Hot and Humid

Some of us started the day quite early thanks to Sarah's phone still set to Eastern Standard Time as well as the incessant sound of the car horns on the street - the Haitian version of a stop and go light! Only two mangoes fell on our roof during the night. Some people slept right through it. Others describe it as a bowling ball crashing onto a tin roof!

After breakfast we loaded up 90 - 50 lb. boxes of ready made meals that were packaged at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield, VA, by some members of our team and congregation through "Stop Hunger Now." Thanks to Tom and Paul we strategically placed the 90 boxes plus 12 people in the back of the truck for the 30 minute drive to Village of Hope School. Upon arrival we assessed the situation, divided into teams for the purposes of preparing care packages for each of the students. The care packages included five bags of the prepared rice meals, crayons, toothpaste, and a coloring or activity book. The working conditions were like being in a sauna. Frequent water breaks were necessary. After three hours we completed about 640 care packages and divided them into classes for easy distribution on Monday. In a half a day, we did what would have taken Debbie and a few workers about a week to do. We felt it was a very rewarding experience to have helped prepare the rice meal bags and now have the opportunity to distribute them on Monday (more to come)! We also enjoyed a picnic lunch in the chapel where we also assessed what painting needs to be done there. Presently we're considering the lunchroom. Our biggest obstacle will be the numerous hornet nests and spider webs.

We then traveled to the metal workers village where we spent about an hour shopping and spending. Many of us came away with some great pieces of art. Walking around the area and looking at how people live in these conditions is eye-opening for us. They cook, sleep, work, wash, etc., all in the same room.

Upon returning to Hope House we refreshed and started all over again with doing various tasks. Those tasks included re-boxing the rice packages due to some damage to the boxes and transferring them to the brand new depot at the back of the property (who needs Gold's Gym?). Some of us sorted clothing and medical supplies for Debbie to distribute to various groups. There were quite some surprises in some of the packages. What some people will donate is amazing - digital picture frames, torn up shorts, huge pairs of underwear, a baggie of beans, etc.! The weather being hot and humid is an understatement. Many of us were sweating like you wouldn't believe!

After a break we enjoyed a great dinner of cabbage stew, garlic bread, and mango cobbler. We did our nightly devotion and many of us showered and called it a night. For those of you that are interested, that means, hot, no air movement, and little sleep!

Today we are off to the school to attend chapel, then out to lunch, and a visit at Little Children of Jesus. More to come tonight!