The week with the Upper Iowa team

The Upper Iowa team is having a great and very productive week. The foundation of the house in Canaan is already completely dug, and the foundation is being put in now with big rocks and cement. Everyone is working very hard out in the hot sun, and they have gotten so much done! The yoga ladies have done a yoga and crafts program each day for kids from Mohea, Blanchard, a local orphanage, Cite Soleil, and Bigarade! All groups of kids loved it. Today they even did a pinata!

On Saturday Chris and Henry arrived and have since been very busy installing electricity in the new admin building. We are all so excited to finally be able to move the offices over very soon! 

Over the weekend, the team went on a tour of downtown Port-au-Prince, a visit to the museum and out to eat on Saturday. On Sunday, the team enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach.

UIU first day of work

Today the team went to Canaan to work on duplex 4 and 5. In 4, the walls are almost finished and 5 just broke ground today. The team did great work and made huge progress in digging, sifting, mixing cement, and moving bricks. There are also two yoga ladies, who stayed back and did crafts and yoga with 2 groups of 20 kids each. The kids had a great time and surprised the ladies by knowing a lot of the positions.
Written by Patrick

Update from Haiti

This past week was a very busy one in Haiti! Sandra and Tali came down with the group and we spent 4 days together, Tali as Gale's replacement while she's in surgery, and Sandra learning my job as I train her. This meant 4 days of meetings around the clock. But it was great, we got a lot done, and I really enjoyed working with Sandra and Tali.

We also had a team! Alison and Lynn taught a midwife class to a new group of students, mostly from Bon Repos. The class was a success, as always. Sara, a nurse midwife, also came and saw women in the clinic each day, both pregnant and of child-bearing age. Sean, John, Andy, and Jonathan did construction- John, Jonathan, and Andy out at the Blanchard site working on the house, and Sean working on some carpentry projects that were long overdue- a desk for Mr. Genois in the new admin building, and new shelves for the lab. Andy also helped out with some organizing and inventory. It was a great week with the team and we got a lot of different things done.

Today we said goodbye to the above team, and hello to Upper Iowa University! Together with the Iowa team is two team members who will be running a yoga program for the kids, and Patrick!! who all the staff here missed very much. We are all looking forward to a great week together!

PID supporter is hosting a local fundraiser for cleft pallet surgery next week.

CHILD OF THE WEEK IN GUATEMALA: GERSON EDUARDO

Gerson Eduardo Vicente Saquiy

DOB August 5, 2007

#1149, waiting for sponsorship since September 2012

 

Gerson is six years old and goes to first grade at the school in his section of the village. He has an older sister and a younger sister. Gerson and his sisters live with his parents in a one room house made of wood with a tin roof and a dirt floor. The house has electricity, but no bathroom or drainage. Someone has let them borrow the land that they are living on. His father works as a day laborer and makes very little money. Gerson’s mother stays at home to take care of the children. The family eats tortillas for three meals a day with beans, eggs or boiled herbs.