Arrived in Port-Au-Prince around noon and greeted by Chilet, Martin, Yolande, Fr. Fritz at the airport. Spend over an hour selecting a rent-a-car (4x4 SUV). Drive to Fr. Fritz's house in Port Au Prince briefly and then drive to Montrouis in 2 cars (Nissan rental and Chilet's Trooper). Check into hotel, 4 rooms for 9 people.
Set out early for journey to Goyavier in both cars and arrived at the school around 10:30am. Visited every classroom and gave all 510 students a toy of some sort (miniature cars, stuffed animals, paper/crayons, soccer balls, mirrors). They were very excited!
Next we went to our medical clinic up the road another mile. Nurse Pat worked with our doctor Thelus and saw about 20 patients in 2 hours. There were many cases of malaria and a "fever epidemic" which we would soon learn were current illnesses throughout Haiti.
Meanwhile, the teachers finished school and joined us at the clinic for a meeting. We distributed Grade Books and Lesson Plan Books, donated by the teachers in St. Francis Xavier School in Ft. Myers. Yolande explained in Creole how to use the books and also brought curriculum guides for grades 1-5 teachers.
Conducted a free medical clinic at Pastor Samuel's facility outside of Montrouis.
Continued clinic with Pastor Samuel until noon. Went to market in Montrouis to buy 100 kg. of rice, 30 kg. red beans, and 36 bottles of oil. Divided food into 60 portions and drove to 87th Place to distribute to families. People at 87th place were delighted to see us and said that they hadn't eaten for 2 days.
Nurse Pat, Morgan, and Kristin return to Fr. Fritz's house in Port Au Prince and flew back to America the next morning after early morning Mass.
Christening of Ruth Sharma followed with visiting friends and "family" in Montrouis.
Worked on finishing the water tank at 87th Place. John was an invaluable foreman and taught his crew (Ba, Martin, Kednaud, and Papoush) exactly how and what to do. Despite problems with supplies, the project was completed successfully. We paid for a water truck to travel out to 87th Place and fill the tank.
Next we celebrated -- everyone filled their buckets with water, I passed out more donations of toothpaste, soap, toys, and shoes, and finally we went to their most beautiful beach and enjoyed playing in the water for several hours.
Walked up the mountain to Goyavier to hand out more toys and clothes. This was the first time in about 10 trips to Goyavier that we have walked the entire way up and back down. It is MUCH more difficult, dehydrating, and exhausting than I expected .. but we made it!
Went to St. Marc -- bought Kednaud a bed. Kednaud's need for a bed has come up in conversation for over a year, but the situation becomes more critical when you see it. Kednaud lives with his mom and 6 siblings in a 1 bedroom house. The family was recently forced out of his house and HHN sent some money. We hope to send more money so they can move into atleast a 2 bedroom house ($600/6 months).
Enjoyed Church and celebration with Martin, Magalie, and Ruth Sharma. Said goodbye to friends and left for Port Au Prince.
Spent the day in Port Au Prince. This was the first time that I had a reason to be there and the city was safe enough. We went to the U.S. Embassy to check on Yolande's visa, and drove through an impoverished area to see Robertson and his school. Like always, God's angels were around us -- but I quickly realized that I had to put my camera away for everyone's safety. There's too many people in too little space! Chilet was an incredible driver taking us from the top to the bottom -- and many overcrowded places in between.
Met with a government official about national recognition of Help Haiti Now in Haiti. Flew back to the U.S.
From: http://ping.fm/gEJAj
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