Another fantastic day here at HATS! There are lots of new experiences for us and lots of fun with Karen’s beautiful children.
First of all, it’s raining buckets right now – a welcomed reprieve from the heat of past few days.
Our day, however, started with staff devotions led by Germaine, one of the ladies who work in the kitchen. What beautiful singing, what energy, and smiles. Just a bit of a challenge for us, to say the least, to read the words of the songs in Creole. The tunes are recognizable, though, and we are improving!
This morning we accomplished a lot with 7 more benches made by Gary, Al and Keith, while Lily and I finished cleaning out and organizing the storeroom.
Then it was off for an adventure. Karen took the time from her busy day to take us outside the compound and into the village of Deschapelles. It was a bumpy ride in the back of her pick-up truck! To see how the people live, the shops along the streets and the Albert Schweitzer Hospital was just amazing.
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| All aboard |
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| Street market |
Carol loves singing with the children and gathers them around her, after school in the afternoons, to sing, color, and just hang out. She is practicing a special song with them for church on Sunday. Lily, Joan, Carol and I are teaching them to play the tambourines in rhythm and will be doing a drill at worship on Sunday to the song “Give me Oil in my Lamp, Keep me Burning” – one of the songs the children can sing in English.
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| Give me Oil |
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| Starting young |
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| Birthday boy drummer |
This afternoon we had a birthday party for two of the boys who had birthdays this month.
Ti Luc is now 9 years old and Jonathan is 3. We celebrated outside with singing, gifts and a party lunch. The children sure enjoyed the cookies that Lily and I made! Later the children were off to continue the celebration with a rare treat – to watch a movie. They were so happy and excited.
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| Jonathan opening gifts |
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| The cakes |
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| The party girls |
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| Happy boy |
Now, for us, we’re hoping for another good night’s rest in our little tents. Hopefully the roosters won’t start too early in the morning!!!
~Cathy and Gary
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