Good evening HATS followers!
Today was a very eventful day! We started off our day early, like every other day with a good breakfast followed by our morning devotion at 7h30. After that, the women went to the market with two other women, Mariah and Antoinette on a Tap-Tap from the compound. What an experience that was! There was everything you could imagine! There was meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, baked goods, sugar canes c and even toothpaste. One of our gracious hosts, Mariah, bought a round of sugar cane for everyone so we will be able to try it as a group tomorrow.
People just sit there on the street or in booth covered in tin with their products. People go very early in the morning with their supplies and set up their very little space. The women we went with were there to buy food for the orphanage. They had a hard time getting good deals on food since three white women were there with them. They would ask over double the usual selling price, so the two women had to return later on and finish getting the supplies. There are always a lot of people out at the
market.
Early afternoon, Donna went to help Mme Sainte a Dieu with the laudry. Donna is now very aware of all the hard work she does hand washing all the clothes for the orphanage.
All day, the men continued to work on the space out back for Karen. They got a lot of work done today but the project is not quite done yet.
Evan had a little boo-boo on his figure with the handsaw. Nothing serious! Marcia and Nicole were bringing long boards for the men to use on their project. So they thought they would try the Haitian style or carrying and they rocked.
One of our team members is Donna Wheeler from Carter’s Cove, NFL and one thing that has impacted her on this trip so far is seeing the children and all the dedication in this orphanage. There is so much going on behind the scenes to keep the HATS orphanage and school running. Donna wants to be able to do some fundraising when she returns to Carter’s Cove in order to sponsor children whose parents don’t have enough money to pay for tuition. She would also like to return to Deschappelles someday. Donna says God has been doing the work in her life over the past several months that have allowed her to be able to join our team here in Haiti.
Donna received many donations for her mission’s trip and vaccinations she required. She has extra money after all her expenses were paid and she prayed to God to lead her in the direction that he would want her to spend the extra money. God impressed on her heart that she should buy food for the hungry families in the area. So today, a staff member went out and bought cornmeal, rice, black beans and vegetable oil. One cup and a half of each of these doubled in the past year. The people cannot afford to feed their families and some are too weak to even go to school. The ladies spent all afternoon measuring portions which will feed about 50 families for at least 4 to 5 days.
Another one of our team members is Mary Ann Bulger from Summerside, PEI. The biggest thing has impressed upon Mary Ann’s heart was the warm feeling she felt in her heart when she got off the planes. The reason for this was because she knew it was the Lord’s will for her to be here. She says she feels at home here and completely safe.
To complete the evening we participated in an auction for our souvenirs to bring back home and Cory 1 was our auctioneer. We practiced our songs and just sat around as a group and chatted when Donna was in bed by 7h30. Ti Luc practiced his numbers on his chalk board before bed.
Until tomorrow, bonsoir tout le monde!
