As with many Christians in the US, folks in Haiti rest on this day.

Broke fast with oatmeal. Most of the team headed into the market to look for a dress &/or to get ingredients for the meal we will prepare for the staff on Sunday. It is challenging to try to cook a “typical” USA meal in Haiti because they don’t have many of our “typical” kinds of foods

Returned to the compound to drop off food then headed to Moulin Sur Mer – a resort up the coast. Each team member paid for ourselves and one guest to go – so we didn’t use money for Haitian relief for our day off. We rode in two “tap taps” we hired for the day – about 14 people in each – some in the cab, most in the fancied-up bed of the truck, and a few on the roof.

We stopped to visit the museum. As we waited for the fees to be paid we wondered about a bit and took pictures of the stautes and the plentiful peacocks & peahens which were on the grounds of the resort. The museum had information about pre-Columbian life, about the oppression enforced by the Catholic Church, the revolution which won their independence, and various artifacts from Colonial times.

Next, we- staff & families and the team – enjoyed a large buffet, swam in the pool, swam in the ocean, played ping pong, did synchronized swimming, floated on noodles, played mini golf, played a dice game, slept, showered, shaved, washed hair… Was a wonderfully relaxing day.

Got back to the compound. We did some prep work for the Easter lunch we would make the next day. Using knifes we peeled carrots and potatoes. We washed them in bleach water then left them in saltwater over night. We washed beets. We boiled eggs.
We had team devotions while the beets boiled.
Some went to bed, and others worked together to pickle the beets and set the boiled eggs to marble in the beet juice (except about a dozen set aside to color and hide with kids tomorrow).

We left everything soaking and headed to bed about 11:30 pm.

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March 29, 2013Good Friday

Got everything together and headed up the hill to the irrigation ditch to test the idea of making clean water for free for the people there.

Arrived at the site, told the folks there what our plan was. They immediately began to gather
Took a while to get the generator working.
The water is truly gross – small dead animals might float by – mosses, plant debris, garbage, dish soap, laundry detergent… This they drink when they don’t have anything else.
Pump wasn’t receiving power, even though the battery is new! Turned out to be a blown fuse. Fortunately Jilson, our driver, had on in his charger we could use.

Got the pump working. Had a great time making water for the folks. They had to work out some details like how to make the line – where, whose first, what to do while we wait. We were able to get local people to help run the equipment and try to keep the equipment clear of debris.
People sang, flew kites, did flips, compared pedicures, stacked rocks, played hand games, washed clothes, washed themselves, combed hair, stood by the buckets, swapped stories, learned to ride a motorcycle,

About 1:30 we headed back to the compound to have a special Haitian traditional Good Friday. (Here they call it Easter Friday,) The meal is dried fish that has been stewed in a special sauce, rice with white bean sauce and salad. This is the only time in the year they have white bean sauce. EVERYONE in Haiti has this meal – even non-Christians. They buy the fish several days in advance because the markets sometimes run out before friday, or jack up the prices.
After lunch EVERYONE fasts until Saturday morning’s breakfast. We spent dinner time sharing about Easter traditions in our families and what Easter means to us. We joined with the staff of the compound for this conversation.

Later our team had team devotions while the Haitian gathered for worship. They sang and spoke until well after midnight! I was tired enough to fall asleep any way

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Some folks left to go to market. They are buying groceries for the next few days. Without refrigeration we only get enough food for a couple of days at a time!.

Others took a run into Cabaret to use the internet cafe. Diane & Corrie stayed there to post the blog and pictures from the first couple of days.
Others, me included, then headed back to get propane in Archaie. Got a flat tire. Stopped to add air. Stopped to grab the spare tire we left behind at Thomas. Then stopped at a place to help change the tire.

Stopped to get propane tank.
Also got ice cream! Niiiiice!
On to get the actual propane.
Swung by the Methodist Church building – right next to an irrigation ditch. Made it look like it had a mote. The irrigation water was gross with garbage!

Head back to Thomas.
Delivered the propane to the kitchen.
Had fun with the local kids – taking pictures, typing on iPad. A little girl just typing every letter and symbol on the keyboard taught me some stuff about this iPad that didn’t know!
The group from the market had been delayed by a flat tire on their truck. Steven (the interpreter) was left behind and had to take a tap tap (Haitian taxi) back to Thomas!

Had lunch.

Sent folks to Cabaret to retrieve Diane and Corrie who ended up stranded there! They also had ice cream before coming back.
Things had taken so long to be accomplished that we were not able to visit the irrigation ditch to make clean water. Sigh.

Hung the world maps in the classrooms.

Had a terrific dinner of rice & beans, meat – probably goat – potatoes & carrots, salad of tomatoes and lettuce. (We can eat the salad at Thomas because UMCOR trained the cooks on how to prepare the lettuce so people won’t get sick.)

Folks getting their hair braided again! Too much fun

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Six of us met for a quick yoga (standing) session to start our day. Janette and I had fun trying to explain to the cooks how we wanted to make our tea. Then came breakfast of eggs, mangos, and peanut butter on bread.Warren gave us instructions for our work projects for the morning. One group went to town to change some of our cash into Haitian dollars (or gourds) and buy supplies at the hardware store.Another group is rebuilding the stand that holds the projector and other equipment in the computer room.I’m taking up one of the stations in the computer lab while the class is in session but they insist that it is ok.

Work continued through the day. A group worked on a series of outlets to support a charging station for cell phones. A rotating group of painters worked on the exterior of the guest house and some of the interior.

Lunch today was spaghetti and bread sticks.

A special treat for the painters came in the afternoon when a group of girls gathered in the girls’ room and sang Amazing Grace and other songs in Creole and English. The Haitian girls braided Corrie, Emma and Tessa’s hair. Corrie was another pied piper for the smaller girls as they gathered around her for photos(Sara also has a following of girls who are happy to see her again)

It is getting too late to continue with details but after dinner we went for a walk and wound up at a small store where Warren bought us Cokes. The music was blaring into the street and as we drank a crowd gathered. People were swaying to the music, so Janette started a dance which continued in many variations. One little Haitian girl kept the ball rolling with great enthusiasm.

At the devotions tonight, Steve and Diane were the featured subjects from Sue’s book. People shared how great it was to be among people who have such a joie de vri no matter what their material possessions may be.

There was little to see most of our time in the air, but we could feel the excitement mount when Sara spotted the faint coastline of an island appear in our view. This could be our destination.

We came in low over the outskirts of Port au Prince to a view of a mass of rusted and tarped roofs. The airport was a rush of immigration check points and lugging baggage out into the hot sun where we met One-Arm Jackson who guided us to our transportation.With all our bags and a few people in one truck and the rest of us in the van, we took off through the crowded streets. Our van driver, Johnny, was an expert at weaving his way around and through the lines of outgoing and incoming traffic. Many taptaps drove by with their brightly decorated exteriors and jam-packed cargo – human or otherwise.

Our ride of about an hour from Port au Prince to Thomas took us past too many sites to describe in a few words, but we should be able to include pictures at some point. Just a few of them were shells of buildings, women washing clothes in the river, cows grazing in empty lots, people hauling produce to market on donkeys, bananas and papayas spread out for sale and new bricks being laid.

Our van arrived at the Thomas School where we met Warren McGuffin who is in charge of the Thomas Food Project.He gave us a tour and a quick overview of the project while we waited for the truck to join us. It turned out that it went to the other location that is part of the Project but Johnny retrieved the occupants and cargo. We bustled about unpacking and sorting the 13 bags which made quite a display of pillowcase dresses, toothbrushes, pencils, work gloves and more and more.

Before and after dinner, our first project was to set up our homes for the week. The men bivouac in one of the classrooms and the women have two rooms in the guest house. The guest rooms have newly installed cots and mattresses but the men’s room doesn’t.They set about blowing up the air mattresses we brought and most of the women added them to their beds as well. The occupants of each room met the challenge of installing mosquito netting in their own way. We feel elegantly ensconced in our canopy beds.

Dinner was delicious and a welcome treat after all our travel. Beans and rice, goat meat, beet and potato salad (give us the recipe!), and a spicy shredded carrot salad (namedsomething like pi-clay). We even had real Coke (ie, the kind with sugar, not corn syrup).

We had an inspirational devotional led by Rob. We could only find a Bible in Creole so James read it to us and then interpreted. We sang “Go ye, go ye, into the world” and “Go forth in Jesus Name” and Rob read from Sara’s page in Sue’s devotional book which touched us all. Then Janette asked us to share some of our first impressions. Corrie gave a moving testimony of how much this experience and the people we have already met inspire her and encourage her desire to spend her life in mission work.

Then it was to bed for a sleep that had been on hold since we awoke for church on Sunday morning.