Highlights from the Days when the Internet was Lacking

Hi Everyone! Chelsey here... We are all safely home from Haiti now, and as you may have figured out we continued to have some difficulty with the internet throughout the week.  Since we didn't get to post as much as we had hoped, here are some of my highlights from the second half of the week:

Wednesday and Thursday Morning we presented families and a couple of local pastors with water filters, goats, and a solar lamp!

These water filters are designed to last 10 yrs if cleaned regularly!

Working with the little ones at Vacation Bible School (VBS):

(Okay this one isn't actually at VBS, it was from when we were at homes planting coconut trees, but it was too cute to not post it here!)

 Friday was a Beach Day!

We went snorkeling from this boat.

Fresh coconut juice on the beach!

Erica, Bill and I rocking our Landmark gear at VBS!

More posts may be coming with highlights from others, and we all have more stories to tell than there is time for on this blog, but you should seek us out to ask if you want to hear more!  I think I can speak for us all in saying we are excited to share more about our time in Haiti.  For now I am going to have to just let these pictures say their words for us.

Day... What day is it?

Jen and I are back on U.S. soil!  The rest of the team is probably getting back from a day at the beach.

This is the road we took up the mountain to the village of Turpin each day.  One of my favorite parts of our trip has been working in a rural farming community in the mountains.  The scenery is breathtaking.  I am reminded how much work everyday life is in the village.  Everything is done by hand- the farmers use hoes and machetes to work the land, women wash the clothing in the river, children walk with their siblings to get water.

Day 4:

From Jen...

 Our hour and a half canter ride up to the village of Turpin. The road is rocks and dust and we are mad dusty by the time we get there. "People that are black like me go up there and come back white [from the dust]."

 This is a family we planted a coconut tree for. They have been married for 30 years and have seven children. (Two oldest girls are at the river and not pictured). They can only afford for Benito, the oldest, (far left, age 17) goes to school. He has seven more years of school because he started late.

 This is me and my girl Maji. She really wanted to ride in the truck.

 This is Henry and his new friend Felix. He's nineteen and in seventh grade. He loves to play soccer and was helping out at Vacation Bible School with us today.

The kids really liked our sunglasses B)

Day 2-3:

Sorry for the delay!  Internet was down.  Here are some updates.

Sunday, we visited our first village, Leveque. 

We realized quickly that when Henry Barrett walks into a village, all the Haitian children seem to be thinking the same thing.  I am not sure whether it is either "Gotta be friends with that guy" or "perfect jungle gym."  Either way, they line up to be the first to climb on his shoulders or lap.  He's becoming a local favorite.

This is a picture of some of the houses built through Mission of Hope's Blue to Block initiative.  They built 675 homes for people who were living in blue shelters since 2010's earthquake.  The project was finished this spring.

Monday, we headed to the remote mountain village of Turpin to paint a house for a family and help with a summer church camp (VBS) for all the village kids. This is our American team, our Haitian staff, and the family.  They picked out the colors!

Day 1:

     We arrived safely and are settling in to our luxury accommodations.  We are advised to take top bunks to grab some of the sea breeze!