September Update – Schools and Roadblocks

September is always a very busy month in Haiti. The final preparations for school usually fill the first week, including delivery of new school uniforms, finalizing school shoes for everyone, getting haircuts, purchasing and laminating the last of the school books, loading and distributing school backpacks, and planning routes to get all the kids to their various schools on time. By the time September rolls around, the kids are often ready to return to school…and so are the staff!!

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Village Values Weekend

Celebrating character and growth with all of our Hands and Feet Project kids and staff from our Jacmel and Thozin campuses

Derek Minor and Canon on stage with our Hands and Feet Project musicians

Every year in the late summer, Hands and Feet Project wraps up the summer with a celebration we call Village Values Weekend. It’s a time when everyone comes together in one location to have a little end of summer party. We celebrate the kids and staff who exemplify love, responsibility, honesty and obedience throughout the year. We also have some great Christian musicians come to entertain, challenge and even teach us and our kids. This year the event is on our campus in Jacmel, and Christian rap / hip hop artists Derek Minor and Canon were here. Derek has been to HAFP in the past, and many of the kids really like his music.

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Hands and Feet Project 15 Year Anniversary & Our Summer Season Update

Hands and Feet Project 15 year anniversary banner
Drex and Jo Stuart

Hands and Feet Project is celebrating 15 years of working in Haiti. What better way to celebrate than have people that originally started taking in and caring for orphaned kids in Jacmel come visit us along with people that came to visit within the first few years? This was our first time to meet the first Hands and Feet Project missionaries, Drex and Jo Stuart (parents of Mark Stuart), and we had a great time hearing stories about early successes and challenges that they faced. And with them came many people who came on teams in those early days.

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Congratulations to Our First Graduate!

This weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate the first high school graduation from one of our kids within the Hands and Feet Project (HAFP) organization! Congratulations to Marvensky for making it through 13th grade (Filo) and we pray that he will continue with his educational success and fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor!  He is currently looking at universities in Port au Prince where he can continue his education.

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Open House & Fundraiser at Panera in Penfield

Panera Bread Company logo

As we mentioned in a previous post, we’re having another open house at Panera in Penfield. These events have been highlights of our visits to Rochester because so many people stop by that we wouldn’t get to see otherwise. The next one will be on Friday, May 17th from 4-8pm. This event will be an official fundraiser. For those who present our fundraiser flyer to the cashier, Panera will donate 20% of your purchase price towards our support!

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May in Rochester

What are your plans for May? Here are some of ours:

  1. Lilac Festival at Highland Park
  2. Rochester Public Market
  3. Rochester Twilight Criterium bike race
  4. Animal Adventure Park visit (think giraffes!)
  5. Dunkin’ Donuts latte
  6. Coldstone Creamery ice cream
  7. Wegmans Food Market grocery store
  8. Panera Bread Company Open House
  9. Church and small group conversations
  10. Time with family, friends and our awesome supporters
Visiting Rochester, New York Lilac Festival at Highland Park
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Campus Life Spring Update

Fun with glasses on the Big House porchAs we approach the end of our 2nd year in Haiti, there are some successes that bring us a great deal of joy.  Our relationships with the kids continue to grow as they see that we’re not packing up our belongings and leaving Haiti.  That’s been a topic of conversation with some of our kids as many of our predecessors left before the 18-month mark.  It’s also exciting to see 12-15 of our  older kids wanting to go with us to church and wanting to also attend church youth group Continue reading “Campus Life Spring Update”

Time Away and Visiting Us in Haiti

We returned to Haiti on January 10 after a restful furlough. We had a great time visiting with many family, friends and supporters during our time in upstate New York and on both coasts of Florida, and wish we could have visited with many more of you!  We also intentionally built in a good time of rest for us. Self-care. We have learned the value of that, big time!  We are so glad we did!

On our trip back to Haiti, we traveled with an intern from Alabama. Graham is here with us for 3 months Continue reading “Time Away and Visiting Us in Haiti”

15 Year Anniversary

Happy New Year everyone!  

It was over 1.5 years ago that we moved to Haiti to serve with The Hands and Feet Project (HAFP). This year, HAFP is celebrating 15 years of serving in Haiti! In the short time we’ve been there, we’ve seen positive change and so much potential. We can’t even imagine what those who have been part of the organization for 15 years have seen! Here’s a video Continue reading “15 Year Anniversary”

We Are Thankful

As we write this we can almost guarantee that anyone reading it has a full belly. We have seen posts on Facebook all day of all the turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pies, and even pizza that has been prepared and consumed. So now you have someone napping, watching football, doing dishes or maybe even out starting the Christmas shopping!

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