We eat well here in Haiti.

For breakfast we often get spaghetti with mayonaise and ketchup, or some kind of chicken soup porridge, or a sandwich. Lunch is nothing to sneeze at; several times a week we eat at the buffet here. And then for dinner, there is a variety of things that could show up. Rice with beans and a sauce with vegetables, rice with beans and a sauce with hot dogs, rice with beans and a sauce with fish, rice with beans and a sauce and chicken, rice with beans and a sauce with pork... you get the picture. So just for amusement, I decided to keep a photo journal of a week of dinners. I got a little messed up by a suprise dinner of spaghetti, and then I forgot to take a picture one night (which is too bad because it would have gone with the flow quite nicely: rice with beans and a sauce with fish), but you can kind of see what our daily fair is like.

And then for dinner seven, I'll admit... we went and ate at a little local restaurant. :) We got both ends of the fish. It was delicious. :)

Here are the amazing girls I get to serve alongside, and some of the precious children we get to love on and cuddle and play with. I am a blessed girl.

The other evening, when we went out to eat at that local restaurant, I stopped to take a picture of this little boy as we walked by. He was accross the road and I had the camera zoomed in, so I didn't think he'd notice; but when I went to take the picture, he looked at me, stopped, and waited until I was done before continuing his walk along the road. Adorable.

It is very sobering to see the "real Haiti" out there in the little town we live near. It is such a dark, hopeless world that most of these people live in. Even having seen a lot of poverty and "third-world-culture" in other places, the quality of life here--or lack of it--amazes me. Walking by tiny little shacks and big abandoned-looking buildings and piles of trash, I waved at little children and mothers and grandmothers and fathers and uncles who sat, some under a tree braiding someone's hair, some talking, some waiting for a bus, some just sitting and waiting for the day to be over. Most people smile and wave back, probably amused by the sight of these funny white girls and their strollers and glad to have something to smile at.

Oh, Jesus... what can I do?

What are You wanting to do here?

What do You want to say to this little boy? What do You want to give to this older woman?

Show me... and use me. You're all I have, and You're all they need.

You have me here for a reason, so

here I am. ..