Greetings from Leogane! We have no internet at  the guesthouse. The person who can fix it is in Canada, so we've bought an air card with some minutes, just to give everyone a quick update and say that all is well. Everyone sends love to their friends and family.

We've had two wonderful clinic days, yesterday in Gressier at St. Phillippe and St. Jacques, and today at Jasmin at St. Joseph's. We saw more than 250 people  each day in the medical clinics and more than 100 each day in the dental clinics. John has  had a fabulous time interviewing our  patients with the assistance of his translator, Mario. The Gressier people would like a permanent medical clinic and the Jasmin people would like a better road. That's not surprising. The road to Jasmin is the worst I've ever seen it.

The school at St. Joseph's is finished! It is amazingly beautiful! There are two buildings with 3 classrooms each, a separate adjacent building with biofuel toilets - separate rooms for boys and girls, and a separate building for a kitchen. Of course, there is no food, but they have hope for food! There are solar panels on top of one of the classroom buildings and 6 batteries, which will be powered by the sun and the poop! There is also a huge cistern under the buildings which is filled from the rain collected off the roofs of the buildings. The youngest children will continue to meet in the church and grades 1-6 will meet in the classrooms, in actual separate spaces in which their teachers will not compete with other teachers for their attention.


I don't know if you can even imagine what a gift this school is to the children. When I first went to Jasmin in August 2007, there were 120  students, who met inside the church. They had a couple blackboards with holes in them and few books for the teachers. With Christ Church's support, the school grew and spilled into the yard around the church. The equipment and supplies improved and the teachers have been paid regularly. This last school year there were 420 students who met under a tarp at the top of hill behind the church as the school was being built. These students now have beautiful buildings in which to learn. Thank you to eveyone who contributed to the fund to buy the land and thank you to the Finn Lutheran Foundation for the buildings!

I brought  gorgeous wall maps donated by my cousin's husband who works for National Geographic. The lay leader was excited to see these and they will be proudly hung in each new classroom. The rooms have blackboards, but they need desks. So, stay tuned for details.

Of course, the reason I and others return to Haiti again and again is the people. Our priest Kerwin has been his usual gracious host, and we got to see his wife Rholcie and children Kercie and Rholker briefly over the weekend. Our guesthouse host is Janeene, who is ably assisted by her staff. Dr. Gladys, the medical director at the hospital warmly greeted us. We were surprised to see two of our student nurses working at the hospital when we returned today. They both graduated and have jobs there now! We have most of the same translators from prior trips, and of course Dr. Alex is with us again. When Dianne and I were here after the quake, Patrick, a Haitian doctor worked at the field hospital with Dianne. He is helping out in our clinics this trip.

Of  course, we love seeing our friends in Gressier and Jasmin. We see many of the same patients each time that we come. Today, as I was working in the pharmacy, my little friend Sopharia, who helped me in the  spring came running  in and gave me a huge hug! That was wonderful! She came with her mom  and 5 brothers and sisters this time. She remembered how she had helped complete the medical labels and fillthe bags and helped me for awhile as she waited to see Dr. Dianne.


Tomorrow we go back to Jasmin and will treat the patients who walk from Nicholas to see us. This is a 4 hour walk one way! Today Sandra told me that here renews her soul and reminds her of what is really important. I think that everyone of us would agree with her.

Terry