A variety of different size dresses in different shades of colors were made.
Haiti is the perfect climate for these dresses
And the girls were happy to model them for the visitors.
Nailobie on the right really enjoyed her dress.
It is great to see the enthusiasm of people who want to help better the lives of the haitian people.
Gordon Lewis is here from Mission of TEARS and Ted, who handles legal work came to visit Haiti and the projects they support and work with. We went over to Christian Light Ministries yesterday to visit Sherri and her school that she is building.
Her school just keeps growing and growing and it looks great!
After the earthquake there was a lot of fundraising done in the Sudbury area and Mission of TEARS was the beneficiary of the funds. One of the projects selected was Christian Light Ministries. This plaque commemorates the funds that were used to help her with work on the second story of the school.
The school recently had an extension made. Jean Hanson was planning to visit Haiti but died. In her memory funds were given to Sherri to construct another wing of her school building.
Benson is in Grade 2 at Sherri's school. He went to the orthopedic doctor on Monday and he said that the leg is still not healed and he will have to keep the cast on his leg another 4 weeks. Pray that Benson's leg will set and that he can get rid of that clunky cast. We are going to give him calcium pills, to try and give him extra calcium. Maybe that will help the healing process.
Even Calens was invited too.
Yvens is having a reflecting moment.
Manu is always first to want to go to a party. He loves to socialize!
Here are some of the guys posing with their glasses with their cool dude pose :)
The lady in the purple dress is Ysmaille's fiancee. Notice in the background there is a refuge camp. This is where Ysmaille runs a program for the youth every Saturday morning.
John even had the opportunity to sing a solo!
Oma is sitting beside John helping him balance the drum. You can sure tell by John's face that he loves music time :)
The children were given different types of noise makers to accompany the music. We spoke with a few of the teachers in the program. There are around 60 students registered and each has a special lesson plan for each student. There have been some amazing breakthroughs with these children especially those with autism. Some of the autistic students have actually opened up and became more outgoing.
It was a fun visit with John. Pray for all the teachers over at Clarke Road Secondary School who are involved in the Special Education Program. It is amazing what they do.
Since November is close to Christmas we had a family Christmas just before I headed back to Haiti on November 27th. These are 2 of my nephews, Michael and Matthew.
Phil is posing with a neighbor of Yonel's. The young girl who liked to pose for pictures is the daughter of this woman. I think her mother enjoys getting her picture taken as much as her daughter!
We headed back up the street and out to the truck. Pray for all the people living in this broken neighborhood. They are trying to carry on with their lives amidst all the brokenness.
Manu enjoys playing with "Doggy". Here he is cradling Doggy while he sleeps :)
On Christmas Eve and New Years Eve it is a tradition to let off fireworks. We got some for the children to let off.
They enjoyed lighting them but sometimes had trouble controlling the trajectory. Marie came up to me once and told me to tell them to not fire them so close to her door. I don't think she likes fireworks :)
It is so nice to see green vegetation and growth. If the whole country could only be like that.
We passed this modern structure built after the earthquake. An elderly woman is walking balancing a small load on her head.
Another feature of green growth is this roadside tropical nursery. We didn't have time to stop and look at all the different tropical plants
Near the temporary homes/banana patch is a series of toilets.
These temporary homes are newly built and the landscaping/finishing touches haven't been done yet. There is hope for Haiti and some rebuilding is happening. Not in comparison to all those living in the camps but it shows a country recovering little by little and hopefully recover in a better way. Pray for the Haitian government and their huge task of leading the rebuilding effort and pray also for cooperation amongst all the many organizations who are working to rebuild Haiti better.
We passed a well designed camp. The houses have a veranda where people can sit and chat with their neighbours as well as a cement drainage channel for rain water.
Some people had small gardens growing and laundry was hung up to dry.
Much cleaner living than in the tent/tarp camps!
These are photos taken the first day of classes early in the morning. These are some of the students from the kindergarten/handicapped class.
The boy in the front row on the right has sort of an "oh boy this is going to be a long year" look on his face!
We are trying to fast-track some of the students. Some of the children are 16 years old and are years behind their peers. You can see an example of this situation in this photo. The older boys pictured here don't mind. They are working towards a better future. Our goal is to also offer the oldest students vocational training partnering with other institutions in the neighborhood.
It is great to see the yard full of students who want to learn. The difficult part is explaining to parents who come to our gate seeking help for their children that we don't have any more space. Pray that President Martelly will achieve his goal of putting all Haitian children into the school system. We are proud to be one of the schools helping with this goal. None of the parents have to pay tuition and we supply the students with the textbooks that they need.
In our yard the children have fun playing in the rain storms but it is misery for those children living in the camps. Pray that better accommodations can be built/found for those in the camps and continue to pray too that tropical storms/hurricanes keep their distance from Haiti this rainy season.
When we were going to the clinics at Terminal Varreux we were close to Cite Soleil. Here are some of the homes in the distance.
A surprise though is this little "nature park". When we would go to the clinic early in the morning there were a lot of birds feeding in the swamp/pond/cesspool. The water wasn't too clean but there must have been some things that the birds ate.
It was fun watching them stick their heads into the water searching for food.
They look to be some sort of "sand-piper" type species.
A close-up of the banner on the pedestrian walkway reads "Reconstruct and Develop Our Haiti"
I took this shot of the pedestrian walkway while filling up at a gas station.
Here is a stairway leading up to the walkway. There is a steady flow of people who use this new walkway to avoid the hastle of crossing busy traffic.
Another sign on Airport Rd. President Martelly is encouraging investment. That is where true development will occur. With jobs and investment the country will be lifted up and may one day not be considered as a "third-world" country.
The Red Cross has its own FM radio program every Wednesday at 3:00pm. These programs advertise programs being offered, education broadcasts on topics such as cholera, and storm warnings.
These 2 young boys are students here at Coram Deo. Calens on the left now lives here after his mother died during childbirth a month ago. Dieubon who's name translated into english is "God is Good" spends his days here and goes home in the evenings. He enjoys playing in the yard and is our youngest school member!
While I was in Canada for a week Kimosabee got some work done to him. The day I left for Canada the mechanic came by and removed all the seats and took them to be reupholstered. The drivers seat was the worst. The material was ripped and the foam was starting to break off. Pretty soon I would have had to improvise and use a plastic chair or something as a seat. Getting it reuphostered was the best option!
The upholsterers worked hard and did all the seats and the seats were reinstalled the evening before I got back to Haiti. Whoever did the reupholstering did a great job. Now I can ride in Kimosabee in comfort!
Driving near Gerard Bataille on Delmas 33 the other day we were driving behind an interesting truck. On the back, translated it reads. The President of Haiti's Mobile Kitchen. I had never heard of a mobile kitchen program in Haiti. According to the writing on the truck it is sponsored by the Dominican Republic.
A mobile kitchen is a good idea. I haven't seen it in action and this is the only truck I have seen. Maybe it is something new. There are a lot of hungry children in Haiti. Hopefully there will be many mobile trucks helping to provide children with a plate of food.