Monday, June 2, 2014

St. Marc's School Garden

From Marcia:
I asked Salien to send some photos of the vegetable gardens and he immediately complied. It's so very exciting to see him take initiative in this project; and notice some competitive spirit (Aamerican?) where he's proud of their gardens compared to the ones he had seen in LaGonave. Love it!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Annual Haitian Hope Golf Tournament 2014


The annual HH Golf Tournament was held Tuesday, May 6, 2014 beginning with a buffet deli lunch at 12 noon at the Healy Point Country Club in Macon.  The proceeds from the tournament will be used to provide students' lunches, pay teachers' salaries, purchase required uniforms, and provide classroom supplies.  The tournament was a great success, raising over $11,000.  Thank you to the golfers and the many volunteers!
 
Myrl, Derek and Sandy registering golfers!

Tammy talks with one of our great friends, Paston Rand.

Charlie escorts one of our two women golfers.

Father Ben blessing the golfers in his customarily spiritual way.

Some uninvited, but welcome, visitors.

Derek and Tammy following the golfers to take that perfect shot!

Don Thompson vigilantly checking for that hole-in-one.

Uninvited, but always welcome, guests!

Golfer extraordianire Don Olsen!

THE WINNERS for 2014:
Sam Macfie, Karim Mahamoud, and Walter Williams

 
 

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

St. Marc Kindergarten celebrating Carnaval


  Check out this photo! What an absolute delight to learn our friends have actually used some of the ideas demonstrated at Matenwa, La Gonave. They're already involved in developing a garden to grow vegetables; now their little ones are learning through real life experiences--Carnaval (Mardi Gras). 

  Thanks to Gail and Caroline for leading the way to new and better education (and life) in Trouin. Without them and without your efforts to raise money, none of this would have happened.
  Photo by Gery Dutervil, Region 13, Virginia.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Using their newly acquired knowledge!

OK! The greatest news we can receive when providing people with training and learning experiences is for them to announce they are going to use their newly acquired knowledge in a practical way on the home turf!

The message below from Salien announces: "after several meetings with other members of the administration, staff and students, we are convinced to begin the garden at school next week. We are going to prepare the space with three teachers and several students. I will send some photos, without a doubt!" WOW! I'm so very excited and grateful to Caroline and Gail for going to the expense and taking the time to participate in this long sought goal: growing food for the benefit of the school community. WOW! I'm just overwhelmed.

Salien goes on to say that Gail had asked him several questions (Imagine that!) and he can no longer find the list. Would Gail please send him the questions again. 

Peace everyone. And thanks for agreeing to find the additional funds to send Caroline and Gail to La Gonave.

Marcia
 
Chère Marcia
J’espère vous allez bien avec la tempête de neige.
Après bonne semaine d'apprentissage à Lagonave,je me fais le plaisir de vous remercier pour votre collaboration ainsi que " Haitian hope" pour votre collaboration d'un grand projet à l’école St Marc Trouin.
Après plusieurs réunion avec les autres membres de la direction ,les professeurs et élèves,nous nous sommes convaincus à commencer avec le jardin de l’école la semaine prochaine,on va préparer l'espace avec trois professeurs et plusieurs élèves.je vous envoie des photos sans doute.
 
Gail me posait quelques questions dont vous avez besoin les réponses sans doute et maintenant ça m’échappe,
pouvez vous me les reposer?
et maintenant vous allez me traduire en anglais pour les autres.
 
Que Dieu vous bénisse
Salien

Final report from Caroline and Gail - last 2 days

February 7-8, 2014….Last two days of our Haitian trip:

Caroline and I are home and are trying to put together our final thoughts and reflections. We want to thank all of you for the prayers that kept us focused on this mission and its call.

Friday we said our goodbyes to our super Haitian partners who I think took as many notes and pictures as we did. All of us will be putting together reports telling our final thoughts and where/ how we will go from this experience. We hope to have pictures available soon.

Caroline and I bounced down and over the hills from the school in Matenwa to the coast where we were to take the little puddle jumper back to the mainland. Around 12:30, we arrived at the Lagonav “airport” with a 10x10 concrete block “terminal”. We were hoping to see some activity in preparation for our flight, but the only thing we saw were cows heading for the dirt runway. An attendant came from a house across the way, greeted us, put up the Haitian flag and then went back home. A few others arrived looking for passengers. The attendant returned giving us hope that the plane due at 1:30, was in flight. He chatted with everyone around and then returned home. Finally an MAF (Missionary Aviation Flights) employer opened the office door, weighed our things and said it would be soon.....we waited……around 2:00, the attendant came back running as cows wandered onto the runway.....plane in sight and cows on the runway....great!. As the flight did its approach the cows were herded off into the surrounding grasses and it landed safely. We were ready to go. As soon as the arriving passengers exited, we boarded, had prayers and got Caroline suited up…..helmet and head phones...as co-pilot. She looked great, just like a pro.  Twenty minutes later we arrived in Port au Prince but we had to circle another ten minutes waiting for an American Airlines plane to come in and one to go out. It was a great flight after a super week.

My hair was just like wire from all the dust and dirt we encountered and I was just hoping I could soften it in some way at Heartline Guest House where we stayed in Port au Prince so that we could catch our plane the next morning. The Heartline Van picked us up at the airport but had some stops to make so we did not get to the guest house until 5:30 where we were greeted by Pere Goursse. Neither of us had met him so we were glad to have this opportunity and we were able to share thoughts about our experience with him right away.

It was hard for me to eat my delicious dinner of rice, beans and salad (lasagna for the rest) because I had just spent a week with dinners being bread, occasionally peanut butter and ginger tea. The contrast weighed on my heart. We were told that Lagonav was the poorest area in Haiti. With only one real meal midday plus scant extras for breakfast and dinner, I believe it.

Showers at the guest house after dinner were with cold water, but it was our first real bath....yea for REI towel wipes that saved us while we were in Lagonav. We would have extra time on Saturday morning to tackle the hair. We repacked and got organized so we could head to Delta for a direct flight to Atlanta in the afternoon. Our 7:00 p.m. arrival flight touched down early in the new International Terminal in Atlanta, wow! We grabbed a bite and met David Stevens who got us to Macon about 9:00 p.m.

Thanks be to God!

Love,
Gail and Caroline

Friday, February 7, 2014

Caroline's message - written Wednesday

Hello All!

Last night's little get together with the Women's Art Group (formerly, Women of Courage) was delightful. They do so much for battered women and women in crisis as well as many semi-abandoned children. Then they spread their message through plays they put on for free throughout the country. Their batik silk scarves are gorgeous and worth the expensive price but don't expect any in your stockings this Christmas from us! We had everybody over to "our house" last night and it was really fun. Not so much, however, when the lizard got caught INSIDE our mosquito net! We had our hostess in stitches, although we didn't see the humor until later. Gail has purchased several of the "Mother Tongue Project" books that are written by kids from all around Haiti and the States so that our folks can take them back to St. Mak. They are written in Kreyol, English and French. Amazing.


This afternoon we are learning to plant beets and relate it to teaching. Such fun! Tomorrow we leave Mattenwa at 10:30 to head for the flight back to Port au Prince. It has been quite an experience. Can't wait to tell you all about it! (and to shower, wash our hair, and use a flush toilet!!) 
 
Love, Gail and Caroline

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A quick update from Caroline

Hi Guys,

Just a quick update from Mattenwa Community Learning Center. It has taken over an hour to get this connection and who knows when I'll lose it (actually, I think I "lost it" on the 7th reboot!) so I'll type fast.

We've figured out that we can expect a watery juice or possibly Haitian coffee and bread each morning for b'fast, a break in the school day for some pasta or rice and beans or mixed veggies, then delicious ginger-cinnamon tea with bread before we hit the sack between 8 and 8:30. Real night owls around here! School starts at 7:30 since they have to switch groups and teach the secondary kids in the afternoon (new set of teachers). The class schedule is amazingly like we were doing in the states. They have made a lot of their own materials. The kids are very involved and are made to think independently. They have a great music class and are learning to make chairs in "shop" class. We're really pleased that a St. Mak Kindergarten teacher is here since these things should be easy to employ there and she seems really excited about it all.

There is apparently a beautiful waterfall a motorcycle's ride away which Gail will have none of so we haven't seen anything but the immediate area. If you get a clear vantage point you can see the ocean below. Really pretty.

It's really great the way they incorporate so many local issues in their everyday learning even with the pre-school. In age-appropriate language they discuss sexual abuse, illness from unclean conditions, taking care of the earth, using local goods, .... This place is jumping!

Love to all and we'll report when we can,

Gail and Caroline