Rats! Oh rats!

Rats, why did I do that?  Rats, why did things go that way? This blog is not about the expression about rats.  This is about the real thing.

Rats!!  Yikes, rats!!  Rats are here – the real rats.  Rats have been wrecking havoc in both of our storage depots.  Food and other supplies have been ruined and wasted.  Oh rats indeed!!!!  (Thinking of Marilyn who serves  in the Phillipines as I write this one.)

Yesterday, and today, New Year’s Eve, has been spent chasing rats in both depots behind my house.  I had seen signs of them in both depots – in the depot that holds many, many boxes of food for our school students, plus a ton of other supplies, and in the other depot that holds supplies specifically for the orphanage and our school.  Yesterday morning, however, I saw much more than signs.  I found we had as many empty pop bottles as we did full ones, several partially drained pop bottles, many empty water bottles, including one five gallon one, along with water for our batteries, tranmission fluid, etc, etc, etc.  on the floor.

Rats like pop and juice

Many boxes of special rice food for our school that been chewed open and far too much of it ruined.

Rats like the rice for the school

 

Lots of food and drink wasted

They had wrecked a lot of havock through out the depot even chewing diapers for Magdala, cans of powered milk, laundry soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, and a whole lot more.

Not much they did not chew

With a crew of three employees and five of the older children we started emptying the depot.

Moving everything out of one depot.

 

Everything has to be taken outside

 

Lets get the job done

Yesterday we could hear sounds of rats but they managed to stay hidden until we were taking out the very last of what was stored.  Then we saw four big ones running like mad trying to escape.  We had felt sure they could not pass from one depot to another due to the work that had been done in November by the team who had come to help.  We, however, could not find the four we had seen and knew they had not escaped outside.  Where did they go?

The puzzle was solved this morning when we realized that one window between the two depots still had screen, and not wire mesh as I had thought, and they had chewed a hole for passing back and forth between the two storage rooms. The depot we spent all day yesterday on, and had left clean, had more things chewed and spilled this morning. Today we found a lot of damage in the second depot as well.  Everything was moved out of that one today and at the very end we saw the missing rats, again going nuts when depot almost empty trying to escape.  I was bravely inside with a camera but when one came near me the camera was held in the air and I ran outside almost hitting Leica who was running and yelling too.  End result is one rat escaped by running over Roselene’s feet, one is dead, and two are still missing.  Sad to say they are still inside the depots.  We have no idea where.  We have blocked their hole to pass between the depots but by tomorrow morning perhaps they will have chewed another one.

I had considered leaving things as they were until Keith and Joan returned, and keeping the rat chasing for them, but decided we could not wait another three weeks to stem the havoc being done.  The next time that job is yours guys.

I have decided I am not going to check the storage depots tomorrow as I am taking New Year’s Day for myself and the children.  I want, I need, I deserve, a rat free day.

Now it is 7:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and the children just enjoyed a special New Year’s Dinner.  I am going to take all the kids up to the roof top with me for awhile, little Magdala included.  Even Jonathan is coming despite the fact that he is ill with a high fever.

New Year’s Eve dinner

Happy New Year everyone.

Happy New Year from Karen and kids at HATS-Haiti

May the Lord bless you, keep you and make His face shine upon you and give you His peace throughout 2015.

~Karen and crew