Caring for Kids Archives - Page 2 of 3 - McGarvey Haitian Adventures

Fall is Here, But Schools Have Not Started in Haiti??

It’s still summertime in Haiti…sort of

We had a great time of fun activities, events and entertainment for all of our kids in Haiti over the summer! On top of regular activities and events with the kids, we also had a week-long Vacation Bible School with huge help from our older kids. The program for this year was “Christmas in August”, and the children got to experience the love, joy, and peace of opening the Bible and learning more about Jesus and why He came. The VBS program included lesson time, skits, creative crafts, snacks, and games.

We had plans for our annual Village Values weekend celebration, but that was canceled due to protests that prevented a team from the US from coming in, and also prevented safe transportation in and around Jacmel and Grand Goave.

Schools in the USA have all started a month or more ago. The school year was supposed to start in Haiti on September 5th, but the government pushed back the official start of school until early October due to protests regarding ongoing fuel shortages, insecurity, massive inflation and government inaction. Now the gangs have said that they won’t allow school to start until Prime Minister Ariel Henry steps down. We heard similar demands about the former president stepping down that were never met, and protests eventually let up. We hope and pray that those funding protestors run out of money soon so things can stabilize for the people of Haiti. There are still many issues surrounding the control of the country that still need to be resolved.

Extending Our Stay in Haiti

We returned to Haiti last month. It feels good to be back! We’ve enjoyed seeing the kids and staff again. It’s always exciting to hear about what everyone has been doing while we were away. We’ve seen some of our friends from the states and look forward to catching up with others soon. We’re extending our stay in Haiti by a couple of weeks to help with a few unexpected things that came up.

We flew to Haiti on a DC-3 cargo plane from Ft. Pierce, Florida all the way to Jacmel, with several stops along the way. This was our first time flying into Haiti with MFI (Missionary Flights International). It was a good experience, and we plan to continue using their services.

Family Preservation, Daycares and the “New Normal”

At the Hands and Feet Project, we focus our efforts on protecting, caring, and serving the vulnerable in Haiti through four projects:

* Preserving Families
* Providing Families
* Experiencing Missions
* Restoring Survivors

You can visit the Hands and Feet Project website to learn more about each of these projects. You can also review the 2021 Impact Report for more impact stats from our different projects.

Preserving Families

The goal of our Preserving Families Project is to keep families together. Among the several projects within our Family Preservation Project is our Little Hands Daycare. We have talked about this in the past and it is something we are excited about. In 2021 we supported 28 families, 28 children. That is 28 families where moms, dads, and caregivers can go to work and know that their child is being well taken care of, learning, and having fun as well. It also means they can continue with their jobs and support their family. Keep the family intact. There is no cost to the family for this service.

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.

McGarvey News Update

On January 16th, the organization we work with, Hands and Feet Project, posted this on Facebook (no Facebook account is needed to open the link):

Please pray for Hands & Feet Project’s missionary staff. Like many missionaries in Haiti, they have experienced interruptions to their ministry and mission over the past several months. Our missionaries are temporarily stateside, away from their home, separated from their community and pausing the life that God has called them to step into. Please pray for each missionary called to Haiti to persevere through setback after setback and challenge after challenge.

HAFP Missionaries:
Rachel, Michelle, Randy & Denise

We could not have asked for a better statement at this time. We are away from our home. We are away from our community. We are away from our friends we have made, the children at Hands and Feet Project, our staff there, our church we have grown to love and many other parts of our home and community in Haiti. We are expected to work as much as we can with those that are in Haiti while we are away from home. This can prove to be difficult. The uncertainty of the internet, power, etc., makes it hard to communicate. Perseverance is a great word for this time we are in. It honestly feels like we have had more setbacks and challenges in our ministry there this last year than ever before. But we also see successes through these trials.

2021 Review and Looking Ahead to 2022

Happy New Year! While 2021 was a hard year for many of us, we want to pause and look at the positive work that Hands and Feet Project (HAFP) is doing in Haiti. Then we want to look ahead to our plans for 2022.

2021 Year in Review

Throughout 2021, Hands and Feet Project has continued to provide families and to preserve families for children in Haiti. New families are being supported to enable children to stay with them, children have been reunified with family, more children have a safe place to stay in our daycares while their mom & dad work, and new children have been brought into HAFP to provide loving families. There are even more requests for assistance from families in our community as the challenges of finding work and food continue. We are thankful that HAFP continues to have the ability to meet the needs of so many.

Spring 2021 McGarvey News Update

Welcoming Spring

Spring is a time for new life and new growth after surviving the winter season. Every year we see the pictures of snowdrops and crocuses poking through the snow on warm days. We had many of those flowers at our house in upstate New York and looked forward to seeing them mark the beginning of the Spring season every year. This Spring is a new season for us as well.

Modified Open House in Rochester

We are excited to share that we’re heading back to Haiti at the end of the month! In order to see as many people as possible before we leave, we’re having a modified open house for those in the Rochester, New York area. On Friday, August 21, we will be at Panera Bread in Penfield from noon to 3 and 5 to 7:30. We are asking people to reserve a time slot, if possible, so we don’t have a large group there at one time. You can reply to this message, reply to the open house event on Facebook, text us, email us, send a web site comment, send a carrier pigeon, or just come visit us when you have the time available.

Returning to Haiti

Shadows at Sampson State Park in New York — Feeling tall at Sampson State Park

Regarding our return to Haiti, the borders to Haiti opened last month, and we found some affordable flights from Rochester. The number of airlines and flights to Haiti have been reduced, so the trip to Haiti now requires an overnight layover, but we worked it out so we are meeting up with other people along the way and fly in together.

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.

Two Years in Haiti!

Today, June 17, marks our 2 year anniversary of moving to Haiti.

When you think of all that can happen in a two year time period, it boggles the mind. That is how we are feeling at the moment. Really? Two years has gone by? We mean, flown by!

Continue reading “Two Years in Haiti!”

Tag: Caring for Kids

Fall is Here, But Schools Have Not Started in Haiti??

It’s still summertime in Haiti…sort of

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Extending Our Stay in Haiti

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