Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day in Haiti.  We started the day early by heading to a church outside Port au Prince where one of Jutta's SHGs was having a special celebration.  The famme d'action ladies do so many things for the community, including church work, evangelism, and projects through SHG.

The ladies sang "Jesu Vive Na Mwen" which translates "Jesus Lives In Me". 

One of the ladies was struggling with fever and joint pain from the chikungunya virus, but it was so important to her, she was there and gave it her all!  After the service we shook lots of hands, greeted smiling faces, and they gave us fruit to honor our visit.

In the afternoon, we went to Source of Light orphanage.  When we arrived we found out that there was a Mother's Day celebration going on.  Haiti is such an incredible mix of contradictions and absurdities!  A few of the kids in the orphanage were visited by their mothers, who for a variety of reasons can't take care of them at home.  The kids seemed genuinely excited about their moms being there for the celebration.  One little girl sang "How Great Thou Art" and another prayed to start the ceremony. 

Schneider is feeling better today. Big smile!

 

 

Several of the kids were still sick with chikungunya.  Others were feeling better.  We didn't have the chance to play bubbles and balloons as we had hoped, so we loaded the boxes we built the day before that will be used for planting vegetables, and put them on the roof. 




As we left, we went down the street one last time to see if the lady was home where Ric and I had built a house two years ago.  This time the people in the house said she was in the hospital and couldn't come.  We weren't sure what the full story was, but the resident invited us in to look around. We didn't take pictures, but it was neat to see what a home looks like inside.  Since Ric and I left before it was completed, I got to see the finished project.  They had a full size bed that took up over half the entire house, a table and chairs took the other half. They even had a little TV with a pirated cable connection.  The workers had completed the bathroom with a raised floor, a toilet that flushes with a bucket, and a basin with a drain to be used for a shower (also using a bucket).  The tiny kitchen area remained the same as we saw it last.




When we came out of the house, the man next door invited us in to see his house and to show off the concrete ceiling he had just finished that had been destroyed in the earthquake.  A woman was cooking a little rice and beans and had one small tomato in a bowl.  Another woman washed clothes in a big pail in the middle of the floor.  All six residents were in the house while we were there.  When asked if everyone slept on the one double mattress, the man told Andy, "no, we arrange on the floor."  It was a rare glimpse into what life is like in these tiny homes. 

Tomorrow we go to Sheridan, at the bottom of a mountain just under two hours west for a meeting with a brand new SHG.  Jutta suggests we stop at the "metal man" on the way to get some souvenirs.