Bonswa from Haiti! Our first full day in Haiti went very well. After a restful night at our beautiful guesthouse we enjoyed eggs, toast, fresh mango and some of Jude’s amazing coffee. We then boarded our bus and set off for Cite Soleil. With funds that our students raised we were able to support a food distribution for 365 families from Cite Soleil. Pastor Vincent met us at his church and spoke to us about his life and his work for the people of Cite Soleil. Many of the people who live in Cite Soleil do not have access to electricity, clean water and adequate food. Pastor Vincent explained that the food would help many of these families for several days. The students worked together to fill 365 bags with rice, beans, fish and oil.
We also had the opportunity to visit the Health for Haiti computer lab. The lab serves hundreds of children and young adults. We delivered ten more laptops and many new digital lessons. Benjamin Ouser, the teacher, was very happy to receive the new lessons, especially those created by Professor Wright’s SUNY Broome Project Management class as part of the Bridge to Haiti program.
After the students finished preparing the food, they welcomed the Cite Soleil residents into the church. The people sang a song for us and Pastor Vincent led them in a prayer. After that, the students distributed the bags of food and personal care kits containing a wash cloth, soap, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste and a toothbrush. Thanks to everyone at home who donated items for the care kits. The people were so very happy to receive these. The students did a great job handing out the items and interacting with the people. After everything was finished, we headed back to Jude’s for a quick rest and A LOT of organizing. We unpacked and repacked all of our supplies for our upcoming days in Grande Saline. All of the students worked hard and helped us to get organized for our medical and dental clinics, our education programs, our solar power installation, and our water system maintenance and training. We will also be visiting the community garden and painting the new bathroom. After all of that hard work, we had a fabulous dinner of Independence Day pumpkin soup (my favorite) and began packing our personal items for our three days in Grande Saline and Saint Marc. This evening Dr. Gay will be delivering a rooftop lecture about solar power and our upcoming installation. We plan to leave very early tomorrow morning as we have a long trip out to Grande Saline.
Once again, we are so proud of the incredible students who are with us and the amazing work that they are doing. We have been so lucky to have had such fantastic students every year in Haiti!
Bon nwit from Haiti!
SUNY Broome Health for Haiti 
Awesome day! Thank you for sharing!