August Trip Update
Nelson is Back From Haiti
On September first Nelson came back from Haiti. We have some updates for you. He was able to get some of what we had planned for the trip done but faced a lot of setbacks preventing the whole itinerary from playing out.
To name a few of the many obstacles he faced; both vehicles that we had planned for him to borrow to visit all of our sponsor families ended up having major mechanical issues and costing us several hundred dollars in repairs! Outrageous fuel prices caused him to be unable to make it to the village where 10 of our sponsor children are from, it is a three hour trip one way. Because the capital has so much unrest Nelson had to fly into the Northern airport and this delayed him two days getting to our village.
On a personal note the cost to legalize land purchases has gone up so much, most of our money we had saved to work on our wall had to be put into finalizing the land deeds for our two new pieces of property instead. In addition We had planned to partner with a local artist to have several pieces designed and brought back to the US to create a merchandise shop on our website. However, again, because of gang activity in the capital, the artist was unable to deliver the products to our village.
Sometimes working in Haiti can be so discouraging!
New School Year 2024-2025
All of our local students first installments of school tuitions have been paid. This takes care of 22 of our 32 students. We will be sending a volunteer out to the further away village before school starts to meet with those families and pay tuitions. Almost all of our students have passed the end of year exams and are moving on to the next grade. This is a huge praise!
Many of our sponsor families are struggling more this year than the past years. Because of this we decided to completely cover the cost of the kids uniforms, books, school shoes, and whatever else they needed to be ready for the year (typically we cover part of these expenses and the parents chip in for what is left). We still need many sponsors.
Church Build Across the Artibonite River
The church build is going along slowly with some progress. We donated $200 for the continued purchasing of materials. Because of our recent purchase of a drone we were able to get an arial view of the building going up, as well as the surrounding village.
The recent tropical rains made quite a mess of the unpaved trails and river crossings leading out there, but the guys were able to make it by motorcycle. This update was brought to you with much difficulty! We are so glad to continue to support this congregation one small donation at a time!
Published My First Book!
The end of August I accomplished something I have always wanted to do. I wrote, illustrated, and published my first book! While it is only a small children’s book, I am excited to begin my author journey and hopefully one day write something great!
The book is titled “Where is Home?” It is a colorfully hand-illustrated story of one girl's quest to understand her place in the world living between two countries as a third-culture-kid.
Through a trip to visit her extended family in Haiti, Wendy discovers that growing up between cultures is a gift. This story is written for missionary kids, third-culture-kids, and biracial kids alike! As parents, it's our responsibility to help our children navigate the many unique identity questions that they will wrestle with in life. Let us show them that being different is not negative, rather, they are unique gift to the world!
You can pick my book up on Amazon!
We Started Selling Coffee!
Check out our promo video for Haitian coffee below. You can also find us on Etsy. Espwa Demen has started up a shop selling Haitian coffee, Haitian Creole learning materials, and there is more to come!
Check out our shop.
Thanks for your prayers and support and for following along with all of our updates.
Blessings, Rachel