To everyone back home -
Greetings from Haiti, the land of contrast. We have seen mile after mile of poverty, people living in shacks, no electricity, no lights, no grass. Kids with no clothes on. Mothers washing their clothes in the dirtiest water you've ever seen. But when the kids come to school or church, their dressed in their very best and they're as clean as can be. You go from town to town and you think you'll get away from the oppression, but there's nowhere to escape from it. The only homes that are obviously built with a lot of money are most likely built from drug money. However, where we are at their compound, it is paradise. We are protected and in the back yard is the most beautiful ocean and beach you've ever seen. In the front yard are the tallest mountains with no trees on them, just shrubs, but they are beautiful. Palm trees and tropical shrubs surround us. We have flushing toilets and showers thanks to water holding tanks which Dee and Wilckly have to have hauled here. They are extremely hospitable and we have been fed better here than at home! I hoped to lose weight while here, but I'm not so sure I have! We have delivered 300 drawstring backpacks to three Christian schools here that Dee and Wilckly have, one here in Carries and two others "only" a rough and bumpy two hours' drive from here! We cried as the children were so excited to receive a bag of rice, as if they were getting a birthday cake. This morning we had devotion right on the beach and we sang choruses. It's hard to sing when you're crying. Most of the people here in Haiti have never even seen or experienced the beauty of the beach - so sad. Please pray for these people and for the work that the Dorce's are doing to bring hope to a hopeless nation. I love you all and miss you, but I really wish you were all here!
See you soon,
Dee