Hello all.....welcome to March 3 the second time around....it seems I got dates mixed up and gave yesterday's report as March 3 instead of the 2. ....kinda like ground hog day except my activities for March 3 the second, are different than March 3 the first.....are you totally confused??

Highlights of the day for the newcomers on the team was their visit to Food for the Poor. Despite all of the inconveniences the staff are facing due to repair work going on they have still been gracious and welcoming. The wharehouse is full and getting fuller...normally they empty about 40 - 40' containers a week but this week they are expecting approx. 66 containers to come.....but still as fast as it comes in a lot of it goes out just as quickly. Those fellows sure have their work cut out for them. We had a quick visit to the medical clinic and then we went to the feeding center. They continue to provide meals for approx 1,200 families (average 5 people) that means 6,000 people per day. They were just getting started to serve as we were going through, so Rebecca, Cheryl and Eric jumped in and helped to serve for a while. Rebecca and Cheryl couldn't believe how tiring it was on their arm muscle scooping the rice. Today they got beans sauce with the rice.

Food in preparation to be served to the 1200 families

Rebecca and Cheryl serving up for the grateful recipients.

I asked it they had more people coming as a result of the earthquake. Mme Daudier said it was up and down...as people hear about dry food distributions going on they will run to take advantage of those but when that food runs out they come back. Some have migrated out of the city or to areas further away that make it difficult for them to come by. Never the less there are still plenty waiting to be served.

While we did that the others got to work at Hope House and at the orphanage....the peach coloured dining room at the LCJ is now a vibrant like neon pink.....and they even had the original can of paint with them when they went to purchase it. However the folks at the orphanage are happy and it sure brightens up the place. The crew at Hope House led by Christophe is making good progress with the wall or at least with getting the new base made for it. The poles are already installed...thanks to the assembly line they got going to prepare the re-bar.

Rebecca joined me for the rest of the morning after we dropped folks off at Little Children of Jesus after our tour of FFTP. We delivered some rice, and plastic sheeting to the Mayor in Ganthier, well actually to his asst. He had an "emergency" and couldn't wait for the appointed time for my arrival....that was a bit of a frustration. So back I go tomorrow morning to hopefully get the letter signed. We passed by the Ministry health center so I could show Rebecca and I learned that the nurse I had worked so well with is no longer working there...apparently some money they recieved for her salary was no longer available. I met the new nurse today. I'll be anxious to see how it goes with her once we get going again with our services at the school.

We dropped by the school to pick up some vitamins for the Randy Smith crew. They were still as busy as ever when we stopped by to drop off the pills. They are pleased with how the week has gone thus far......that's a relief for me as it was a bit of an experiment setting them up at Hospital Eben Ezer. Tomorrow I will pick them up and take them to LCJ and to Marie's. We'll have fun juggling vehicles and chaufffeurs but it should all work out.

Didn't hear much on the news today other than AA airlines celebrating 30 years of flying to Haiti and that the airport is supposedly back to normal operations...I guess I 'll see when I take the crew there on Sat. Air France is now flying in and Air Canada is supposed to start next week.

and there you have it for March the 3rd #2.

have a restful night all
Debbie