Haiti Life – Summer 2021

It’s been a few weeks since we posted anything here. We’ve posted and shared a few things on our Facebook page, but an update here is overdue. Here’s what we’ve been up to since our last post:

• Returned to Haiti
• Unpacked some amazing care packages
• Moved off campus
• Settling into new job roles
• New staff started
• Summer interns arrived
• Leadership team visited
• Trip to Grand Goave
• Network equipment repairs & updates
• Repaired computer lab…again
• Appreciation event for daycare staff
• New daycare staff interviews
• Appreciation event for other Jacmel staff
• Appreciation event for Grand Goave staff
• Schools ended for most of our kids
• Summer activities / celebrations
• Soccer games & tournaments
• Student rewards planning
• Graduation ceremony?
• Vacation Bible School planning
• Village Values preparations
• Hurricane / Tropical Storm Elsa prep

Back to Haiti

It happens every year at this time: the school year ends, we roll into summer activities and event planning, and the time just flies by as we endure some very long, busy, but fun days. This year is no exception!

When we arrived back in Haiti, we were greeted with some amazing care packages from some wonderful friends. They arrived while we were out of the country but they were well taken care while we were delayed in the States due to some challenges with Covid testing. Thanks for thinking of us and for sending some amazing treats that we’re still enjoying! Gluten-free food is not easy to find in Haiti, so much of our luggage was dedicated to that and we didn’t have as much room to bring in treats and snacks. Knowing that the care packages were waiting for us was a big relief!

Upon our return, we had a week to get everything in our apartment packed up and ready to move. An opportunity came up for us to move off campus and rent a place from someone we know and trust. We needed to make room for new staff and interns before they arrived. The move has been good for us so we have some distinction between work and home time. Living on campus with our kids and staff easily lends itself to working long hours and not taking time for self-care. We have fewer infrastructure niceties, like power and internet, but it’s a beautiful place not far from campus.

New Staff, Interns & Events

We’re excited to share that we’ve been talking with Rachel Hendrickson about joining us at Hands and Feet Project in Jacmel for quite a while, and she is now on staff with us! We’ve talked about and prayed for more help in Jacmel for a long time, and we’re glad God answered our prayers. We also have 3 interns for the summer of 2021! They have been helpful in quite a few areas, and we’re thankful they came to join us. It’s always good to have help, especially during the summer months when we plan extra activities for all of our Hands and Feet Project kids. We enjoy having the extra company as well!

The new roles for us are a bit broader than just overseeing the Jacmel campus. We have additional responsibilities for projects, infrastructure, events and programs at our other locations across the mountain in Grand Goave. The Ikondo facility is geared towards mission tourism and is on a beautiful hillside overlooking the ocean. The Thozin facility has been used for many years to care for orphaned and abandoned children, and is now prepared for other purposes as God leads. We were in Grand Goave last week with some of our leadership team who came to visit from the States for a few days. Part of that trip was focused on assessing and resolving some computer, network and internet issues on those campuses.

Since returning to Haiti, we’ve held 3 different appreciation events for our Haitian staff to say thanks for all they do to care for our kids and help us fulfill the vision and mission of Hands and Feet Project. We had a caterer come in to decorate and prepare a delicious meal and desserts for our staff. We held 2 events in Jacmel and another in Grand Goave. They were all great events, and we’ve heard great feedback about them.

School is over for everyone except the kids who are finishing up 9th grade. They are still studying for a big national exam that they need to pass in order to move into 10th grade. It’s exciting to hear about some of our kids who finished first in their class and others that were in the top 5. We’ve been continuously stressing the importance of education and the need to focus on learning and doing well in school. Every year we plan special activities to recognize those who were top in their class or achieved certain goals with their grades. We take the kids who achieve a high grade standard out for lunch at a local restaurant, and we have ice cream sundaes for others who did well in school.

Hurricane / Tropical Storm Elsa

We’ll plan to cover some of the upcoming activities in separate posts. We do want to pass on a huge thank you for those of you who kept us in your prayers as Hurricane Elsa approached us yesterday. We’re thankful that it was downgraded to a tropical storm before it reached us, and then also headed a bit south of us so the eye never passed over any part of Haiti. We’ve had steady winds of varying speeds for over 24 hours. We’ve had very little rain throughout the storm, and we’ve seen sun off and on today. What an answer to prayer! Unfortunately we haven’t had internet and had very little cellular data since the storm, so it’s been a challenge to get this post updated!

Please continue to keep Haiti in your prayers as the country faces ongoing political and civil challenges along with a recent surge in Covid cases. Please also pray for the ongoing health of our missionary staff, along with our Haitian staff and kids.

Thanks for your ongoing support of the work we’re doing!! We can’t do it without you!!