Sunday is always a special day at HATS and today was no different. We worshiped in the new Church which is a beautiful building even though it has some mainly cosmetic things to be done to be completed.
We were led in worship by one of the House Moms who is a very energetic lady and our little Karena. Karen preached a message on respect. After the main service the floor is open to anyone who would like to sing. Six or seven people or groups sang. I have never been to a service where at least one person did not sing. The service lasts about 2.5 hours and after, everyone is treated to a soft drink and a treat.
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| This mornings worship leaders |
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| Nap time at church |
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| one drum section of church this morning |
Today was special because each child received a handmade bracelet from Emma Suley, a seven year old from Washington State. Her Family has been our friends for 40 years starting in the Yukon.
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| Happy kids with their bracelets |
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| Little ones showing their bracelets |
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| HATS kids bracelets |
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| HATS kids with bracelets |
Karen has had problems with rats in the Compound almost her entire time in Haiti. Mind you they can be controlled with a little work. It is a Country wide problem. I brought some traps and was intent on catching some rats. I set them in various places the first day here. Friday night Sandra got up to go to the washroom and one of her sandals was missing. We sleep outdoors on the roof for your information. Eventually she found it and it had been chewed by something.
Saturday night I moved a trap and tied it on next to her bed. Last night at 10:30 I woke up and thought I could here something being dragged on the cement floor. I listened for a while and then went to check. It was a rat in the trap trying to drag the trap away but it was tied on. Jim said he heard it snap around 10:00. I woke Sandra up before I did anything so I did not scare her, she never heard a thing.
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| Dickie’s catch of last night |
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| The hunter and his catch |
When I checked the other traps in the morning I had caught one in the Storage Depot as well. Good night of trapping.
On Sundays we play with the children and rest, and normally do not work, but today we did a couple of small jobs. We repaired a couple of doors to keep rats out and unplugged a sink.
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| Jim with goddaughter Anne |
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| Magdala in her princess dress |
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| Three HATS princesses – Magdala, Sandra and Anne |
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| Plumbing work upstairs |
I never tire of coming to Haiti and to HATS, it has its challenges, but we get more out of these trips than we could ever give.
~Dickie MacDonald
