Florida Photos, a Fèt, and Fun Facts

Happy New Year!  

Photos: 

Here are a few photos taken during my time in Florida for you to enjoy.  

After an enjoyable vacation, on Friday, I returned to Haiti.  

Fèt

On Sunday the Sisters of Holy Cross and the people of Pilat celebrated the 50th anniversary since the hospital in Pilat was founded.  What is now the hospital, started as a dispensary 50 years ago; during the celebration, it was mentioned that the Marianites, served there when it began.  Later the Sisters of Holy Cross continued the mission which has expanded during the years to meet the needs of the people.  The joyous mass was well attended and was followed by a delicious meal.  I was happy to see that some work has been done on the road to Pilat.  It cut travel time by about 30 minutes in each direction and made the round trip journey not as exhausting as it would have been when the roads were in terrible shape.  I was grateful that I was able to attend and happy to celebrate an important ministry.  

Two Fun Facts:  

Before pregnancy tests were readily available,  frogs were used in hospital laboratories for determining if women were pregnant.  A reference was made to this during the celebration in Pilat, where this was the common practice in the early days of the hospital's laboratory.  Having never heard of such a thing, I asked an American sister who worked at the hospital many years ago and she explained how it worked.  Here is a link about this that I found on-line if you want to learn more.  

If one were to wear a pedometer or a fitness watch when traveling by car on unpaved or very bumpy roads, every bump may be counted as a step.  On Sunday according to my new fitness watch, I walked 21,305 steps or almost 10 miles.   In reality, that day, I spent about five hours sitting in a pick-up truck and at least three hours in church and did not formally exercise.             

Have a good week! Many blessings!