NOTE: This post is from March 2009 and was added to bridge the gap between the previous blogs.
Warm greetings once again from all of us at the HATS-Haiti mission.
On the last update we talked about the completed school extension that the NS workteam did in January. Grade 7 and 8 classes moved into two of the rooms shortly after construction was finished. This addition is a tremendous asset for the students in our area. We still do not have doors on the classrooms but the learning continues. Many people throughout the area are happy, and thankful, about the expansion at the school.
School Expansion
Luckner had a bunch of students clean up HATS property that is behind the school. This was done so it could be used for a soccer field. Soccer, or football as it is called in Haiti, is very important. We want to get the area properly fixed up so our school kids can use it.
For them to play soccer there it will need to be enclosed as several neighbouring families like to use our land for a toilet.
Early February the school students in grades 4-8 had the opportunity to go to the public beach for a fun day. A great time was had by students and teachers.
Truck filled with students to head to beach
A great school day
On Friday and Saturday of this week all the school students who have sponsors for their schooling will be writing them a thank you letter. We, Luckner and Karen, will get the letters translated and off to you, as soon as we can. Please be patient as there is much here to be done.
Thank you again to Gerry, and group from NS, and to those who purchased the Creole Bibles that were presented, in January, to our grade 5-8 students. The students are arriving t church with them Sunday mornings. Luckner has been doing some great Bible teaching to the students and also helping them learn how to use their Bibles.
Note taking as Luckner teaches, including Alex using his feet.
The HATS pickup that was in the mechanics yard most of the time the group was here, was thankfully running again for a short while. It, however, is now sitting on our compound and once again in need of parts and repair. Without the truck running many important things are ‘on hold’. The three men, from Texas, who were here helping early December have taken on the big job of trying to raise funds for a dependable replacement vehicle. Thank you Nolan, David and Shane for trying to do this for HATS. As mentioned before, having a trustworthy and reliable vehicle is needed for the mission to run properly, but is of utmost importance in this country too for safety reasons.
Thank you, too, to Nolan for finding someone in the US to donate a photocopier to HATS. It will be a tremendous help. For example this morning Luckner had to go to St. Marc to photocopy the exam papers for our school, as students will be writing exams during the next three days. The person behind this blessing is someone Nolan knows, Jerry Castellini. A huge thank you goes out to Jerry. The copier is waiting for us in PAP and will be picked up as soon as we have transportation.
It was mentioned on the February update that Karen had decided to take a short break, in March, to see her daughters and grandchildren in Calgary and Kelowna. Well, due to the accident on January 19th that involved two of the NS team members, Dickie and Ed, and also Karen and one of our boys, Cabano, Karen had to change her plans and leave for Canada earlier. Karen had been having a lot of problems with her head, vision in her right eye, and with her right knee since the accident. These problems did not improve, as she expected they would, but gave her more trouble as time went on. Finally, Luckner could not watch her suffer any longer and decided she needed to leave for Canada right away to look for help. Karen listened to him, and Luckner might say – for a change – and booked flights. Luckner drove her to PaP to leave that same day. Help was available as soon as she arrived in Calgary. After three weeks in western Canada , with medical help, and precious and enjoyable time with her two daughters and grandchildren, she returned refreshed and recharged.
Leaving for help as Karen did, however, caused her to be away when Stephen Puddicombe, a reporter with CBC, NS, came to the compound to do a story on what this Canadian lady from eastern Canada was actually doing for children in this area of Haiti. Karen was, however, interviewed by CBC in Nova Scotia by going to the CBC studio in Calgary, as arranged by Christina Harnett. Luckner did a great job of showing Stephen around and sharing information about HATS with him.
The 30 minute story about the HATS-Haiti mission was aired Sunday morning, March 15th. It was extremely well done. Karen heard it herself on the internet and many good reports have come from people who have heard it. We have received five e-mails, and Karen was phoned by a Newfoundlander who heard it. These people were touched and want to help. Thank you so very much to CBC Nova Scotia for doing this. Thank you once again to Stephen Puddicombe, Christina Harnett, and Pauline Dakin. You did a great job getting the story out for us here at the HATS-Haiti mission.
Help is needed at HATS with administrative office work. If there were someone available to come even for 3 – 6 months a year, that would be helpful.
Moving towards making this assistance a possibility the next project would need to be a storage facility. This could be done by construction of a cement block building or by the purchase of a couple of containers that are regularly shipped into Haiti full of supplies. When we have a place for storage the house on the compound, that is presently being used for this, could be worked on for suitable housing for additional missionary staff.
Our children are all doing well. Photos of some of them are below
JJ & Moise
Serlande and Sabine
Maladette & Mirlande doing laundry
Moise & Josie
TiFi & Alex with ther backpack gifts
2008, saw us, Karen and Luckner, head to eastern Canada, NS and NL, for a few weeks to share our hearts on our work with children in this area of Haiti. That fundraising trip, with the help and support of many in those two provinces, saw us able to provide HATS school students with a hot nutritious meal every school day this year. It appears that HATS will be able to continue to provide the same when school opens again, Sept. 2009. Thanks go out again to all who helped with that project. Getting at least one good meal a day, that is taken for granted by children in Canada and the US, is not available for a great deal of the children in Haiti. Sending children to school to learn is not productive if they have no food to sustain them.
It has been suggested that Karen and Luckner do a similar thing in 2009, but go to western Canada. Many supporters there would like the opportunity to see Karen, and to meet and hear Luckner too. Thus, with this in mind we are seriously looking at doing so.
Are there any churches, or groups, in western Canada, especially Alberta and BC, who are wiling to give Karen and Luckner, the opportunity to share. Please let us know!!!
Thank you once again for your support, and encouragement for us both and the work God has called us to do here. As we’ve said before, we can’t all be in Haiti, but we can all work together for the good of others. Teamwork is essential to touch the lives of the needy children. On behalf of all the people in Haiti whose lives are touched by the HATS-Haiti Mission we say a tremendous thank you for your help.
Once again – We ‘all’ are a part of this mission, and we ‘all’ are on the same team. As new HATS supporters come on board to help, may we become even more united, as we continue to do what we can to make a difference where needed. May we be more considerate of the plight of others and reach out in love to those in need.
To many people who live around you, and to many who work with you, you might be ‘one person’. But to one person, i.e. a needy child in Haiti, you might be ‘the world’.
God bless each and every one of you as you continue to bless many through the HATS-Haiti mission.
~Karen
