Friday, October 21

Our first full day in Haiti has come to an end. We are all bunked down for the night. We don't know how long we will be able to sleep before the routine of rooster crowing and dogs barking begins. Last night it was about 12:30 am and lasted until... Hopefully tonight will be a little quieter.

We had a very eye opening day today. After Mass at 6am and a wonderful breakfast by Maude, Fr. Alexis' cook, we arrived at Faith in Action's home base to meet up with our much loved Haitian friends. They were very excited to see us and to meet the new team members!

We ventured out to the tree nursery to help with maintenance on the plants and then to have a lesson in basket making. How skilled our instructor was and how clumsy we felt. We all decided not to quit our day jobs!!

After lunch and some singing and dancing with our friend Echo, we headed to the village of Doublet and the home of Rosalyn, Team June's house project. She welcomed us with open arms!! We had a great time there visiting and talking about the place mats she and her daughters are going to weave for us. Then we visited a garden that two families run. They were proud to show us all the work they had done and how they care for their plants. After a walk through the river, we headed back, refreshed but tired.

Even though today was still a bit overwhelming for a few of us, we were able to see God in the people and experiences around us. Many of us commented that we saw the face of God in the children we saw today. To look into their eyes was like looking into Love itself. Their longing and yearning to be loved was not at all frightening but beautiful. Our friend Echo showed us how to be so joyful and how to give love so freely! We also saw God in eachother, just being together in this group, sharing experiences together. We have the utmost admiration Tom, Faith in Action's faithful leader, and for his commitment to the people of Haiti. We were struck by how many material things we depend on and how little they depend on. We saw how excited they became just to have a simple task to complete and we pondered about our own lives. When we drove up a mountain we were in awe at the view of the village below and were amazed at how, even though we were very high above, we could hear so many sounds of the people below. This made us wonder... is this what God sees and hears when he looks down so lovingly upon His people? We are all "tucked under his arm" and love it!!!

Good night and God bless!