Friday, July 25, 2014

What an amazing trip.

Hi friends!

We want to thank each and every one of you for reading this blog. So much happened that could never be put in words but we enjoyed writing on here. We hope that you felt like you were with us through these posts. 

The Village of Hope school is extremely important to us. Teaching our skills to the kids was incredible. We would love to see our students "pay it forward" and teach our craft to their families and friends. Who knows...maybe friends and neighbors will be playing Alex and Kelly's team building games or knitting because of Anne. It would be a true blessing to hear stories from our kiddos next summer about how their time with us impacted them. Each one of us gained lessons in teaching, friendship, faith, and importantly love. 

Many of you supported us through prayers, donations, and well wishes. Thank you for the love. We cannot wait to see you and share our stories and photos. 

Please visit  http://villageofhopehaiti.org to discover how you can be involved. Everyone can help in the ministry so please check it out. 

Leave us a comment below so we can personally say hi!

Yours from Haiti,
Enrichment Team

Departure Eve.

Our last "school day" was highlighted by the team and interpreters bogeying for the entire schools entertainment-what a hoot!! None of us should leave our day jobs! This was followed by a school show-and-tell with the kids. They proudly displayed their work for each other. The talent of the teachers was readily evident as was the learning abilities of the many students. All were justifiably proud. A sad farewell followed by students and interpreters as we had our last ride back to the Hope House from the school. Packing/clean-up night has been accompanied by thunder and some rain--a welcome event as there has been little recent rain. Tomorrow will come too soon with more sad faces at the Hope House. 

Yours in Christ,
Tom   

Thursday, July 24, 2014

"Paper Mâché broke my back.."

My class is something else, that being one of the more memorable quotes that they managed to say in English from the two weeks.

Hi everybody,

I'm really glad to be the writer for today, day 12. This week has flown by and it has been a great time. Today was full of excitement as the teacher/translator soccer tournament took place today. You could feel the excitement in the air as we neared 1 o'clock. The tournament ended in upset as Tom, Patrice, Chery, Coma, Willams and Benson won the whole thing leaving Alex and Marshall in the dust (pun intended). Unfortunately, Team 1, clearly the better team, consisting of myself, Michelle, Ronaldo, Wesly and Jean also fell short and came in second.

I really can't put into words how awesome it was to play on the small basketball court in the back of the Village of Hope surrounded by 75-100 students who were going nuts watching their teachers playing their favorite game so I won't. Just know that it was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had.

These two weeks are some of the most memorable of my life and I'm so glad I got to spend them with these wonderful people. My paper mâché class could not have gone better and the kids have been wonderful. Haiti has made me special and I am glad I get to experience this beautiful and amazing place.

Thanks for reading,
Elizabeth

Wednesday was great. (-:

Hi all!

We are about to start another amazing day. There will be a teacher/translator soccer tournament after school. Check back for the post later!!

We had a great day at Village of Hope yesterday. Everyone is progressing really well. Many students are finishing their projects (sewing class is finishing their bags!).  A few classes  worked on an activity for Friday's talent show.  We made another visit with our Little Children of  Jesus friends right after school. They were so happy to see us! We'll post photos of our time there once we get back home. Hayley finished our night with an amazing devotion-positive thinking. What a great day....I could probably say that about every day here.

Love,
Meryl

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Dust is in the Air and our noses, hair, ears, eyes.....

Dust is in the air, and ears , and eyes, and hair, and nose.......

First day of the second week! All the kids came back so that's a good sign. Ha! Students are learning so much. Jewelry is being made, knots are being tied into beautiful things, inspirational music is being learned, paper is being rolled into beads, t-shirts are being repurposed, bags are being sewed, paper is being mached, a mural has been painted, electronics are electrifying minds, stitches are being crossed, games are being played, yarn has been knitted by the mile, banana bark is becoming beautiful, and tin artists are tapping away. We couldn't do any of this without our wonderful translators! Shout out to them! We get a variety of lunches every day at the school. Some days it's rice and beans and other days it's beans and rice. But always in abundance and delicious.

After school we got a tour of the impressive health center and hiked up to the water tower to see a beautiful view of Ganthier. This is where the students and patients live. The ride back to Hope House was a dusty one! We are extremely thankful for the van that shields us from it and keeps us cool. For everyone else in the truck they use a bandana or clean off later.

Back at Hope house there are chores that need to be done. Tuesday we all came together for various jobs. Some power washed an oven, others repaired screens on the porch or installed two ceiling fans in the kitchen and cleaned up and organized the work shed area by moving wood and metal pieces.

After the productive days we still have energy to learn each others crafts. We are then able to sit back and relax while we work on them waiting for the delicious meals prepared for dinner.

Tonight we were lucky enough to hear the sweet sounds of the Dixon girls singing as part of our devotions. We are so thankful to have such an amazing family at the Village of Hope.

Patrice and Marni

The weekend!

Hi friends! Quick post about Saturday and Sunday.

We traveled two hours to Haiti's NW coast to the beach. The team and the staff enjoyed the Carribean ocean from a private beach. Most of our day was spend floating in the water but there was a serious beach volleyball game. (-: Congrats to team Marshall for the win! A few of us enjoyed talking with other beach goers- a lot of friendly folks. It was a beautiful day and we are thankful for the opportunity to have gone.

Sunday included another church service with Pastor Raymond. We were given the most welcoming welcome, very touching. Pastor Raymond's friend preached the sermon which was a treat. After church we had lunch at the Obervertory. The location overlooked Port-au-Primce and was in Pationville. On the way back to our starting point, we drive past the US Embassay and stopped at a grocery store. 

Everything we did over the weekend was great. We are SO thankful for the trips.

Best,
Meryl (:

Saturday, July 19, 2014

A circuit of giving

What an amazing week it has been here in Haiti. So many experiences packed into what feels like such a short time.

Bryce, my 15 year old high schooler, and I are teaching basic electronics to about 18 kids. Our translator is also named Brice. It has been a bit confusing. The kids have picked up on the fun and now say the name Bryce just to see what happens.

I tend to call this kind of volunteering a big of sacred selfishness. Helping others in an area where one us passionate. There is a feedback loop where you are trying to give more than you receive back, but there is so much joy in sharing something one is so passionate about. Hmm. A giving circuit? One too   Many electronics puns for today?

Blessings, from Haiti..
Jennifer

Friday, July 18, 2014

"Clink, clink, clink!"

That's the sound of artistic Haitians hard at work. After a very hot day teaching classes at the Village of Hope school, we excitedly traveled down the dusty road to the metal workers' artisian center in Criox de Bouquet. There we witnessed talented Haitians busily crafting works of art from old oil drums and walked through their shops purchasing new treasures to take home. Their works of art and the process to create them is amazing! Just wait till you see them.

At school today, we continued to work on our projects with our students who are creating their own works of art and honing their new skills. We're excited to see the final projects next week!

Tomorrow is a day of rest ... we're going to the beach.

Blessings from Haiti,
Kelly and Cynde

Thursday, July 17, 2014


Wednesday, July 16th

Magical day at The Little Children of Jesus 

Yesterday, we spent a few hours with the children at the Little Children of Jesus.  It was very emotional for many of us, as these children are challenged in many ways. I was particularly touched by Darlene, who cannot speak and yet did a great job of communicating.  She works so hard to take care of the others around her, such as the boy who couldn't use his hands to eat.  Darlene 
broke off pieces of Twizzler and fed him every bite. And her smile - it was amazing!  

Many of the children wanted to have their nails painted, and we were happy to help! the most popular colors were the bright neon ones, and Darlene chose red for many that couldn't speak. 

David is another special friend to many on the team.  David cannot speak either, but remembers his friends and gets SO excited when he gets visitors.  He was given a device that will play the Bible in Creole for him, and he was very excited.  

We had a lively game of soccer with several of the children, and everyone loved it.  

I was so touched by how they wanted to hold our hands, sit very close, and pull us around with them. They just want to be loved, and we were happy to oblige.

We look forward to visiting our new friends again next Wednesday!

Anne and Jenny

The Haitian Marching Band.

Hi friends!!

We have a lot to share so thanks for reading. I want to just give a quick recap from today. Our schoolday was great. I want to share some teaching collaboration- Brena and Hayley's music class. They combined their classes and came around to sing, dance, and beat their drumbs. For me, that was the highlight of my schoolday. It was such an experience having beautiful live music and having a class of dancing students. Everyone works together here. We sing together. We encourage everyone to be bold. We all love our classes.

Tonight we finished organizing and sprucing up the Hope House. It's an awesome accomplishment to clean up our space and see a difference. I am looking forward to Alex's devotion tonight!  (-:

With love,
Meryl

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Views of a 1st Timer in Haiti, Tuesday

Wow, what another great, amazing, and interesting day we had today. We had two great teaching sessions with all the children at Village of Hope. For Kelly's and my sessions today we had 8 kids in the 1st session and 4 in our 2nd session. We taught the children many entertaining games today, including ultimate frisbee, tennis ball toss, spoons, and jenga (the kids absolutely loved these two games). The younger kids in the morning session also made many symbols, including team crests, crosses, and other religious icons. Every child was so eager to learn all of the games, it just made teaching so much more exciting.

I would just like to thank Kelly, my partner teacher, and our translator Wordson, without them teaching just wouldn't be as fun or at all possible. Kelly and I just seem to mesh perfectly, and Wordson understands everything so easily, and he is so excited and eager to learn the games as much as the students, making teaching just so much more enjoyable. I hope that the children continue to enjoy our class, and that they will continue to learn more games.

After the sessions and when we returned to to the Hope House, we did yard work that was very tiring, but very helpful to the Dixon's , who have been so welcoming to us, we are all so grateful for their hospitality. We also experienced a terrific devotion led by Marni, so many people opened up, and shared their thoughts and experiences. Haiti is an amazing place, and I'm so glad I'm able to experience it with all these amazing people

Enjoying everything,
Alex Hughes

Monday, July 14, 2014

Marshall.

This post will be updated daily...all about Marshall. Marshall is the Director and operates the Hope House/Village of Hope and the project down here. His family (wife and three wonderful children) live here. We want to recognize and thank them for everything. Such a hospitable  group!

1- He is awesome.
2- He drivers just as well as the Haitian drivers....which is intense.
3-He turns the generator on.
4-He plays a mean game of  beach volleyball and soccer.
5-He has a huge heart.







More awesome facts about Marshall to come!!!

Marshall is awesome.

Monday-- Today went better than I expected. Waking up early was difficult but the excitement got me moving
. You could feel the excitement at the breakfast table and around the compound. After leaving 15 minutes behind schedule, we still managed to get to the school in time to set up our classrooms. I was very lucky with my classroom, since it's the chapel, there's an open breeze and much cooler than the other rooms. The kids filed into the chapel and welcomed us with prayer and a song. My first class only had 3 kids, but my second class had 15 and they were all boys. Two kids that I had from last year showed up and immediately started playing the cup song for me, which I taught them last year. To say I am happy is an understatement. They even sang songs for me. My class received tambourines and maracas, and decorated their own bags. It couldn't have gone better. My translator Rodolph is a musician as well and bounced ideas off of me, making us a great team. After classes we either go out in the towns (such as the iron shops), or we hang out at the compound. Today we went to an overlook at Goat Mountain. We drove all the way to the top and looked down on Haiti. It was breathtaking. We took so many pictures (and selfies) and was the cherry on top to the first day. If this is any indication to how the rest of our time is going to go, then we are in for something amazing.

Also, Marshall is awesome and is a great director/driver.

Hayley

PS-visit Brena (team members) blog... Goinggoldinhaiti.blogspot.com
PSS- leave a comment so we can say hi!

The Red Light is On.

Sunday: everyone slept well Saturday night and woke up ready for church. We went to a small church and it was ran by the French/English teacher at the school. They are building a church and it is important to note how welcomed we were. Each member of our team wore a flower, gift from the church. We sang, prayed, and received an awesome introduction. The Pastor introduced the members of the church and his family (sweet little baby :). Our afternoon included lunch at the Hope House and meeting our translators. 13 translators came and shared who they are and met us. We were paired with a Haitian and immediately bonded over our Enrichement program. The translators come from different academic backgrounds (law, communicaton, and business). The main part of our conversations were simply explaining what our classes were about and how we would take on the two weeks. Once they left we headed to the school for a walk through. We picked out of classrooms and stayed for a bit. Our evening ended with a devotion, lead by Tom.  Awesome way to spend a Sunday!!

Love,
Meryl




Sunday, July 13, 2014

Is that a rooster? Yes. It is.

Hi friends!!

We are in Haiti and HAPPY.  Traveling to Haiti yesterday was pleasant and on time! The airport is beautiful. In past trips, the airport was crowded, dirty, and the bags were tossed out on the floor. Now, the airport staff  greeted us right off the plane with music and pushed us right to immigration. The airport had duty free stores (wow!), and a conveyer built for luggage. If you have never been to Haiti, you should know this the awesome is now awesome. (-:  We were greeted by our Village of Hope friends, many of us  were extremely happy to see our friends.  After loading 24(!) suitcases  into a pickup truck, the team hopped in the new van. The van was donated by Virginia supporters. So, off to the Hope House we went. We have five new team members who have never been in Haiti. The twenty minute ride included seeing the street vendors, police station, fresh fruit  sellers, dried up river with piggies, and many curious Haitians. 

Our evening at the Hope House included sorting through our teaching supplies, setting up camp in our rooms, meeting the Dixons, running through the "house rules", and our schedule for the week. We ate a Haitian soup (similar to our beef stew) and finished the night with a devotion. Thanks Kelly!

It's Sunday morning and we are eating cereal and sipping coffee. Church starts at 8:30 and it will be in French and English. We will meet our translators and drive out to the school this afternoon. Lots to do!!

Like I said, the entire team is settled and doing well. Thank you for caring about us and praying.

With love,
Meryl

Friday, July 11, 2014

19 bags and counting.

Hi friends!
Our team met last night to pack our teaching supplies. As previously stated, our teachers will teach hands on lessons ranging from paper beads, electronics, and music. Everything that was donated by our friends and supporters had to be packed in donated suitcases. Each suitcase has to weigh exactly 50 pounds so we stuffed each bag with each other's supplies and practically anything to make it's weight limit. Some bags have everything from cans of Pringles, recorders (music), and tee-shirts. Besides bringing our teaching supplies, we have items that will be used by the team and donated items for the organization. After packing, we went over last minute details about our trip. The huge suitcases were loaded into cars and we said our goodbyes. The next time we'll see each other will be in the airport as we head to Port-au-Prince.

Blessings,
Enrichment Team

Yup......heavy, huge and ready for Village of Hope.


Packing night 2014 :)

PS- The next time the blog will be updated will be from Haiti. Isn't that amazing? Thanks for supporting us and checking in. We LOVE our readers. The blog will be updated daily, depending on the WiFi strenght but don't foget to check in!

Thanks to everyone who donated suitcases!!

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

You do it for me.

Matthew 25:35-40New International Version (NIV)



35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’



We leave for Port-au-Prince in a few short days and the anticipation is rising. Thank you for supporting us and continue to pray as we lesson plan, pack our teaching supplies, and prepare for our trip.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Welcome!

Hi all!
We want to welcome you to our Summer Enrichment Program blog! The purpose of this blog is to keep you informed on our trip. Members of the team will write and fill you in on our day. Please check in frequently as you may find a new post, pictures, and other enticing things. For now, please visit http://villageofhopehaiti.org to get to know our organization. We are proud to serve this summer and hope you enjoy following our journey.

Best,
Meryl