Thank You Liette and Yvette

November 29, 2011 Posted by Karen Huxter

They came. They worked. They played. They accomplished. They left.

The student’s letters and photos in the sponsoring program were completed. Student’s letters were written, translated, scanned, and sent out via email to the many sponsors. Wow. A huge undertaking that was handled beautifully. I was, and still am, impressed. I informed Liette and Yvette that I had one important thing to say about the whole thing – ‘ they both need to come back again next year and do likewise ‘. What a team! I will be hoping and praying they can return together, as a team, again.

Students writing letters to sponsors

Prescolaire 3 walking to join Liette for photos & letters

Yvette with Jonathan

Jessie helped Liette and Yvette with the work on the school sponsoring program and when not needed there she organized the storage unit in my office. Another job well done.

Karen’s Main Office

While here they also blessed my kids with a lot of attention and fun times. It was difficult for all of us to have to say bye and see them leave. There is always a time to happily say “welcome and thanks for coming” and always a time to sadly say “bye and please return.”

Fun times with the kids

snack time on our walk

Now we are looking forward to having Dana-Lynn, Jared, Ronel, and Alexa arrive on December 16th. Their project will be to help with painting at the school. We have the new office/library needing to be painted, as well as the improved/finished secondary section – grades 7, 8, and 9. The small office for the person who is assistant to Luckner, as supervisor of the secondary section, should also be ready to paint soon.

On December 11th Jessie and Seth will be leaving to spend a month with their families. Mariah, too, will be leaving in December, probably on 16th, to spend time with her family. She will return in January to stay until school is out in June. The children are going to miss having these three around but Dana and children being here will fill the gap for ten days. Ti Luc will especially miss Mariah. They do have a lot of fun together and Mariah is a tremendous help for me with that special boy. Ti Luc can now do most things the other children do, but not all. Yesterday morning he told me he wanted to feed himself like the others do. He put a lot of effort into trying to get the spoon to his mouth. Not yet successful but proud of himself. So am I.

Mariah and Ti Luc having fun together

I want to feed myself Mama

The Trade School is busy with English, computer, and plumbing classes running. I continue to help Luckner with the English class. When Liette was here she did a fantastic job of teaching the students English in my place. It was good for the students and good for me.

Students in English class at Trade School

On the way home, after taking Liette and Yvette to the airport, we passed a huge long truck loaded with bags of cement. The truck was driving much too fast for the road conditions and on the top of the load of cement two men were standing, acting foolish, dancing, and showing off. I took a photo that I call ‘death wish’.

Death wish. Look Ma, no hands.

HATS has a Christmas goat program again this year. If you wish to give someone special a gift, by blessing someone in need in Haiti with a goat, we can take care of it for you. A photo will come to you, hopefully before Christmas, but we cannot promise that. Information on this Christmas project will be available on our website soon.

Thanks again to all of you for being a part of what we do here, for helping us bless people in this area, and for making a difference in the lives of the students by seeing them get an education.

Karen and kids (minus 2)

Love and God bless all of you.

~Karen and family

About Karen Huxter

Karen Huxter, the founder and Director of Hands Across the Sea, was born in Springdale, Newfoundland and is proud of her Newfie roots and heritage. She lived in various places across Canada such as Quebec, the Yukon, Ontario, Alberta and BC before moving to Haiti in 1995. In her professional career, Karen worked in teaching, banking and administration and did extensive volunteer work with community groups and charities. A mother of two grown daughters, one young adopted son and seven grandchildren, Karen is energetic and passionate about the work in Haiti. She loves each of the children and has a heart of compassion for children, women and families in the country of Haiti.

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Testimonials

I have learned much about Haiti in my short stay here, much about generational, entrenched poverty, and much about hope. We can only be part of the bringing of hope if we become one small actor on the huge stage that is poverty. Thank you, Lynn Clark, for inviting me to share this life changing experience with you, and thank-you, Karen Huxter, for investing so much of your life in a work designed to bring hope to those who need it more than any Canadian could ever imagine.

Linda
HATS Visitor
A huge thank you to aunt Karen, who always seems to be doing something with her children and the HATS mission. The only time she takes for herself is long enough to spread some almond butter on a banana that she eats on the run. Thank you so much for all your hard work and unwavering dedication. Thank you for being an inspiration to me and so many others. We love you and our Haitian family very much. The longer I spend at HATS, the bigger piece of my heart remains. Take care of yourself and our kiddies until we see each other again.

Jocelyn Barnes
HATS Visitor
Thank you Karen for everything you do, all the hard work and dedication that you put into this place, all of the work behind the scenes. Thank you for putting up with all the craziness that we bring when we come to your house for the week, just thank you times a million and one for everything Karen. I can write about my week until I am blue in the face (maybe not write that long but if you know me I can definitely talk for that long), and can sing about kit kat bars until my voice gives out, but I cannot even begin to try and articulate in song, dance, or other random art forms how thankful and blessed I am to have been given this experience not only once but twice! Thank you – thank you – thank you – thank you!!!!!!!

Kathleen
HATS Visitor
I have absolutely loved the Haitian people and Haiti the three times I have been there. I go to bless them, only to be blessed myself!

Yvette Calderwood
HATS Visitor
It’s my hope that I manage to touch their hearts in some small way, the way that they have touched mine – in a major way.

Cherie MacDonald
HATS Visitor
I spent a week in Haiti at HATS in November 2017 and it was a wonderful experience. Karen is an amazing woman and is doing amazing work. She is dedicated to the children in her care and is changing lives. I would love the opportunity to visit again and help out where I can.

Sandy Eastly
HATS Visitor
This is my first time traveling outside of Canada and I am proud to say it was for a mission trip. I have always wanted to go on one and see what it like in other parts of the world and do what I can to help out. Haiti is a terminus life change for me and how I look at things. Seeing these kids and how they have such a passion for each other and for us is truly inspiring. I look back to what I was like at that age and I don’t think I was half as kind or generous as they are. This morning we did devotions and as I was speaking about what an impact they had on me only in one day I started to tear up…it was very emotional to talk about.

Isaiah Henderson
HATS Visitor
One thing that has impacted me on this trip is seeing the children and all the dedication in this orphanage. There is so much going on behind the scenes to keep the HATS orphanage and school running.

Donna Wheeler
HATS Visitor
They call Karen “the helicopter ” and after spending three days by her side I know why. She propels through life!!! If you want to get on the ride you better start running. It is an amazing work that the Lord is doing here through so many many dedicated workers…literally hundreds of children impacted every day with the love of Christ…but the task to do so is enormous. The dedication of staff is invaluable…they NEED US ALL!!

Barbara & Louis
HATS Visitors
It is our last day and there is always a certain amount of sadness and joy when we come to the end of a trip . We look forward to our homes and loved ones but there is a part of us that wants to stay and be near these dear dear children. They open their hearts and arms to you when you enter the front gate. They give you laughter and tears all week long and then they cry and hug you when they know you are going away. Being near that kind of unconditional love effects us all very deeply. So we leave part of our hearts here and promise to return.

Gerry Rhyno
HATS Visitor