day 6

today was again very similar to the past couple of days. our team was split in three: the village team, the medical clinic (at the same location) and the vbs, at a new location. carie and anna swapped roles for the day, but the teams were otherwise the same. here are some of the highlights:

construction

the guys at the village continued to make progress on their block work. i think they also took down some forms inside one of the houses. dave and allyson continued to work on building the screens for the guesthouse, but ran out of some materials before they were able to complete the job. rachel spent her day straightening out nails that had been used, so that they could be used again. a new team arrived at the village from new mexico, and they will be staying and working there through tuesday. one thing worth mentioning is that the guys really feel like they
have made some good relationships with the haitian concrete crew. they can't communicate much with words, but are able to find ways to joke around with the guys and are seeing signs that the men are trusting them with certain portions of the work. to the left is a picture of lisa, dave and matt doing some work in the village.

medical

the medical team met at the same location, but kristen also did a small clinic where the vbs was located, working with a haitian doctor. yesterday, the medical team treated a young boy who was nearing diabetic coma, and blind, and had to tell him it was very likely that he did not have long to live. he was back again today with his mother, and was able to receive another treatment. when they left, the mother was expressing to steve how sorry she was to see them go, and how thankful she was for whatever amount of time they were able to prolong this boy's life. the people here really do not receive much medical care at all. they will come to clinics like ours and wait for hours just to be able to leave with some tylenol. it is a stark contrast to how much we have easy access to at home. to the left is sarah treating a baby whose mother passed away very recently. her aunt is caring for her the best that she can with the limited means that she has.

vbs

the vbs team met at a school today, not too far from the church where they had been meeting. the group at the school was very welcoming - they even greeted the team by singing a song for them! the teachers at the school stayed engaged with what they were doing, and treated the vbs almost like a school assembly. it was really helpful to have their participation and everything ran very smoothly. to the left is a picture of some of the school children showing off the crafts that they made (their necklaces).

there is a rumor that tomorrow (thursday) there is supposed to be some sort of a protest in port au prince. we have spoken with the us embassy and with darby's father, and it seems like there really is no concern. apparently these types of things often amount to nothing. we have been advised that it is safe to leave the village tomorrow, as long as we are back by dark. so, we are going to send out our medical team (sarah, kristen, rachel and lorri, with darby)
to the same place one last time. however, the vbs team is going to stay back at the village. that is not because of a safety concern, but because tomorrow is going to be another heavy labor day. we will be pouring concrete again like we did on saturday, only it will be even higher up. because of the amount of work, and with people being more fatigued at this point of the week, it will really help to have the extra hands around.

on friday, we are not working. we have been encouraged to take a rest day instead. so, we are renting a "tap-tap," which is sort of like a large taxi/bus with benches, and we will be riding out to a beach resort for a few hours. our ride will take us through the heart of port au prince, which we haven't seen yet. after the beach, we will head up the mountain one last time, because darby's parents are hosting us for a wonderful haitian dinner at their home. along the way, we hope to stop and do some shopping.

since we won't be at the village on friday, this may be our last post. we hope to be able to get something brief out on saturday morning before we leave, but i'm not sure if we'll be able to. in light of that, i thought i'd share a couple more things while i have the chance.

first, our return flight (on saturday): we will be on delta 692, departing port au prince at 12:50, and landing at jfk at 6:05pm. this will put us back at church some time between 10 and 12 midnight, depending on customs and our bus ride back.

second, i would like to highlight the men on the team for the ways they have served us. they are all leading and working tremendously well in their appointed roles. but aside from that, they are really caring for the women on the team. we can't walk anywhere, not even from the village to our guesthouse, unless we have a guy with us, so they have been escorting us back and forth and also watching over the teams that have been traveling in the mountains. our power here runs on a generator during certain hours, and sometimes it stops working, even in the middle of the
night. the guys will get up at any hour to fix it when it isn't working, or turn it on when we need lights early in the morning, etc. for the first few days we were here, the guys were helping the girls get set up in their rooms. dave p in particular was very kind to help several of us hang our mosquito nets, inflate air mattresses, etc. when we first arrived, darby took a morning to scrub the bathroom floor for us. the toilets here do flush normally, but you can't put toilet paper in them, so there are little trash cans full of used toilet paper in the bathrooms. they are really nasty, and matt b has been faithfully emptying those cans for us all week. and most importantly, all of the guys are regularly asking us how we are doing, and looking for ways to encourage us with the gospel. most of them are husbands and fathers and we know their families miss them, but we have been so thankful to have them here with us. it would have been a much harder trip without them. thank you for your sacrifices in allowing them to come.

lastly, i realize that we have not said much about what darby is doing, but he has been a great help on this trip. he often spends the evenings making phone calls, trying to get information and figure out logistics for the following day. it seems like he is pulled in many directions, because of his translating abilities, his knowledge of the area, and of course the connection with his father. he has been driving us through difficult roads and traffic for hours every day, and helping to keep control and watch over the girls at the medical clinic. even though he is always busy, he always seems joyful and happy to be serving the team. to the left is darby enjoying a pancake breakfast before heading out this morning.






i'll leave you with a couple pictures of the sights that we have been seeing every day. first is the street that we walk down to get to the village. we often encounter dogs, goats and pigs along our way, and we enjoy the view of the hills in the distance. second is a group of homes in the ghetto along the way to the medical clinic.














thank you again for reading and praying and commenting. hopefully we will write one more time. if not, we look forward to seeing you all when we are back home again!