Wednesday, April 24, 2013 – We are all tired, dusty and sore
tonight. We had a wonderful day travelling into the mountains to visit
Laguille, where Pastor Noe has his church and school. It is a very long drive
over some terrible roads and even involves driving through a river, twice. Then
we had to climb the last 15 minutes or so, wading across a creek twice. On the
way we visited a chicken barn where about 3 to 4 thousand chicks are being
raised by a co-op. It is the largest of 18 barns and this is a great source of
income for many people – sponsored by Empower Global, of course. At Laguille we
were greeted by the exuberant sound of a worship service in progress – it was
just amazing! We felt uplifted, welcomed and embraced by it! It made us want to
dance! We then met the nurse who is the steady presence of medical help in the
area. The mobile clinic comes about every second weekend, but she’s always
there. She is one of the nurse-practitioners like those trained at Dr. Rodney’s
school. We handed over 2 bags of gifts for the children, and Pastor Noe
immediately handed out some skipping ropes, which they knew how to use and a
Frisbee that was a mystery. So Steve, Cal, Jim and Noe started tossing it
around and the children quickly got into the act and mastered the idea of
Frisbee throwing. Noe put away all the books, pens, pencils and other supplies,
but the kids quickly polished off a big box of granola bars and one little girl
claimed the empty box. The school is nearly completed, with 6 classrooms,
office and storage space. Noe’s dream is to have a real church and to build a
sustainable community. He came back from a very good construction job in Miami
to take on this ministry and has accomplished so much! Cal did some soil
testing too, to see why crop yields there are lower than they should be. There
may be a way to improve them. The ride back down the mountain seemed much
longer. We had about 16 people in the back of the truck – felt like a collectivo
as we picked up and dropped off people. We were out of water and the sun was
hot, our backs and backsides were sore from bouncing around back there and most
of us are by now a bit sunburned. We passed many places where garbage was
burning in the roadside ditch, which added to the constant small of smoke from
charcoal production. We drove around the market in Dondon – a rather ramshackle
place – and through rush hour in Cap Haitien. We were delighted to have seen
Laguille, but overjoyed to get off the truck when we got home. Did I mention
the crazy drivers? Hair-raising. Mary had a wonderful fish dinner for us tonight
and chocolate cake for dessert. Noe stayed for dinner and we talked about his
dream for the community at Laguille. Then we all went our separate ways to
recharge batteries – our own and those of our cameras, tablets and readers.
On April 20, 2013, an eight person team from Tansley United Church, Burlington, Ontario ( TansleyChurch.com ) will fly to Haiti to begin a week long mission to the people of Cap Haitien, in North Haiti. It is our hope that the congregation of Tansley will undertake to play a large role in this endeavor, both this year and in the years to come; this working trip is a start. During the mission daily posts can be seen here as connections are available.
Thanks for posting the daily updates. We look forward to reading and discussing them each evening. We look forward to learning more on your return.
ReplyDeleteKeeping all of you in our prayers
Bill, Cathy, Emily and Sarah