To say today was an adventure, would be quite the understatement! It started with a wonderful breakfast prepared by Monita, and then the real journey began! Riding in an open truck down Highway 1 is exciting enough but then to turn off into a “dried up” river bed to trek up to LaHatte school and church is a ride you will not soon forget, especially when the truck gets stuck and you then need to walk the rest of the way. There were no complaints or grumblings just much laughter as certain members of our team repeatedly lost there shoes to the mud!
Then as we drew closer to the church, we saw man after man dressed in their Sunday best walking out to aid in the rescue of our truck. Let’s just say, that too is an image we will not soon forget: a suit clad gentleman with a pick axe slung over his shoulder.
We knew we had made it when the sound of a hymn came wafting out across the heat of the morning air.
Mud caked shoes were taken from us and cleaned to shine like they did when they were new! Pastor Herve insisted on washing our feet, such a humble deed for “the boss” (the Field Director here in Haiti) as well as a humbling experience for the team.
Church was inspiring... a hymn in a different language still feeds the soul.
Following church the medical pieces of our team evaluated children and our PR team, Shelby and Rene, gathered footage to help tell the Mission Possible story. Mary taught the leadership team about proper cleaning and maintenance of the Life Straws which is the water filtration system providing water for the school and community.
The team was so glad to look out and see the truck had reached the top and would soon carry us back down the mountainside.
Back at the ranch....or the mission center as it is called, the Community Agents patiently waited for further training. Belinda and Pam spent time talking with them, getting suggestions on what they need, how things are going and introductions to new capstone projects while Mary continued her personal mission of teaching them about the Life Straws. Crystal did further training with Anite who is completing her Bachelors in Nursing this Friday. Congratulations Anite!!
The next adventure came for our PR team, heading up to Degeance to video the current school with the hope and vision of the new school in the horizon. The children of Degeance had fun with Vanessa....lets just say a pair of sunglasses and an ipad can go a long way in entertaining beautiful children!
That pretty well brings our day to a close with a wonderful, gentle storm and inspiring sunset.
Keep up the prayers....you are all a very valuable part of the team.
