Thursday, May 28
Today was our last day on the job site. The team manned their posts in the assembly line of passing buckets of concrete for the last time of the trip. Haitians don’t typically eat their lunch meal until 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon, so around that time we brought some sandwiches, chips and sodas and we all ate together at the job site. Wes and Rudy expressed our thanks to the Haitian workers for this great opportunity to work with them. The Haitian workers in-turn expressed their thanks for having us there, and that they pray we will have a safe trip home.
Today was also an eventful day among the students. When the team wasn’t passing concrete buckets, they jumped rope with the kids, played “slaps” and the female team members let the young girls play with their hair (pigtails was the style of choice). An intense soccer game broke out that had the whole campus lined up to watch. With the level of enthusiasm of the players and the spectators, you’d think you were at a World Cup game. When the winning team won the winning goal, the school yard erupted in cheering, yelling and “court-storming”.
The secondary students are studying for exams, so they do not have structured class time this time of year. Just after the exciting soccer game, they formed a circle and began singing and clapping. A girl started the game in the middle of the circle. She picked a boy, they danced for a few moments, kissed on the cheek, and then the boy was left alone in the circle. He, then, picked a new girl to dance, kiss, and then left her in the center of the circle. It went on like that for a while with ooh’s and ahh’s after a few particular selections. It was amazing to watch their laughs and witness the fun they have together.
Tonight we had another fabulous dinner at the guest house always with great fellowship. It is bittersweet as we begin to make our way back to Port-au-Prince tomorrow morning. We will miss the workers and the friends we have made. For those who have been here before, the friendships continued to develop and for those of us there for the first time, new friendships have begun.
The plan for tomorrow is some cultural time to see more of beautiful Haiti up on the mountain above the capital city.