8:19 am
Mountain church starts in a few minutes. It was a cool dry night last night, which helped us dry our gear for an early departure–we will hike down today instead of waiting for tomorrow. Church will be loud, worship out of tune, everything in another language, and completely GLORIOUS!

So far it is a beautiful day today.

We met a nurse here in Kawo (!) who received training in the city and came back to serve her remote community as a first responder and nurse. [Side note: this is a rarity in Haitian culture–most people who get an advanced education are trying to get out of their poor communities, not help them]. On Tuesday, she helped with a child who fell from a tree, attending to his skull fracture. The child is now in Port au Prince receiving medical care–his outcome is unknown. She also assisted with a women’s health meeting yesterday… What a resource! We gave her some trauma equipment, Tums, Tylenol, and a few other supplies for her work.

This kind of person gives us hope for change in Haiti’s future! So cool!

Potential projects here in Kawo are coming to mind: Working on the church building exterior to seal up the rock walls and prevent erosion…making gutters from corrugated metal for water collection and use in the newly installed flushing toilets…they are currently refilled by hand. We shower with buckets of spring water currently, which is amazing.

The water in the local spring is still running but now it has a bamboo trough to guide it out.

Food: Gabe is studying the sas pwa (bean sauce) recipe and getting cooking techniques here to get it right when he gets home. We tried to sample the food the local women were cooking and chatted about what kind of meet was in there. When I got a sample, IT WAS LIVER! They giggled as I gagged it down. Goat liver = not yummy.

-Tony