Travel Ban Lifted…Returning to Haiti!

The travel ban has been lifted!
We’re Heading Back to Haiti!

As we’ve shared in recent posts, the Hands and Feet Project (HAFP) board of directors put a travel ban in place in December to be revisited in March. We’re excited to share that the board has met and they have lifted the travel ban.  Their additional requirement going forward is that we must acknowledge the risks associated with travel to Haiti and that there are limited services available within the country as well as to assist with travel out of the country. 

We don’t see the risks of being in Jacmel as being much higher than they’ve been in recent years. We’ve recognized that this is likely the new normal for Haiti. That being said…we will continue to be prayerful, diligent in assessing the country, and discerning each time we come and go as well as while we are in country. HAFP is also doing the same. There are still ongoing issues with a lack of formal government, the gangs controlling many of the streets in and around the capital of Port au Prince, the inability or unwillingness of the police to control the streets, intermittent fuel shortages, widespread and ongoing power issues, and safety concerns traveling in and out of Port au Prince.

Our Responsibilities

In addition to that, HAFP has proposed some job shifts for the missionary staff in Haiti that would not have us in the country full time, but rather we would go in for a month or 2 at a time to build into our Haitian staff and kids, and to work on projects that require us to be there. 

Denise will be focusing even more of her time on the daycare,  both in the Jacmel area and the new opening of our Grand Goave Daycare, including hiring and training new staff, interviewing potential families for the daycare, and helping to select children to attend. 

Randy will be focusing on the technical side of things, like expanding and teaching in the computer labs, improving security systems, getting power systems online, and other things along those lines.  We will also be in Haiti to help coordinate events like our week-long summer Vacation Bible School and our weekend event to celebrate our Village Values and help get the campus ready for Christmas.

So what does that look like?

We’re returning to Haiti in late April, and we will be there into June.  We are tentatively planning to head back to Haiti in August through September for our end-of-summer events, as well as in December to assist with Christmas. We will also continue our work with the daycares and the technical projects while we are there.  Our Haitian staff continue to impress us, and we’re excited that they’re managing things in Haiti so well.  We have great staff in so many areas, caring for kids on and off the HAFP campus. 

What happens when we’re in the States?

The way things are going in the world, many people are working remotely, and we’re no exception!  The recent network improvements that we made in Jacmel have given us a consistent ability to connect with our Haitian staff and to administer many computers, the network and the power system remotely.  We’re so thankful that these systems are working so well!

McGarvey Life Update

Denise and Randy are currently in Florida. We are driving Randy’s parents back to Rochester, New York next week. Then we are returning to Florida the following week to make final preparations to head to Haiti at the end of April. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel over the next several weeks.

We’re excited to see our kids and staff in Haiti, along with our many friends that are still there. Thankfully, we are in regular communication with many people in Haiti, but there’s nothing like being there to see everyone.

On a Lighter Note

We have used a variety of web sites, apps, tutors and translators to help us learn the Haitian Creole language. One of the best language apps, Duolingo, recently added Haitian Creole to their language library! If you are interested in learning any language at all, check out Duolingo! We even know some homeschool families that use it as a part of their regular school lessons. It’s fun and free!