island of LaGonave.

I am so way over my head.

It was one week ago tonight, at around 2AM as I recall, that I awoke out of a sound sleep and sat straight up in bed, in a sweat. And yes, it was 90 degrees in my little Haitian bedroom but my sweating that night, I'm pretty sure, was borne of fear. No, that's not it either. Overwhelmed-ness... yes that's it. Overwhelmed-ness.

What in the world am I doing, trapse-ing around down here, stirring up the pot of my life, when I could be back home with my family and dog? And what have I done, committing myself to a project where, if God doesn't show, I'll fall flat on my face? And why so many things, for crying out loud? Why agree to speak all over the place, and take on so much in Haiti and start this nonprofit and lead these two upcoming teams and sit on my church board and, and, and. Oh, yes, I almost forgot... and keep up my busy family practice?

Some might say I'm driven. Guilty as charged. To a fault, I suppose. But the way I figure it, I've got one go around in my life and I want it to count. And if I go down in flames a few times along the way, oh well. It reminds me of the the verse, "To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me." Driven? I think so.

I must write more. It's cathartic. A good discipline for me. Richard Foster, in his book, Celebration of Discipline, makes a good case that God extends His grace to us in and through the disciplines of our faith. And I must say, I think God speaks to me as I grapple with truth and wrestle with syntax.

Blogging, for me, is less talking to you (whoever "you" are) so much as talking to myself. Usually I start out typing not knowing what will come out. That's why I never title my blog until after it's written.

Things are falling into place in Haiti:

The xray machine has been safely delivered to the hospital and will be installed by a biomedical engineer the week of October 25th. We are bringing down an xray technician to then inservice the hospital staff on its use.

We currently are awaiting delivery and customs clearance of all the cookware, burners, and tableware to the school where we will be feeding kids this school year. We finalized some details last week while I was there. Small, but important things like storage rooms, security. We ran through a mock run-through, envisioning where the kids will line up for their food, where they'll sit when they eat, and how each kid will wash their own dishes after they're done eating. We want the first day to go as well as possible.

Blessings,

Steve

Strange and Telling

I was perusing my library shelves looking for a good book for the airplane when I noticed a strange and telling juxtaposition of books. I think you can figure it out.

(It's telling because it betrays my freakishly wide set of interests. By the way, I have the entire two-volume set of every single cartoon Gary Larson ever drew. Fun times.)

I'll be in Haiti through Wednesday. I'll keep you posted.

Steve

Announcement

The time has come to make our first public announcement. Not that Starfysh has been any big secret, but as of today, we will begin our intentional, inform-the-wider-audience efforts to get word out. The letter below is the first of many I personally will write. It is addressed to my patients and practice community. It will be posted on the walls of the rooms where I see patients and I'll have extra copies available for them to take home if they want. I plan on putting it in our newspaper. It's not fancy at all, but homespun is how people know me around here, so to be fancy-schmancy about things would not feel right to them, nor would it to me.

Now I can finally write thank you notes to all you who have donated to past projects. I've been holding off until we received our 501(c)3 notice so I could acknowledge your gifts as tax deductible. Now I can.

Dear Patients and Friends,

After 18 years, now, of investing my time and energies into a tiny mission hospital on a small island off Haiti’s mainland, I find myself unable (and unwilling) to extract myself from that work. I am drawn, like a magnet, to the precious and needy people there and have decided to raise the stakes of my commitment and investment in that land. And I am about to ask you who know me and trust me to find it in your hearts to support me in what I am about to announce.

Over the past year of soul-searching, I have come to the stark realization that the impact of my work in Haiti, while significant down there and gratifying to me personally, cannot grow significantly under my current modus operandi of personal trips and projects. The time has come to involve you, my patients and friends. The time has come to multiply myself, to leverage the great human resource that is mine... in you.

This all said, I am pleased and excited to announce the creation of STARFYSH, a grassroots nonprofit which will greatly enhance the positive difference I can make for a small island of about 100,000 of the world’s poorest, hungriest, and sickest people. It is grassroots because it almost had to happen, the result when people with pent-up energy all of a sudden have an outlet, a cause, for that energy. A cause that resonates.

I have a few out-of-the-chute things I want to do during this first year, but the most urgent is to feed a bunch a kids who are going hungry right now. As you read this letter, there is sea-container full of plates, glasses, silverware, cook pots and cook stoves churning its way through Caribbean seas on its way to Haiti... enough to feed 1,000 children at a school right down the road from the hospital where I work. As it stands, these kids will not eat unless we can make it happen. And, while I know there is a world of needs out there, I figure I can make a difference for this village, for this particular bunch of hungry kids. And I humbly ask if you would help me feed these kids.

72 cents will feed a hungry kid a good, nutritious meal. Feeding them every school day adds up to $15/month, $180/year. $720 would feed all 1,000 kids on any given school day. Any way you concoct it, it’s cheap. And I am determined to feed them.

I have a pipeline of projects being developed, all cool and worthy and needed. They are increasingly-strategic, with issues of sustainability built in, but right now... today... food is what is needed to bring these kids out of their malnourished state. 72 cents a day will do it.

I promise that 100% of your gift will go to the project of feeding these kids. Zero will taken out for other things. Also know that whatever you give will translate almost immediately into the sight of a smiling school child holding his or her plate while it is piled full of rice and beans.

If you will help, you can drop off or mail your tax-deductible gift to my office in Saranac (107 North Bridge St. Saranac, MI 48881) or mail it to Starfysh 3725 Oak Creek Court SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546. Make checks out to Starfysh, and write “Feed Kids” in the memo line. Please provide your name, address and email so I can send you a thank you and receipt.

If you’re OK with grassroots and want to learn more about the island of La Gonave, Haiti and what I am up to down there, explore starfysh.org.

We can do this.

Your friend,

Dr. Edmondson

Co-labor-ation

These 19 boxes of plates and glasses and forks were added to our container shipment today. I appreciate Doug Porritt and his ministry, Rays of Hope, for their important role in getting food and relief supplies down to Haiti for folks like us. It's collaboration like this that wins the day. As people and churches and agencies fulfill their God-given roles, the job gets done. Call it strength in numbers; call it synergy. "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken," was how Solomon put it.

Besides, this sharing the work load we call co-labor-ation gives us time to relax, and to notice the little blessings right under our noses. Check out the tree frog taking it all in from atop this hosta leaf. I bet he almost croaked when he saw all those boxes.

Steve

XRAY crosses the waves

Here's a pic of the xray system on the boat getting ready to cross the sea over to the island. Next step: installation. We're working hard to get the engineer down there quickly. It is so sorely needed.

Please pray that it will happen quickly... only because when we crank it up, the level of care that can be provided will go up immediately.

By the way, that's Haiti missionary Matt Tegen accompanying the equipment on its watery journey. Thanks Matt. See you soon!

Give Away

These eight large and heavy boxes contain supplies that will help to feed hungry kids: cookstoves, cooking pots, tableware, etc. Also contained in these boxes is an xray view box and a boat load (literally, as it will turn out!) of medical supplies for our hospital: suture, scalpels, IV tubing, catheters, syringes and needles, wound care items (gauze bandages, tape, irrigation supplies, etc.), orthopedic supplies (casting material, splints, etc.).

These supplies have all been packed on to a large, 40-foot container and will arrive in Haiti, by ship, in about a month.

Thank you for giving. Your gifts, I promise, will make a huge difference in the lives of people in a quiet, impoverished, and hungry village on a little island in Haiti.

AND!... now that we have received our 501 (c) (3)... I can officially tell you that your gifts to Starfysh are 100% tax deductible. Also you who have given already should know that gifts dating back to February 3rd, 2010 are fully deductible, and we can now send you receipts to use when you file your taxes.

$15 will feed a hungry school child every school day for an entire month. And we want to feed 1,000 kids. School in Haiti starts October 4th, so feel free... give away!

Thanks friends,

Steve

I'll Try to Get a Picture

There it was... waiting for me on the kitchen table... the letter we'd been waiting for. I knew it would come, the letter.

Seemed silly, getting my little digital camera out. "What are you doing?" my wife inquired. "Taking a picture of our letter!" Her smile reminded me of when she looks out in the garden at me getting my goofball pictures of jack-in-the-pulpits and hostas. (I don't know, but I've always suspected that such smiles are not ones of pride or affirmation so much as they are of pity that I can't find something better to do... like fix the kitchen faucet that's been dripping for the last six months).

That's alright. The letter, like my hostas and jacks, comes at great effort and after much waiting. Good things come after waiting, it seems. Consider gestation. Now that I think about it... it was about nine months ago that Starfysh was conceived. Poetic.

The xray equipment made it safely to the island yesterday afternoon.

I'll try to get a picture.

In Some Cases the Difference

More good news today. The xray equipment you helped me with cleared customs yesterday and is, AS I WRITE, en route across the sea to the village of Anse-a-Galets, on the island of La Gonave. There, in a tiny mission hospital (the island's only), it will make a difference... in some cases the difference. You have made a difference... in some cases the difference.

If you click on the map you can find Anse-a-Galet, on La Gonave's northeast shoreline The space shuttle took a picture of La Gonave, just for us I'm sure.

The Byrth of Starfysh

Dear Friends,

Sorry for my silence... I have been biting my tongue as we wait for word...

But today I am very happy to announce that we received a determination letter from the IRS officially recognizing Starfysh as a tax-exempt non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

My self-imposed silence is over. We now may (and will!) boldly move forward in bringing compassion, dignity, and hope to an island of people I have grown to love an awful lot.

Spread the word. A Starfysh is born.

You Will Surely Know

Hey folks,

I hope you'll pardon my silence, lately. I have suffered a pretty severe case of blogopenia (Latin - "lack of blogging"). I've been going to BT for it and I think it's helping.

Much continues to happen in the background of my silence, while we patiently check our mail every day. It will eventually come, that letter. Tomorrow or next week or next month. But I hope it's tomorrow. Don't worry... verily, verily I say unto you, you will surely know.

I networked hard today. That's fun. I love to network and to create networks and teams and to line up things. Want proof? Check out the picture. That's my pilot reading our Starfysh brochure DURING our flight back to the mainland. Hey, I'm hard core... what can I say?

Thanks for keeping touch,

Steve

Then the Earthquake Hit

One of the goals of my most recent trip to Haiti was to show the school children how to jump rope. I think you can tell from their smiles that that they really appreciated my willingness to demonstrate my skills.

I returned from Haiti two weeks ago, laying more projects groundwork. Met with those who will be administrating our feeding program and have been seeking wisdom and counsel of those familiar with Haitian culture and who've had experience with various types of feeding programs. Please pray for this, as we want to get it right. Hungry kids who could care less, really, about logistics and accounting just want a good meal now and again. And yet, logistics and accounting and accountability structures and hiring workers and fuel sources and eating utensils and security... all this and more we must get right or the food won't land in their stomachs. (Get this... on average, every hour one Haitian child dies as a direct or indirect result of starvation).

Starfysh is still awaiting official "non-profit" designation by the IRS. Until then, and while we wait, we are holding off on any major fundraising efforts. (On one hand, it makes me nervous, because the first day of school in Haiti is just eleven weeks away, and we want so badly to give the kids a good meal. As we wait some donations are trickling in, which is nice. Thank you.) We did hear about our application from the IRS a couple of weeks ago. They contacted us with some very minor technical stuff, which we see as a good sign... i.e., that they apparently have no issues with the substantive stuff we submitted. Another topic for which I would appreciate your prayers.

I cannot tell you how many times people have asked me something like, "Are things improving in Haiti?" My response, many times, has been to quote Wes Stafford, president of Compassion, International, when he said,

"Haiti was home to one of the worst disasters of our time. Then the earthquake hit."

Pray for Haiti. Haiti's issues are so complex, so deep, and so entrenched. No government can fix her. Not the U.N. Not Bono. Not Jack Bauer. Money won't fix her. Not even Oprah can fix Haiti. Only God can fix Haiti.

So pray for Haiti.

Another Face of Malnutrition

There are 30,000 young children in Haiti who suffer from mental deficiencies all because their mothers were iodine deficient. This two-month-old baby faces such a problem.

Totally wrong, for it's totally preventable.

My Deepest Respect

Hanging out with my good friend Jonas before taking off from La Gonave this morning.

When I go to bed tonight I won't have a high power fan blowing 94 degree air into my face like I have for the past week. Touche, long-term missionaries for giving up comforts of home to serve in such difficult conditions. You have my deepest respect. Thank you.

And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

I Did the Math

I happened upon this tiny orphanage during my journey today. It is less than 2 months old, made up entirely of boys and girls orphaned by Haiti's recent earthquake.

They have no sponsoring agency, just a loving woman caring for them and a local business owner who offered up a small building to house them. They were running out of food, so my sister and I decided to help. Long story short, we stocked their shelves with rice, beans, spaghetti, charcoal, cooking oil, and sugar (for sugar drink). We spent $324 for a month's worth of two meals a day for eleven kids. I did the math: 49 cents a meal.

Best $324 I've spent in a very long time.

Starfish

I took a picture of this starfish today. In the background you can see Anse-a-Galets, the village where we will be feeding a bunch of hungry kids soon.

I return home tomorrow, after a good week. Good connections made, details nailed down. Many stories to share.

By the way, the starfish was alive... so I threw him in to live another day.

Hunger Up Close

There are tons of facts and figures you can find on hunger and malnutrition. Facts like...

76% of Haiti's children under 5 years of age are underweight or suffer from wasting or stunted growth, and...

every 6 seconds a child somewhere in the world dies from a malnutrition-related disease, and...

2.4 million people in Haiti are "food insecure" (don't have enough access to food), and...

one out of every three babies born in Haiti are born underweight.

Holding this little boy this morning made me forget those numbers. For a few moments, it was just me and him.

School this Morning

These kindergarteners have met in an outside classroom since the earthquake. They were studying the human body when I was there this morning. This photo was taken less than two hours ago.

I visited many classrooms today, talking with them and answering some of their questions. In many of them I asked for a raise of hands of how many had eaten today. Average was 1-2 out of 30.

None of the children you see have eaten today.

72 cents would fill one of their little bellies with a well-balanced nutritious meal and drink.

Update from Haiti

12 miles out from where this picture is taken there is an island of people in great need. I think I'll go out and see...

Sorry for my delay in posting. Until tonight I've not had internet access. This trip has been difficult but good. Difficult because of travel delays and hitches. Good because my sister Kathy is with me (her first trip to Haiti with her big bro). Difficult because it is ungodly hot (9:30 PM and 92 degrees). Good because important pieces of the child feeding program are falling into place. Difficult because I miss my wife, kids, and grandbaby (Sophie, 7 months old, apple of grandpa's eye). Good because it is good for me to leave comfort and ease for a bit and be reminded that comfort and ease are not really what life's all about.

After a day on Haiti's mainland, we journeyed the 12 miles out to La Gonave (calm seas, blistering sun), getting here mid afternoon today. I squeezed in a brief meeting with the schoolmaster of the school whose 1,000 children we hope to feed this upcoming school year. I will spend most of the morning at the school tomorrow (visiting many of the classrooms and exploring the school buildings and grounds). I'll post some pictures. After lunch I'll head over to the hospital.

I received news just today that the xray you all helped me raise money for will be flown from Fort Pierce, Florida to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Please pray for a quick (and inexpensive!) customs process. We are arranging to have xray tech personnel fly down to inservice the staff and give a refresher (continuing education) course on xray positioning techniques, etc.

The hospital remains a very difficult situation, but I am excited that very good things are happening, the most major being that an organization in Scotland has raised the funds necessary to replace (raze and re-build!) the condemned building.

More tomorrow.

Over My Head... Again

Three weeks. This has been the longest gap in blog-posting since I started it right after Haiti's earthquake. My bad. Just busyness, that's all. Blame busyness.

Even though this is the first post after a 3-week hiatus, I will be brief and to-the-point with my updates:

1. The xray equipment was shipped from the manufacturer in New York this week, and is enroute to Haiti.

2. Starfysh continues to wait for official word from the IRS on official non-profit designation. Even while we wait, we are growing, maturing. Web and print materials have been produced. God is bringing passionate and skilled and connected people to us. Initial projects are in place.

3. The first and most pressing need will be to get these school children fed. It is crazy and ambitious, I know, to think we can START a new organization with this huge endeavor. (Why didn't God show me a tiny little school to get our feet wet with?). But here we are. And there they are. Hungry.

4. I'll be in Haiti this week, spending time at the school and the hospital. I'll try to post something up most days, here and on our starfysh facebook page.

Please pray that God will show up, because I'm clearly over my head... again.

Steve

Sophie

I'd like to introduce you to the newest love of my life. Meet my granddaughter, Sophie.

In less than four months, a thousand eager, hungry kids will walk through the schoolyard gates for the first day of the Fall school term, likely not expecting to eat that day.

We want to surprise them...

72 cents will feed a hungry school child one hot, nutritious meal.

$15 will feed a hungry kid every school day for a month.

$180 will feed them for a year.

Please consider helping me... I can't do this alone.

Would you help me feed a thousand kids? AND...

Would you help me find people to help me feed a thousand kids?

Would you help me find people to find people to help me feed a thousand kids?

I've placed a fact sheet on the Starfysh.org site that you can print off and use.

Thanks folks

Steve

Rodgersia

This Rodgersia has taken quite a few years to take off in my garden. Worth the wait.

Rodgersia was named after Admiral Rodgers of the Pacific Expeditionary Fleet that discovered the species in the far east.

Bring it on Alex Trebek.

Lamium

Lamium (AKA deadnettle) is a fairly easy to grow. It's a plant that thrives in shade, something I have plenty of. I have several growing right next to the path. Thanks to Gail B. for giving me the heads up on this one and for giving me a start. (Remember with all pics on this site that you can click to zoom in for a closer look).

Note: this is not the kind of "nettle" (weed) that you get "nettles" from. Those kind of nettles have tiny irritating hairs on them... NOT fun to get into.

Shameless Audacity

This is a rare, through-the-woods sunset that we get to see from our deck every once in a blue moon.

I saw on the news last night where some group in Grand Rapids held a fundraising campaign to rescue several city swimming pools from shutting down this Summer due to cuts in the city budget. They raised almost $180,000 in a really short period of time. Which is great for the kids and families of our town. The guy they interviewed said that 80% of the donations that came in were under $100, which I thought was really great, because that tells me their fundraising success wasn't mainly because of a couple of gigantic gifts.

I was glad to see that news report, because I figured if one town can raise that much money in a week or two to keep 3 city pools open for 7 weeks this Summer, then we should be able to feed a 1000 famished school kids for a whole year.... all for about the same amount of money.

I was reading in Luke's gospel this week and ran across these words of Jesus:

Suppose you have a friend and you go to him at midnight and say, "Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him." And suppose the one inside answers, "Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything." I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

The passage goes on to tell of God's eager willingness to give Himself to folks, if they would just ask.

The phrase that stood out to me was "shameless audacity." Sometimes I think people must think to themselves that that Steve's got a lot of nerve asking for project donations all the time. To be honest with you, I think that about myself. I am nervous about what people must think.

For me, though, what compels me to swallow my pride and write a blog or drop a bunch of letters in the mail is sort of like the last minute desperation those city pool fundraisers felt. That is to say, it's now or never to make the ask.

I know... shameless. Audacious and shameless.

Out on a Limb

I visited this classroom during a recent visit to Haiti. This picture was taken in the early afternoon. These children had had nothing to eat yet that day. Same as always.

The next project need is significant and urgent and big. And, while I know I am way over my head on this, it occurs to me that I have sort of lived there, (way over my head, that is) for a while now. And, while my life would be much easier without all this Haiti hyper-involvement, I feel the need to press forward in this God-adventure. Because for all the second-guessing and sheer terror I've gone through these last five months, God has not failed to win the day. He has provided... every time.

The way I see it, to NOT move forward might be to risk NOT seeing a miracle that God really wants to do, if only someone is crazy enough to ask the mountain to move.

The way I see it, who ever said, "the safest place to be is in the center of God's will" is dead wrong. I mean, who says "safety" is what following God is all about? Heck, if I wanted to be safe, I wouldn't be going to Haiti every time I turn around. If I wanted to be safe, I certainly would not, at the age of 53, be going out on a limb by forming a non-profit organization. If I wanted to be safe, I'd choose smaller projects... safe projects... projects I could pay for myself if the funds didn't come in. And, dear friends, if I wanted to be safe, I certainly would not choose feeding one thousand children as my first feeding program project. I mean, that's just silly.

I have truly gone out on a limb. But friends, here's why...

On Monday, October 4, 2010, some one-thousand children will gather for the first day of school in one of the most desperately-poor places on this planet. And if we don't do something between now and then, these thousand kids will have nothing to eat. For the entire school year they will not eat. Simple as that.

And, simple as this....

72 cents would cover the cost of gas to drive to the grocery store. 72 cents would also cover the cost of one hot, nutritious meal for a hungry child in Haiti.

$15 would buy lunch for two at Applebee's. $15 would also feed a hungry Haitian child for an entire month.

$180 would buy a nice digital camera. $180 would also feed a child every school day for a whole year.

$720 is about what the average garage sale makes. And that's what it would cost to feed 1000 hungry kids on any particular school day in Haiti.

Now, to fully fund this project would require nearly $190,000, and I am fully aware that right now, unless I have some closet bazillionaires out there, my own personal sphere of friendships and acquaintances is probably not wide enough to get this gargantuan job done. That said, I am asking any of you who are touched by this need if you might consider a fundraising effort of your own to feed "x" number of kids. And to share this vision with yet others who might be inspired to raise funds to feed their own "x" number of kids.

Within the next couple of days, we will be adding to our site a downloadable project facts sheet that you can print off to use for your own fundraising purposes. If you want it sooner than that, contact me and I can email it to you.

One last request: I am collecting stories of all the different fundraising efforts going on and will post them on our website. Send me what you can: stories, pictures, and of course results of your efforts. It will be fun to see the different ways folks raise money for this good cause.

I am nervous.

Steve

The Paradox

This swivel-head fake owl is supposed to deter the woodpeckers from pecking at the cedar siding on my house. He's not very good at it. The flowers in the foreground are Weigelas.

Here is the paradox...

It is not as if our hearts are stone. We do hurt when others hurt and we cry when others cry. This is compassion, and most of us, in fact, have a good measure of it. But when the problems over which we grieve are large or complex, our measured response seems to lessen. Suffering, natural disasters, poverty, hunger, injustice... it's just too much! After all, what difference can one person make anyway? Seeing ourselves as tiny by comparison, we feel inadequate for the task of solving gargantuan problems and providing for overwhelming needs. The very enormity of the need becomes the very thing that paralyzes us from responding. We shift our attention away, thinking, even praying that someone more famous or with a bigger bankroll or with more connections will come along to help these particular starfish.

Furthermore, it is obvious that people want to, and are ready to do and to give and to help. But it's all so impersonal. We pick up a brochure or we see the need on TV. But, without a personal connection to those who challenge us to give, we decide that now is not quite the right time to get involved. What a sad disconnect: plenty of human compassion and ready resources, but a comparatively puny response to our confrontation with desperate human need.

But we all like the starfish story, don't we? It frees us from the burden of saving the world. The story resonates with what we all intuitively know to be true... that singlehandedly I cannot change the world, but I might be able to make a big difference for a tiny part of it. For a child or a village or an orphanage. If only someone would invite us for a stroll down the beach...

STARFYSH is your invitation. Would you join me for a walk down the beach?

XRay Project Funded

Needed: $10,500
Received: $10,500

Well done, friends. In these days of seemingly all bad news, you have proven, once again, that the human spirit is alive and well.

We'll have to do it again sometime.

Steve

XRay Project Need Met

If it hadn't been for the 2 day, $12,000 + supplies + plane + personnel earthquake response...

If it hadn't been for the 8 day, $12,000 response to buy tarps for the tent refugees...

... I probably would not have been as antsy about the time is has been taking to raise $10,500 to replace the broken xray machine at a small mission hospital in Haiti.

But I looked back on this blog for when I posted my initial plea for help: April 12th. Just 47 days ago! Dear friends, in less than 7 weeks you and I have provided a SIGNIFICANT and long-term improvement to the basic medical infrastructure on the "forgotten" island of La Gonave, Haiti. The ability to diagnose and care for the diseased and injured just got better.

Received so far: $10,367... a measly $133 away from our $10,500 goal.

La Gonave is not forgotten after all.

We have placed the order and the xray unit is on the production schedule. I'll keep you posted on the progress of production, delivery, installation, and use.

Thanks folks, you have come through again. Next on our strategic plan to impact the island is to feed kids at a school (of nearly a thousand kids!) where currently the kids do not eat. As you can imagine, this is also urgent. Go to Starfysh.org to learn more. I'm sure I'll be blogging about this one too.

XRay Project Status

Hostas are my favorite flower to grow. The cement frogs love them too. In fact, the frog you see here hasn't moved from under this hosta in a very long time.

So far we have received $4,967 toward the purchase of new xray equipment for the hospital. It's coming in slowly but steadily.

Steve

XRay Project Status

This is skunk cabbage. They grow in abundance down by our creek, especially in the lower boggy areas. They are poisonous so if you catch your local deli selling cole slaw made from skunk cabbage, find a new deli.

Received so far: $4,917

XRay Project Status

I found these gigantic arisaemae triphylliums growing wild in my garden. I have scores of these in my yard and woods but I think this is the biggest one I've seen. Pretty prehistoric looking, don't you think?

OK, quiztime again. What is the more familiar name for this protected species?

a. Jack in the Pulpit

b. Cat in the Cradle

c. Johnny come Lately

d. Jimmy Crack Corn

Received so far $4,667

Ostrich Ferns

Several years ago I took a couple of ostrich ferns that were growing down by the creek and transplanted them up closer to the house. Now all I can say is that because of that move I believe there are many more oxygen molecules floating around the planet.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Spring in Michigan

If you click once or twice on this pic you'll see several varieties of lilacs now in bloom in our front yard. They are pretty stunning right now.

Received on xray project thus far: $3,852

We Need Help

I'm speaking at a local Rotary Club meeting tomorrow and was perusing my photo files to pull a few pics to share. I found several pics like these. Kind of says it all doesn't it?

A Starfysh is Born

OK here goes... www.Starfysh.org is finally live. I wonder if you all would do a couple of favors for me.

1. Visit and peruse the site

2. Follow Starfysh on Facebook

3. Let me know what you think

Thanks!

Steve

XRay Project Status

These lily-of-the-valleys are blooming right now. Very fragrant. One of Sue's favorite flower patches of the garden. Every Spring she brings a few bouquets in for our kitchen table.

Received toward xray so far: $3,752

XRay Project Status

These "may apples" live up to their name. In the lower picture you can see both bloom and fruit. My wife and kids think I'm so weird when they see me laying on the ground getting these close ups of my garden. I don't care. I can handle their ridicule.

This plant is where the topical medicine podophyllin comes from (sometimes used to treat viral and genital warts). Hey, you think I make this stuff up?

Good progress on Starfysh this week. And there is a rumbling out there in blogland regarding the xray project. Stay tuned. I believe the next couple of weeks should be interesting...

XRay Project Status

This is a picture of Anse-a-Galets, the largest village on the island of La Gonave, and where it is that I go most often. It is here where the island's only hospital is located. This scene looks biblical, doesn't it?

Received so far: $3,502

XRay Project Status

These flowers are blooming in my yard and woods right now but I don't know what they're called... maybe someone out there knows....

Not much movement on xray this week but I anticipate good movement this next week. I'll keep you posted.

Steve

Observation Skills

See if you can find the following things in this picture:

rhododendron

candytuft

hosta

Golden Retriever

La Gonave Haiti

It occurs to me that most of you out there in blog-land don't know where this "La Gonave" is that I keep yapping about. In the top picture it is the island there in the center of the Gulf of Gonave. Home to about 100,000 of the world's most desperately-poor, it is a tough place to call home: meager existences marked by small-plot subsistence garden plots, hunger and disease a way of life. People here (as in most of Haiti) really struggle to hope for a future that might be any better than what it has always been for them.

The bottom picture is a picture of Anse-a-Galets, La Gonave's largest village, and the place for the past 20 years I have kept returning. And it is here that I have chosen to focus my efforts, starting with the hospital, then with one of the village's schools.

The needs are legion and all are urgent. How does one go about prioritizing such basic needs as food and water and medical care? I guess we'll learn as we go.

Received so far for xray: $3,412 I am going to ramp up my appeal efforts to get this xray baby done. It won't take much, I don't think. The way I figure it, 100 gifts of 60 bucks and we're there. If you know of anyone this type of thing might appeal to would you let them know? Thanks folks.

Steve

PS I have been sort of surprised at the interest in my flower photos. Gardening has been a good hobby for me my entire life. During the day I use my brain and wash my hands a lot; in my garden I try to see just how dirty I can get. Hey, I try to be well-rounded.

Jack in the Pulpit

Jack-in-the-Pulpits are coming up like mad in my garden and woods after the good rain we had last weekend. If you click on the first picture you can really see lots of different stages of plants: from ones just emerging up to the full adult plant. Here's some trivia for you: did you know some Jack-in-the-Pulpits are male while others are female?

Now you are ready for Jeopardy. I'll take sexed woodland wildflowers for $1000 Alex.

Daily progress is being made on Starfysh. I am actually almost to the point that I can actually start talking about it....