Day Four... Give us more!

Today was a wonderful day.  It was the last full day at Village of Hope School, so we all piled into the van and headed out to serve the students lunch.  Upon arriving, we had some time before the first round of lunch, so we got a tour of the school and the medical clinic.  Going through the classrooms, particularly the rooms with the younger kids, was so much fun!  The teachers have complete order in their rooms, and the students are learning quite advanced curriculum, and yet there are forty kids in a classroom, and no technology.  It is amazing what they accomplish.  The students were just as sweet as can be, and greeted us with the biggest smiles and boisterous high fives.   We then headed over to the medical clinic and got a tour there, as well.  It is a beautiful building with a triage, pharmacy, dental clinic (that runs once a week), nutrition program, and the start of an optomology clinic.  They also run a malnutrition program every Tuesday, so we got to see some sweet babies today as well.  There have been low crops the last few years, so the nutrition program is vital for the young children and pregnant and/or nursing mommas to thrive.  After the tours, it was time to start serving the meal.  The first round of classes atge at 9:30 and we served the meal through about 1:30. It was great seeing all of the students come through the cafeteria.  As it was the last day of school, they got a special treat of chicken with their rice and beans.  Once we were done serving the meal, we split up, with some continuing to work on the ceiling for the computer lab from the day before, and others sorting medications at the medical clinic.  On our way home from Village of Hope, we stopped by the Missionary of the Poor to say high to our friends from yesterday, and to give a tour to some of us on the trip that will not have an opportunity to serve there on Thursday.  All in all, it was a fantastic day, and we are looking forward to the Kindergarten Graduation tomorrow!

 

Day Three... Yippee!

Today we woke up anxious to jump into our work assignments.  The women, Trish, Gina, Meghan, Sara and Francy, went to the Missionary for the Poor, and the men, Jim, Jim, Gene, Steve, Danny, George, and Rob we to the Village of Hope School to complete a ceiling in their new computer lab. 

Last night during our project meetings, the women specifically were asked to pray for an opportunity to work hands on with the residents at Missionary for the Poor.  There had been a change in leadership there, and with that change came a shift in philosophy regarding how much hands on support the residents should receive.  As we all felt strongly called to love on these residents, we prayed fiercely for an opportunity to work directly with them.  Upon arriving at the Mission, there was new leadership (unbeknownst to us) and he was incredibly open to how we wanted to serve, and allowed us to move freely among the mission.  It was an incredible experience, and one we are all so blessed to have experienced.

At the school, the men were drilling holes in concrete holes that had stone masonry behind the concrete.  This presented a significant challenge, but they managed to pull together, and framed the headers into the masonry and stone walls.  This prepares them to put up the ceiling joists and paneling.  They are on schedule, and excited to jump back into their project tomorrow.

Please continue praying for our team and the people of Haiti.

Day Two, Yahoo!

We had a relaxing morning eating breakfast and visiting with one another.  Around 9:30 we piled into the van and embarked on the one hour drive to the American Haitian Church - Port Au Prince Fellowship.  The church was incredibly welcoming, and had a wonderfully talented band and pastor.  The pastor spoke on being open to the divine timing in our lives, and taught us a three part prayer centered on being open to his calling – Be open to his calling, open your mouth, and open the ears others.  After an almost two hour church service, we headed to lunch at the Observetoire.  It was a beautiful restaurant up in the hills and was also attached to a small marketplace.  Haitian culture treats meals a bit differently that American culture, and we ended up spending about 3-3.5 hours at lunch.  Upon our return to the Village of Hope, some of the men fixed one of the broken picnic tables, and we unpacked some of the school supplies we brought.  Tomorrow will be an early morning as we head to our projects.  Some of us will be spending the day at the Missionary of the Poor orphanage (previously Little Children of Jesus) and others will be going to the Village of Hope School to help build a computer lab for the students.  We are all so excited to start our work!

 

 On the patio at Observatoire

 Looking down on Port Au Prince

 Working on the picnic table