Blackout. This is the city of Port-au-Prince at night without the city power. This was taken up the mountain overlooking the city. It is also a reason why I do not like driving at night. Many vehicles do not have lights on, nor brake lights. The Haitians also wear dark clothing. This makes driving at night a real challenge. Although the city lay in darkness, God's handiwork in the night sky was clearly visible.

On her trips to the Racine, Mary sees the children - many of them. A picture is worth a thousand words. Happiness is . . .

This past week the Elementary School had a Read-a-thon. Besides the elementary students participating, there were some Middle school students and adults involved. They read over 67,000 minutes in the course of one week. While reading they raised more than $2,500 for Limye Lavi which provides education for children and adults here in Haiti. This organization is dedicated to ending the restavek system in Haiti - child domestic slavery.

Yes we are eating once again :-) Fellowshipping - sharing a meal is an important way to encourage one another in our work. One-anothering. The Van Dam family had a work team of Howard's father, uncles and aunts - seven in total, come to ecourage Howard in his work in Haiti and work for him at the ministry centre while being here. it is a good thing that the Haitian houses have large rooms since there were about 50 guests at this pot luck.

This is the scene from the Van Dam balcony, over looking the ravine below. The houses are built on the hillside and the walking trails are the only way to get to these houses. They certainly live in very closer quarters to their neighbour. These houses are made from concrete, even the roofs. If they build a concrete roof, that allows for a second storey to be built to house another family or to add living space to a ravine house.