Up at 5 am to make it to church at Blanchard (see photos). Blanchard is at least an hour away and is one of the poorer areas outside of Port-au-Prince. I was struck by the large, open sewyers that we passed and shacks built upon heaps of trash. The church at blanchard is attached to a health clinic and a school. This is one of 3 churches in the poorest areas of Port-au-Prince ran by Pastor Leon and his wife Jackie. We were given a tour of the school and graciously welcomed at the church service which went from 8-11. The service was in Kreyol but I could clearly make out the song "He Lives" and was able to sing along. We also took Communion at the church with a small fried pastry and grape soda. Despite the differences we were warmly welcomed as members of the common Body of Christ. 
After church we went to lunch at one of the nicest hotels in town (see photo). We also experienced indoor plumbing. I wondered around in front of the hotel checking out the lime, lemon, and cocanut trees.
After lunch we went to St. Joseph's were we met our prayer partners and participated in a feet washing ceremony. My prayer partner was Bill, a college student who had been raised in the home since age 8 and now manages the home. We toured the home and during the tour I saw boxes sent from Raleigh through the Stop Hunger Now program to be distributed to hurricane victims.
Michael Geilenfeld (see photo), the director of the homes shared his story with us. He was a member of Mother Theresa's Brothers of Charity and left the monks to starts this home with five boys. At the time the home had no money but has sense grown into three homes housing 60 kids. Michael's goal for all the boys is that they grow up to become good fathers. After such tough lives that would make anyone cold I think that it is a worthy cause to teach these boys to love and be good fathers and therefore break the vicious cycle of abandoment that these boys were born into.
Lord of the 
Dance... after dinner, we watched a performance from the school's Resurrection dance team. Michael asks all the children to participate in the arts. Some are great musicians, others dancers, others singers, and others artists. The boys tell their story through dance. During the dancing we heard the story of Soni. Soni has cerebal palsy and was confined to a bed. The other boys at the home helped him out of the bed and encouraged him to walk and then to dance. He danced for us. He had a children's book author write a book about him and he travels around with the book author to promote aid for the children of Haiti. After the dance concert we were pulled out on stage by the children to dance and we all sang.
Under the stars... I dragged my matress onto the roof of the home (7 stories up, overlooking Port-au-Prince) and camped out there with 4 other people on the trip with me. The view (see photo) was beautiful and with the limited light the stars were amazing. 
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