Lighter Fluid

I promised more stories and pictures, well here's a start. Beth was wondering what the rave about the purchase of this piece of wood was about when the ladies returned from shopping Saturday. She kept inquiring, and finally received her answer. The normal method of cooking in Haiti is over charcoal for every meal. With a knife they shave slivers off this block of wood to light the coal. This piece of wood will last a month. I always like to bring perspective into my life, and here is another great example of how good we have it here in this country. Remember this block of wood every time you to go to the kitchen to turn on a burner or the oven. A menial flick of the wrist here converts to a chore there to light charcoal using wood for lighter fluid! Cooking can be a pretty big job, in Haiti cooking is a gruesome task. A campfire cookout is fun for a few nights, then its back to real life! The stove, the microwave, the convection oven, a burner and we are baking and cooking in a matter seconds or mere minutes. In Haiti, it's smoke, and heat, and slow going. Fanning the coal, or cooling by removing the pot, there are no easy heat adjustments.
How about the leaf funnel, any of you guys used one of them recently. Talk about innovation. I know, I know, just make a paper funnel, it's a piece of cake... unless you don't have paper! I wonder how this works with the going green principle. Again this country with its deprivation and devastation challenge my status quo. Matter of fact they take me so outside of my box, I often wonder how these two realities can co-exist.
We are so grateful for the accomplishments of this trip. Is was wonderfully productive. There are several great stories to share, it has been a chatterbox of delight since Beth arrived home yesterday. She captured many great pictures and I will work to get them up for you ASAP. As I spoke with Robinson this evening, he again expressed his gratitude for all the help in getting this orphanage up and running. He misses Beth and Deloris and was happy we shared them with him for a few days. The orphanage will be open within the next week or so. Blessings until next post!