There and Back Again! (The mountains in ONE day!)

I arrived in Haiti to join Bill on Feb. 4th. With the new “road” to Pelerin, we decided to go check on the two schools JUST MERCY supports in the mountains and left the next morning to drive to Chapelle. What was once a 4 hour mule ride or hike up took just over an hour in the truck but boy, was it a ROUGH hour, mostly driven in 4 wheel low!! The “road” that has been bulldozed out up the mountain will most certainly be washed out after the first hurricane that hits Haiti. But for now, it is possible to drive to the mountains, something we thought we would never be able to do!!

Chapelle school and cistern

We arrived at the Chapelle school. It was the first time I had gotten to visit since they moved to their new location on land purchased by JUST MERCY last year. What a pleasure to see outside the school the new cistern!! An organization from Brazil has been putting in round cisterns in many places in the mountains. The “mayor” of Chapelle had contacted them to ask about putting one in for the school.  Accessible water is always a HUGE blessing in Haiti!  We are grateful to have the cistern at the school.

School Children in Chapelle

Though the new collection pipe off the roof is not very long, there was a little water in the cistern which two ladies were using to cook the lunch of rice and beans for the 250 children of the school. Arrangements had finally been completed with Mission of Hope to receive food for the schools so the children can now have a meal each day!! Our thanks also go to Mike at IFM for helping with the transport of the food boxes and some additional meal needs.

We also saw the school latrine that was not finished due to waiting on funds for some additional concrete. We made arrangements to get that completed soon so the children have a place to go without running to the field next door.

Children in the Pelerin school

A visit to the Pelerin school was next. There is no road to Pelerin so we hiked down a steep part of the mountain to get there. Dr. Jolius, who originally got us involved in the school at Pelerin, is back from medical school and accompanied us to the school. We are so grateful for Dr. Jolius, his dedication to helping his community in the mountains, and his heart for God.

New Desks!

As you can see from the pictures, the school is badly in need of new desks.  Shortly after this visit, Dr. Jolius took delivery of some new desks that we had ordered awhile back to replace some of the ones falling apart at the school.  Thank you to our supporters who make it possible for JUST MERCY to do needed things like this.

Church in Pelerin

Near the school was a new little church building. Poppy, Dr. Jolius’ father who had rededicated his life to the Lord last year after JUST MERCY showed the Jesus Film at the school, had rallied the community together to build the little church!! Right now a few believers are meeting together there each Sunday. They are hoping to find a pastor to come and teach them each week.

After a quick visit with Mommy, Dr. Jolius mother, who had cooked us some rice and beans, we headed back up the mountain. We had arranged for a mule for me as I would have never made it on foot back up the steep mountain trail to the truck. Bill, Sherlie, and Jolius walked up. We headed back down the road, stopping on the way to pick up a broken down motorcycle and it’s driver and some ladies who needed a ride to Fonds Parisien.  It is a daily occurrence in Haiti to need to stop and help people in small and sometimes large ways, touching their lives with God’s love.

We arrived back at the base in Fonds-Parisien about dark. Who would have ever thought last year

Road to Chapelle

that you could possibly go “there and back again” to Pelerin in a day!! What a blessing, though if we did it very often, we’d need a new truck soon! That “road” is rough!! After spending the night in Fonds again, early Thursday morning we got in the truck for the drive across Haiti, hoping to reach Les Cayes in time to catch the water taxi around 2:30 to the new base on Ile a Vache.

(We are trying to find 100 people to donate $20/month to JUST MERCY.   We need to increase the number of friends who support us, enabling JUST MERCY to continue serving in Haiti.  If you can give on a regular basis, please do!  It would be a great help to us and the people we seek to serve.  Please share this need with your family and friends.)

Thank you for your prayers and support.  God bless you all.