Today was our first day in Lauranette. We had all prepared ourselves for the bumpiest ride of our lives, and we got what we were expecting, with the occasional paved road (which came with a sigh of relief). We all made it through the ride feeling alright and received a warm welcome in Lauranette. We shared music and everyone enjoyed listening to Kevin's Bob Marley. We took a walk down to the "national school" (the government-run school), which was very sparse, with no walls and a few broken desks and chalkboards. The people of Lauranette are very grateful that Épiphanie School is being built to provide their children with a quality education. The soccer balls were an instant hit, along with bubbles, footballs, and paper planes. We also played "kanna, kanna, zwa," which is duck-duck-swan (goose) in Creole. Everybody loved it and had so much fun - and everyone seemed to want to tag Caroline, John, Sam and me on "zwa." That went on until everyone was worn out, then we played Haitian games. The children love playng games with us and we all communicate with each other the best we can. Toothbrushes and toothpaste were handed out to everyone, along with JD's live demonstration for the young kids who don't know how to brush their teeth yet. The hundreds of remaining toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste will be left here to be distributed as needed when school starts. The school is about 75% finished, and we will be putting our share of work in over the next four days. We are all really enjoying our time here. Making new connections, learning new things and creating new memories. 

~Malia Kohls