Good News and Bad News

Hearts of Haiti has lost its funding and our work at the orphanage and school has come to a halt. But there is some good news- another organization called Haiti Sak Plen is going to finish the construction of the remaining buildings to be built at the school in March! They are an outstanding organization, check them out: http://haitisakplen.wordpress.com/

Leveled Land

The land at the orphanage and school has finally been leveled! The Korean UN offered their heavy equipment to help flatten out the trenches formed from farming in years past.

Building #3 progress

Great progress is being made on building #3 under Watson's supervision. They had to take a couple of weeks off with all of the craziness of the elections, but now they have a roof on the third building and will be done plastering it in a couple more days.

Video

Mark Harmsen, who came to visit for a few days back in October, put this video together. Thanks, Mark!

On a side note, things have been a little crazy down in Haiti lately with the elections. Many people are questioning the validity of the results and there has been a lot of rioting. Luckily, the children at the orphanage are out and away from the worst of it, but anyone needing to go through Port au Prince to get to the airport, etc. is affected. O.E.E. is still taking precautions against cholera as it continues to spread.

Cholera

Some people have expressed concern over the cholera outbreak and asked how it is affecting the kids at the orphanage. The staff and children at O.E.E. have been trained on cholera prevention and what to do if symptoms occur. The children are washing their hands with water pumped from the recently repaired well and are only drinking bottled water brought in from a safe source. The cooks are using bleach to wash the fresh fruits and vegetables. The children and staff at O.E.E. are very fortunate to have access to these resources. Since the school (L' Espoir d' Haiti) enrolls children from the surrounding community, cholera could very easily be introduced to the orphanage and the children and staff follow prevention guidelines very strictly. So this Thanksgiving, let's be thankful for clean water!

Still Beautiful

Here are some recent pictures of some of the beautiful kiddos and volunteers at O.E.E.

The children never touch their food until everyone has been served and they've all prayed together.

Greg playing ring around the rosies.

Waiting for their turn at "avion".

The kids call this game "avion", which means "airplane". Two adults swing the kids around as they do a full loop de loop and get that roller coaster feeling in their tummies.
Here are the sleeping quarters for the volunteers that come down. Although it's nothing fancy and there's only orphan food to eat, everyone still seems to fall in love with it here.

Jenga!

These kids will steal your heart in no time.

Griyo (sp?) is a local favorite and consists of fried plantains, fried pork, and a spicy cabbage and carrot salsa.

Daphins is so shy and beautiful.

Breakfast usually consists of spaghetti noodles with a dab of ketchup and mayonnaise and sometimes beets, eggs, or carrots on the side.

Lunch is always a grain, beans, and some meat or veggies.

Rithchey!

Esther

It was a very sad moment when Katie left. The children and staff still ask about her every day and can't wait for her to return in May to kick off the English/computer program with the Sustain Haiti volunteers.

A few lucky kids got to sit in the helicopter when Jeremy came for a visit.

H.E.A.R.T.S. of Haiti: Hands-on Education thru Agriculture, Reconstruction, Technology, and Sustainability

Soccer Field and Composting Toilets

Two big improvements at the L'Espoir de Haiti school can be seen in this photo that Watson sent: The composting toilets are finished, and the soccer field has been leveled out! (in the back and to the right of the toilets.) I'll see if I can get him to send a better picture. The tractor pulled up just as we were leaving to the airport the other day.