Winding Down

Well, we head home on Saturday. These last few days are filled with getting things cleaned up, organized and packed up. Marilyn is also lending a hand in the business office to help organized for their year-end and to help Geanne with payroll.
We had never been to the beach in the morning, so yesterday we took a stroll to spend some time at the ocean after breakfast. It was very relaxing as we were the only people there.
This morning, we took the van for a drive around town to check a couple of areas that Wade had been to before (on his first trip) and wanted to revisit. Usually, we would do walking tours of town, so it is different driving around. They have the biggest speed bumps we have ever seen.
We know we are having chicken for supper tonight because we witnessed Lucianna butchering one over the garbage can after breakfast! We can hardly wait!!
Tomorrow is the staff Christmas party. It starts with us all going to the beach in the morning and then meeting back here for a meal, program and a gift exchange. So far, there a very few signs of it being Christmas season. The church does not celebrate advent and there are no decorations. Once in a while we will hear the school children sing 'Jingle Bells'. On Christmas day, there will be a special church service and those who have the means will have a special meal, but that the is extent that it is celebrated. December 31 is a far bigger celebration for the Haitians. They throw big parties and have special church services and feasts.

Firsts and Lasts

Yesterday was the first Sunday in the new church. It is larger than the old one and has a plywood floor instead of a dirt floor and the front of the church faces the wall. The benches were quite full - a great start to a new building. These are pictures of the new church both from the front and the back and one of the old building.

Yesterday was also our last Sunday to be here as we fly home on Saturday. We feel quite sad that our time is coming to an end as we have started to make friends and relationships with many people.

We went out for goat last night and saw Kelly on Haiti Idol for one last time. He is in the top two. Of course, the finals will be this coming Sunday when we won't be here! This is a week to finish things up and pack - ending on Friday with the staff Christmas party. It begins in the morning with a trip to the beach and ends back here with a meal and gift exchange. That'll be a fun way to wind up.

Dedications

On Thursday evening, during the weekly prayer service, everyone in attendance went to the new church to pray over it and then we all walked over to the children's village property to pray over it. Both were amazing times of singing praises and prayer. Vernon (whom we've known since college days) and us, were the last ones out of the gate. We anointed it with oil and prayed over it. What a momentous time!

That evening was worth being here for for the past seven weeks. Here are a couple of photos taken by the mango trees within the wall.

Big Surprise!

This morning at the wall site, Wade was lifting up a rock and felt something clamp onto his fingers through his glove. Much to his surprise, it was this taranchula! One of the Haitian workers quickly speared it. The dark spots on Wade's glove is venom from the taranchula. Don't try this at home!!

This one is for you, Scott.

Wall is Done!

Today is the day that so many people have been working towards and praying for. The wall around the property that will house the childrens' village, school, church soccer field is completed! There is great celebration and praise here as this project that has taken a couple of years and has had quite a bit of opposition from some of the land owners in the area. That has all come to an end. The gate can be closed and locked and the property is secure. Here are some shots of the last post being erected and the last panel going in this morning.

Mangos and Cola's

The temperature and humidity is dropping slightly (29-30 degrees) and the evenings are noticeably cooler. That means that they are comfortable for us, but the security staff working the night shift are dressed in hoodies, toques, and gloves.

Some of the mangos are ripening and falling every little while. Outside the kitchen is a covered area for the school cooks and it has a tin roof. Mangos fall on it and make a large crashing sound. Shortly after that, we see someone climbing up to get the mango - either staff or one of the team. A couple of the team members are having 2 or 3 a day!

We've recently discovered various kinds of cola's. There is fruit and grape cola, but the best is banana cola. We've grown to enjoy sitting on the roof top in the cool and having a banana cola.

Wade and the team are soooo close to finishing the wall. If all goes smoothly, it will be completed by Friday. There will be great celebrating if that happens. The building of the houses for orphans and their house parents will able to get started in the new year.

I have been working with Ceres (school administrator or principal), to design a couple of new report cards for the school. One is for Kindergarten and one is for the grades (1-5). It has been an interesting job for a couple of reasons. They have to be done in French and communicating with Ceres about what he wants is a challenge. I have been honing my listening skills to try to catch all that he says. He is appreciative for the help and I have got to know one more person here which makes this experience all the richer.

Birthday in Haiti

This may be Marilyn's most memorable birthday and not because it's her 50th.....

Celebrating it in Haiti has been fun. This morning we had prayer and singing at the school yard and Lisa had the group sing 'Happy Birthday'.

Once this morning when I walked through the kitchen area, the ladies who cook for us broke out in 'happy birthday' and gave me hugs. I even got a kiss from one of them.

Lucianna and Lisa made a cake with almond icing at suppertime - yum!! We don't get dessert in Haiti, so this was a big treat for all of us. Rarely has a cake disappeared so quickly!

So far being 50 is fun!

Church under the Mango Trees

Last Monday, the church here was tore down so that a new one could be built on the same site. One that would be straighter and sturdier. It will also have a plywood floor and will be a bit larger. So the benches were moved to under the mango trees for tomorrow. They provide great shade. Wade is preaching on Matthew 5-7 which is a sermon that Jesus preached outside as well.

This photo was taken from our balcony. We have a beautiful view from here.

Children Everywhere

We walk to most places we go to here and there will always be children run up to touch us, ask for 'one dolla', hold our hands. They really like to have their photo taken and then see it on the camera. Half of the population of Haiti is under the age of 18. The most current population figure is 10 million. That's alot of young people!

One thing that we get to do with teams is to go out in the area and visit families. We usually take hygiene bags and goodies for the kids. One home we stopped at was a family of 8 children. Mom said that she lost her husband and mother in the earthquake. She and her family have a very difficult time finding enough money for food. She seemed as though she needed to talk about it all. We spent quite a while with her listening and praying. In the end, the small items we left with her seemed to insignificant compared to her needs, but they put a smile on their faces.

Workin' Hard

This is the team (minus 1) along with some of the ever so faithful Haitian workers and Marc.

They anticipate that they will finish the wall while they are here. This week, the church here at Haiti Arise has been tore down and a new sturdier, straighter one is being erected. It will be a bit larger and will have a plywood floor instead of a dirt floor, but will still be the post and tin roof style of building. We'll post some pictures of it soon.

Guerline

For those of you following our blog, you may remember the story of the 22 year old woman who came to the clinic when the medical team was here. She had a badly infected sore on her leg - so severe that it has damaged her heart. She weighs 88 lbs. and her family kicked her out when she became too sickly to be of any help at home. This picture is of Lisa helping to hook up Guerline's iv. The first day that she came, she had walked by herself to see a doctor and was very scared and quiet. After coming everyday for a while, she became much more at ease and would give us a beautiful smile. She was also very hungry, so we would give her something to eat each time she came. This is such a moving story and a reminder of how much we have to be thankful for and just how easy our lives are on these levels - so many things that are huge struggles for people like Guerline here in Haiti, we take for granted.

Photographing Kids

We get to do a great variety of tasks here and we never know from one day to the next what's coming. Today, I had to go to school and take pictures of 20 children who are available for sponsorship through Haiti Arise website. Some of them were from the three year old preschool class. They are so tiny and cute, but so scared. They've likely never had their picture taken before by a white, freckled lady! This little guy was the only one who was eager to smile - he is so cute.

We had a team arrive today to do construction work. There are seven of them, 2 from Moose Jaw, 4 from Halifax and 1 from Labrador. Three of them have not been here before so they are feeling somewhat overwhelmed but looking forward to a great time.

Wade went to the airport today and security let him in. Last time he went to get the medical team, the guards wouldn't let him in for a while, then eventually they did, but told him where to sit. You never know what the procedure will be at the Port au Prince airport from one time to the next.

Jacmel

On Thursday we visited Jacmel. It is an historic city of 60,000 south of Grand Goave that used to be an active port city and was used as one again after the earthquake to get supplies into Haiti quickly. We went with the family that has been here this past week and our driver, Yvon. The drive through the mountains was spectacular. The road was switchbacks most of the way - up and down. Only one of the three children was car sick! Wade and I were dropped off in the historic French Colonial centre of the city near the ocean. We stopped for a coke in this old restaurant (photo above) in a hotel called, Hotel Florita, - it was a beautiful old spot. The other photo above is the street that the hotel is located on. And of course, we had to add a photo of the awesome scenery. This view is from another hotel where we went for lunch called, Hotel Cyvadier -- situated high above a cove. We went swimming at the beach there, down a long staircase. We tried a Club sandwich and fries. Much like what we have in Canada, except their fries are hand cut and more flavorful! .... and of course a restaurant meal wouldn't be complete without a Coke.

It was a great day.

In the Office

For the next two weeks, Geanne, who works in the business office is on vacation, so I am her 'fill in.' This has created another learning curve! This is day three and I am starting to get a handle on handing out cash. The main detail is that money has to be converted 2 or 3 times depending on what currency you are dealing with. Actual Haitian money is called the goude, but for mathematical purposes it is converted into Haitian dollars and if needed, to US currency. I have many pages of notes!

Wade is teaching in the Bible school this afternoon.

Our Dr.'s and family leave Friday and then we prepare for a construction team to arrive Monday for two weeks.

Until next time...........

Tremor!

We had another first today! It was 7 a.m., and we had just come downstairs and poured a cup of coffee when we heard a very loud noise and felt a slight movement all around us. It was our first tremor and a very quick way to get woke up for the day! We all left the building for a few minutes until it seemed that it was over. The whole experience only lasted a few seconds, but was quite scary. The Canadian Consulate called us about an hour later (they have Marc's cell #), to see if we were alright and if there had been any damage where we are. We had registered with the consulate before we left, so if something like an earthquake happened, they would know that we are here and be able to track us.

Last night, we saw Haiti Idol on one of Marc and Lisa's neighbors' tv's. Kelly performed and had the crowd quite excited. He is now in the top four. Grand Goave is excited to have a hometown boy still in the competition.

Time to Eat!

We are very well fed here! The cooks are fantastic--they prepare very tasty food. The other day at lunch time, a couple of the guys went outside and cut off some of the cocoanuts for us to eat. That is one of them on Wade's plate. We drank the milk out of it and then scooped out the 'meat' after. What a treat!

The other photo is us eating at the local restaurant down town with Eldon and his crew before they left. As we were eating, an assortment of dogs and a cat wondered in in hopes of some food dropping on the floor. That was a first for being in a restaurant! The food was very good. Some of had goat, some fish, and some chicken. It doesn't matter what you order, because in the end they prepare what they have on hand--so you just wait and see what you get!

More care....

Dr.'s Blair and Barb with their three daughters arrived yesterday. They spent last week at an orphanage on the other side of Port au Prince, and now they will be here for one week doing follow up care with some patients. They will also do ckeck up's on all of the 300 students in the school.

This morning, I helped out in the pharmacy counting out vitamins to be given to the students.

This afternoon there will be a full staff meeting. This happens once a month.

It's time to check on our laundry which is drying up on the roof! We have a 'sunshine' brand dryer here!

Children

Haitian children are beautiful. They have bright eyes and smiles. There are 300 students at the Haiti Arise school right beside where we stay. The school is for preschool to grade 5 and was started just after the earthquake. The school day is from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. The students are fed rice and beans everyday at 11:00. For many of these children, this is their only meal of the day. There is a growing number of them that are sponsored by members of the teams that come. Many sponsors get to visit with their kids each time they come to visit.

Madame Luc

This is the new mop and pail that we purchased in Port au Prince. Madame Luc keeps the floors very clean and she has been using a very old mop that she has to wring out by hand. She works very hard.

We also found some Pringles chips....a tasty treat.

Today is the last day for the medical team. They are seeing a few follow up patients this morning and then taking down the clinic and packing up.

Dr. Bob says they have seen 1,047 people. They have been amazing.

Eldon and his crew are getting the septic field for the medical clinic building done and electricity is going in.

There are still some Haitians working on the wall as well.

There is a team coming in 2 weeks from Saskatchewan and the Maritimes to help finish the wall. So.....another day with lots of activity.

Shopping Spree in Port au Prince

We are feeling fine today, so we went to Port au Prince with a few folks. We left at 4 a.m., which is unusual for a shopping trip, but we've done many unusual things in the last month! We took one fellow from BC to the airport as he had to go home today, three patients to a clinic so they could get some tests done and that left Eldon (from BC), Yvon our driver and Marc Eddy (our interpreter) and Angela (the medical team leader). After dropping off the ones who needed to be dropped off, we went to a very nice hotel called Visa Lodge for coffee, toast and fruit then we were off to Eko Depot (which is like Home Depot). This is one place that Wade has really wanted to get to to buy some items for here with money that some of you have given us for this purpose. So we bought a fan, new mop, pail, and some small misc items. We made a few other stops, picked up the patients, and made our way back. It was a twelve hour day, but a great day. Very interesting and fun.

Stories from the Clinic

There are so many stories from the clinic, that I'm sure a book could be written.

The nurses are finding that babies born after the earthquake are not being looked after very well. Moms seem to be quite apathetic and depressed, likely suffering from post traumatic stress. Some lost their husbands in the earthquake (who would have supported the family) and now find themselves destitute. Most have other children as well, and another baby at this particular time is the last thing they want. Some moms have been sending their babies to the clinic with a friend or relative as they see this a having a break, or they just simply could not be bothered. When this happens, the nurse is telling this person that mom needs to come to the clinic with the baby the next day. They usually do come and one of the nusrses will sit down with them and try to encourage them and make sure they are able to feed their babies. They will be sent home with some clothes and hygiene items, they will give the babies some vitamins and sometimes will send some formula. These babies are more hungry than sick.

On the first day of clinic, a 22 year old woman walked here alone. She had a sore above her ankle and it had apparently been there for many months. It was so infected that the few inches above and below the sore had turned black and Dr. Bob said that the infection was starting to affect her heart. She weighs 88 lbs. and when she became too sick to help out at home, her family kicked her out as she had become a burden to them. We are unclear where she lives now, but she says she walks about 15 minutes to get here. She is coming everyday for IV antibiotics and to have the dressing changed on the sore. We feed her something each time she comes as well. The first day she came, she was so scared and timid. Now after a week, she comes with a smile and many of us have befriended her. She likely needs more treatment than this team can give her, but they are going to do all they can while they are here. The day after this team leaves, two doctors are coming for a week to do follow up's, so this young lady will likely keep coming back.

This team is so caring. They are quite tired, but they are doing a great job. Monday is the last day for the clinic and then Tuesday they will finish up here and leave early Wednesday morning.

Three Cheers for Duct Tape!

Living is Haiti brings out the creative side in a person. Yesterday, I was stricken with a stomach bug and was unable to keep anything down all day. Even after Dr. Bob's two gravol shots, I was unsuccessful. A couple of nurses thought I should have some IV fluid. The next question was 'where to hang it from?' Wade went down to the tool room and came back with a rake and duct tape and 'voila', we had an IV pole. One of the guys from Surrey also had a bug yesterday and today seems to be Wade's turn. He has had one shot of gravol, so we'll see how the day progresses. I'm better today. I've had toast and all is well.

Day Five

This is day five for the medical clinic. They are working this afternoon and into the evening because people would have gone to market this morning.

Speaking of this morning......Some of us went for a tour of the hospital in Grand Goave. It is a beautiful fairly new facility which is being staffed and run by Cubans. It is interesting because Cubans speak Spanish, so there is quite a language barrier between the creol/french and Spanish. We did find a doctor spoke french, so Ronald, our interpreter, was able to communicate to us fairly well. One of the nurses got a copy of their lab requisitions so they would know what kinds of tests can be run at the hospital. The care here is completely free to the Haitians. According to this doctor, Cuba is paying the 'bill' for everyone. When Wade visited in March of 2010, this hospital was closed because they couldn't get anyone to work at it. It is great to see someone here putting it to good use.

While we were off to the hospital, Wade worked with the crew of 5 men from Surrey, BC, who came on Monday to do the plumbing and electrical on the medical clinic building. They ended up working on the water system because we seem to have a leak in the pipes somewhere. There is a 500 gallon tank on the roof that loses water at a rate that is not normal!

Also this morning, we went to Marc and Lisa's at 6:30 to pray together on their porch. It was a great time and a beautiful setting and still cool at that time of day.

It is starting to cool off here at night. The low is 21 degrees now. It sure feels nice. Winter is setting in!!

Until next time.......

Halloween at the Beach

Well, yesterday was the warmest Halloween we have ever experienced! It was a day off for the team, so we headed to the beach for the afternoon and had BBQ'd lobster and fried breadfruit there. It was very tasty.

A couple of our doctors, Chuck and Don couldn't help but create this skeleton out of coral complete with a pink Saskatchewan Roughriders ball cap!

It was a fun, relaxing time.

Today, we are back in full swing with the clinic. A couple of nurses are also holding workshops for the people. One is on high blood pressure (many of the patients have it) and one on pregnency and new baby care. The patients have many needs besides their physical ailments. Most are hungry and lots are suffering from emotional/mental trauma of all the loss and devistation caused by the earthquake.

The team works very hard to help as best they can. They are a strong group of people.

Medical Team blog

If you would like to follow the medical team blog but not sure how, it's easy.

Go to haitiarise.org and scroll down til you see the buttons on the right hand side. Click the 'team blogs' button. There will be a link to the team blog. They have posted many photos.

We will be off to the beach this afternoon. It's a bit of a lazy day.

Wade started teaching a Sunday School class of new believers today with Marc and he preached. Church in Haiti is very worshipful and inspiring.

Wall

These photos show the post and panel construction style of the wall around approximately 7.5 acres which will house the children's village, church, school, soccer field, etc.

Haitian workers are still working on it. They are doing a section of it in blocks because there is already a concrete foundation in the ground from another building. It is getting very close to being done.

Medical Team and Clinic

This is day 3 for the clinic. This is a remarkable team of caring, giving, health care professionals who are working very hard to help as many people as they can. Yesterday, they saw 151 patients. The people have to pay $3 Haitian (.75 U.S.) for a ticket to get in. This is just a token amount, however, they take it more seriously and only the really sick people come. If the clinic was free, many people would come just for a social visit!

A 57 year old woman who was clearly very ill, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Probably cervical cancer. She came here on her own. Once she was diagnosed, many of the team dropped what they were doing. They and some of the interpreters gathered around her to comfort her and we prayed with her. We tried to call her sons, but could not reach them. Eventually, a couple of our guys drove her home.

A 5 year old orphan came in with scabies. Her parents died and she went to live with some relatives, but they decided they did not want her, so they kicked her out. Her 14 year old cousin is looking after her, but where and how they live are very sketchy.

A mom came in with her 1 1/2 yr old baby. He was very under developed for his age. She was 8 months pregnant when the earthquake hit and she was caught under rubble. She was actually carrying twins and gave birth to one of them, but that baby did not survive. When she was found, she was taken to the hospital where she gave birth to the second baby. They made her leave the hospital right after because they were afraid of after shocks bringing down the hospital. She had no support or means to support her baby. She was unable to breastfeed and rarely has money for formula. Mom is suffering with anxiety attacks and post traumatic stress disorder. She was given formula and some clothes for her baby. They also gave her some medication to help her cope.

These are just three of the 151 the team saw. The team is tireless and helping anyway they can. They are amazing!

Night Out

Sunday evening, we went to a restaurant called Mondy's and had goat, fried plantains, spicy cole slaw, and beet & potato salad. Very yummy! While we were eating, Haiti Idol came on the tv in the restaurant. Kelly is now in the top 4! We got to see him sing. He sang a love song mostly in English, which is quite unusual, but he had the audience on their feet, waving to the music and cherring loudly. The judges all thought he did a fine job, but one of them didn't seem overly impressed with Kelly's affect on the audience.

As we drove through town, we went by the place where we did a rice distribution in February. It was a tent city of just over 200 families. It is now gone which means that those families now have homes and this area is now a field for soccer or ball. It is encouraging to see rebuilding taking place. We also noticed as we arrived and drove through Port au Prince, that there is not as much rubble lying around and there are some new buildings (stores, barber shops, and some new roads complete with signs). Very encouraging.

Play Time

Last Sunday, we went to a privately run beach on the outskirts of Grand Goave. There is a hotel and restaurant there. This is the sunset from where we were sitting on the beach. We had lobster and fried plantains at the restaurant. Not quite like Hickory Smokehouse or Kwangton's, but still a fun day.

Tonight, we are going to go to a local restaurant with Marc and Lisa for goat and fried plantains. We'll have a Coke to!

Help from Home

As we prepared to come to Haiti, many friends and family gave gifts of various kinds to help out and to brighten someone's day here. Wade's work place gave us several soccer balls to give away. These are two very happy boys!

Thanks to all!

Families

This is one of the families we visited this past week. We gave the kids some match box cars and the girls some pretty things for their hair. We assured them that Jesus loves them very much and prayed with them. They were so thankful. This is one of the highlights of being here.

Just Another Saturday!

The day started at 6 a.m.........

-no water

-asked the Security Staff to start up the generator

-drove Marc & Lisa's children and their Nanny home

-helped Franky with his English class by supervising a test (had to report a cheater)

-gave an oral English test

-explained air conditioning and furnaces to Franky and he just shook his head and laughed and said that we must be prepared for everything!

-gave a tour of the properties to a group from California who are part of a mission near Port au Prince. They came in a tap tap (a 2 hour ride) and stayed for lunch.

-did some more preparations of rooms for the medical clinic which starts on Wednesday

-made another attempt to upload a photo unsuccessfully

And it's only 4:30!

Tomorrow, we will be formally introduced to the church and will say a few words and hopefully skype with our boys.

Clean Up!

The team left at 4:30 this morning, so we woke up here alone. It is a very strange feeling. This is a first. Meal times are much quieter!

We have spent a few hours 'fall' cleaning and organizing rooms and furniture for the medical team who arrive Wednesday.

As of a couple of days ago, Marc is experimenting with running this campus on generator power and battery power instead of city power, which is quite expensive and unpredictable. It's going to take a while to figure out how much to run the generator and if it is a working plan or not. So when we have the ability to have the 'air' on, we take it!

We hope to get a couple of pictures posted soon.

You know it's hot when...

You know it's hot when your yogurt covered raisins melt in the room with the air conditioning on!

You know it's humid when no matter how long to towel off, you never get dry!

We've just come out of a couple of very humid days.

The team is slowing down, however, they have completed approximately 450 ft of the wall, which is awesome.

The last couple of days we have been without power fairly often (we're thankful for the generator).

One young man from the church, Kelly, that we met in February, is in the top 8 in Haiti Idol (like American Idol)! Last night at church, this was announced and people were encouraged to vote for him and we prayed for him.

Today is another work day, with a trip to the market thrown in and visitation of homes later this afternoon. It's going to be a good day.

It's the weekend!

It's Saturday morning and some of us will be off to the market. It will be a huge cultural experience, not like any markets we know. There will be all kinds of wares, and fresh meat of all kinds. So fresh that it will be cut in the open under the sun and surrounded by flies! The bakery makes bread in a stone oven. Yummy!!

Some will work on the wall this morning. Yesterday 20 posts were erected and some slats were laid. Wow!

There is a really good photo gallery on the website, which quite accurately shows what it is like where we are here in Grand Goave. haitiarise.org

Tomorrow is church at 9:00, then most likely off to the beach in the afternoon.

School

In my earlier entry, I meant to say that a permanent school will be built as one of many buildings on the new property, not that there will be many schools. I tried to edit the entry, but again, with the photo, it took too long to do that.

A Haitian work crew has begun to sand the walls of the inside of the Medical clinic, so a few of the team will be able to paint.

There is always something to be done.

So far we are all safe and healthy. Thanks to all of you out there praying.

Playing in the school yard before classes start

Haiti Arise started this school which has pre-school to grade 5 with 300 students after the earthquake because so many others were destroyed. A permanent school building will be one of the many built on the new campus once the wall is completed.

The Wall, Internet, Heat, and more!

We never know what's coming around the next corner here in Haiti. I have been trying to post a photo or two, but the internet can be sketchy here at times. Just logging in can be tricky - fairly unpredictable.

It is very humid here. More so than in February. The temperature is not much different though. With all of us being from western Canada, it is very noticeable. The team tends to go strong in the morning, but the afternoon heat/humidity brings a slower pace.

They are making great strides on the wall around the property. The bobcat has been working flawlessly - thankfully. It is needed to take the concrete posts and slabs from this campus to the new property. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

This afternoon, I went with Marc and Lisa to see a few of the houses that Haiti Arise has built for some families who lost their homes in the earthquake. These homes are concrete (24 x 24) with three rooms in them. One would be a living room with two bedrooms. Kitchen and bathrooms are outside. These homes look like mansions compared to many. Which makes me extremely grateful for all I have.

Day One

Well, we arrived safely yesterday afternoon. Marc, Lisa, children and 15 team members and us, met up in Miami and flew out together. The team is here largely for the purpose of working on the security wall around the property which will enclose the childrens' village, a school, church, a rec centre, etc The property is approximately 7 acres. The team comes from Surrey, BC, Saskatoon, SK, and Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Strathmore, (Alberta). Although we did arrive safely, once we got here and unloaded the vans, Marc realized that 3 of their 4 bags did not get here! So he booted it back to Port au Prince to hopefully get them. Thankfully, they were still sitting there on the cart. How amazing is that!

As this is Marc & Lisa's first full day here after four months, there is lots of organizing to do. Wade and Marc are out with the team at the wall.

I have just set up an office area in a medical supply room and am going to start on a few admin. projects that Lisa has given. She didn't waist any time putting me to work!

Oh yeah, we got the big room! It is a huge room with lots of windows, a piece of balcony and of course air conditioning! It feels like a suite.

We are thinking of every one at home, but as you all know, we are loving being here, too.

A little R and R before heading off to Haiti.

Psalm 46:10

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

The Countdown is on!

Monday morning is rapidly approaching. Our floor is covered with piles of the things to be packed. Oragnization is the 'name of the game' right now.

The best news..... all the encouragement, support and committment of people to pray for us as we go off on this journey. It is very inspiring and exciting!