Haiti, July 27, 2011

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After a hot and not such a good night’s sleep we awoke to some hot coffee and pancakes. Shortly after breakfast I received a phone call from Fede who informed me that his vehicle had been broken into the night before and 95 dollars had been stolen from his wallet, and he now has a busted window. With limited gas in his vehicle he picked us up at God’s Planet guest house to take us to Harry’s church to meet Madame Fani and her son Michlet. On the way there we stopped and filled Fede’s car with gas and as far as we know he was going to take care of some more personal things and then head back to Peligre.

Once at Harry’s church Deborah, Aiyana, and I were let into the gate and we sat under the big mango tree to wait for Madame Fani, Michlet, and Harry to arrive. I was looking very forward to seeing Madame Fani and talking to her about how life in Corchi is and the progress on her home that we are trying to complete. I was also excited for Deborah and Aiyana to meet Madame Fani. We sat and talked for many hours under the mango tree.

We order some chicken from a little restaurant for everybody. Harry sent Adonis to pick up our food. After a long wait we finally got our food. It was fun eating with Madame Fani. Deborah and Aiyana were very impressed with Madame Fani they were able to see her strength of character and witness my relationship with her. Deborah was able to communicate with Madame Fani and Michlet and they spent quite a while talking.

During our conversations we had an impromptu focus group session. We asked what they would prioritize as the most needed between water, education, and health . Crochi is a small village in the mountains close to Z’Orange. Water is well over several hours away and food can be relatively nonexistent at times. The answer to the question we received from both of them was that they felt that education was a priority over water and health and that a school was much needed. When we heard the answer we all three looked at each other in agreement that the face of Give Me Shelter Ministries may be changing.

Out of the many people we interviewed on this mission trip all of them gave us the same answer as far as education being the primary need. Once Madame Fani and Michlet left the church, the three of us along with Harry and two other men went into Port au Prince and played tourist. Harry deposited us back at the guest house where we were met by our hostess Ashley and had a Haitian-American meal of grilled chicken, rice and beans, sauce, and pickles. Today may very well been one of the highlights of this trip, being able to spend time with Madame Fani and introducing her to my new friends. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny