Written by Andrea VerMeer

Our group was very happy this morning with the opportunity to sleep in until 7:30; all accept Jack that is.  He went on another sunrise hike up MountPignon and saw some incredible views from the peak and the top of the cell phone tower once again. Our morning project was to complete another concrete floor.  This floor took more effort because we had to carry buckets of cement a farther distance.  Thankfully, we picked up a couple rambunctious Haitian children to help.  These boys were more than willing to carry empty buckets from the house to the driving path as long as they could speak their favorite English phrases over and over.  I’m not sure how many times we heard “Jack! How are you, Jack?!?”  While Jack may have suffered some harmless verbal harassment, the job was completed and once more a family was blessed to receive a beautiful cement floor.

Completed Cement Floor

With our job finished, we went back to the dorm to refresh and eat lunch.  While we relaxed for a bit, the road outside our dorm was turned into a mini market place, full of souvenirs for us to shop through.  When the women had all perfectly arranged their table cloths, canvases, dresses and other beautiful creations, we ventured our way outside to test our bargaining skills.  The craftsmanship and hard work that was poured into making everyone of these trinkets, makes each item in a way priceless.  It was so difficult to choose which handmade art piece to bring home.   However, each one of us were able to purchase the perfect gift or souvenir to bring home that will represent the amazing experiences we had in Haiti.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving around in our favorite Tap-tap from yesterday (which for our hind-ends were all to familiar with… and not in a good way). However, it was great to drive to several different sites around Pignon that broadened our horizons even further to the Haitian way of life.  We first got the chance to revisit the house we poured concrete floor for on Friday.  It was beautiful to receive a little tour of the three roomed home with the floors so smoothly finished.  It will be exciting to see how this new addition will affect their lives.

Elinese’s Completed Floor

Abigail got to ride the moto.

 Next we went back to Many Hands For Haiti’s new land to see the progress of the banana trees and witness the digging of their new well.  We were excited to see that two inch tall banana trees had sprung out of the ground.  Children once again swiftly gathered around us and we had another enjoyable session of bubbles, “fotos”, and videos.   Later, we also learned and are happy to announce that the well struck water at 140 feet. Thanks be to God!

Trying to find water in Sylvain.

The blondes and some kids on the Sylvain land

Hit water at 140 feet down.

Our journey continued as we went to Pignon to visit the sewing center.  We were able to see how the bundles bottoms diapers were put together.

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Hearing about the work at the sewing center.

If you have one of these lying around…

Bundled Bottom Sewing Center

The most impactful stop that we made today, in my eyes, was our stop at the clinic/hospital.  Coming from a medical background, this wasn’t how I was used to seeing a hospital. Things are not as clean, there are beds in the hallways, and there are so many patients per room. It is hard to put in words, especially with my medical background. Honestly, it broke my heart.  The nation of Haiti has a long way to go in its advancement of the medical field! I could have spent all day there trying to care for every hurting person lying helplessly on their beds. And while it hurts to know I can’t do anything to change it right now, I know that most important thing we all can do to make a difference is pray.  While we are powerless, God holds all things within His mighty hands.  If anyone can make a way for change we can trust that God will.

Finally our day of errands came to and end, and here we sit in our dorm, playing cards, laughing, reminiscing, saying our good byes, and thinking about all the incredible experiences we have had in Haiti.  God has blessed us immensely.  I pray each day that He has made a difference in the lives we have encountered; and also changed our own hearts through all that we have been through this week.  We thank all who have supported us and praise God who has lead us through every adventure we’ve had in this incredible week.