Day Four, June 14, 2011

The day started as all days in Thomazeau do, with the roosters crowing at 4:00 A.M. My pattern has also fallen into place. I lay awake listening to the roosters, doing a little stretching, and saying my prayers. By 5:00 AM, more sounds are emerging on the streets and in the house where we are staying. Women are beginning the cleaning and cooking for the day, vendors are on the street starting to set up and those folks travelling to other areas are already on the streets moving by foot, motorbike or truck. Davi is up brushing her teeth before my feet hit the floor.

I get up and brush my teeth, wash up a little with a tiny container of water, get dressed and take the wash water out to water the vinca plant in the back of the house. Slowly everyone else stirs and begins the same process of getting ready for the day. I am so tired at night from the day's adventure, that I cannot finish my daily Bible reading, so I have taken to doing the second half in the morning while the others are getting ready. I am sure God does not mind I break it up in two parts. Besides, it is almost a comfortable temperature between 5 and 7:00 AM. It really starts getting hot around 8:00 AM and steadily just gets hotter all day.

June is not the best month to take a mission trip to Haiti. Heat and humidity combine to sap all energy quickly and there is no amount of water that can be consumed that will keep a person from some level of dehydration. An added bonus today was a delicious rain that lasted about 10 or 15 minutes. Unfortunately, it was just hotter and stickier afterwards.

After our morning VBS (which went great - yeah for interpreters!), housebuilding, and a lunch of tuna salad, we took a walk to the local swimming hole. There are several natural springs in the Thomazeau area and this one has been dammed up to create a swimming pool. The water can escape to the stream through an overflow area. It was so refreshing just to wade in the stream, at least until I blew out my flip flop. Those stones were killers! Several of group went in the pool. Drake and Nick jumped in right away. Marisa got in after Lynne did. It was awesome to see our youth in a water splashing contest with the local youth. Laughter was the common language.

The ingenuity of the Haitians is enviable. I just figured I would have to walk back to the orphange barefoot, but Lucia and Marcuson, two of our interpreters, decided to try and fix them. Bless them. Marcuson took a stick and jammmed the parts back together so at least it held for the walk back.

Our English classes in the afternoon went well. Today we used story books as a way to encourage conversational English. The children were very responsive.

In my travels to Central America and Kenya, I have seen poverty and suffering up close many times. And yet, God blesses me by helping me to see it fresh again today and still know that even in poverty there is joy and laughter. I am reminded to use eyes of compassion that lead to action as I spend my time here. Service is blessed both to those I serve and to me. Strange how God continues to grow me in ways I never imagined possible.

I look at the bright children at the orphanage and know that The Joseph School is needed to provide a solid secondary education process in a Christian environment. If Haiti was populated with more folks like Lovee and Bobby Trouissant, who take an active leadership role in solving problems when they see them, Haiti could emerge out of its extreme poverty.

The meals the women are preparing for us, with Bobby's help, are a combination of American and Haitian. We had some delicious pumpkin soup one morning and the tomato gravy for rice and potatoes is sooooo good.