Happy May Day....

Well it was my first MAY DAY in Haiti…..And it was unlike those in my past. Since I was a grade school student and into my married life it was always a time of gathering flowers, placing them on the door step, knocking and running. Maybe this seems strange to anyone else but to this retired man, it’s comforting.
As we awoke today, once again there was no power and it was like this off and on all day. The flowering tree outside our balcony helped make this day beautiful, in spite of not having any power. Once again, we loaded into the pickup truck and made a run to the business where we buy our lumber. Today’s load was much larger than we’ve had in the past, because today we were “scheduled” to build 20 benches that Bill designed and he and Tim made a prototype yesterday. As one might realize in this situation, power is essential in order to charge up batteries for the drills, saws and other battery operated tools. Without it, we are pretty well stopped, so we went as far as we could and then took a break, consisting of snacking, talking, cat-napping, and just waiting for God to intervene so we could continue His work her at “Maries church”…….and guess what He came thru one more time allowing us to have enough generated power for our batteries and the operation to plane the 2 X 4’s.
By 6:00 pm all 20 benches were complete and already some of the local ladies were enjoying the comfort of their new furniture. The acronym of TEAM was the t-shirt that Marie had on today and it was obvious this was the case (Together Everyone Achieves More). We ate by candlelight for a short while, some having their first taste of Haitian Goat, which is pretty tasty, when prepared properly with rice, and veggies. The power came back on momentarily, but in a few minutes the generator was blowing black smoke and once again, our power was gone. And people wonder why life in a third world country is at a much slower pace?? Take a trip someday and see for yourself, it’s a HUGE BLESSING for the people you are visiting, but especially to us Americans to have our eyes opened to how most of the world lives on a daily basis. For them it’s a survival technique every day of their existence.
The people we work with and meet is something that cannot be described in words, but believe me, it can change a person’s view on life as we know it back in the states. Not to mention all the smiling children that just want to be held and loved by anyone willing to spend some time away from the United States.
One other quick workman’s comp. story was how one of our team members brushed up against a piece of wood and received a splinter like I have never seen before. He was lucky that there were a couple of Fireman / EMT on our particular team and they were able to remove with extreme professionalism, along with 4-6 curious on-lookers with flashlights. When all the dust settled, a one inch pc came out and we all cheered.
OK, so much for May Day and all it stands for. May God continue to bless you and your family in the days and weeks to come thru out the balance of 2010.

Terry A.