Last week we had a lovely group of ladies come from Maryland, Massachusetts, and Michigan. They came to serve at the orphanage, as well as other orphanages in Port au Prince. They led a Vacation Bible School program for the children at Maison for four days. They started with Christmas and ended with Easter. The children loved the things they made during these times so much that there is a huge stack in the office of things the children wanted to keep. The ladies also spent a lot of time sorting and making an inventory of medical supplies we have on hand. This is very helpful for the medical team here this week, and the one coming later in the fall.
We spent time visiting two other locations that we help support. The ladies played games and distributed food, clothing, and other items to these two locations.
It was a very fast week, and we said goodbye to them yesterday after a last round of rocking babies on the porch. We are thankful for the time they spent assisting at the orphanage, and the love they shared with the children here.
In July, the OAK project from Chattanooga, Tennessee:
Provided group trauma counseling for all nannies (all received certificate of completion)
Conducted soap making workshops for over 40 people.Each person received one bar, and the rest will be sold in the US with profits going to those in the workshops
Team assisted in daily tasks to lighten workload of nannies, cooks, and clothes washers
Provided child care for the nannies who were in counseling sessions and soap-making workshops
Created video of photos from the week and presented it to staff and children during a celebration time held for the workers
Provided daily encouragement though cold drinks, little treats, gentle hands and kind words
Photographer and videographer captured sights of Port au Prince, the orphanage, children and staff
Committed to long-term care of staff and workers at orphanage
The week was filled with times of encouragement to the workers. The volunteers from the OAK Project "did life" with these amazing women. We were blessed to have such thoughtful, caring people come and care for the staff. Through providing such wonderful care to these women and men, they are better able to care for the children. The children were part of great play times with the team, as well as the celebration party and video time at the end of the week.
Brian and Christy Guenther from River Stone Church brought an amazing team of people to serve at Maison. They were at Maison for two weeks. I hesitate to simply list off what was accomplished, because the risk there is that we would look at those accomplishments and miss the bigger picture of what God was doing in and through this team. (I know the same could be said about other teams as well). The following things happened during River Stone's time with us:
Visited the land: the team left very committed to assisting with the development of the new community
Constructed:
Tables and benches for orphanage
Cabinets and shelves in kitchen, shelves in all storage areas for food, clothing, and formula
Shelf for washroom
Painted all old tables and benches
Provided opportunity for children to build and paint their own creations
Retro-fitted outdoor classroom
Organized supplies and food in all areas
Fixed electricity to water cooler
Photographer in group provided portrait-style photos of each child
Provided hygiene kits for nannies
Daily praise and worship with the children in both English and Kreyol
Planning and curriculum development for the school
We are looking forward to seeing the servants from River Stone again very soon!
It has been a whirlwind of activity these past two weeks. Teams have dedicated a lot of time to building shelves for organizing supplies. The managers and workers are very excited to have storage for the supplies we have. Take a look...
We have been blessed this summer with a construction intern, Brett. He has coordinated many projects around the orphanage. Here are pictures of a few of them: Putting a new roof on the storage room. No more leaking on supplies!
Building a wall to separate the inside of the toddler room from the porch. Complete with a door! Painting intricate metal work on doors.
New storage shelves in the nurse's office.
Rabbit cages for the rabbits we were given. Great job providing a healthy home for the rabbits! New guard shack where the old one used to be. A shady place for hot Haitian days.
The Cause Community Church drove from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to spend a few days with us at Maison. They brought the pastor from the church they were serving in Santo Domingo, Pastor Louis. It was a great time of encouragement for Pierre and Pastor Louis. The team served in the following ways:
Built and painted tables and benches for Zanfan house (a local house for former street boys)
Installed fans in Zanfan house
Puppet show for children at the orphanage
Distributed hygiene kits to a local tent city of 100 people
Spreadsheet creation and administrative assistance
Their trip was extended unexpectedly by a day, and we were blessed to share worship time at a local church and another day together. We are so thankful for their help during their time here, and we were sad to see them depart. That seemed to be a fairly common theme this summer...
Grace Church (and a friend from Oregon!) brought a team to serve at Maison for a week towards the end of the month. They kept busy during their week! Two doctors and a paramedic provided a medical clinic to nannies and families, as well as to a tent city where one of our nannies lives with her family, as well as another local tent city. In all, over 300 people were treated. All were given de-worming medicine and vitamins, as well as medicines for their illnesses or injuries. The team provided a daily VBS program with songs, games, and an awesome sharing of the Gospel. A translator delivered Pastor Chris' message each day. Pastor Chris Riser presented the Gospel to a group waiting to be seen by the doctors and one woman accepted Christ as her Savior. The team provided two weeks of food to local tent city of 100 people. One missionary created a hallway display reading "Hope" and "Peace" from notes sent by school children in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In construction, some of the guys rebuilt the guard shack, and fixed the chicken coop and rabbit hutches. The staff and children were greatly encouraged by the care given by this team.
During the month of June we had several teams working on very different projects. One team completed the following:
Rebuilt second floor roof over storage rooms
built tables for kitchen area
designed and build outside tent classroom
provided daily assistance for nannies
During the month we also had counseling for the nannies and children, fun activities for the children, and more assistance with work projects. God was so good to send just the right people at just the right times.
A hard working team from Tennessee came to serve in so many different ways. Some construction, medical, and evangelism all took place during their time here. The construction guys worked on rebuilding the guard shack as well as some other construction-type things.
The medical team set up their clinic in the permanent white tent here at Maison. They were able to offer medical assistance to all the nannies, nannies' families, a local tent city (that contains over 3.000 displaced persons), and a village of about 100 people the orphanage assists. In all, over 300 people were given medical treatment. All received vitamins and de-worming medicine. The doctors worked with translators to best meet the needs of the patients.
Part of the team hosted a daily Vacation Bible School for the children at Maison. They were presented with the gospel message, did crafts, played games, and had a great time with each other and their American friends.
During the medical clinic, we were able to feed those waiting for treatment a meal. In addition, our visiting pastor from Tennessee shared the Gospel message with those waiting, and one woman accepted Christ as her Savior! Praise God for his perfect timing, and for allowing us to be part of such a joyous moment.
Putting a new roof on the storage room. No more leaking on supplies!
Building a wall to separate the inside of the toddler room from the porch. Complete with a door!
Painting intricate metal work on doors.
New storage shelves in the nurse's office.
Rabbit cages for the rabbits we were given. Great job providing a healthy home for the rabbits!
New guard shack where the old one used to be. A shady place for hot Haitian days.