All Good Things Come to an End… Goodbye for Now

Blog by Sandra Wednesday, 4th

Well our time at HATS this trip is coming to an end. We leave 5:30 AM tomorrow, Thursday, for Port Au Prince then Shondi and Dickie and I part ways. She heads to Ft Lauderdale and us to Miami several hours after her.

Dickie and I have had a wonderful month here and Shondi 17 days. There isn’t much we haven’t done, eaten, seen, smelled or touched. I saw more bugs this trip than ever before. It apparently is high ant season, cricket season and the cockroaches were trying to keep up with both of them.

We have all been busy helping Karen clean and make changes to two administration offices and Shondi moved over 7500 photos and videos from Karen’s camera to her computer! At least she did a great job of trying but the sporadic internet made it very difficult and unable to be completed.

We kinda slowed down between Christmas and New Years and enjoyed time with the kids and letting them enjoy their new toys and games. We have played them all, great fun!

We have walked the canal several times and with other groups and have had a group of 9-10 people, a team with Project Help, visit and provide music to sing with the kids and then a big water fight! What a treat to be able to fill 330 balloons in a few minutes….and then they disappear almost as quickly. There is a lot of running and squealing! Great fun! Ti Fi loved being outside with visitors and especially liked being allowed to try and make music.

 

Dickie has worked harder and longer than anyone else and has accomplished a LOT! Yesterday he built a cross for the roof, put some of the Christmas lights on it and it is seen by everyone driving or walking on the road. A symbol that HATS is indeed a Christian mission and a light in the darkness.

Yesterday I made a huge mistake and it cost us almost 7 dozen eggs! While we were having a water fight a man arrived with 7 1/2 dozen eggs and they were put on the kitchen counter. When Shondi and I came in after the fight to dry off we saw them and Shondi suggested we put them in the fridge. I said okay and picked up the box with 3 flats in it and only took one step and all 90 of them were on the floor! What a mess! We salvaged 20 and had to clean up the rest, I used the dustpan and scooped egg shells, yolks and whites into it and poured it into the garbage bag over and over and over! Then I got mop and bucket and had to change my water 5 times to get the floor clean. Today he came again with 2 flats and I didn’t touch them. Did I say that eggs are hard to find??

It is not mango season. We have, however, had lots while here but ran out. We had the word out we were looking for some and a lady arrived today with a bag of them for us!!!! What a treat on our last day!

The time has come for us to leave Haiti once again and return to our families and friends in a colder climate. I will appreciate the cold for awhile at least.