Sunday, March 05, 2006

Birthday Celebration for Jack-Jack

Well, the cat is out of the bag. If you thought we had no place to escape the harsh reality of living in a small, poor, village in Haiti ... you were wrong.

About an hour up the coast in the town of Montrois, (pronounced Mo - eee) there is an old sugar plantation that has been restored and is a resort of sorts. It is called Moulin Sur Mer. (Mill by the Sea.) At least 90% of the Haitian population cannot afford to come here so it is mainly used by wealthy or "the elite" Haitian population, missionaries, and foreign diplomats.

The plantation was worked by the slaves of the late 1700's. There is a museum with aritifacts from the days of slavery. If you are unfamiliar with Haiti's history; the Haitian people were brought here from Africa, by the French, as slaves. Haiti once produced 85% of the world's sugar. In 1804 the slaves successfully revolted and Haiti became the first free black republic.

Once inside the gates of Moulin Sur Mer, if you had not just driven on Haiti roads, and past many poverty stricken villages; you could almost convince yourself that you were no longer in the poorest country in the Western Hemishpere. It is so pretty and green. The water is beautiful.

We used to visit this private beach when we were adopting, so there is a bit of Dejavu to be back there again. We had lunch and swam and played at their little playground. It was a perfect day.

When we came home we had a party with our guests. Rony and Tipap are Noah's two favorite new Haitian friends so they both came too. It was a very refreshing and rejuvinating day. We are all ready to face another week of work at the mission. Thanks so much for praying for Troy and all of us. We really sense the love and prayer support. God Bless You! ~Tara








Our dog is spoiled. The kids thought six hours was too long to leave her.





Back at home for the party. The candle came with us from MN! We come prepared. ;-)
This is the very first photo of all seven of us since we arrived in Haiti more than a month ago. Isn't it nice that Isaac has a huge load of sand in his scalp for this special photo-op. An additional bounus; Troy is wearing one of his uglier shirts. He wears this one because it is his first Haiti market shirt. He paid $1.00 for it, it is Old Navy, gently used.

Some of the folks here working on the new building.

Left to Right - Tipap, Sandhead Isaac, Noah, Pastor Rony.