Mustard Seed Missions Inc.

Does the title sound like Christmas? It seemed clever. All day long we learn new lessons here.

Lesson 1 - Persistence pays off!!! Writing about being in meetings is pretty boring, but today I met an amazing young man! He's been taking classes at AUC for over 8 years because he could only afford one course at a time. He got a D on a couple of required courses and had has to retake and re-pay for those. But in the whole time he had never given up! He is very nearly ready to graduate which will be a big event for him!

We had a 5.5 hour board meeting at AUC today. Although it was long (and we'll do the same tomorrow,) it was a good chance to see what we've done and realize that a lot has been accomplished in the last 6 months! Given what we've heard about the weather in New England we also didn't mind being out on the third floor porch on campus.

This morning Greyson flew out of Les Cayes on her way home. At the pretty little Cayes airport we also met a team leader from Pwoje Espwa who was from Charlton MA.

It's very dry here; it doesn't seem like there's been much rain at all lately. This IS the dry season, but just as in Massachusetts it's been a year of extremes. Four months ago there were raging floods (also similar to Massachusetts). As a result of the dryness, it's very dusty and everything is covered with a fine layer of dust. Each day we're wiping it

Posting some pictures that reflect a little of our daily life as it's evolving here for three weeks. Today is an "at home" day, which means we get to catch up a bit. Doing laundry is easy -- the kitchen sink works fine and hanging it on the roof is wonderful. Everything dries in about two hours. Little lessons learned: Bring new clothespins -- the ones from

We walked down to the rotary and went to the market. We're ready to cook our own breakfast if we can get the kerosene stove put together and find some matches.

The eyeglass sale today was sort of ho-him because it's winter break. Nevertheless we sold a few pairs and had some good help from three students.

At the close of a long day we are in Les Cayes, unpacked and tired. We had a chaotic time at Miami airport but when we landed at Port Au Prince we saw something we'd never seen before. We always deplane and end up walking on the tarmac. There was a group of about 100 young men, more or less, walking side by side toward, and then past, the Customs building toward another building we'd never noticed before. They weren't carrying any luggage or papers and there were no obvious policemen or 'authorities' guarding them. They didn't look happy or sad, and certainly not energetic.

Greyson and I made it to Miami for overnight. Complimentary pizza at the hotel and we are ready for bed.

Greyson and I are just a few days away from leaving for Haiti. I'll be posting on our MSM blog, so that's the place to look for updates on happenings down there. We'll primarily be working at AUC. The first Saturday will be an eyeglasses clinic for the students. Check the blog for photos and news: http://mustardseedmissions.blogspot.com/

Last night was the deadline to receive MSM scholarship applications from the students at AUC. We received eleven applications, all from students in Civil Engineering. Although we advertised widely around campus, even with neon signs, we didn't receive any applications from Agriculture/Environmental students. We can't quite figure out why. I have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with the technical nature of CE compared to AG curriculum, but it certainly bears looking into. Very curious.

The team for our March 2012 trip is shaping up! We'll have two, possibly three doctors, a Nurse Practitioner, an LPN, plus the 'regulars'. The team leaves on March 22 for an 8 day week, joining Jan who will already be in Haiti.