Bonswa, 3:30pm Eastern time zone We started today with disappointing news that has continued throughout the day. An anti-Aristide "manifestation" (political demonstration) was scheduled for today. We knew this earlier in the week but had anticipated being able to leave the guest house early enough to arrive at the clinic. We were instructed that we would not be leaving the grounds, only to find out at mid-morning that the demonstration had been cancelled because the police had cordoned off the starting area. Some staff members had a very hard time getting to the guest house because many streets were blocked with burning tires. Tom Bremer C.P. was able to get to the airport and catch his flight back to Michigan. I am sure he will have some interesting observations. We just had a team meeting and most team members have decided to try to attend clinic tomorrow and then leave Port Au Prince on Saturday, two days early. At this point we are unsure if we have clinic tomorrow because we have not heard if the generator that powers the clinic has been repaired. If we can go to the clinic then we will try to visit one orphanage. No demonstrations are planned but we have learned that they can quickly start. None of our team members have had any personal safety concerns. Healing Hands staff members are very closely monitoring the situation. We are relying on them to advise us what to do. Hopefully tomorrow night we will have an uneventful day to report. Thanks to everyone for your support. Al Ingersoll C.P.
Bonswa, 3:30pm Eastern time zone We started today with disappointing news that has continued throughout the day. An anti-Aristide "manifestation" (political demonstration) was scheduled for today. We knew this earlier in the week but had anticipated being able to leave the guest house early enough to arrive at the clinic. We were instructed that we would not be leaving the grounds, only to find out at mid-morning that the demonstration had been cancelled because the police had cordoned off the starting area. Some staff members had a very hard time getting to the guest house because many streets were blocked with burning tires. Tom Bremer C.P. was able to get to the airport and catch his flight back to Michigan. I am sure he will have some interesting observations. We just had a team meeting and most team members have decided to try to attend clinic tomorrow and then leave Port Au Prince on Saturday, two days early. At this point we are unsure if we have clinic tomorrow because we have not heard if the generator that powers the clinic has been repaired. If we can go to the clinic then we will try to visit one orphanage. No demonstrations are planned but we have learned that they can quickly start. None of our team members have had any personal safety concerns. Healing Hands staff members are very closely monitoring the situation. We are relying on them to advise us what to do. Hopefully tomorrow night we will have an uneventful day to report. Thanks to everyone for your support. Al Ingersoll C.P.