Sea Container / Home again!

March 20th 2018

Home again

Our last couples of weeks in Haiti were very busy. We met with several people, had a baby with kwashiorkor (a very severe malnourished condition were the child lacks protein). Anita helped to arrange a hospital that would accept the baby boy. Bob drove the child and his grandmother four and a half miles to get to the hospital; the baby will need to be in treatment for six months. We also gave a agricultural workshop.

The workshop was a really big success, with 65 participants and another twenty leaders and helpers. We covered three topics;

1) Vermin compost uses, and a new raised bed idea that is very good for starting plants and trees.

2) Organizing the farmers to sell directly to the schools, raising crops that the school lunch program needs.

3) Helping the farmers to think about what their financial needs are and what crops can help them to reach these goals. The participants were very engaged and asked lots of questions. We both felt like it was a very successful formation.

We left for Port au Prince a couple of days early because there had been several demonstrations lately, and we needed to buy a few pieces of art for our summer sales. Going to Mathew 25 the guest house is kind of like a second home for us and it was good to see our friends there. Driving into Port took most of a day but we did manage a quick trip to the tin market and purchased some very cool art. The next day was my birthday, we went to an art store and then Bob took me for a very nice lunch. That evening at the quest house Phimey (the woman who runs the quest house) surprised me with a cake and the other guests sang happy birthday to me. It was very nice day.

The trip home went very smoothly. In Miami I was a bit startled when hot water came out of the faucet. We are always amazed at how much water we have access to and electricity.

We are thankful to be home. It is so good to see the grandchildren, our children and friends.

We are now working on the shipping container and there are some specific items needed at the mission;

· First, the area where we live is now a new parish. Our new parish consists of three chapels, but no church. Fr. Dashemy, the priest has secured a building for the church, but now needs everything:

o Tabernacle

o Crucifixes

o Chalice

o Alter clothes

o Alter

o Candle holders

o Tabernacle

o Statue Mother of Guadeloupe

o Statues

o Stations

o everything

Other specific needs are:

· Baby formula

· Wheel barrow

· TV, for the young men to watch soccer games. No CRTs please.

· Yarn any kind

· Low amp computerized sewing machine, we need an electric sewing machine that can run off of our modest solar system

· Four comfortable armless chairs

· Folding chairs for the center

· Fence wire and T posts

· Feed sacks (used)

Thank you so much for your interest and your prayers,

Denise

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