Ok, well, it would seem my first attempt to summarize the Day by Day posts was thwarted by deceptive internet signal. Apparently, when I published the first March 18-22 post, the internet was not working (although it showed a working signal), and it published an earlier saved version with only on day metioned. Sorry for the confusion. I only noticed it when I visited the post to get the hyperlink to insert into another post I was working on. I tried to fix it Tuesday, then yesterday, but--you guessed it--internet was not working. I literally have lost my work multiple times. So, let's try again....
Wednesday, March 18 (repeated)
Every school day these lovely ladies and gentleman provide a hot meal to +/-250 children and staff in the school. Over 200 of these are the kids. For most of them, it is the only meal they will have for the day.
Thursday, March 19
Friday, March 20
Yesterday's chapel marked the last day of school until further notice. The Haitian government has closed all schools, factories, and gatherings of more than 10 people in response to the recent Corona virus. It has also closed all borders and ports of entry. Much of our day involved combatting false information and calming ill-founded fears. Here, the staff puts on a skit for the kids to help them understand the nature of the virus and how to take precautions against it.
Saturday, March 21
During the Boys Fòmasyon, Williamso reinforces good hygiene practices to help protect ourselves and our friends.
Saturday also marked the last gathering of both Saturday Fòmasyon groups until further notice. Again, we took the opportunity to educate the kids/youth/women in the groups about the virus and the importance of good hygiene, to correct misinformation, and to remind them how we as followers of Jesus are to respond to these things.
Sunday, March 21
The government has ordered all churches (and other religious gatherings) to suspend regular gatherings.
We held one last service in the chapel on Sunday to make the announcement. In addition, we took one more opportunity to speak to our community about the current events.
We looked at what the Bible has to say to followers of Jesus during times like these. Judy then presented the facts (based on careful research using reliable sources) about COVID-19: what it is, how to prevent its spread, why the government has taken measures against it, and what to do if someone gets sick.
There will be more about this in a second blog post, which is already ready to go...as long as the internet is too.