This is the greeting I receive each morning when I walk into the grade four class. Any other teacher who walks in at any time receives the same greeting :-) Sometimes, it just breaks the flow of things.

Seeing God at work in His creation is always a thing of beauty. Here we have two snapshots of the lunar eclipse from Haiti. God's beauty is all around us if we but have the eyes to see it. Help us to see You each and every day Lord!

Mary is giving this plant - a bugenvilia (sp?) - intravenous. The water from the pail is being 'dripped' to the plant via an IV tube. Since she has started this, the plant has beautiful flowers even during the dry season. This is a hardy plant and flowers throughout Haiti durinhg the dry season, but this one is special. The base of the plant is actually surrounded by concrete, so only a small amount of water can be given at a time.

The grade five class is busy making these small garden ready for planting. The small plots were bricked this past week and good soil was added. The class is composting and growing the plants from seeds. They are energetic on this project and we will hopefully see the school beautification program continuing via the different programs.

Kevin from Barb and Friends Mininstry in PA. led our chapel last week presenting the gospel in song, sign language, puppetry, story telling and the reading of His Word. Here Kevin is showing that the Word of the Lord is indestructable. He certainly captured the children's attention with his show and tell ministry. Kevin has presented this ministry more than 20 times in Haiti over the years, but this was the first time at QCS. We invited him for a return visit whenever he would be in Haiti.

This past week was Teacher Appreciationm Week and that was shown by the Administration with a breakfast on Monday morning, an Ice Cream Social served by the Board on Wednesday after school and a breakfast served by the Parent Action Committee on Friday morning. Madame Ruth Van Dam from the Parent Action Committee, seen here is leading the staff in a devotional during the breakfast. This is a most excellent way to start the day - being fed by God's Word and His daily food. It was a great week:-) Oh yes, we celebrated Valentines Day all day Thursday as you can see by the decor still left in the staff room.

Finally I have the team from Kentucky posted. They spent a week at school doing renovations in the apartment upstairs and in our apartment - especially the bathroom. It was great to see the experts at work, trying to install new items with the limited tools available. They were good at making the best using 'Haitian Tools.' Maybe we will see them for a return visit to complete the task started in the apartment upstairs.

Martial, who is the son of Suzette, the Haitian lady who cleans our apartment once a week. Guens came to talk about his schooling. He desires to be a doctor and will hopefully start university this Fall. Finances of course are a problem. Although we presently pay for his high school education, as well as for his sister and foster brother, university schooling is costly. Can we help him procure the funds for him? We will try to help him achieve his dreams to become a doctor to help the poor in Haiti, but we also need help in doing this. Next week he will give an estimate of what it will cost per semester in a good university here in Haiti. This is a six year journey. Please pray for funds for Guens. He prays daily thanking God for the opportunities he has had so far. Guens comes from a devout Christian family.
Picture here is Guens

Each week at the elementary school chapel on Thursday, the students in the grades Pre - K to grade 6 recite their memory work of the week. Here is a video of the kindergarten students are reciting theirs.

This past week we went to the Director's house for a pizza lunch. His house is within walking distance and all those staffers not leaving the compound during the holidays were invited. Since each home is a gated comminity, pictured here is the Director infront of his gate showing the door 'bell' for his house. The hole in the wall holds a stone which you use to knock on the steel gate. Here you can see Steve knocking on his own gate. Notice the lack of paint where everyone 'knocks'.



Ummh good. A display of the abundant pizza choices we had at the lunch, all home made by our director Steve Hersey and his daughter Suzannah. Pictured here are Denise and her children and Kim, getting first choice of the spread. God provided the opportunity of good food and good fellowship during the carnival break.





Even through it is winter here and it is dry, very dry, God's presence is still seen in the abundant flowering plants that are found. We do serve a mighty Creator and the beauty of His pwoer and might can be seen wherever we are planted to serve Him!

My most favourite activity - not! I should have invited the I Paint team from Port Perry:-) The bathroom and the bedroom were painted during the holidays and what a difference! We are leaving a mark - making the apartment our home. The T shirt is one left by the Kentucky team who updated our bathroom with new fixtures which were needed, Free advertising :-)

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.