Haiti Mission Trip Days 2 and 3

Yesterday, we had a great walk through the village and saw a lot of the area that is helped by the school and clinic.  Gary Fleming saw several people that he knew from his previous trips and would up sharing pictures he took of them last time he was here.

Later in the afternoon, we watched a soccer match between the day school in Terrier Rouge and a rival school.  The game was a very one-sided, with the home team winning 7-1.  It was great to see the school spirit.  Many children from the community came out to cheer their team to victory.  The soccer field was cleaned up, nets installed and lines marked off.  Both teams came with a lot of energy, but the students from Ecole St. Barthélémy were bigger, stronger and faster.  The match was fun to watch and fun to cheer on the home team.

Today (Monday, June 4) we watched the opening ceremony for the school.  It is always fun to watch the children line up and say the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23, then sing the Haiti national anthem.  The band played really well and with confidence as hundreds of children and adults sang along with them.

After lunch, we helped paint the clinic (Clinique Espérance et Vie).  We were asked to paint a hallway blue.  The walls had three different shades of blue on them already and we were given two more shades of blue to use.  We wound up painting the walls only one color of blue.  We spent a couple hours working and will come back tomorrow to continue to paint more in the clinic.  We cannot paint when there are patients in the clinic, so we have to wait until the hottest part of the day to do our work.

Speaking of the hottest part of the day, we all have struggled with the heat.  It is really hot and sticky during the day, but no one is really complaining about the heat.  We are drinking plenty of water and trying to stay cool, but that is more a challenge than we would like since there is no AC in any of the rooms.  The school is even beginning and ending an hour earlier to account for the heat.

We are excited about our work and ministry in northern Haiti and are looking forward to continuing to soak up the culture.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue to seek to follow God's call on our lives.