PRAYER! We need prayer. Prayer for safety, (the past 10 weeks the country has been in lockdown and people are hungry and desperate and getting more desperate. Port-au-Prince is especially in turmoil with road blocks, people getting shot, no markets open, getting robbed if you are out and no safe travel). Pray for good health, wisdom, strength, stamina for the task, and for God’s leading. If God isn’t in it, we aren’t going to do it, no matter the task. Pastor Casseus is the “man on the ground” doing a lot of the coordination of programs and projects. Although still involved with the leaders at the Carissade Church, he and his brother have built a church in a village called Fowozoli and Pastor Casseus is the Senior Pastor at Fowozoli and the School Director of the Fowozoli Christian School. SOCIAL MEDIA Although it’s nice to have “likes” on Facebook and Instagram comments, we really need you to SHARE to your friends and family. The more people aware of Caring Hearts for Central Haiti, Inc and our vision for the area of Carissade and Fowozoli, the better we will be able to grow as an organization and meet the many needs of those communities in Central Haiti and possibly expand to the larger Central Plateau. DONATIONS There, I said it. Yep, we need money. We will not start a project without the necessary funds with which to complete a project. If you want to send a check to our address…Caring Hearts for Central Haiti, Inc, P.O.Box 5348, Cortland, NY 13045, then we receive the full amount (as opposed to donating through Paypal which takes a small percentage out of your donation). At this point, 100% of the donations are going towards any particular project. I, (Executive Director Joanne), am presently paying any Administrative costs. At some point, when we have to hire a school Principal and School teachers, we will be paying salaries….and I realize paying Administrative costs is sustainable only as long as I remain gainfully employed. A WELL Our present larger project is a well for the community of Carissade. I had an online conference call with Neil Van Dyne from Haiti Outreach. His company identified 2 wells in Carissade. One that had potable water (last time it was tested) but the well is broken. A 2nd well that is functional but contaminated with E. coli. First, we are paying $1100 to get the water tested again, since about 10-12 other wells in Carissade are contaminated with E. coli. If the water is potable, then Haiti Outreach is going to give is an estimate for repairing the well. I am also going to get an estimate as to how much it will cost to clean the contaminated well and other contaminated wells in the Carissade community. UPDATE: As if this writing, the well project is on hold. In order for HAiti Outreach to come in and either clean the wells or dig a new well, they have to be formally invited by the village leaders and the community to participate if a "fee for service well". The leaders did not want to do that. Since that was not going to happen, the alternative was to talk to Pastor Casseus and he talked with the church leaders to educate them on the use of clorox to purify the water. This may be a temporary solution for now, but it will at least give the community safe drinking water. The community of Fowozoli is a new addition to our support. Pastor Casseus said their water is bad, but I have no details on that yet. ANOTHER UPDATE AS OF 11/15/2019...The broken well at Fowozoli was repaired. I'm told there is no way to test the water to see if it is good or contaminated, so Pastor Casseus helped to educate the community about purifying the water using Clorox. VEHICLE In order to travel in Haiti, it is important to have an all-terrain vehicle (like a Landrover). This will come in handy should we start bringing in small groups of people to work in whatever capacity is deemed necessary at the time... ie) dental, medical clinics, eye doctors, manual labor (However, we will always try to employ Haitians first before bringing in outsiders). A vehicle will also help transport supplies from Port-au-Prince (where we can buy them cheaper), to Hinche (3-5 hour drive depending on road conditions). We will have people who just want to go to Haiti to visit the Church of Christ at Carissade and the New Church of Chirst and Christian School in Fowozoli and see the work...right now we have no vehicle with which to transport anyone.....although I applaud anyone who wants to try riding in the back of a Tap-Tap, however, it is not for the faint of heart. 3-5 hours on a Tap Tap in 90 degree or higher heat, in close proximity to about 15 other people...not my idea of fun. A Landrover, however, comes with air conditioning....Ahhh...the luxuries we enjoy. Believe me, if you travel in Haiti, you will be very thankful for the air conditioning. OFFICE We just (August 2, 2019) rented a small office in Hinche. Pastor Casseus has moved to Hinche, and will live and work out of the office, and be in closer proximity to the congregation and communities of Carissade and Fowozoli. This will enable him to be more involved in day- to-day ministry there, as well as over-seeing whatever projects we are working on at the time. Of course, we need all sorts of office supplies and basic home supplies. We will always try and purchase in Haiti, however, when I can buy a towel for $6 in the States and it costs $20 in Haiti, I’m afraid I’m going to have to transport at least a few when I go to Haiti in October. The same with office equipment, I can buy a computer in the U.S. for $200 but in Haiti, it is $600. UPDATE: Because of the political instability and inability to freely move around and travel without getting mugged or shot at, I had to cancel my October trip. The country, especially Port-au-Prince has been in "lock down"for 10 weeks. CHRISTIAN SCHOOL Our first thoughts were to start a K-3rd grade Christian school. However, after discussion, we decided it would be better to support the existing schools in the area. We don’t have any money for this yet, but as donations come in, we would like to do that. We have to meet with the school leaders to see what is more helpful. We were, however, able to provide 70 children in the Church with school supplies this year...backpacks, pencils, notebooks etc. They were so grateful for the help and this is less money the parents had to spend in order for their child to attend school. Well, it was definitely a surprise to me, but Pastor Casseus and his brother, Dunet, stepped out in faith and used their own time and money to build the New Church of Christ and Christian School at Fowozoli. They are starting Kindergarten, First and Second grades, Lord willing, on October 1st, 2019. We were able to provide $100 towards supplies. We have 3 teachers, one for each grade and 50 children enrolled. We would like to be able to pay the teachers and the School Director (Pastor Casseus). If you would like to support this, we would humbly welcome the help so these kids can get an education, which is the key to pulling oneself (and a country) out of poverty. SCHOOL UNIFORMS Although the parents and church leaders asked us to provide school uniforms and shoes, we do not have the funds (about $2600 for one school uniform and shoes for 70 children at Carissade and $1200 for one school uniform at Fowozoli...although I think a child should have 2 uniforms for the school year), at this time. UPDATE: Our first expenditure as an organization! We were able to hire a tailor and provide the 50 kids at Fowozoli with school uniforms! Praise the Lord! CHURCH I would like to raise the funds to build a structure that can be a safe shelter during hurricanes (which Haiti has endured pretty much every hurricane season). BIBLES Beautiful Leather-bound Bibles of the New Testament , Psalms and Proverbs can be purchased in Haiti for $6.00 each. When I was in Haiti in June, we distributed Bibles to each family in the congregation. We would like to see each person have a Bible and then have them available to give to the community members during home visitation for both congregations. UPDATE: Judy Stroud's church in Ohio (she is our secretary), provided money for 70 Bibles to be purchased for Fowozoli Church of Christ! Praise the Lord! BENCHES The Women’s Group at the church have said they would like better benches on which to sit. (See blogpost “Do You Know What These Are?”) We were able to pay for 10 benches to be made for Carissade and 10 for Fowozoli, which just got delivered to the Fowozoli Church a few weeks ago.
