Friday, October 31, 2014

Update :)

Here’s  a basic update from the past week….

Saturday, October 25th-  I left for Florida in the Montero (packed to the ceiling with many items for the base and orphanage in Haiti).  I drove for 12 hours the first day and stopped for the night in Georgia.  There were no problems with the Montero –it drove great!  Prayers were felt for sure since I did not get tired or have any difficulty with the drive.

The rest area in Virginia- on the way to Florida in the Montero
Sunday, October 26th-  I drove a few more hours in the morning- ending near Jacksonville, Florida where I had a meeting after church with a wonderful family.  He has recently been to Haiti and visited Life is Wealth Orphanage and wanted to talk about the Nanny Program there (among other things Haiti).  We had a great lunch meeting and I am excited about continuing this relationship and potentially visiting the church again in the future.  I then drove the rest of the way- ending my day at a hotel near Fort Lauderdale airport.

Monday, October 27th-  In the morning my daughter and I dropped the Montero at the shipping company in West Palm Beach.  Then I had a few hours with her before she had to drop me back at my hotel room and go to work.  The hotel was nice and I was able to relax later in the day by the pool and complete some paperwork and reports.
The poolside table I sat at to do my paperwork at the hotel- VERY relaxing
Tuesday, October 28th-  I got to the airport by 4:15 am. for a 6:15 am. flight to Haiti (arriving at 8).  Upon arriving in Haiti we went directly to the base to drop off the luggage and then headed over to the orphanage for a meeting with Pastor Yves and to see the children.  In the evening we met with James, unpacked and organized/distributed the items I brought with me.
Some of the orphans after school- They look so adorable in their uniforms!

Our dogs at the Hearts United with Haiti base
Wednesday, October 29th-  Redgi and I went to Bas-Citronniers for a surprise visit, to pay the teachers, and to observe the project.  It was good to go with and see the school first-hand, meet the teachers, and catch up with the committee.  I was EXTREMELY impressed with the way things are running there. The school was very professional and the children were learning.  I observed most of the teachers and took notes on what they were teaching.  We even arrived in time for the mid-morning food so we got to talk with the cooks and see what type of food is served (they get one hot meal per day at school).  Even the teachers were eating with the children!  What a great place and what a great vision they have for it.  I will return next week when I have more time to meet with the committee and begin to plan (with them) for the future!
Some children (not from our school) walking to school as we drove along the river to Bas-Citronniers (carrying their school shoes so they don't get dirty)
Thursday, October 30th-  We picked up two of my good friends at the airport and were able to visit some places together where Haitian crafts are made.  First we took them to Croix des Bouquets where metal artists create beautiful art from 55 gallon metal drums.  They pound, cut and mold the metal into different pieces.  It is one of my favorite places in Haiti to visit and it was nice to show my friends some of the beauty of Haiti.  After lunch we went to visit the Apparent Project and get a tour of their facilities.  This is where many different crafts are made by Haitian nationals- thus providing jobs and income so that parents do not need to place their children into orphanages or suffer other effects of poverty.  The main craft item is hand-made jewelry which they sell in their boutique or market abroad.  I have visited before, but never actually went “behind the scenes” so that was wonderful!  To see the men and women who are making the items and who benefit from what this organization is doing was encouraging.
The metal work at Croix des Bouquets... so amazing to watch and to see what they do!

Beads at the Apparent Project in Port au Prince. 
Plans for the next few days are to explore/enjoy some of the beauty of this country.  These friends have come to help with the water purification system at Life is Wealth and the rest of their group comes on Sunday.  We wanted a few days before their group to see the “other side of Haiti” because so often groups come and have little time for exploring- they only have so many days to do their ministry.  So, this is a real blessing to get this time to share Haiti with them and show them the hope, the future, and the BEAUTY here!  There is so much that is positive in Haiti and I love when people get to see that!  We are blessed!  :)

Saturday, October 18, 2014

UPDATE:

We apologize-again, it has been almost a month since we updated this blog though we continue to update the facebook site.  If you are active on facebook and would like to "like" our page there you will receive more frequent updates.  In the meantime, we will try to keep this one updated more regularly too.  

So.... What has God been doing?  WOW-  What a question!  Here are just a few updates about the projects and ministry in Haiti.  We pray you are blessed as you read them to see just exactly what has been going on.

Life is Wealth Orphanage:  School started on October 1st.  Backpacks full of school supplies were given to each orphan (thanks to generous donations from the summer groups), uniforms made/tuition paid/books purchased for each sponsored child, and from what we hear school is going well.
Little Berlando in his new uniform- all ready for school! 
THANK YOU to Hawks for Haiti (Hamburg School District in Pennsylvania) for their generous donations that were used to purchase classroom supplies and books for the school at Life is Wealth.  Teachers have expressed their frustration when children from the community attend school and do not have the proper books and supplies- hence, teaching is much more difficult.  Now they will have some classroom copies to share with the children and studies can progress more efficiently.

math & grammar books were bought for the classrooms as well as dictionaries and classic literature books with funds from Hawks for Haiti-  THANK YOU!    
English & French dictionaries for the language classes- bought with Hawks for Haiti money as well
 The grounds of the orphanage and school are now much cleaner - thanks to Path of Life Ministries in Michigan who donated 5 trash cans.  They were put in strategic locations around the campus and children will be encouraged to use them (by the teachers and staff).
Wooden holders were built for the trash cans so they do not "wander" out the gate and into the community.  


The water building has been complete since the spring, but we are excited that the first week of November a team is coming to install the water purification system at the orphanage!  This will insure that the orphans will have fresh, clean drinking water available to them but also that the orphanage will be able to purchase water for their cistern with funds generated from the sale of purified water to the community.  One step closer to being completely self-sustaining!  AMEN!

We have also worked with the pastor to help him hire 10 women who will serve as "mommies" for the children at Life is Wealth.  These women began training on Friday, October 17th and all are very excited about the opportunity to mentor and impact the orphans.  The way the schedule was created insures that there should always be one or more of these women on site at the orphanage.  The training involves learning positive ways to work with children, the effects of abuse/abandonment, how to discipline yet not negatively impact the child's self esteem, normal child development, etc...   Classes are being led by a social worker living in Haiti.  (NOTE:  We still need about $750 per month to supplement the salaries of these women for the pastor.  We are trusting God to provide these funds, but if you would like to support this program please contact us)
The women he has hired (there are 12 because the existing staff is also being trained- these women cook, clean, do the laundry, etc but they also interact with the children )

The women (and Pastor Yves on the right) at the training session in the church.  
We can not wait until these women have "settled in" and some of the negative behaviors have changed at the orphanage because then we can begin the music program with the donated hand bells and recorders/music, we can install the new flat screen TV that was donated and shipped on the bus and we can finally give out some of the really nice church dresses.  We have been holding these items at our base because there was no way to insure that these items would be properly cared for and not be ruined quickly (unfortunately a reality due to lack of supervision of the children in the past- we want to be good stewards of that which has been given).

Mirebalais/Bracelets of Promise:
This program continues to be VERY successful.  We have about 80 bracelets here in the USA if anyone is looking for some (they make great Christmas gifts- hint hint).  We have already taken each girl making bracelets the equivalent of about $40 US and each has an equal amount of money in the bank for their future.

Also, Jesula had her baby on September 18th and we were able to visit/get photos (see another blog post on here).  The baby is a girl and her name is Melantchy.

Here are the latest bracelets (some in the photo have sold already)
Vehicle Situation:
Our Jeep (photo below) is for sale in Haiti.  You can see that it was recently worked on- the bushings and other things in the suspension have been replaced.  We are shipping another Mitsubishi Montero the end of October (hope it is there for the December mission groups) because the Jeep is just too small for our needs.
The Jeep "at the shop" in Haiti- ready for the parts I brought from Miami in September (it is fixed now)

The Montero that will be shipped at the end of October.
We are still filling it with items we will use at the base or orphanage.  
Bas-Citronniers:
We will be doing a complete update on this community and our involvement in the next few weeks, but for those of you who already know about our project there, here is an update.  School began on October 6th and things are going well.  The committee is keeping records that we will review together upon my return to Haiti in November.  We are going to compare actual expenses vs. budgeted ones as well as spend some time planning for the future as the community moves toward self-sufficiency and independence.  This is a GREAT community with amazing potential to be successful and we are encouraged and excited as we move along with them on this journey.
Some of the students in Bas-Citronniers at school the first week of classes (the locals took these photos and shared them with us- not sure if the children were praying or hiding).  

Raising the flag in the morning before school starts.  

Base Update:
We are praying about relocating to a bigger building.  Our vision is to have a place where Redgi can live, James/Aline (his wife as of Dec. 20th) can live and we can house not only teams, but interns as well.  We also would love to be able to do the Training & Discipleship Center on site which means teams wouldn't have to travel to/from another location for a large majority of our future ministry.  This is very exciting for us and we ask for your prayers for Him to lead us to just the right location/base.  This is a photo of just a few places we have been looking at.  I will look at them further in November- rent is going to be MUCH higher if we move so that is something we need to pray about.

(This one was a school but could be used for a base with teams/housing on the second floor and Training/Discipleship center on the first floor.  **Cool note:  I did ministry here my first summer in Haiti with two teams.)
(This one is a big house for rent- similar to what we have, but the whole house)
That's a LOT of information but there is a LOT going on that we wanted to share with you.  There are many more things we could write about or share and we will try to do so in the days/weeks ahead.  In the meantime, please check out our facebook page for more current info.  God bless and thank you so much for ALL your support and prayers.