Saturday, March 21, 2009

The Plantation





































The new team arrived late afternoon on Wednesday and got right down to business unpacking and preparing for a visit to LaMardelle and the plantation on Thursday.
The plantation is the 'compound of school, orphanage and church' that serves the community of LaMardelle- approx 20,000 people. This town is about 1 hours drive from Port au Prince on the good street and another 20 minutes drive on a rough dirt and gravel road. However, it was better than my recollections from my last visit there. Gina Duncan is the former executive director of HHH and her mother in law donated the property for the orphanage and school. Its a beautiful orphanage and she works towards getting these kids adopted.

We arrived about 9:30 or 10 to do a clinic to see some of the kids and teach a care givers class to some of the moms of the kids. About 1:30 we gathered for lunch prepared for us and some other guests and had some of Mama duncans famous punch, a delicious cormeal cassarole dish, sandwiches and cake hot out of the oven. Following that we had a tour of the orphanage and played with some of the kids for an hour or so before heading back to PaP.
The pictures: On the plantation - men working in a field, Banana trees and sugar cane. The cart pulled by the oxen brought supplies to the orphanage, the community voudou temple and children in school or waiting to be seen in the clinic. When we arrived we were greeted with several songs.

No comments: