Working Hard

Day two of operations. A lot got done yesterday in many different locations. A medical team went to Desvailleux, up in the hills, to treat people there and do dental care. In addition to seeing 200 people, they saved the life of a baby that had accidentally drunk gasoline through an amazing emergency intubation.

In Mirebalais, the clinic is open, and Dick Johnson is seeing patients in the front office, and Monica Stafford is yanking out teeth back in the dental clinic. There are so many babies this year. I had a prayer station in the courtyard in the morning to pray with the patients as they waited for their prescriptions.


The orphanage project is coming right along. The garden is being cleared of amazing amounts of trash, including razor blades, glass and silverware. Marlene Cosgrove, Colleen Hegg, Carol Mader, Gina Mazzolini are all digging in the hot sun to get ready to plant and to prepare compost piles. Inside, Eddie Aparicio and my son Andrew are getting ready to lead the children in painting a huge mural on the wall of their dining room.

The many, many toys and art supplies that we sent were received with nothing short of amazement. These children had never seen an Etch-a-Sketch or Legos, or had ever done a pattern matching puzzle. They had no toys at all. At the end of the day, each child received one of the Beanie Babies donated by Cindy Collins and Heather Spotts. Now every child has at least one toy to call his or her own.

In the afternoon we ran a Vacation Bible School. I told a Bible story to one group of children and led them in a related game. Another group worked in the garden to learn to care for it. Another group played in the toy room and another group went out in the yard with all the soccer balls we brought. Then they all rotated around. We are going to run the VBS for three days this week. It is fun for us to spend time with the children.

Today we put the solar ovens to work, and showed the orphanage cooks how they work. We are hoping that the rice will be done by the time for the noon meal. The children should be able to start painting their mural tomorrow.

Much to do in a short time. There is also the fishery project to explore. Pam Miklavcic has just finished explaining sustainable fisheries to a class of high school seniors. Pere Jeannot is trying to find ways to get education and employment for his graduates, and we are hoping to interest some of them in working with us on fish ponds, perhaps in exchange for scholarships to university later. We hope to travel into the country tomorrow and Thursday to look at potential sites, and to see one fishery already in operation through Food for the Poor. This is a potential area of interest for us, but it is still in the very early stages.

That's all from here, for now. Peace and prayers to all. We are well.

+ Kit