A New Day

I shift in bed trying to find a more comfortable position. On one side I knock into an elbow, on the other side a small head. Jayden must have crawled in sometime during the night. I give both him and Jason a little shove till I have some breathing room and then just lay still and listen. Water pours out of the gutters unable to keep up with the torrential rain falling from the sky. It's still dark and I'm not sure what time it is. It feels like it's been coming down for hours. I worry about those in the tent cities and low lying areas. Our house is built a little higher up so everything just flows down into the streets, but what about those in the ravines and tent cities? Unable to sleep I spend time in prayer. Eventually I doze off. Several hours later we all wake up from Jason's cell phone alarm. It's time for him to get ready for work. Once I've helped him prepare his lunch he leaves for the airport. He calls me once he arrives and tells me that although Port au Prince didn't get a lot of wind damage, there is a lot of water everywhere due to the heavy rains. Although many previously booked flights had been canceled there are many new requests so he says he will be flying to some of the different villages and cities in Haiti. "That will give me a chance to see if any other parts of Haiti have any storm damage or flooding," he tells me. I once again inquire if he heard anything from Denise, but other then the call yesterday afternoon where we could hear her, but she couldn't here us, we've been unable to reach her. "Her cellphone battery is most likely dead, and she left her charger here," Anoud tells us. Without being able to contact her we can't organize a pick up for her. Later when I talk to Anoud again he tells me she does have other family living in Jeremie that she can stay with. I'm glad to hear it and tell him we will keep working on trying to reach her.
An hour later Christine calls to see if I want help hand washing clothes. What a great friend! A little later she comes with a washboard and a rapid washer, which looks a little like a plunger. Working together with these two apparatuses the work gets done a lot quicker. Jayden is quite taken with the "rabbit washer" as he calls it, and I soon take advantage of his interest.

As we work the sun starts to break through the clouds that have been covering the city for days and we enjoy its rays. Everything looks sparkling and fresh in the light. A new day.