“Human history becomes more and more a race between education
and catastrophe.” ~ H.G. Wells
IMPORTANT NOTE:
We have a new mailing address. It is:
235 East, 5600 South
Ogden, UT 84405
Dear Supporters and Friends of Haitian Roots,
It is the beginning of September. Most of you have probably sent your children back to school, have started back to school yourself, or have noticed that your neighborhoods are much more quiet during the daytime hours. We hope that you have all had a good “back to school” season.
As a mother, I talk to my friends about our feelings about our kids returning to school—Will their teachers be good? When is back-to-school night? Did you hear about that sale on notebooks? Is your son on the bus route? How will my daughter do going to school all-day? These are the questions that we discuss. One question that we never ask is, “Will my child be able to go to school this year?” Regrettably in Haiti, this is the question at the forefront of many, many parents minds right now. We want to THANK YOU for helping the children of Haitian Roots to be able to receive an education and answering the prayers of their parents!
Thank you especially to those who have already re-sponsored your chosen children for this beginning school year. If you have forgotten in the hustle and bustle that is always August, we would like this to be a gentle reminder. J You can re-sponsor your children on our website through Paypal, mail us a check, or, if you are in the Ogden area, we’ll be happy to even come personally pick up your check from you. We’d like to also remind you that we do have an auto-withdraw program. We can send you a simple form and have a small amount ($22 for one child) withdrawn from your bank account each month rather than having to come up with a lump sum each year. We also recognize that many of you sponsor your children at a certain time each year, for example at Christmas. That is just fine. We thank you for anything that you are able to do!
What Is New?
We have blogged on our website somewhat about our trip in June. We have just added many new photos from the parties so that you can see the children. It was wondeful to see the kids just so happy to play and be able to escape the difficulty and nightmares that many of them have suffered since the earthquake. It was so heartwarming to see them writing letters to or drawing pictures for their sponsors.
Chareyl Moyes said, “I LOVE the photo you took of me and Sarika, when I look at it, besides bringing tears to my eyes and thinking about that little girl that I love so much, I am reminded of why I am doing this, why I love Haiti and why I feel driven to continue to support Haiti and its beautiful children. I hope the families will look at the photos of the children they sponsor and remember too! Remember that these children are depending on them and love them for their generosity and kindness, I felt that so strongly as I sat with Marjorie and Gaelle translating the letters and looking at the adorable photos the children had drawn for their sponsors. Letter after letter “thank you, I love you, God bless you” were their words. I watched the children writing these letters with little or no encouragement from others, just straight from the heart and how beautifully put; “thank you, I love you, God bless you!”
UPDATE on Children’s Village Project
The cleaning of the land is nearly complete and excavation will soon begin, pending final funding for this portion of the project. We are about $6,000 short of the $28,000 that Haitian Roots is responsible for. Thank you all so much for what you have helped us to do so far.
We really enjoyed receiving small anecdotes about the work from Isson while he was in Haiti. One night her wrote:
“I am pleased with the cleaning process, the workers are working very hard. They seem to be very motivated in getting it done so then we can move to the second stage or phase of the project. Every day we have about 30 people who will come and stand at a distance with the hope that someone would not make it to work that day and that they might be able to replace them. It has happened twice now where Figaro, Francesca’s dad, could not make it and we had to replace him for that day. One guy offered to work one week for free under condition we will hire the following week. Another smart guy offers to help the women to bring water to the field using his bike. I think that was very smart and since then we have used him from time to time. He is so fast with his bike, he would fill up a big water container in a lapse time. Now the women don’t have to run 2-3 miles to get water, he saves them time to cook and clean up. I share these stories with you because I think it is so cool. I failed to mention that Rochenelle (who was injured the first day of the project when he accidentally cut himself) was back to work on Monday, he is doing fine. We haven’t had any major incident since then. It is impossible to not have minor incidents, good thing we have a nurse in Yves Carm’s team who helps us out every day.”
Below is a photo of the land which came to us entitled “Almost Ready” for excavation. We are all very excited and are so grateful for your support!
You Are Appreciated
We have shared this quote before, but would like to do so again. H.G. Wells said, “Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.” It often feels that we truly are in a race. When we feel discouraged, we like to remember these words of Abraham Lincoln: “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”
We may not save every child in Haiti, but with the light that we have, which shines brighter and brighter with each one of you, we can make a difference. We ARE making a difference. Thank you!
Sincerely,
The Haitian Roots Team