Agriculture, Presents, and Earthquake

Today we ventured out from campus. Following breakfast we met many of the Ag students at UCCC and made our way to the irrigation gardens. The students from UCCC  shared their successes and challenges with us for a variety of crops. This is their dry season so they are growing their second crop. The students from Haiti and the U.S. worked together to collect soil samples that we will test at the university lab Friday morning.

While we were at the irrigation gardens we took the opportunity to explore the irrigation canal and surrounding gardens. On our way back to campus we stopped by the local brick oven bakery to pick up some fresh bread to snack on. Before lunch we ventured out to the local community to deliver rice and beans to area families.

After lunch we had the opportunity to help with games and delivering Christmas presents to children at one of the feeding centers. Our crew lead some exciting games of Simon Says and Duck, Duck, Goose. Following the games we gathered the children to assist with the gift giving. We then returned to campus where we met up with a couple of the UCCC Ag students who led us on a late afternoon walk to their newly constructed broiler house for chickens. The chickens are set to come in later this year.

After supper JeanJean and Kristie's nephew came to tell us his story of the 2010 earthquake. At the time he was in medical school in Port au Prince and in a classroom when the earthquake started. The building was three levels and he was in a classroom on the middle level. The building collapsed on top of him. He was trapped beneath the concrete and rubble for approximately six hours before being dug out of the rubble. Twenty-nine of his classmates and his instructor passed away when the building collapsed. He is now a professor at UCCC and will be involved with the health clinic on campus when it opens.

We concluded a great day with some of the university students joining for another night of card games and welcoming a new team to campus from Spirit Lake, Iowa!