The school/orphanage is about 45 minutes from the guesthouse, north into the mountains, in the villages of Titanyen. Titanyen translates to "less than nothing" which we found to be far from accurate. The village is void of businesses at the moment, but progress is being made thanks to the expansion of Grace Village. They have a community church {which we attended on Sunday) and a bakery that has just opened and will soon employ 50 families. Sue bought us sticky buns for our dessert tonight. The school has over 400 students and 39 resident children. The resident children live in family style homes with a momma and papa, a family unit. We were impressed with the organization, leadership and care put into every aspect of the children's schooling and socialization. We also toured the medical and dental Clinique that is house within the grounds and is available to the surrounding village.
After lunch we headed out to visit with the Elders. On the ride we passed the Haitian Mass Grave, a memorial that marks where hundreds of thousands were buried following the earthquake. We visited with 4 Elders in their homes - Maricia, Aloude, Jude Jean Paul, and Dieufort. We provided a hot meal and a cold drink. We sang, rubbed lotion on them and polished nails. They were all so very sweet and very appreciative. Before we left each one we joined hands and prayed.
Once we returned to the guesthouse we changed into our bathing suits and walked to the Elite Hotel and Visa Lodge. There we enjoyed a relaxing swim in the pool before dinner. One of the other teams was there also so we were able to get acquainted.
After a dinner of tacos we had devotions and team discussion led by Jon. Later some of us joined the team leaders in a meeting with Jean Fils Aime who is the driving force behind Healing Haiti.
Donna
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