Church at Jasmin

Today we travelled to Jasmin for church at St. Joseph's. It was a full house. Deacon Juan  preached and there were two baptisms. It was a God thing. Juan's sermon included asking the congregation to renew their baptismal covenant, something he had chosen without knowing that there would be two baptisms today. His sermon also included today's gospel to love God and to love your neighbor.  It could not have been a more  perfect message for this trip.

 My favorite part of the services in Haiti is always the Peace. We greet everyone throughout the church - la paix, la paix. The older people always greet me with kisses on both cheeks. By the time I  get back to the front of the church, I  had tears streaming.  The service included a spirited final hymn which had everyone clapping and waving their arms. It was really a fun way to end a beautiful service.

 After church,  we had a wonderful lunch of cabrit (goat), rice and beans, and pikliz which is a spicy cabbage and carrot slaw, at the house next door to the church. This was prepared by one of the women at the church and her daughter. Sharing a meal with people who have so little to share is moment which means so much to us all.

When we got back to the guesthouse, we all showered (#2 but not the last for the day) and then we got to work continuing preparation and packaging of the meds. Today we got to make Prev Packs, which is always exciting. Here's how that goes: One person puts 4 amox in a bag, then passes the bag to the next person, who inserts 2 flagyl, then the next person adds 2 Pepto Bismol, then the next person labels a sandwich bag with the formula and directions for taking the meds, and the final person adds an omeprazole to one of the four bags that are now inserted into a labeled sandwich bag. Doesn't that sound like fun! I guess you have to have been there to understand this team building exercise. We packaged a few other dry meds, poured and labeled all liquids, and packed up for tomorrow.

Our Haitian team members who are staying at the guesthouse came around dinner time. This included Dr. Rudolph Richeme and his wife Myrline, and our optometrist Laguerre Guerry. Rudolph and Laguerre helped us pack up tonight. Evens brought our new doctor Pierre by this afternoon to meet everyone and to talk with Dianne. Then, later Evens brought his wife and little boy for a visit. We were pleased to see that Edna is pregnant again, this time with a little girl who is due in a month. They have a quickly growing  family!

I am the last one up. Time for another shower and then bed!