We attended the church service at Blanchard, arriving just as it was starting. There were two rows of long white benches. The front level was full with a few hundred people, the back level had some space. Pastor Luke was preaching. We were conducted to the front row, where Roy sat next to Leon and we sat in the row in front.
Pastors Roy and Leon comprised a dynamic duo, with Leon elaborating considerably during his translation to Creole and frequently getting the crowd to laugh. Roy spoke about the partnership of U.S. and Haiti, the materialism of Americans, and his admiration for Haitians. He had a joke but it didn’t translate well. Roy and Leon came back and sat down. Communion was passed, some of the girls sitting next to me didn’t take it, perhaps they were not yet confirmed. At the end of the service, many people filed past us. Many shook our hands grinning, about half, others seemed more reserved. I felt overwhelmed, grinning with all the attention!
After the service we began inspecting the compound. Doug, Ed and Greg found some problems:
- Solar panels welded and cemented flat on the roof over the store room (not inclined right or facing south)
- Some of the black three hundred gallon tanks on the roof not situated on top of load bearing walls
- It looked like it would be difficult to remove the hand pump and its piping down the well.
