A lesson in perseverance

I am learning a lesson in perseverance. I have been sick since yesterday morning... "haitian happiness"... and I'm struggling to do the things I need to do. But, everywhere I look I see examples of people finding the strength to not just endure but move forward; A husband who has lost his wife is caring for his 3 young children. A son is comforting his mother as she grieves the loss of another son. Hungry children are sharing food with those who have less. A mother irons clothes for her daughter's funeral. Groups of people are banding together to clean the streets. Men are building blocks again in preparation for rebuilding. The H2H Board, and people all across North America, are working around the clock to help us. Pray that these examples will give me the strength and perseverance I need to do the job God has placed before me.

Cleaning the streets:







Making blocks again:



Ironing clothes with a charcoal iron:



I have neglected Grand Goave on my blog so I'm posting pictures of some of the damage done to our village.

This was a 3 story building:



Individual houses:













The roof of this house is sitting on the foundation... everything inside was destroyed:



This was the Catholic Church:



A side view of the same church:



Sifting through rubble trying to find personal items:



This was a 3 story high school:



There are tent cities set up everywhere:





We had a bit of a scare today. I was in a community meeting this afternoon when a substantial aftershock hit us. A few minutes later I got a call from my husband, Renel, saying one of the older boys at H2H was injured and they were bringing him to me so I could find a doctor. When he arrived he was covered with blood and was holding his head. I quickly found a doctor and they stitched him up. He had been sitting on a stairwell when the quake hit and tried to jump off it as he was worried it would collapse. When he jumped he hit his head on a tree branch and then fell into the razor wire fence. There were a few tense minutes but everything is fine now and he'll probably have the best sleep he's had in weeks... thanks to the medicine I gave him.