"We are the world united by love so strong...we are the world connected by a common bond-love"

Before hand I knew that good things were going to come out of this trip and afterwards I can easily say that amazing, incredible, beautiful things came out of this trip. Our group of 17 was more than a perfect fit for the weeks tasks.

Throughout the week we accomplished the following:

Gary (or as the team referred to him "Dad"), Lou, John, Rob,
Clay and Ben prepare to walk the buckets of sand
 and water to the school for the men working on the floor.

• worshiping and sharing Gods gospel
• basketball clinic and games
• soccer games after school (soccer and basketball supplies were collected by Rob, Ben, Lou, Clay and Luke before the trip from donations from various organizations and community members)
• visits to surrounding villages each day to help nurse Shelly with house visits/followups on patients, blood pressure screenings and vitamin distribution
• bracelet making (now being sold in the US)
• scarf making (also being sold in the US)
• English class with the Bright Morning Star English Club
• working in child sponsorship updating files
• food distribution to over 600 families in desperate need
• trip to Paco to update student files for medical purposes and vitamin distribution
• trip to Paul to survey for the new school
• organization of scarf making supply closet
• organization and addition to the library I helped start on my January 2012 trip
• assembly, hanging and ringing of a new school bell
• moving of sand and water to aid the Haitians in the laying of tile in the school
• carpentry and assembly of lab benches and cabinets in a school room
• distribution of braided bracelets donated by another Pittsburgh group to every school student in La Croix
• clinic visits with nurse Shelly
• walks up the mountain (partially motivated to work off the amazing food we ate all week)
• organization of medical supplies
• spur of the moment small group English lessons with eager students

...and for me, the most beautiful event this week was the delivery of a baby. Nurse Shelly knows I'm on the edge of pursuing a career in the medical field and took it upon herself to make sure I was involved in every medical aspect of the trip that came up. Late afternoon on Friday she eagerly approached me and exclaimed that a baby was being born at the clinic 1/2 mile down the road and wanted to know if I was interested in assisting. I mean, how could I say no? We quickly changed into scrubs and walked as fast as possible to the clinic (with RoRo (Roland the translator) walking as slow as a turtle behind us as if nothing was up). Since the Haitians don't receive any pain meds during labor we could hear the mother screaming before we were even on the property of the maternity ward. Before I knew it we were in the room and the child was being delivered. Yardly (the Haitian midwife) delivered the baby as Shelly and I held the mothers hands. The first  Kreyol phrase I learned that week was "please remain clam." I was contemplating testing my Kreyol and telling the mother "tempri rete tranquil" but figured she probably wouldn't be too pleased with a tiny white 17 year old telling her to remain calm while she was busy giving birth to her child. When the baby was born I had the privilege of cutting the umbilical cord, showing the mother her baby for the first time and then showing the baby to the rest of the family and letting the great grandmother cradle her.  I cried when the baby was born. I cried when I saw the dads face when he saw his healthy daughter for the first time. I cried as told my dad I helped deliver a baby.

As I look back on this experience I realize that I watched this child take its first breath. The first breath of a life that most likely wont be too easy. But a breath that would last a life time. This girl has the potential to grow up in Pastor Pierre's community and that in itself is a blessing more and more people are involved in each year. When I realized this, my worries and fears for a hard life ahead of this child vanished. As our team worked with Pierre and his staff this week it was evident that something was going right in the mission of La Croix. The kids come to school and receive and outstanding education. The families have a place to come and worship. There is a clinic that is self supporting for the community access. The students have (or will in the very near future) a vocational school to attend. The families have God's hand and Pastor Pierre's generosity to be thankful for.

the view from the top of the mountain across the street from the mission

As our team became aware of the good things about the mission we were appreciative of Pierre's efforts and intelligence and wish there were more people like him in Haiti. God's hand is at work in La Croix and this past week, our group was able to be part of that and work alongside the Haitians to complete projects that in some way or another were able to better their lives.

we made a quick stop to admire the Caribbean
on the way back to the airport

However the projects weren't everything. Having talked to some of the team since we got home the most valued thing we were able to take away (although the trip most certainly isn't about what we get out of it but what the Haitians do, there are evidently some very emotional experiences that we can say we got out of the trip) from this were the friendships we made and expanded upon. These friendships are some that we can't even say we have with those here in the states. We were openly able to worship the Lord and break out into song randomly, joke around with as if we had know each other for years. "We are the world united by love so strong...we are the world connected by a common bond-love" have to be my some of my favorite lyrics and I think they fit this trip perfectly. Yeah, we did a handful of projects but these projects were done with immense love. Our friendships were built through the love of Christ. The love (and thankfulness) the Haitians have for not only one another but for us. And it's this love that draws me to Haiti again and again, and it's this love that will pull me back in January 2013 for three weeks. Until then-orevwa ak mesi (goodbye and thank you).

Friday written by Jenny Gallo

We are busy packing to come home with very mixed emotions therefore there is not a long blog post tonight. It has been an amazing week. This team has worked, played and prayed was great gusto! We are anxious to see the family members that have supported us for this trip yet it is so hard to leave our brothers and sisters in Christ here in Haiti. Until Darby writes a concluding blog post I will leave you this picture of some of the girls we worked to painting silk scarves...it evokes the joy of the people and their love for the Lord that we experience while we are in Haiti.

Thursday- Written by Lisa Smith

       Happy Thanksgiving!! We have so much to be thankful for. Or as the Haitians would say, "Nou gen telman yo dwe rekonesan pou".  This morning, at 6:15, Pastor Pierre took a few of us up the mountain that sits next to the mission. The view was breathtaking. We sat on the top for a while to take pictures and meditate.

       After breakfast, we broke off to do different jobs. A few of us worked on rice distribution. Then the guys worked on putting up the post for the school bell to wake the children in the villages up for school. They also carried buckets of sand and water around the courtyard to use for laying down tile. Keith and Sam worked on building cabinets and computer desks. Darby and Allison worked in the clinic with Shelly. Some worked on scarves and some on bracelet beading. A couple Haitians got Allison Cho and Clay to teach them some English. It was an exhausting day!
     When school was over, Luke, John, and I got the opportunity to ride the bus home with the kids that live too far to walk. The bus was crazy. There were about four kids in each seat and kids standing in the aisle. The girls began belting out songs that Edvans said they made up themselves. It was cool driving past all the villages.
     After school at beading, Allison Evans and I talked again with a boy named Belgelo. Yesterday he asked us to teach him a song in English, so we taught him "Here I Am to Worship" and he taught us a song in Kreyol. We practiced again with him today. He said that he loves talking when we're here because he loves to practice his English. He told us that it takes him about an hour and a half to bike to and from school everyday. Can you imagine!
     After we were finished with the projects for today, some of us climbed the mountain again with a bunch of Haitian kids. We talked and joked with them and took a ton of pictures.
     For dinner we had a delicious chicken casserole, stuffed tomatoes and mozzarella, steamed carrots, and white rice. Mama Gallo brought four amazing pies for Thanksgiving. They were so good!!
    I can't believe it's already Thursday. This week has gone by so fast!! We've met so many fantastic people and had so many great experiences. It's amazing how these Haitians have so little, but they still find so much to be thankful for. As we finish out this week, we could really use prayers to help us finish laying down the tile, and also prayers for the continued success of Pastor Pierre's mission.

Wednesday written by Caitlin Pyles

Wow, I can't believe it's Wednesday!. We have been here for four amazing days, making new friends, doing a bunch of jobs, taking pictures, distributing food, just having an amazing week. Today we got so much done. Darby, Regina, and I all finished the scarves some girls made on Monday. Deb, Shelly, Luke G. Lisa, and a friend that we like to call "Ro Ro" all went to a village and did things like taking blood pressures, seeing babies, and just interacting with all the people. John, Keith, Clay, Luke, Mr.Gallo, Mr. Doane all worked on the high school: cutting wood, carrying wood for the tables in the computer lab in the high school "The whole day was constantly moving for me" says Lou W. "Carrying wood and rice." Mrs. Gallo organized the scarf supply closet and taught a scarf painting class. Allison and Allison worked with child sponsorship and worked on the bracelet class.

This week has been great. I was really nervous about this trip and was not sure if I wanted to go. But I'm so glad I did. I get to hang out with kids and bond with the youth group. Its just an amazing experience that everyone deserves to experience!

Tuesday-Written By Luke Gaetano

As the tradition has become,  most of us gathered on the roof at roughly 7am for morning devotionals. We sang "you make everything glorious" by David Crowder and went around the circle, each of us saying a little something in prayer for the day and rest of the week. After the devotionals, we enjoyed breakfast, which, today was scrambled eggs, toast and bananas......a nice switch up from the lucky charms.

After breakfast, we all picked a morning task to work on for the day. Mr Wagner, Allison 2, Clay and Lou distributed 50lb bags of rice to the villagers. Each bag was to be shared by two families who were neighbors. Whenever a man and woman would come to receive the rice, the man would pick it up, and we thought, how chivalrous, as the man then plopped the bag onto the woman's head hahaha..... The families were extremely grateful though and a total of almost two hundred families received rice.

Luke, Darby, Eddy and John were on the child sponsorship program today. They traveled to each classroom in the school, Eddy took attendance, and then they distributed braclets to the children. Two per child. It was humbling to see how these kids were so ecstatic to receive these bracelets, and touching as the all shouted "Mesi!! Thank you!!"

Keith, Deb, Caitlin, Lisa, Regina, Sam, Pastor Pierre, Roland, and Shelly traveled to Paco. The main purpose of the trip was to create a database of the children so that their health could be monitored by future physicians. They also distributed vitamins and took group class photos. They saw that the kids were given a nice meal at the school, but it seemed that this was the only meal they received possibly in a day. The malnutrition seemed a little more prevalent in Paco then La Croix, but the kids were just as happy which is so inspiring.  The children also sang to everyone. The children here were more of the "high five" crowd as Keith discovered when he tried to fist pound the children and they looked at him as if he were a white American....I mean, crazy. 

Deb taught English class today as well. They sang the "hokie pokie" and "Every where I look" and the kids knew all the words in English, which was pretty cool.  They also received a little science lesson where the concept of sound was explored with tuning forks and rubber bands.

Scarf and bracelet making happened later in the day with most of our kids participating in one way or another with these activities.

Soccer has pretty much become a ritual down here as the Haitians are always asking "time to play soccer today?" It's crazy to see these kids play soccer on the rocky, torn up fields with no shoes. Basketball is also a hit among some of the kids while the rest of the kids will watch and play around.

A bell was donated to the La Croix school and Gary, Rob, and Lou helped with digging a hole to fill with concrete to support the pole that will hold the bell. This bell was a nice surprise for the school as they will now be able to alert the students when school is going to begin and end.

Keith, Sam and Gary will cut wood on Wednesday for the desks in the new computer lab. Measuring the room was done today and hopefully by Thursday we will be able to install the desks.

It's about 4:30 right now so the rest if the day will include dinner at 5ish or so and then shower time. Followed by night time devotionals on the roof where everyone talks about the best, or favorite part of the day, sings, and prays.

Time is flying down here.

Monday-written by Darby Gallo

I still am not able to comprehend how we had so many different projects going on today with our group of 17. God not only blessed us with many different talents but with the ability to be flexible and able to jump around from one thing to the next with such ease. 

Shelly, Allison, Allison and I went off this morning walking to a village about 1.5 miles away in the mountains to do blood pressure screening and for Shelly to check up on some of the clinics patients. Shelly gave us a crash course on how to take blood pressure so when we got there we would be able to jump in right away. Since we were in a village we went around house to house and saw many different people. We saw three babies, one of which who had six fingers on each hand. The extra finger was tied off and would eventually fall off. Another lady we saw wasn't so young-in fact she was about 95. Luckily Shelly came with a cane and we were able to give it to her to replace the stick she had used for years. Each person we saw we gave a months worth of vitamins. 

Caitlin organized all of the birthing  kits and all the medical equipment and also got the vitamins organized in the bags of thirty vitamins each which is where Shelly gets her vitamin supply from that she distributes in the communities. 

A group of 8 or so ventured to Paul which is one of Pierre's satellite campuses. The group surveyed for the new school in Paul and were exposed to how pastor Pierre's mission extends to great lengths. In Paul there is a clinic already built and functioning. The vision is to have the school moved to a new and larger site and to have a place for missionaries to stay. Paul is another great example of a place where we can sit and imagine what will be there 5 years from now and then have a group come down when it is completed and have them sit in Paul visioning yet another place where Pierre can extend the mission. 

Lisa and Deb worked with Edvens in child sponsorship and recorded and updated Westminster's sponsorship files for about 20 kids. We have a list of 150 to get through during the week so hopefully we will be able to power through and get this list completed. 

After school let out Deb taught an English lesson to BMSEC which is an English club that meets twice a week. We sang head shoulders knees and toes and bingo. At the end though the kids said thank you to Deb, which wasn't only amazing because of their gratefulness but because of their ability to say their extensive thank yous in English. 

And finally while the boys were playing a pickup game of soccer, a group of girls got together to dye scarves to be taken to the US to be sold. We didn't necessarily know what we were doing but they did. Jenny (Haitian Jenny, not to be confused with my mother) took leadership. 

We look forward to the food distribution tomorrow and are grateful for the prayers you send our way.

Sunday written by Darby Gallo

After traveling for 18 hours yesterday, we arrived safely at la Croix. I wasn't surprised however when I greeted Pierre with "I'm home" after we landed in Port-au-Prince. I was constantly asked if I was excited before we left but to be honest it just felt like a normal trip. I truly feel as if I came home yesterday. 

Haiti has yet to fail to be welcoming to our large group. Church was a delightful service as always, Luke prayed for us and the congregation and Ben led our group in the singing of "Morning Has Broken." On the ride up to La Croix, Edvens who works in the sponsorship office kept telling me that my sponsored boy was asking when he would see me again. As I walked out of church Edvens came around the corner holding the hand of my very tiny four year old boy who I sponsor. I quickly scooped him up and nuzzled his face in my chest as I cried thinking how I can make such a difference in his life by sending him to school even though he may be too young to understand this.

Schanider and I after church

Later in the day we had the opportunity to do a basketball clinic and soccer games with the kids. A small group of us went off to the Community of Hope a half mile down the road that I had been to before but I never had the opportunity to see the well. In the back of the property of the village was a conglomeration of women and a few men huddled around a tiny pump filling bucket after bucket of water to take back to their houses. I always forget how much more effort the Haitians have to put in to some of the simplest things for us to do just on a daily basis. 

After the team showered tonight a small group of the youth, Edvens and I gathered on the roof and began singing some songs and then went around our circle and prayed. One by one the rest of our group joined us and we found ourselves sharing a touching experience to end the day. I was touched when Edvens said that I had indirectly taught him a lesson that they are no less than us simply because I treat my return to Haiti as a time to be back with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Pastor Pierre then joined us and was able to share his life story with the group. He said that "The lord put me here To make a difference" and I feel as if the Lord has also placed our team here this week to make a difference. Having not known if the trip was going to happen or not just a couple months ago to having one of the most energetic groups I've traveled with I can not wait to get the work week started to truly carry out the change we can make not only physically but emotionally- by forming new friendships and sharing the Good News with our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Packing Party

Saturday our team of 17 met to pack suitcases with supplies as we prepare for another trip to work in LaCroix, Haiti! This trip we will focus on food distribution, construction of lab desks in the high school in LaCroix, vitamin distribution and health education. Each afternoon extra curricular activities for the youth will take place. This will include soccer, basketball, painting silk scarves, and learning English.

Working hard to pack the bag to the airline limit of 50 lbs.!

I'm so excited about this team! With six adults and eleven teens the energy and dynamics will be out of this world! In this group, only my parents and I have been to Haiti and we will be the leaders. Some in our group have never traveled internationally and some have not done this type of mission work before but I can easily say that all of us feel called to take this trip and are eagerly awaiting our departure on Saturday. We worked well together as we packed sports equipment, construction supplies, art supplies, musical instruments, items for the nurse that we will work with, and the food items that we contribute to the mission for our meals. This type of unity is a good sign for how we'll be as a team in Haiti!

It takes skill and determination to pack a trombone!

Because this trip is over the American Thanksgiving holiday I am especially excited that we will be doing a major food distribution. There are many people in Haiti that are hungry a good amount of the time but this summer's drought in combination with the hurricanes this fall have made food resources and costs even more challenging. The food distribution has been generously funded by Westminster Presbyterian Church and a few friends of the church.

We are very grateful for Pastor Pierre's help with the planning and determination to see this trip through. Pastor Pierre leads the mission in Haiti and is easily one of the funniest, most hospitable, God loving men that I've ever met. I'm sure I'll be writing more about him in the days ahead. 

Today's prayer requests:

• safe travel,
• good health throughout the week,
• continued team unity,
• that we do the work that God would want us to,
• that the suitcases with all of those supplies arrive in Haiti when we do!