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I just returned from vacation after my third trip to Zabriko. 

This trip I travelled with eight others -- a fascinating woman from NY who has been doing development work for the last 30 years and the equally fascinating members of the Pacific Northwest solidarity group -- MPPs designation for the motley crew I brought with me. 

The solidarity group included a young man (and his father) from Pennsylvania who is raising money and awareness to drill a well in Cherival; two fellow UCC folks; and a group of three family members who have traveled before internationally in connection with Witness for Peace.  The father was not parenthetical for long -- as a chemist and physicist who grew up in rural China, he quickly found ways to contribute -- ideas on waste disposal, the practical ability to build a water chlorination system for demonstration to the MPP compound staff, and sharing his wisdom about rural people. Everyone had the expected opportunity to meet the people of MPP and witness the conditions of Haiti's rural poor.  But they threw themselves into the work -- problem-solving with MPPs engineering staff on failed wells and working with MPP staff in small groups to further MPPs efforts on solar assembly, composting latrines, and riparian strips.  They were wonderful (staff and group) and I've never laughed so much in 10 short days.  It was fabulous!