Mudslide update

Through prayer, faith, and generous donations, we received over $6,000 in relief funds. As a result, we've been able to issue grants to families who lost their homes so they could rent new homes. Donations of tarps, shovels, wheel barrels and other items from the Red Cross and Save the Children allowed us to help dig people's homes out of the mud and assist those in need. Our efforts continue as we have cleaning crews helping our neighbors clean and rebuild parts of their homes.

To read the rest of the story and more from Child Hope International please CLICK HERE.

Links to Friends in Haiti

These are friends and their stories, some of whom i've worked with, some of whom i've just gotten to know. They are all amazing and possess some of the most beautiful souls, so please read/watch if you get a chance!

Rick Braeutigam & Dave Brodsky,
Crossline Community Church, and The Global Mission - "Rise Up"
http://www.theglobalmission.org/rise-up/

Brooke James - "Say no to fixing"
http://brookejames.blogspot.com

The Denlinger Family - "Changing Lives"
http://denlingerhaiti.blogspot.com/

Heartline Ministry - "The Unseen"
http://johnmchoul.wordpress.com/

Joanna Howard - "Expanded midwifery services could save millions of lives"
http://midwifejonna.blogspot.com

Angie Koch & Maison d'enfants de Dieu
http://www.mission82.blogspot.com

Lexi (&Paula, although she's not writing... :-) - "Transitions"
http://lexiemarie.tumblr.com/

Carmel team (June 5-12)
http://carmelpreshaititrip.blogspot.com/

they: 1) built a house, 2) built tons of shelving & tables for the transition program, 3) painted the girls house, 4) cleaned the gutters/fixed the rainwater collection system for the boys house, 5) painted a mural(!), 6) tiled & furnished the school principal's office, 7) played with the kids a TON, 8) made draperies for the girls house, sewed a Sunday dress AND made a quilt for Susette's birthday!!!, 9) MORE!!!

Maryland team (June 18-25)
Mosquitobait.tumblr.com
they: 1) built a house, 2) finished all the rooms & furnishings & set up (AFTER BRINGING THE SERGERS for the sewing program!!!) the sewing program, silk-screen program, computer room & did some other handy projects, 3) played with the kids a TON, 4) painted the boys house, 5) set up a gift store website/took the photos for it to try to take our products online, 6) MORE!!!

Cali team (June 25-July 2) *YES THAT'S 3 CONSECUTIVE WEEKS! :-)
http://haitilove.showitsite.com/
"Hope for Haiti"
they're going to: 1) build ANOTHER house for a family in the community (that's 3 in 3 weeks if you're counting!), 2) run medical clinic while Ashley is away, 3) beautify the staff house & transition house, 4) play with the kids and give the staff a morning away to pray & relax with each other, 5) MORE!!! (well, probably! :-)

I'm blessed and blessed to know these people.
Read their stories if you get a chance.

Much love,
David

my last 2.5 (hectic-ish) weeks in Haiti

I'm going to make this short because I NEED to go to sleep. :-)

1) 2 great teams have arrived and done an amazing amount of work, played with the kids, been supportive & fun, and just encouraged me a lot as well as the rest of the staff here.

2) Red Cross & Save the Children donated tools & tarps/blankets/rope to help families recover from mudslides; also we're continuing to cleanup AND we've helped families move into new places in the meantime (where money has gone: to help!)

3) my friend Matt has gone on extended vacation so i'll be in charge of the transition program for orphan graduates here for awhile. A lot has happened recently and the house/office/program workspaces are each almost complete! It's a rapid and wonderful transformation blessed by the talents, efforts and support of the aforementioned great teams, the foundation of work Matt put in over the last 9+ months, and the belief in the vision of what this program can do to change Haiti in the long run (another email/presentation for another time, now)

4) I got another stomach bug and didn't eat much for a few days, but am totally fine!

5) Saw my old org and offered a hand in their challenging week. Still a curiosity what happened there, in my mind and heart. I continue to pray for The Boys I used to work with (and for, essentially).

ok that's it for this moment, but will send more pics/blogs/details of each of the programmatic events that are advancing. I'll also post on my blog links to the teams that have been here and what they've done so amazingly and blessedly for the kids & community here!!!

http://haitisand.blogspot.com

Much love,
David

Ravine of Dismay

Here 3 bodies were found. This ravine has homes built right on top of it because people just don't know... The river of garbage flowed down and so did the mud, this is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the mess left behind.  Only a few died, overall, but it's just another mess in a country that hasn't fixed any of its messes yet. And people don't want to help do it, partially because they don't see their government doing anything for them.

Flooding mud & garbage

an article about the flood:
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/americas/Severe-Weather-Leaves-11-Dead-in-Haiti-123377693.html


Heavy rains, mudslides and flooding in Haiti have killed at least 23 people, just days into the six-month-long Atlantic hurricane season.

Haiti's civil protection agency said Tuesday most of the deaths occurred in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where a week's worth of torrential downpours has turned streets into rivers and forced people to flee to their rooftops. 

But the rains have also inundated the crowded slums and tent camps where thousands of people remain after losing their homes during Haiti's devastating earthquake last year.



Aid agencies are warning the flooding could aggravate the cholera outbreak that has killed thousands since October.

Haiti's new president, Michel Martelly, is urging residents to keep calm as the storm passes over the battered nation, the Western Hemisphere's poorest.

The storm is sweeping across other countries in the Caribbean, and forecasters are warning of possible flash floods in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, as well as Cuba and Jamaica.  In the Dominican Republic, more than 8,000 people have been evacuated.

Rain/Mud emergency request

Last night a violent storm hit Haiti, leaving behind plenty of devastation.  Flash flooding caused rushing waters and mudslides.  People were standing on roofs to avoid the floods, houses are up to four feet in mud, which destroyed furniture and belongings, walls are down, people have died and some are missing.  

Many of our staff members were out all last night rescuing people standing on rooftops, finding missing family members, and taking in people who lost their homes into their own homes.    Our staff members were also hit.  Fritznir lost his entire home.  Carole and Mari-France both had all of their belongings washed away.  We are praying for the families of our children and staff, who we do not yet know how this storm may have effected them.

The destruction is overwhelming and we are doing our best to respond to the needs here.  We are expecting to take in people that lost their homes and possessions, feeding them, and assisting in cleaning up their properties during the day.  We are still in the process of evaluating the losses and checking up on our staff members and children’s families.  If you’d like to give toward supporting our relief effort, you can go to:

https://childhope.webconnex.com/donation_form?notes=Relief%20Fund&category=14234

Decision Making

Today (see the end... this is actually a month old...) for our weekly
Transition Program life skills class we talked about how to make
decisions.

Categories:
1) Good vs. Bad
2) Easy vs. Hard
3) Short-term vs. Long-term
4) Personal vs. Group
5) Consequences
6) Biblical & Prayer based

Topics included Relationships, Life/Career, Drugs/Alcohol, fighting,
stealing, sleeping & waking time, studying and more.

First we looked at the fact that we all know what good versus bad
decisions look like. Then we examined which decisions are easier to
make (what to eat, when to wake up, etc.) and which are harder
(marriage, job, addictions) to be wise about. After that we looked
at not just making decisions for today but for the future as well,
and why that plays out differently in a poorer country like Haiti
than the United States.
We dived into Cost/Benefit Analysis and then did a mock decision
process. Weighing the good vs. the bad is a skill that takes time.
It was clear that students even differed among themselves at what
price they'd risk venturing for more money from a non-guaranteed
contract over the course of the year instead of a higher one-time
unit payment.
In the end, though, we spent some time discussing what the bible
says about making decisions.

Proverbs 2:5-6 = "Then you will understand what it means to fear the
Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. For the Lord grants
wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding."
1 Corinthians 10:31 = "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you
do, do it all for the glory of God."
and finally we explored 2 Samuel 13 and 14: the story of King David
and his poor choices involving Bathsheba (& killing her husband,
Uriah; all of which led to the division of his family, the death of
his son, and so much more) and not doing what he was supposed to do
as king.

Really and truly, this is now a month old. So much has happened, and
this is now a story to be continued. Just the next week on may 10 we
talked about building trust (or tearing it down)... the next day one
of our kids was excused from the program and granted the "freedom" he
had declared for so long he had and was free to take, regardless of
the rules...