Thank you to the awesome team of ladies, from New Brunswick and Newfoundland, who were recently helping at HATS. You were not only a big help in many ways but you were a joy to have here with us.
The children had made and posted a banner welcoming the team. The children knew Kathleen (Cafline as they say and spell it) and Jess. For weeks prior to their arrival they talked about Jess and Cafline coming soon. They were thrilled to have those two back but very happy to meet and make more new friends. Now the hope is that the new ones will want to return some day as well.
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| Welcome banner made by children for Kathleen, Jess and the newbies. |
Thank you to Mariah, too, although not a member of the team arrived at the same time. Mariah was a big help while they were here, and still is. Mariah surprised the children and employees of the mission as we kept it a secret that she was coming.
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| Mariah from Calgary. Crystal from Corner Brook. New friendships. |
The team members were: Kathleen, from NB, returning for the third time
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| Kathleen (with her sidekick) |
Jess, from NL, returning for the second time
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| Jess |
(Sept 27th Jess will be a full fledged member of the ‘awesome but nutty’ Huxter and MacDonald families) This is a good thing for both families. Caleb you have chosen well.
Emily, from NB, for the first time
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| Emily |
Erika, NB, first timer
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| Erika |
Patricia, NL, for the first visit
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| Patricia |
Jenny, NL, – first visit
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| Jenny |
Crystal, NL (formerly Bahamas) – first visit
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| Crystal |
Their day of leaving needed an earlier start than had been the original plan. There was an important reason for this. Early morning Ti Luc was up to see the team off.
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| Kathleen and Ti Luc saying Bye. Tears were seen on both faces. |
As the team filled the bus to leave it was obvious there were mixed emotions. They were returning home to their families but they were having difficulty leaving the mission and the children.
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| Ready to head home but not really ready to leave HATS |
You saw from their blogs the many ways the team members were involved and the many and various ways they helped while here. They all fell in love with the children and the children with them.
The team members here at HATS and the other members of the Canadian group who were in Grand Goave with a rubble housing project all kindly agreed to leave both areas of Haiti very early a.m. so I could also get to the airport in PAP and head to Canada.
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| Some of the NB & NL team members inside PAP airport |
I want to personally thank the other members of the group from NB and NL, who had spent the week in another area of Haiti, for their willingness to arrive at the airport almost three hours ahead of what we had originally scheduled. This was done for my benefit as I was making a very unexpected short trip to NS for a very sad reason.
I was going to attend the funeral of a friend, Heather Rhyno. Heather, one of the nicest people one could ever meet, was the wife of Gerry Rhyno – Chairman of the Canadian Board of Directors of the mission HATS-Haiti, and mother of another friend, Heidi Newell. Gerry and Heather were on a well deserved holiday cruise when Heather, age 55, had a massive heart attack.
I want to say a big thank you to my friend, Beate Rufft, another member of the Canadian Board of Directors for HATS, for the airline ticket to attend the funeral. Thanks also to Katheleen McDonald, who helped Beate work out the flight arrangements, and who covered the cost of my hotel room in Miami on my return home Wednesday. I so appreciated being able to support my friends and their family members.
My leaving, unexpectedly along with the team members, would have been a lot more difficult for the children if Mariah had not been here. This is another reason I am thankful. I say thanks to God and thanks to those who helped in every way. I think the new team members who were here with us caught the vision of what HATS is about –
Blessings everyone.
~Karen
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