It is so hard to
believe another month has already flown by! Thank you all so much for your
ongoing encouragement and support as we continue work here on La Gonave.
February has seen a lot of continued work in the Aquaponics and nursing arenas.
One big role we
play with the Aquaponics garden is to find and fix issues that are unique to
the Haitian environment we live in. It seems like we have found a lot in this
month! We have had an infestation of little red worms that love to eat the
roots of plants, especially cabbage- a favorite at the Village. These worms
have been a mystery, but we think they may be mosquito larva or somehow
connected to the mosquitoes. We have been working to get rid of the pests and
save plans, but it is a slow process. We have started to plant a lot of new
plants to replace those that died (416 cabbage seeds yesterday!) and are hoping
for a clean start. Nicolas and the older kids at the Children’s Village have
continued to work so hard on and take ownership of this project. We have seen a
lot of good growth in the garden this month, too. We have loved having both
large and cherry tomatoes and have seen lots of growth in the fish!
A sad cabbage plant after attack of the red worms :(
One of our very tasty tomatoes
Our HUGE fish ready for their March 1st weighing
A few of the kids helping to haul a harvest up to the kitchen
I, Allison, have
continued to work with both the Haitian and American nursing students. I am
loving the opportunity to teach this students the profession of nursing, not
only skills, but caring well for patients and the importance of education. This
is a very stretching process as the clinical focus for the American students
started out with maternal/newborn care and is now pediatrics, neither of which
I have had experience in since school. Needless to say, I am also learning a
lot!
At the beginning
of February, we had the great opportunity to participate in the annual Summit
meeting of many organizations doing work all over the island of La Gonave. It
was another opportunity to see we are not laboring alone here, get new ideas,
and see how we can collaborate to achieve more. Jason did an amazing job
sharing with the group about the Aquaponics system- his stretching experience
for the month!
Jason presenting at Summit
Another of our
hopes is to use our home as a guesthouse to welcome teams to Anse-a-Galets and
host other missionaries who are in town. We had the opportunity to host some
other missionaries and translators for Summit. It is a challenge to host in
this place that still seems so new to us in so many ways, but we have enjoyed
the opportunity to open our home, build new friendships, and serve in this way.
The Janofski's with us and the Tucker family, who stayed with us for Summit
We so appreciate
your prayers and ask that you would continue to pray for our focus to be on the
Lord, that we would show His grace in every situation, for discernment in thinking
about taking on additional work/projects, and wisdom as we work in the garden.
