Days 52 & 53 (10/05 – 06)

Saturday – Tom decided to catch a ride up to Bernice with the van that was going to pick up Sarah and her Mom’s team. Since it’s a long ride, he’ll overnight there and come back with them tomorrow. So – that leaves John and I holding down the fort. Fortunately, we only have 1 team leaving and 1 team arriving – piece of cake. Johnny, one of the Haitian drivers, had the airport run and we planned to go take a look at his home site when he got back to the Guest House. We’ve been trying to get together for a month. Unfortunately we were foiled again. The newly arrived team decided that they wanted to out for a late lunch and Johnny had to drive them.  Maybe next week. It has become a joke with Johnny and me.

The day was kind of quiet with only 1 team here and only John and I in the office. So – I decided to start doing some concept sketches for the new Staff Housing Project. It essentially will be an 8 unit Haitian Motel 6. I will have some preliminary drawings ready for the EMH Leadership Committee meeting next week. If the committee approves the concept, I’ll present a grant proposal to UMCOR for the funding. This could actually start before any of the other projects I’m working on.

Sunday – John and I got the new team off to Mellier by 7:00 AM. We then changed into long pants and shoes and went to church on campus. The church was packed as usual – I’m guessing around 400 people. Although I still don’t have a grasp on Creole, I love the music. They sing with such energy and passion in 2 or 3 part harmony. I can’t resist throwing in a Barbershop 7^th now and then – which elicits a sidelong glance from my pew mates. There was a small ensemble of 6 men and 2 women that sang a hymn – all 37 verses. Then there was an octet of young women – all dressed alike and with a director – that sang a couple of contemporary arrangements that were very nice.

After church we got back into our shorts and sandals and received the team returning from La Tremblay. We decided to skip the peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunch at the Guest House and walked 2 or 3 blocks down to Rickey’s, a local bistro, for a hamburger and fries. Although it wasn’t up to “Inn and Out” standards it wasn’t bad for a Haitian burger. Tom and Sarah returned from Bernice after lunch. So we are once again back at full strength. And looking at the team schedule board for next week, we’re going to need all the help we can get.