Haiti. Day 7.

Finally, this morning, we were blessed to have no rain and sunny skies again. We set off for Torbeck and arrived there at about 9 am. Julie and Adrianne went with Ketura and Warens (translators) to do VBS with the orphans. It is so nice that the girls are bringing VBS to the orphans because since they had to relocate in Torbeck after the earthquake, they miss many of the opportunities they had with the church and school on the same property that they had in Les Cayes. They are certainly enjoying the interaction!

While they went to do that, Tom and I went to the back of the property to move rock so that they building of the wall can continue. When the rock is delivered, it is just dumped in a pile, It then needs to be moved by hand to a place along where the wall will go so that it is handy.

(I tried to insert a photo here, but it is taking forever tonight, so I am going to skip it and just post photos when the internet is faster.)

Tom and I moved close to half that pile of rocks in about 2 hours. It was hot and wet work.

The girls did a great job with VBS, and when they finished, we all hung out on the front porch for awhile with the orphans while we waited for Israelson to come back and pick us up. When he returned, about 1 pm, he had 15-20 bags of cement that were each 100 lbs. To my husband's chagrin, I moved 2 of them from the truck to the house. Not at the same time, but still.

After lunch in Les Cayes, we decided to head out to Port Salut, which has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We had a lobster dinner at a hotel on the water, and then went swimming and just walked around awhile taking in the beauty.

We started heading home when it started getting dark, about 6:45 pm. Tom drove home through the mountains and we had a great conversation with Ketura and Yelline on the way home, while Israelson, Warens, Adrianne and Julie rode in the back of the truck.

Ketura shared with us that when she was in college, in a geography class, the textbook had only one photo of Haiti, and that was in Port-au-Prince, and was a photo of a garbage filled sewer. She said it just made her so sad, because so much of Haiti is beautiful, like we saw this evening. I asked her if she spoke up, but she said that she didn't because the professor knew she was from Haiti and didn't ask her for her opinion.

That got me to thinking...how many of us would like to have our country represented by only one photo of a horrible spot in an inner city? Perhaps one way to change the world's impression of Haiti is to show some of the beauty as a more balanced approach, instead of just the poverty. If I were able to post photos right now, you'd see some true beauty!

We also spoke with Yelline about the trash that is just everywhere in Haiti. She and Ketura agreed that it didn't used to be like that as recently as 20 years ago, but when the people of Haiti were dissatisfied with their government, they decided to show their dismay by throwing their trash on the ground and in the streets. This has raised an entire generation of children that believe that their garbage should just be thrown on the ground when they are finished with it. Yelline shared that every single day she has to speak with the orphans about using a trash can, and that it's a very hard lesson to teach. She also has them go out every day and pick up the trash on the property, as well as dead leaves, etc. in Torbeck so that they start to appreciate living in an environment that is clean. I give her a lot of credit. She says that she knows that it is only with a small group of people that she can make this change, but that it's better than nothing.

There are so many times when I am here that the "starfish" story comes to mind. "It made a difference to that one." That is why we do what we do...

Well, without photos, that's it for now. Sort of bland...sorry. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes for a photo to load and other times it takes 10 - 15 minutes, and I just don't have the patience for that tonight, I guess. I am tired from the work we did today...tired in a great way, but still tired, and am going to bed soon.

Blessings!