Day two in Deschappelles started with resounding voices of the kids in the school as they sang their morning devotions. We all stood on the back of the classroom and listened with our ears and our hearts as the kids clapped and rejoiced for half an hour. What a great way to start the day!

Next the kids gathered in the courtyard and sang the Haiti national anthem as the flag was raised to start the school day.

Our fun was over then as we were put to work in the hot sun. We all admire the local workers ability and stamina to continue labouring as we had to take multiple breaks during the morning. Our task was to make a dent in pile of 600 cement blocks and move them behind the school where a new wall is being built. We loaded wheelbarrows and carried blocks about four hundred feet so that the local labourers wouldn’t run out of blocks to lay.

Karen was happy to have the help of some of our ladies who worked on preparing books for recording of salaries for the next year for the school teachers and for the employees on the main compound. Too, she is thankful for the help from the group with framing pictures of her wonderful kids to be hung on the wall of fame.

Today we are featuring our two Cory’s.

Cory Muise, or Cory En as he’s called here, is a farmer back in St. Bernard, Nova Scotia where he lives with his wife and three sons. Cory is happy to be a part of our HATS in Haiti, where the kids here remind him of his own three that he’s missing back home.

Cory Melanson, or Cory De, is from Church Point, Nova Scotia. He is a fisherman and part-time sea urchin diver back home, and has a wife and two sons. Cory says his eyes have been opened wide since he’s been here, and he appreciates just how lucky we are.