I get up with the construction team, at 6:00am, and wander down to the fence to watch Hatians go about the start of their day. A number of people bring goats to the river just north of us, and every morning I see three older gentlemen walk by. All three of them are slow, bent, and dressed poorly, but the oldest is without shoes and carries a sack and a stick. As they slowly work their way up the beach, he uses the stick to steady himself, and occasionally to push at an item on the ground. When he notices something edible (I did not see exactly what) he stoops to pick it up and put it in his sack. The other two carry small plastic pails. Half an hour or so later, I see them work their way back the way they came.

This morning I see an interesting thing... the fishermen row their boat out and then wait. They sit or stand in their boat until nearly 7:00am, then (as if there was some signal) they start to work. Not sure exactly what this means.

Today should be a short day, as it is a Haitian holiday (the start of their war of independance from France) and children do not have to go to school. That said, students at Degeance were asked to be there for their photographs as it is the only chance we have of taking them. Degeance is a school in a village up in the mountains, so we will have to hike part of the way in. Unlike M.P.C.A, are about three-hundred students at Degeance, so there will always be team members free to take photographs.

 We drove as far into the mountains as we could, then hiked the rest of the way in. The school itself is build on a slope, at the bottom of a village, surrounded by mountains and plantain trees. There is only partially concrete school-house (for four classrooms), a cinderblock principal's office, and a few school-huts made of woven palm leaves.

As we arrived, we were shown into the four-class school house to rest (it being very hot in the sun) and wait for the children. A number of children arrived, and we witnessed the Haitian flag raising ceremony that they perform every morning. Afterwards, we set set up to take photographs under the shade of the large central tree.

We were surprised to discover that almost all of the children showed up, even thought it was a holiday. I believe we only had six absentees.

These kids were obviously happy to be going to school, bright eyed and smiling most of the time that I saw them. Like the students at M.P.C.A., they were very friendly and appeared to be healthy and well-nourished. Because this is a smaller school, there were not so many grades and very few older children.

After the sponsorship photographs were finished, we were introduced to Pastor Herve's discipleship boys. These boys may end up in Bible school or as leaders in their community, but for now they are a shining example of what hope and faith can do in a community.

Pastor Herve offered to give us a short tour if the house of one of the discipleship boys, so we walked up the mountain a little more to visit his home.

This home was two rooms, perhaps 3m x 10m in size, made of cinder blocks, with a sheet metal roof.

The village is basically a cluster of small homes, spread out across very uneaven land. There is no running water, no sewer, no garbage pickup, no mail... no road... just dirt and people. It was a surprise for me, I knew people lived in huts and were very poor, but I also saw the children in their clean school uniforms, and teachers wearing dresses and suits. How do they do it? How does someone live 9 people to a dirt-floor hut and manage to have clean and ironed school clothing?

After seeing the home of the discipleship boy, we moved further uphill into the village, and visited another home. This one also consisted of two rooms, but was made of cemented stones instead of cinderblock. Inside, we met the owner of the home, a friend of Pastor Herve's.

This was the first time I got to see how the Hatians live, I mean up close, really live. I'm not sure what I was expecting, except maybe that people lived simply or had less "stuff" than we do. But it went far beyond that, people don't have floors. People sweet the dirt in Haiti. When they are thirsty, they either get water from a container, or they walk to the nearest supply... which might be a polluted stream, 30 minutes away.

The above photo is an example of a water jug that would be located in a Hatian home. Keeping water in such a jug is convenient, and would keep the water cool, but it doesn't solve the problem of clean water. People do their washing and cooking outside, of course, with small cook-fires being located outside the homes we visited.

We hiked back to the truck, and drove back to the compound in the early afternoon. We had the option of joining the construction team for the afternoon, but everyone elected to remain at the compound to relax and perhaps reflect on their experiences.

For my part, I spent some time on the beach, and went for my first swim. I also spent some time on my own, thinking and trying to reconcile my experiences. It seems strange to me, sitting in the compound with a bed, showers, safe water, hot food... all the comforts of home, while Hatians walk past to get water from the polluted river just a little North. I start to feel like the compound is a problem, almost a symbol of Western failures. Here we are, rich and white, staying in a resort on the beach, eating wonderful food and swimming in the beautiful ocean... all within sight of the poor Hatian's that fish and travel past. They must resent us.

It is one thing to see the good work that Mission Possible does, but it is entirely another to visit someone's home, and to see how they really live. I have a lot to think about, and I don't feel like eating anymore.