Carpe Diem!

A beautiful, new day greeted us when we got up this morning.  Our disabled Tap Tap also was parked in the driveway which was a welcome surprise with our items inside intact!  The Tap Tap will be out of commission for a while.

We were eagerly anticipating our visit to Montfort Institute.  When we arrived, we were approached by 120-plus deaf students.  They were ready to get attention and hugs, and immediately started to play with us.  Each of us had the opportunity to interact with the children, playing with the parachute, making bracelets, playing the Elephant game, Rock Electricity, soccer, jump rope, cards, story telling, and just sitting and chatting.  Many of the older kids were fascinated about life in America, and how white deaf Americans have jobs and this gave them hope for their future.  They were amazed at the different signs in English and French.  We also learned a few signs in Haitian Sign Language.  The team got a tour of the grounds - they have a farm where they raise goats, peacocks, cows, rabbits and chickens.  They also grow bananas, mangoes, plantains, and other fruits.

During our sharing time this evening, many of the team members shared that they were touched by their visit to Monfort and how the deaf kids loved our visit.  The kids want us to come back soon.  Some of the words that were shared by the team included contentment, perspective, love, "proudness", cherish, awesome, fun, and heart touching.  We shared how much fun we had and that we did not want to leave.  We also shared stories on what we witnessed at Montfort.  We especially loved seeing the smiles on the children's faces and the thrill they showed when some of us told them we are deaf.  "You deaf??"  "White deaf???"  "Is he/she deaf?  Same??!!"  They were surprised that we came to be with them - "really????"  When Bob (one of our leaders) was asked what he thought of the day today, he said "WOW". 

We wrapped up our evening by picking up dinner from a Haitian restaurant named Kokoye in Delmas 31 in Port au Prince.  It was ironic that most of us got American pizza from a Haitian restaurant!  We also celebrated Mr. and Mdme. Keslet's 22nd Wedding Anniversary ("marriage birthday").
We had the opportunity to ride the Tap Tap back to the Guest House after dark for the first time - it was interesting to see traffic at night and the city lights in the mountains.