Work and Play

We planted fruit trees today. We take young sapplings to a field where a new orphanage will be built and Haitian employees dig small holes with picks for us to put the tree roots in and cover the roots with soil. We then water the newly planted trees. The water needs to be hauled in buckets from the front of the property which is quite a distance away. The kids have been planting and hauling water. Well today between the water and the soil and the planting,a mud fight emerged. We have some young Haitian men helping us. They have bonded with the group, and kids will be kids. They had a wonderful time running, chasing and mud slinging! We have great photo's. So sorry I can't post them. We all had lots of fun entertaining the neighbors and local kids in the process. Life in Haiti is rather uneventful. To see such activity, not to mention a large group of very white non creole speaking people acting crazy, is an rarity not to be missed!

This afternoon we began the tie dye project. The first group were mainly adults that were very creative and made some great shirts.

Not a minute goes by that our youth are not reading, playing soccer or just playing with the children. They never get annoyed or tired of paying attention to them. It is such a blessing for us adults to witness this interaction. So much love is shared here. We are astounded by the fact that these people have so little possessions but so much love and happiness to share. There is complete acceptance of us as strangers coming to their counry. The challenge we face every day is where do we begin to help? There is so much need and so few of us.

Get to work

We planted nearly 100 trees on property that will eventually be a new orphanage. The property was outside of Les Cayes in a more rural area that was very beautiful. The homes were larger and more of what we Americans would consider traditional. This project went very quickly as there were about 18 of us working.
Later after lunch we had a reading session with the boys orphanage. We each took turns reading a book we selected. Many of the youth reminised as they choose a book saying "I remember this one"! The young boys sat in a circle and remained attentive for close to 2 hours. No ADHD here! They were so eager to see all the pictures and look at the books. Books are reare here so this is a special treat. Israelson, the 20 year old son of the pastor that founded this church and orphanage was our interpretor. He speaks english very well and is a bit of a showman, so it was a lot of fun for all of us.
Isrealson is the youngest of 4 Isreal children. All have been educated in the US but him. There is currently a brother in Dayton, Ohio and a sister in Florida studying. Isrealson would like to come to the US to study Computer Tech. There are several stars that need to align for him to leave Haiti. He needs the government to issue a visa. He's been denied twice. He needs an American sponsor to provide housing and a sponsor or group to provide money for an education.
Please put your thinking caps on as to how we can help. This country is so in need of education. If we can help educate one he can influence lots of lives.