I'm still processing all the lessons learned from my recent trip to Haiti. Five of us Nashvillians traveled there to visit friends, find out a little more about the country and help out where we could. Don't get me started talking about how much I loved the journey. Just count yourself lucky all I'm doing here is posting a few pics.

Here we are after cleaning out mud from a school in the Gonaives area struck by September 2008's devastating hurricanes. After initial shyness, several of the village kids helped out in a big way and taught us a few things about swinging shovels.

We re-roofed a house damaged in those same storms. (And yes, believe it or not, there are shots of me successfully using a power saw without harming myself or others. In a skirt, no less.)

We met adorable children, who laughed at our bungling attempts to speak Creole. And while entertaining said children (one day, they numbered 300!) with tons of balloons, bubbles and soccer balls, we, by necessity, learned how to speak their language a little bit better.

Yes, we witnessed some great needs in Haiti. But we came away with memories of a lot more beauty than we ever expected.

To learn more about the work of the Haiti Water Project, one of the efforts we witnessed making a big difference in the everyday lives of people, take a minute to watch this video.