On our weekly walks to the Eagle supermarket, we used to pass by a garbage heap along side of the road. Eventually the garbage truck would come by and remove the trash and the people would dump their garbage once again. On Delmas, the city has placed these metal containers on wheels with a ramp. All the garbage may be thrown into these containers. They do not have weekly garbage removal from the homes. Weekly, the trucks come by and back up to the ramps and remove all the garbage. A great improvement!

Each Friday morning, Mary, Katie Galloway and Ruth VanDam do their weekly grocery run, which includes Boca Moca, a coffee house, which is as good as Starbucks :-) This was the last time for Katie, the lady in the middle, since she and her children are leaving Haiti this Thursday. Her husband, the Bible teacher in the High School, will follow her when the school year is finished. They are the family living above us in the upstairs apartment. I will certainly miss their musical talents and his chapel talks with the Midle School and High School students each Wednesday morning.

The ladies weekly run also includes the market in Petionville. The vendors just line the streets with their wares for sale including the fruits and vegetables. The Friday market greatly impedes the traffic. Here Ruth is smelling a pineapple to see if it is ripe. To see if a pineapple is ripe, you have to be able to smell 'pineapple' scent. Another way to tell, you pull at the innermost leaves at the top and if they come out easy, the pineapple is ready to eat.

Fellowship is an important ingredient at Quisqueya Christian School. On Saturday the Parent Action Committee hosted a Sports Barbeque from 10 AM - 3PM. The tether line was what the children enjoyed the most, travelling from the second story of the elementary building to a tree in front of the administration building. What a ride!



There was a hula hoop contest and the elementary students did very well. There were three contestants left and this was all after 10 minutes. The soccer players were getting restless and a three way tie was declared for the elementary participants.





Yes we also had lots of food. There were hamburgers, hot dogs and various dishes represented by parents who had given recipes for the school cook book. This way the people could try the food before they bought the QCS cookbook. One way to have a lot of people attend is to have free food. The school family was well represented at this event.



We praise the Lord for a day with lots of Sonshine and no rain. The picnic area or 'school cafeteria' had lots of shade provided by the trees. The new picnic tables were delivered just in time for this event. Their unusual construction made it possible for 8 adults to sit at the table and the seats would not bend under the weight. Evidence on the blue table shows that it was warm and we needed to drink a lot of liquids. It was a great day :-)

This is Cari Vixamar, a high school teacher at Quisqueya Christian school. Here she is holding Diana, barely visible behind a toddler posing for my camera. This picture is taken at 'Maison D'Espoir" or House of Hope. House of Hope is a creche, a place that most people would call an orphanage. They take in abandoned babies and also babies that are just given up for adoption because the parents have no means to feed or care for them. These children are adopted out all over North America and Europe. Cari often takes Diana home with her for the weekend just to give her some much needed one on one attention and regular formula feeds. It has paid off and she has gained quite a few pounds since beginning the weekend visits.

Here you can see four of the babies in one of the baby rooms at House of Hope. This is a room where they have about 20 babies in a room not larger than 12'x16'. I am not sure how many nannies look after these babies, but you never see more than two nannies at a time in the room. Some of the teachers at QCS have been visiting House of Hope on a regular basis just to hold and give some one on one attention to babies that sometimes seldom get cuddled or just held for more than a feed. Sometimes there are two babies in a small crib meant for one. Often there are no sheets on the crib mattresses.

This is the back street where the creche is located. We walk here when we want to walk to House of Hope. This is a typical scene where someone is taking home a fresh chicken for supper. When I mean fresh, I mean fresh. The chicken is still alive and will be dealt with when the bearer gets home. If you have no refridgeration, the fresher the chicken, the healthier the meal! If you buy chicken that is all ready for cooking, you never know how long it has been waiting for a buyer. If the chicken is still clucking or crowing, you KNOW it is fresh!

Early this Easter morning, Ad deBlaeij picked us up for the 6:00 A.M. Sonrise Service on top of the mountain called Boutillier. Members from two churches came together to proclaim that the Lord had risen indeed! Although His Sonshine was very evident on the lockout point, the city of Port-au-Prince can be seen in the mist below. On behalf of His people, Howard Van Dam prayed for the city below and all of the people of Haiti - that the Light of His Sonshine may penetrate into their hearts.

The view from the mountain top was spectacular. We could see the city below as the Sonlight penetrated the mist that was covering the city. We need to return to this place again on a clear day and just see the city sprawled below. On this mountain are located many communication towers. After the service, the Van Dam family and the DeKoters enjoyed breakfast at the de Blaeij's home, which is located within 10 minutes of this site.

Where ever we are, we can see the beauty of Haiti. Growing on the hillside of the observation area were these beautiful flowers, and one could even see the water droplets on the flowers and the leaves. We serve a mighty Creator God, who not only redeemed His people by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, but who continues to take care of His Creation by His wondrous and mighty creational laws.

After the hearty breakfast and good fellowship, were were in time to worship with God's people at the regular church service. Upon entry, the worshippers were given a flower to put on the cross which was at the front of the church. The prayer concerns of the people, which were written on small notepaper, and stuck on the cross during the Lenten season were burned at the early worship service. We praise God for the new life we have serving our Risen Saviour. He has risen indeed!

This is the bulletin board in my science room. I had all the students make an Easter 'bulletin' cover for me to help decorate the room. This way I could also see and discuss what these special days mean to them. They enjoyed the activity during science. I have become Americanized - in my spelling :-)

The grade eighters pictured here are busy answering the questions on a chapter test. It was a brief matching test so that we could finish watching the Easter video of Story Keepers. All my classes enjoyed it. It is a great way that I also can share the reason of the season to all the students.

This past week the parents and teachers had some difficulty entering the school property via the gate. The school is on the left side of this picture. The vehicles were able to squeeze under the wires that lay across the road. Yesterday the pole was uprighted once again. There was no disruption in our services at school since those wires service the houses behind the school.