Doorway To Peace Haiti

Great story for today:
We have been taking public tap taps in the afternoon (because it is so hot, and we need to save ourselves for the afternoon session with the older kids - requires LOTS of energy!!!). The first few times we've been lucky enough to get ones that are fairly empty. Today we had to take one that was full all around the edges of the truck bed. So we had to stand in the middle. That means there is nothing to hold onto... and the road is very bumpy and curvy. So here we are standing in the middle of all these people in the truck bed, falling into the people behind us. An older man near me grabs my hand and puts it on his arm and says, "Ou dwe kenbe!" (You must hold on!). What a great place - it is expected, and perfectly acceptable, that you hold onto perfect strangers in order to stand upright in the back of a tap tap! I love this place!

In other news... had 150 kids today. The afternoon session with the older kids is really growing. They are challenging - no surprise, they are almost all over 14 years old! They love the games and the lessons, but they sure give us a run for our money. They are pretty crafty at getting around the rules - haha. Sounds like American teenagers too :0) Anyway, they keep us on our toes and we love them.

I got to watch a neighborhood soccer game today after our final session. It was 3 v 3; the ref had a whistle and the line judge had a branch to use as a flag. The two goals were about 2 feet high (maybe 3) and 3 feet across, held in place by large rocks. These kids played so hard! And they proudly wore the jerseys that Ray had brought. The whole neighborhood came out to watch and cheer for these 6 teens. They played in the empty space between their houses... it was fabulous.