Happy Valentine's Day to all of you.

The morning 'Inspiration' was based on a poem attributed to St. Patrick entitled “St. Patrick's Breastplate”.

Christ be with me,

Amigo 'Vic' in His Fashionable New 'T'

Christ within me,

Christ behind me,

Christ before me,

Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ in quiet,

Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Today we were scattered among 3 villages. The “Three Amigos” (Vic, Chuck and Harry) went to build and paint a shelf to support a mini-fridge in the medical clinic in Villa Liberacion, where some of the team went on Monday.  Vic has vehemently vetoed every attempt by 'Journey' teams to print a pink T-shirt, so leader Cath hand designed a 'one off' specially for him.  Vic good naturedly put it on for a few minutes before leaving for Liberacion. 

Bea went with a painting crew to put a second coat of paint on the house in Nazareth where we painted on Tuesday. The remaining people did a craft program with about 80 children in Sosua Abejo school. The kids danced the 'Hokey Pokey' as a warm up, then played a game of 'keep the beach ball from hitting the floor'. The noise level inside the concrete structure approached 'dangerous'.



Gr. 3 Making Bead Necklace

K and Gr. 1 Making Foam Hearts

We all got back together for a nutritious lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches (or was this a cheese and ham day?), banana and dinner roll with jam. We learned that all work was accomplished. The second coat of white paint inside the house was a semi-gloss which covered much better than the first coat.


Gr.s 2 to 4 Make Balloon Valentines 

Wee Lass Tries Her Lungs on the Pipes

The afternoon began with a trip to a local market to shop for household supplies and food to present as part of our 'housewarming' gift to Maria and her family on Saturday. We also made some personal purchases of vanilla and spices to take back to Canada. It's hard to pass up vanilla at $1 a cup!!



The Senior Class at Cangrejo School

Library Improvements at Cangrejo

Following the market we went to Phil & Donna's Cangrejo school where Valentine's day programs were run in two classrooms. We got to view improvements to the library, including additional books, and a more organized storage system carried out by a group of visiting teachers. The 'Newbies' on the trip were given a tour of the village by leader Tim. A highlight of the tour was meeting with Johanson, a young lad who just turned 14 and has no parents. When he started at the school he was, as he put it, a 'troublemaker' but has since become a leader in the school, including being chosen as Class President. He is cared for by a grandmother. An example of success for 'Servant's Heart Ministries' and all of the people who support their work in the Dominican through donations of time and money. Thank you.