The St. Mary medical mission got a surprise when they came to Marbial – electricity. After three hours of driving through the ruins of Port-au-Prince and the mountains of central Haiti and then one mile down a rocky riverbed in the dark, it almost seemed surreal to be pulling alongside a building that glowed from the inside with electricity.

But sure enough, the people of St. Therese Church were eager to show off the generator donated to them last year by St. Mary Church in Milford. Waiting inside for the team was a nicely set table and a spread of food that included rice, pasta, meat, and dumpling soup.
The church even had a room set aside with beds for the group, another welcome surprise.

The place still maintained a rustic feel… To flush the toilet, you fill up a bucket of water and take it with you to do the flushing. And the beds required a MacGyver-like configuration of mosquito nets. Think duct tape, tent poles, rubber bands, well hooks and more duct tape.
And obviously there is no cell phone service. This reporter had to hitch a ride 10 miles down the not-so-dry rocky riverbed to be able to get cell phone service and file stories. The team has a satellite phone in Marbial for emergencies.