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Our March 2010 trip to Haiti took place from March 10 - 24, 2010. We had a team of 14 people from Maine, Maryland, Utah and Arizona on this trip!
 As always, our primary purpose on this trip was to interview, measure and photograph the children in the Child Sponsorship Program. This great team was able to process 661 children on this trip!  (above and right) The interview part of the process!  After being interviewed, each child is measured. Body measurements are taken to determine their clothing size.  Their height and weight measurements are taken to see if they are growing properly.   (right) This little cutie is waiting for her turn!  And their feet are measured to determine their shoe size.  Team members often struggle to help the children put their shoes back on since many of them are wearing shoes that are too small or socks that are too large and are folded under at the toe.  After all the measurements are finished, each child is photographed. We had two photographers on this team - Jillian and Jamie D. - who worked together as a great team to take some wonderful photos of the children!  On this trip we had been asked to try some basic school health screenings based on the methods of Community Health Evangelism. In the photo below, Gale, Allie and Clay are doing a vision screening on one of the children. We also did hearing screenings, screenings for scoliosis and recorded heights and weights. The outcome of this test run was positive and we hope to be able to implement these screeings into our routine proceedure at some point in the future.
 When we visit the outlying schools, our transportation can often be "interesting"! This tap-tap is the one we most frequently use since it is owned by a friend of Pastor Noel's and ours, Bolo, who also enjoys helping us with our work at each school.  On this trip, Pastor Elima hired this truck to transport us out to Danda over that rugged road. We all found it quite amusing to be hauled over the roads in a cattle truck!  Many times we have to walk and when we do, we often end up with "others" tagging along!
 When we arrived, blocks had already been stockpiled on the property but no actual construction had started.  It was Pastor Noel's desire to have a ceremony dedicating the project to God and to have prayer over the project before construction began. So we gathered on the property to have this ceremony.  Pastor Elima was also at the ceremony and he read a passage of scripture before we had prayer.  After prayer came the emotional moment of seeing that hoe swung and the ground being broken to begin this much-needed project! We praised God for allowing us to have a small part in this and for allowing us to be present at this ceremony! There were not too many dry eyes at the end of it!  Before we left Haiti, the foundation for the first home was already completed! (at left and below) Photos of the completed foundation  Before leaving Haiti, the team had to make one last visit to see the project. We look forward to watching this facility grow and to see the children who will have a place to call "home"! (below)
And while we're on the subject of construction, the second floor addition to the school in Terrier Rouge is going along very well, as you can see in the following photos.    On Saturdays, since school is not in session, the team typically goes into the city of Cap-Haitien to visit the tourist market. During this visit to the tourist market we began to hear the sounds of live music playing and some of the vendors in the market began to lift their hands in praise!  Suddenly we realized that the music we were hearing was the beginning of a parade! So we left the market and went out to the street to see what the parade was about. The banner below reads, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14"
 Hundreds and hundreds of people were marching in this parade, carrying smaller signs with the same scripture reference on it and singing Christian songs.  People had gone up and down the sidewalk handing out song sheets so we could join in the songs as the people continued to march by.  Then the "stage" went by with the live musicians and the speaker who was preaching to the crowds, calling on them to repent and calling on God to heal their crippled land. It was a real blessing to be able to see this gathering of saints and to be able to participate in this demonstration with them! The Haitian people are resilient and have proven themselves to be incredible survivors. May God bless them!
            
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We have been aware of the physical disability of one of the little girls in Juchereau but we observed on this trip that her disability appears to be worsening. Being a physical therapist, Matt was able to do an assessment on her and we hope to be able to get her some help to see if something can be done to halt the progression of her disability.
We'll leave you here with a special set of photos. On the left is a photo of Jocely Pierre when he was put into the Child Sponsorship Program in 2003. At that time, he had never been to school, didn't own a pair of pants (he just had a piece of cloth wrapped around him) and no one knew for sure what his last name was. In this photo he is standing with his ancient grandmother who was caring for him. 
