August Haiti Trip - Day #6 - Saturday, August 6

Prayer Partner of the Day - The Hogan Family

My cheeks hurt from smiling so much today! It was an early day again. Chris, Jerry, Steve & I went toward Jacmel to pick up the replacement parts for the solar systems, only to turn around 15 minutes into our drive, come back to Cheridant, repack and head toward Leogane. We made a stop at the monastery to pick up supplies, drop off supplies, and give hugs to the brothers. Then we were off to Leogane to the Notre Dame orphanage. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do for the system there, so we made a list, made notes, and put a call into Bertone.

Rubble still sits in Cheridant as a everyday
reminder of the devastating earthquake.

Jean Jacques Sylvain was awaiting us at the Total station in Leogane to finally give us the solar parts we had been waiting for all week. Of course, since we were at the Total station, we took the opportunity to have ice cream! We stopped back by Trouin to install the new charge controller, and repeated the process in Cheridant. By the end of the afternoon, the operators of both systems had been trained, and the three systems were running on their own.

Finally we were able to get to Ancy's mother's home up the road from Cheridant. The fellas had the system installed under an hour, and four light bulbs were lighting up her home! What a great feeling it was to know we completed all of the tasks we set out to accomplish!

The Cheridant Volunteer House, complete with solar panels.

A bit of sadness hit me this evening when I realized it was our last night in Cheridant. I adore Father Desire, the priest in charge of the Cheridant-area. He is such a great man! Tonight he brought out pictures of his family, and they are just as precious as he is. I hope I will be able to get to Arkansas in October when he & Ancy are there for the Haiti Education Foundation conference. Ancy, of course, has been wonderful, and I do so enjoy being with him any chance I get. Gerald, Chris's Haitian son, has also been with us everyday! We're currently pre-arranging his and Lesedi's marriage! :)

The complete system in Trouin.

It's been such a great trip, despite the storm, and the lack of luggage. I've never been more thankful to be part of a team, especially THIS team. The week really could not have gone better. Many thanks to everyone who has joined us in daily prayer. Those prayers sustain us with energy, encouragement and a great Spirit!