Day 5

Today we drove approx. 3 hours on winding, narrow roads, past rice paddies, palm trees, rolling green hills, and an occasional monkey that ran away when we, like typical tourists, stopped to take photos. Our destination was another area where our local partners are involved in long-term community development. After settling into our new quarters, most of our team ran another busy health clinic in a local mosque. We surveyed a seaside village where our partners have already rebuilt a well, salt flats, and 10 homes destroyed by the tsunami and begun to build a health clinic and community center. Frank, our team leader, sat down on the cornerstone of the community center which will hopefully become a new center for community life in the village. Beautiful young students also demonstrated a dance they will be performing next week when the community celebrates these projects that are helping to revitalize their community after the tsunami. Overall, we are all in good health and feeling quite energized by our daily opportunities to serve. We each send our love and ask you not to worry, because we are more than fine. We do, however, thank you for your thoughts.