Author: Randy

Summer in the States

This has been a year of the unexpected for many of us. We never expected to be spending the summer in the states and working remotely to keep things moving forward in Jacmel. We have so much to do as we constantly plan and implement next steps to equip and prepare the kids on our campus for next steps in life. As you can imagine, this is a constant process of evaluating the past and making adjustments for the future. We’re thankful for video meeting capabilities and other forms of technology to keep us connected and moving forward!

Some days we spend 6-7 hours in Zoom meetings!

Haiti is still dealing with the Covid-19 virus and continues to restrict travel into, out from and within the country. There are some flights scheduled most weeks to allow people to leave Haiti, and after several months with a travel ban into Haiti, there’s talk about opening the airport again. The requirements for those traveling into the country are not clear yet, but we’ll be watching for opportunities to return.

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May Reflections

Haiti and Holidays!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our caregivers!

Can you believe May is nearly over? Memorial Day is now behind us in America and the unofficial summer season has arrived after a long, cold winter and spring in many places. Florida was not one of those cold places, and, of course, neither was Haiti! In the last month, Haiti has also celebrated Labor / Agriculture Day on May 1, Flag Day on May 18, and Mother’s Day on May 31. It’s been a busy month! We’ve celebrated each Haitian holiday from afar as we’ve been in Florida for several months and are now in upstate New York (the Rochester / Finger Lakes region, not the New York City area!)

Haiti Happenings Update

So what have we been up to this month? We’ve been working like crazy to care for our kids during this coronavirus lockdown while looking ahead to next steps as our kids learn and grow. Our days are often filled with Zoom video calls, and WhatsApp calls and chats – the tools we use to communicate with our Haitian and American coworkers. We’re so thankful for the dedication of our essential staff in Haiti and for all the work they’re doing to keep the campus running smoothly and keeping food and supplies for the kids coming in. We have many changes that we’re working on, and of course it’s a bit more difficult to manage change remotely, but we’re moving forward with everyone’s help. We’re moving kids as they hit the maximum age for our campuses, we’re making campus safety improvements, overseeing repair and maintenance projects, and preparing for more of our kids to head out into the community and beyond.

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Haiti, Health and Wellness

Jacmel Campus and Haiti News

Hello everyone! We hope and pray that each and every one of you and your families are safe, healthy, and able to find all the essentials during this lockdown period. We also pray that you have a wonderful Easter weekend as we reflect on the death and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement as we continue to lead our staff in Haiti from afar. So far, Haiti only has 30 reported cases of Coronavirus Covid-19. Only a few cases have been reported in the Jacmel area so far.

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Coronavirus COVID-19 Hits Haiti

What impact do you expect Coronavirus COVID-19 to have on your life? It’s hard to answer that question, isn’t it? Many people have already been affected, but we don’t know how much more impact it will have. We’ve seen some countries are reporting having the spread of the virus under control and the number of new cases is decreasing. Other countries are just dealing with the initial onslaught and still have increasing numbers. We’ve also heard that the virus is changing as it migrates from country to country, so that increases the uncertainty even more.

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Nashville, here we come!

Look out Nashville, we’re coming your way! As the next step to seek the root cause of Denise’s nausea, we’re heading to Nashville! After cross-crossing the state of Florida seeking medical help, we’re heading on to Nashville to see someone who has helped other friends with mysterious symptoms. Please keep us in your prayers as we drive there and spend some time with a new doctor, and pray that he has divine insight into what’s going on and how to fix it. While we’re near our Hands and Feet Project office, we also have some meetings with our HAFP leadership and coworkers.

We are thinking and praying about all of you during this challenging time. We pray that you all remain healthy and that you’re able to find key essential toiletries and other necessities. In case you’re wondering where to find toilet paper, perhaps look on the side of the road as you’re traveling. It works in Haiti!! To date, there are no reported cases of Coronavirus COVID-19 in Haiti. We pray that Haiti is spared from this illness!

Kudos to our coworker, Michelle, for snapping this great picture!

2020 Vision for Health & Growth

2019 in Review

Looking back at 2019, it has been a year of hope and promise, but also of challenges and obstacles. It was another year of endless learning opportunities for us that we’ve tried to capitalize on. We’ve learned so much more about the Haitian people and culture, yet we know there’s still so much more. The history and heritage of the Haitian people is rich and yet challenging. The year ended with health challenges that sent us to Florida for resolution.

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Hello and Merry Christmas!  We hope and pray that you have an enjoyable Christmas season and that you take time to reflect on the birth of Jesus, the hope of the world!  We wanted to share information about our Christmas adventures with you so you can keep us in your prayers.  

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Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday!

Give the gift of care this Christmas
Giving Tuesday heart logo #GivingTuesday

How were your Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday? Can you believe tomorrow has yet another special name? It’s Giving Tuesday! And Christmas is coming soon! (If you’re not familiar with Giving Tuesday, you can find information about it here.)

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Thanksgiving 2019 Update

A warm hello and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from the Caribbean! 

We try to take time here and there to remind ourselves of the beauty in Haiti and not to just take it for granted.  As the USA has dealt with some very cold weather already, we are thankful for a little break from the heat and not seeing many temperatures above 90 F.  Thanksgiving FoodIn this season of Thanksgiving, we want to reflect on other things that we’re thankful for….and it starts with the amazing donors, supporters and friends that are all essential to making this journey possible!  Thanks for all your prayers, financial assistance, encouragement, conversations, care packages, and sharing our social media posts.  We can’t do this without you and really appreciate each and every one of you.

We’re thankful for the wonderful Thanksgiving dinner we had with local friends old and new.  It was great to get together and enjoy a turkey dinner with a variety of other foods and people!  There was an amazing spread of dinner and dessert items!  

We’re thankful for power!  As I sit and write, we are enjoying power from the local electric company.  We have endured 14 weeks of ongoing protests about government corruption and the many side effects of money not being spent where it would best help the people and the country. Continue reading “Thanksgiving 2019 Update”

Time Away for Self Care

Down time, time away, vacation, staycation, relaxation…call it what you may, but it’s critical for each of us to stay balanced, effective and to maintain relationships. This is especially important for us as we have very little down time in our day to day lives since we live on campus with our 60 kids!

During our time away this Fall, we’ve already been out to Arizona to see family and friends, and we’re currently in Florida visiting more of Denise’s family. It’s always hard to plan trips to the States because there’s never enough time to see all the people we want to see, and stopping in more than 2 places each trip gets expensive. During our visit to Arizona, we were blessed to be able to visit the Grand Canyon for a few days thanks to some special donations made. What an amazing show of God’s beauty and creativity! The pictures never do it justice. It’s so immense that it’s hard to describe. When we were in Arizona previously, we went as far north as Flagstaff but this was our first time to the Grand Canyon.

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