Rice and Beans, but No Beanbags

Another dirty, hard day of work is coming to an end.  We spent the day at the school and health center again.  The one group finished rat-proofing the office, both upstairs and downstairs.  The women washed window glass slats and tried to fit them back into the window clips.  Not all the window widths are the same so it's like putting a puzzle back together.  Another group continued work on the incinerator project and raking trash into a pile.  Our hope is that our example of keeping trash together, throwing it away and cleaning up after ourselves will catch on with at least one person!  I know for sure that many of us will be sore tomorrow from all our hard work!

Jim made the trek out with us today, although probably prematurely.  He spent the morning helping a Haitian crew at the Health Center package food for a food distribution tomorrow.  Christine and I helped with that in the afternoon when Jim needed to rest.  I also showed my prowess with power tools and carpentry work when the men let me help them build a frame for a window.  We ate lunch in the cafeteria tomorrow eating the standard fare of rice and beans with a fish sauce.  It received rave reviews from a few members of the group. 

After leaving the school and health center, we stopped at the tin shops.  The new members of the group were impressed yet overwhelmed!  I think most of us made some great purchases.  We were unable to stop at the tin shop with the painted pieces of art due to road construction in front of the store. 

We arrived back at Hope House and took a short break before jumping back into the work.  We packaged 100 bags of rice and 100 bags of beans for the food distribution tomorrow.  Besides the rice and beans, they will also receive brown sugar, salt, oil, and cornmeal/soy cereal.  As part of the program, the babies will be weighed and checked for malnutrition.  We are all looking forward to seeing the food distribution in action tomorrow.  I hear there are plenty of opportunities to hold babies tomorrow so I'm excited! 

Dinner tonight was cornmeal (like polenta), meatballs, lentil sauce, salad, and an oatmeal craisin bar for dessert.  Devotions were lead by Diane and Chris. 

Tomorrow we will also be stopping at Little Children of Jesus to visit with the kids.  We will be blowing bubbles, Paul will make balloon creations, and we will definitely be showering them with love and attention!  Continue to pray for Jim so that he can feel better and join us in action in full force soon!