The Harvest of Haiti

On our last mission trip, Andrew met with the leadership of Mission of Hope. The purpose of this meeting was to arrange a place to stay for several members of his church who will be attending a Pastor conference later this year. During our 2 hour tour of the complex we learned that Mission of Hope is committed to empower the Haitians to survive on there own. They provide the tools to the the people and the education to make the process work. The whole idea is this, They had out nothing to anyone but rather provide the tools and insite so they become independent, not having to rely on someone to eat, drink and pay rent. This gave me an Idea. There a such places where an idea like this would never work. But many where it would. We are 100% committed to providing a source for safe water to as many as possible. That being said we would like to start providing 50 gal. plastic drums with 4 filters attached and allow the keeper of the filters to charge a small amount for 5 gallons of water. At the flow rate of 4 filters attached to this size drum it could produce as much as 1000 gallons a day. There are several locations where this would work. There is nothing more important to a Haitian Man than having a job. This could spin off to create smaller jobs such as children ages 10 and up delivering water to people who cant get to the source, enable the people to purchase small items such as canned goods, chips, candy, batteries and flashlights and sell them in front of there home. I can only see good coming from this idea. Starting out slow and keeping track will be up to us and our close Haitian Friends. Haiti can’t continue to be a welfare state where the poor rely on missionaries for food, water, medical care and clothing. Giving one family a chance to become independent is a great thing and it should spread like wildfire. Keeping all that in mind we will not let anyone who can;t afford clean water pay for it.

Everyone has returned from the Feb./March 2012 Mission Trip. Many Great things occured on this trip. 35 water filters were deployed. Each filter can deliver 5 gallons of top notch water every 35 minutes. In all we wrer able to treat around 120 people in the medical clinics, some were people who came to Barbs village looking for help. A baby girl was born on the first Friday we were their. She and her Mom are very well despite the problems which occured during her birth. Andrew guilt shelves for the Bath area in some of Bards things for new buildings. All sorts of chores were done at the Village. Nancy and Jon Fox from International Aid and Adoption did some wounderfull things for Barb. She provided Barb a months worth of food and other items for the children and the nanny’s.Our orphanage was supplied with 6 months worth of food,Nancy also meet with the U.S. Embassy regarding the adoption process in Haiti. I can’t thank those who donated money and the pillow case dresses enough. With out you help none of this would have been possibel. Haiti is slowly recovering from the Earthquake. In spite of that untold numbers of people continue to suffer. With your help we were able to provide the basics,food, water and medical care to the best of our ability. Andrew, Joel and Jobie were amazing. It is great to be part of a team who really cares about the people of Haiti setting their personal life aside, making that long trip to serve the poor. We will be going back this coming July to continue our programs. Thank-you for all the donations, you made everything possibel.

Pat

Good day today. 5 filters deployed and 16 more ready. Some of these filters will go to Mission of hope for deployment. Some of the day was spent handing out food to mothers of Adopted Kids at Ruuska Village. Nancy and John Fox spent the day investagating adoptions with the Country of Canada. Sat. we will shop for baby food and other items that barb needs. We will also visit an orphanage and supply clean water and have a medical clinic. Thank-you to all who donate that makes a life better and sometimes even saves one. The water program is so big, it ensures that the people will not get sick from the bad water. That equals lives saved. They are so greatfull for the filters. More updates as the internet allows. Pat

At about 9:40 a 4.6 earthquake centered in Port Au Prince shook us pretty good. Barb went sliding across the floor on her office chair. News is slow to get here but at this point no reports of anyone killed or major damage. So we will go about doing what we do today. We had felt small after shocks after the big quake in 2010 but this one really shook things pretty good. Pat

Picked up Jon and Nancy Fox today. Super couple who care about children and feed our kids in Anse Rouge. 2 Water filters placed today. Mission of Hope is going to help us place 15 more this week and into the weekend. We will visit 5 orphanages this week and provide basic medical care to those in need. We will also make sure they have safe water to drink. Until tomorrow, Good Nite

Internet Back on Line. Nancy and Jon Fox fly in today to meet with Bard. Both just Super people who care about kids and feed our orphanage in Anse Rouge all year. 2 water filters placed today in Bon Rapos. Thursday Mission of Hope is going to help me place 15 more. We will visit 5 more orphanages in the next 4 days for medical care and making sure they have clean water to drink. It is very hot down here but this has been a very productive trip so far. If the Internet is working I can blog again on Thursday.
Pat

Let us begin by apologizing for the missing blog updates so far on this trip. Pat arrived last Tuesday, February 28th, and Andrew arrived with his team the next day. Unfortunately, the electrical power has been very sketchy during this trip, and we’ve had problems with the internet. Tonight is actually the first time that we’ve had the chance to blog, so here is the quick update on an extremely successful trip so far. Thursday – we conducted a medical clinic north of Cabaret. We treated more than 60 patients, with about 25 of them being babies or small children. On the way back to Bon Repos, we stopped at small village that was using the same irrigation ditch for bathing, washing clothes, washing dishes, feeding their livestock, and… drinking water!! We set up a water purifier for the village and trained one of the young men there to maintain it going forward. Friday, we spent most of the day at another orphanage (one that we’ve been visiting since discovering it shortly after the earthquake) with 47 children. We brought food, clothes and medicine, and were able to treat a few of the kids who had minor medical needs. We spent a good chunk of the day playing games with the older kids and rocking some of the babies. Friday afternoon, we built a shelving unit for Barbara’s orphanage and organized the medical clinic. Friday night, one of the nannies went into labor, and we had an excited time racing her to the mid-wife’s home for the delivery. Later, due to excessive bleeding, we rushed her to the hospital (getting a flat tire on the way, nothing is ever simple in Haiti). Saturday, we spent the morning getting Barbara’s tire fixed, and the afternoon was spent in downtown Port-au-Prince. This morning, Andrew and Jamaal (the photographer/videographer traveling with Andrew on this trip) traveled to Bishop Capri’s church in Petion-ville. Pat went to the hospital and picked up the nanny and her new baby and brought her back to the orphanage. This afternoon, Pat drove some of the nannies to the market to run errands for the orphanage, while Andrew build some additional shelves for Barbara. Tomorrow we will be heading up to Te-tian to meet with Samaritan’s Purse and Mission of Hope. Two great organizations. Andrew is working out some additional details for a future mission trip for his church, and we’ll be working to connect Bishop Capri with either or both of the organizations for future food and supplies. We also hope to partner with them to distribute additional water purification systems to the areas in greatest need over the next few weeks. Thanks again to all who make these trips possible. It truly is making a difference, and we couldn’t do it without the support of so many. More to come… Hopefully tomorrow…

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!