We rested. Well not entirely. The day began with church on the second level of the main house with some of the school children and all the HATS children (dressed in their Sunday best); JJ and Vladimy did a fine job of leading the service. It was really lovely with many of the school kids taking turns singing, and Josh and Rich saying prayers during and to close. There was about 25-27 of us, Karen enlisted the help of a few of us to make sure that the school children each left with a small bag of treats.
Bob & Linda’s Effrainse singing in service
Dunae & Jen’s Shiloi singing in church
Now, I mentioned WE rested. The workers, including Luckner, did not. At 7am, they were working to begin hand bombing (!) cement to pour the pillars for the water tower. And today, it was a scorching 50C. Oh. Dear. And there was Valliere working with a finger injured on the table saw, no bandages, nothin’. Brian said he encountered a doctor after the earthquake who said “Haitians are the toughest people on earth. I believe that with every fibre of my being.” Based on the stories that have been shared about that time, and from what we’ve seen, we believe him.
God please turn down the thermostat
Busy Beavers in intense heat
Chef Luckner and his workers
Oh right, we did fix the tire swing for the kids—a HUGE hit that garnered many “Merci!”’s; we pumped water into the tanks up above; capped the carport with cement for a final waterproofing touch. Okay, maybe ‘rest’ is a relative term around HATS.
I believe somewhere in the back of our minds lurks the thought that our time here is coming to an end in a day. This afternoon’s playtime in the field seemed to have a ‘let’s-just-sit-and-be-with-them’ feeling. “The kids understand,” said Karen when I asked what effect it had when teams leave. “They know to take in the love and all the fun for the time that you’re here.” She continued to explain that when we leave, it gives her and the children time to become a family again with picnics, movies in the living room and such. It warms my heart to think of them finding immense mounds of love amongst each other. Okay, I’ll go with that.
So, one more day and one more blog post.
I trust there’ll be a box of Kleenex handy tomorrow night.
A bientôt,
~Aimee
