Tag: Haiti Life

Working Remotely and School Plans

We Just Passed the 3 Year Mark!

our flight to Haiti in 2017
2017 Flight to Haiti

It’s August 2020, and do you know what that means? We recently celebrated our 3rd anniversary of moving to Haiti! We moved to Haiti on June 20, 2017. Can you believe we’re almost 2 months into our 4th year already? Wow, it’s amazing to think about how much we’ve learned and grown over these last 3 years! If you think back over the last 3 years of your life, it’s likely you’ve seen some big changes as well. We’re excited about how far we’ve come, and we’re looking forward to making further progress in caring for our Haitian kids and preparing them for the future. Here’s an update on what’s been going on in Haiti as we continue to work remotely and make plans for school.

Coronavirus News

Haiti has been on a downward slope of Coronavirus cases and deaths for several many weeks now, and the government has loosened some restrictions. The airport is open for people to fly into the country. Flights are coming down in price as we make tentative plans for our return. Quarantine and Covid-19 test requirements are still unclear for those traveling into the country, but we’re watching, listening and planning for when we can head back into Haiti. We continue to move forward with updated programs and planning for our kids in Haiti.

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Expanding Transition Training

McDonalds Golden Arches are not common in Haiti

When our own kids were still in our house and as they approached their teen years, our focus was on preparing them for the “outside” world.  Preparing them to be “okay” in any situation as they head out to college and the years beyond. Helping them understand the importance of having a job, and supporting them in their quest to find their first one.  McDonalds? Somewhere in the Mall?  Wegmans? The choices for a part time job seemed many. Helping them “transition” into adulthood and the world outside of our house.  Supporting them in what they felt “called” to do in their work after college.

Never would we have imagined at that time in our lives we would have to think about all of this process with over 70 kids in a country like Haiti! It is so different, but we want the same goal for these kids.  We want them to have hope and desires for their futures just as we experienced with our kids in the USA.

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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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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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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”

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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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!

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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”