Jeremey (our engineer who works for OTB) and Todd (a sweet friend who is an electrician, who has volunteered his time and talents) are here to put this kitchen together! Whooohoo

They have come with excitement and energy that is contagious. The ideas and work that they want and need to accomplish in just 11 short days is staggering. On a good day, you can accomplish one thing in Haiti. So,  they are quickly realizing the obstacles that Haiti presents, on a daily basis.They have had to go from plan A, to plan B, to plan C some days. Sometimes it’s due to a missing part, or others because the cement they need to pound through for pipe is just too thik and Haitians don’t have the right tools, or apoxy paint can’t go everywhere cause it can’t go over already painted walls and we don’t have a sand blaster or something similar to prep the walls properly.

I can’t help but grin sometimes when they come into the house-and are distraight over the newest obsticale they have come across. It’s Haiti. There is no store with parts close by. There is no place to rent heavy machinery. There is no consistent power or generator here yet to get power.  We are used to all these things at our fingertips in the States. We are used to some road blocks, but we are quickly able to get what we need, where we need it, when we need it. We have only been here two months, and are slowly realizing how different and diffucult things can be here. They have been here just 3 days and are getting a crash course in that lesson. But, now when they come in with the latest problem, they sit down with Brandon and brainstorm on the best way to ‘magiver’ it. The best way to make it work with the limited recourses we have here. And, I will say, I am impressed. Those boys have come up with some very ingenious ways to get around problems.

And so, the kitchen is being built. Slowly, things are happening, and it is very exciting! More information and pictures to come….

I have decided that today is ‘pick the Bible character who you feel the most like’ day. Today I chose Job. I feel as if I have been stripped of many comforts and luxuries.  I feel as if my body is under attack-as was Job’s. I burned my leg on the muffler of a moto, I always have a small heat rash on my thighs, I got a strange rash thing that is finally starting to go away, yesterday after dinner my tummy had the rumbles, and I couldn’t leave the toilet all day today (and we have no running water which means I have to pour a bucket of water in the toilet each time I go!!) not to mention it’s about 95 degrees in our room. Yet, as I layed in bed feeling sorry for myself, God showed me goodness. In that moment, the power turned on. As of now, the power only comes on at night, so the fact that it randomly turned on during the day, enough to use our fans and new ac, made my heart full with praise to the Lord. It stayed on for almost two hours, enough to refresh and renew my spirit.

Yesterday we ventured out to take a few pictures for OTB. Since we desperately need a vehicle, we thought it would be a good idea to show how we would have to deliver the food if we didn’t have one. So, we took a few pictures of us delivering the food in the 5 gallon In one  photo we were walking, the other we rode donkeys, the last one was on a moto bike. I was glad to take the pictures and get them to our media gal, Becky, and so we happily took those photos as people awkwardly stared at us. When I got off the moto, I wasn’t paying attention and I burned my leg on the muffler. I am normally pretty dramatic (surprise, surprise) but quietly told Brandon I had just burned my leg. He wasn’t sure how bad it was since it didn’t come with all the dramatics like normal. But, within an hour, I was left with a burn the size of a small lemon! It blistered already! So, the point of my story is we set out to show how sad/hard/difficult it would be to distribute food without a vehicle, and I really did get a serious battle wound that proves how we really do need a vehicle without an exposed muffler! (Mind you, that was while I was carrying an empty bucket too!)