The kitchen

Today, I spent in the kitchen.  Mostly I washed dishes.  There are alot of dishes.  We fed probably close to 30 people at lunch.  For supper we are expecting over 55.  I made a glass of citro (lime juice) this morning from the limes we bought on the way back from Jacmel.  It was superb.  I tasted this one vegetable that resembles a potato but is not one.  We'll see at supper what it is like when it is cooked.  We are having chicken for supper.  They were cutting up fresh ginger and parsley.  I should get back to see how they put it all together.

In the picture are two of the cooks: Madame Bazou and Madame Atis.  I am called Madame David.  I will need to spend more time in the kitchen with these wonderful women. 

my dad would be so proud

Davids Day -It was a good way to get rid of some garbage as well as some stress.  These branches have been in the way ever since the mango tree came down. We spent the rest of the day moving block, drilling holes,and weeding the garden. Our cement never showed up today so not a lot of building can happen till we get some more. So it is with a building project anywhere, they always take 2 times as long as you anticipate.

Resurrection Sunday

What a glorious day today.  We had a great Easter Morning service and then we took Kathy, Lauren, and Sarah on a walk about with Skype so they could see the outside.  This afternoon we thought we were going to go to the beach but we forgot to arrange someone to go with us so we had a kite making contest instead.  I made a kite out of a blue garbage bag, David's was a yellow one and James tried a MacGyver style kite.  My kite flew 300ft, David's barely made it off the ground and James' wouldn't fly.  We took them over to the land for the orphanage where one of the tent cities is.  The kids all came over to help.  It was a lot of fun.  They cheered really loud when my kite was up high.  We met Harrison on the road going there so he came with us.  I must say that he is the one that was able to get my kite up and keep it up.  It only got stuck in the coconut tree once and the mango tree a few times.

Jacmel

We drove for 2 hours to see this magnificent waterfall.  It was an amazing swim.  James did some cliff jumping.  I have to admit, I couldn't watch, but I watched the video after.  We climbed in behind the waterfall and David and James climbed up the waterfall.  It was fabulous.  It was a bit of a walk but well worth it.     

The drive to Jacmel (south coast of Haiti) was similar to driving through kicking horse pass except for the rock slides on the road that created only one lane and the masses of people along the way.  There were a few close calls with other vehicles but Gord did an excellent job driving.  The pictures do not do the view justice.  When we arrived at Jacmel we did not know how to get to the waterfall so we stopped to ask for direction.  A boy (about 14 years old) jumped in the van with us and came with us to give directions.  We had to go downtown Jacmel, across a river bed and up the other side of the mountain.  When they suggest you have an all-terrain vehicle, they were not kidding.  We googled Jacmel last night and the waterfall place has a website. 

On the way back we passed some RaRa bands. 

I wanted to buy some key limes that I had seen on the way. I was preparing to get out of the vehicle when a dozen ladies brought their produce to the van to sell. I told them tupetit citro which means small limes. They brought a bowl full over. It costs about $2.50. When we got home the ladies in the kitchen had a big bowl full of them but the experience of the ladies around the van was rather exciting and well worth the $2.50.

This is a load of tarps that Samaritan's Purse was delivering today.  It rained most of last night so they want to get the rest of the tarps out to communities that have not received them.  The tarps are worth more than gold as they provide the basic neccessity of shelter. 

This car actually runs.  People drive it.  Amazing!!! 

James did a bit of work today marking the wall.  |he finds the mid point and snaps a line to mark where to drill for the rebar ties.

The great white hope!  That is what we called Gord when he arrived.  It has been great working with him.  If we need something, Gord makes it happen.  Big Boss! (that's what they say in Haiti)

Samaritan's Purse has run a children's program for the past 3 weeks.  They had the wind up concert and handed out rice to all the kids.  The picture shows the kids at the start of the program.  Kids kept arriving 1 hour after it started.  It was over 3 hours long and a lot of fun.  It struck me how the kids raced back hoping to get another bag of rice.  This is something you do not see kids in Canada excited about.  At the end of the service a lady asked me for a tarp, I had to say no to her as I did not have one and the ones on the property are already promised to other communities.  This broke my heart.  I realize we can not help everyone and we do what we can but it was hard. 
My day ended with a wonderful blessing.  We were able to Skype with my family in Saskatchewan (Kathy, Duane, Lauren and Mack; John, Sarah and Carter)  Thank you for the wonderful conversation, being able to see your faces and give you the thumbs up so many times was great.  God is great!

The water guys

We were blessed to get to know Bob and Tommy a little during our stay. They are great guys with a heart for God.  Tommy is a fellow Canadian from Edmonton.  Bob and Tommy are the two guys you want checking your drinking water.  I thought I would include a picture of the results of one of their tests on a well that people are drinking from in Haiti.  This one does not have e-coli but definitely has other bacteria. They set up water puification systems for different communities when they could.

This morning I thought I would weed the garden as the weeds are starting to appear. But the garden was just watered so it was quite muddy. The brick makers did not show up to work today so David and I decided we would make bricks. By the time we were prepared to start making the bricks a man came along and showed David how to do it. They made bricks until lunch time. The man was not too happy when I started to make some bricks. Here in Haiti, the women do not do the work that men do. I challenge what they believe probably on a daily basis.


When David went back in the afternoon, the brick makers were at work. I think they must have gotten word that the blanc(white) was doing their job. There was some interesting conversation with them regarding expectations. Haiti is a very interesting place to work.

This afternoon, I stayed indoors and separated some Tylenol so that it can be handed out to people who need it. There is prayer meeting soon so I need to go get ready...