This is the team’s last full day in Haiti. It’s also the culmination of my two weeks here. As I’ve stated before, this last day is one where we, the missionaries, debrief and de-stress before heading back to our regular lives in the US. After breakfast we get into cars and head to a former sugar plantation-turned museum which is about 20 minutes west of here. The curators have gone to great lengths to capture and recreate the history of this region. The museum is on the grounds of what used to be one of the larg
est plantations in the Haiti…more than 100 acres. They used slave labor to cultivate and harvest the sugarcane. After touring the museum we head over to a nearby resort for a relaxing lunch before our ride comes back to pick us up.
The ladies on our team are anxious to return because the teen girls are coming over for some fun and swim-time this afternoon like they did last week with Team Trinity. We stop to 
purchase ice cream and cookies for the girls who are arriving at our hotel as the last vehicle returns. It’s good to see the bonding between the two groups of women…greetings, hugs and smiles are exchanged before they change into swimming attire. Kevia comes with the idea to do a mannequin-challenge. Once it’s explained to the girls they are on board and we shoot the video…too funny! After swim time the A-Team gives
each young lady a tee-shirt dress we brought with us and a bracelet purchased from one of the local vendors. We also present a laptop computer to them for their home. In private discussions the girls expressed an interest in a computer. We were blessed to make that happen for them and they were overjoyed to receive this blessing.
Later that evening Ms. Lynn and the staff at Mission of Grace serve us cake and thank us for our enthusiastic service this week. I have the opportunity to thank them for their service to us. The mission staff and hotel staff’s attention to our needs and requests made our time in country very delightful. I share with them that this team contributed almost $4,000 towards the work and ministry here. This includes cash contributions in excess of $1,300 to be used to pay the salary of the nurse who works at the clinic. Additionally, the team brought 165 tee shirt dresses, two laptop computers, baby formula, hearing aids, batteries and various other items in our suitcases to leave with them (I found out most of the team had to pay overage fees to the airline because their bags were overweight). I also remind them of the eight 55-gallon drums with more than 1,600 pounds of donated items are in route. Ms. Lynn shared with me that the first four drums had arrived in Haiti late last week but she had not been able to arrange for a truck to retrieve them from the dock yet. She is super excited about the items in the drums. She said most of these items will be delivered to Plaisance where Hurricane Matthew struck. “The dresses and clothing you sent will be the only thing some of these people have because they lost everything in the hurricane”, she shared.
We round out the evening by singing songs and finishing off the cake. Of course we strike up a game of spades with Camille and Michael finally joining in the fun before we retire for the evening.