Backpacks for Haiti!

GDE Haiti is in need of full backpacks to take to the children in Massey in August.  We currently have 40 children in our program and hope to take down 60 filled backpacks!  Any backpacks over and above the number of children in the program will be given to other school children in the area to give them a head-start on their school year.  Want to get involved?  Here's more details!

Please pack a NEW solid blue or solid black backpack with the following supplies:

• 12 blue pens
• 12 regular #2 pencils
• Small pencil sharpener
• 3 normal erasers
• Basic Calculator OR pack of basic-colored crayons
• Pack of girls OR boys underwear
• Pack of white crew socks   

To arrange to drop off a filled backpack or have it picked up, please contact Christy Freemyer at christyfreemyer@graindespoirhaiti.com.

GDE Haiti, Inc.

We realize that Grain d'Espoir pour Haiti is lengthy, and often difficult to pronounce because, let's face it:  most of us don't speak French!  When we first created this name, we loved that it was accessible to the people we serve in Haiti.  Honestly, we didn't consider much whether or not it was accessible to those who would be supporting Grain d'Espoir in America.  So, in an effort to make our name more easily discussible, we will now be doing business in the USA as GDE Haiti, Inc.  Donation checks can me made out to this name.  For now, our website and emails will remain the same as we work on transferring them over to GDE Haiti.  We hope this will be a welcome change and will alleviate the stumbling of words associated with Grain d'Espoir pour Haiti.

Christmas Memories

Sitting around the dinner table the other night, Hugues and I started sharing Christmas memories.  Well, mostly, I started sharing Christmas memories.  Jovan's favorite movie this season is The Polar Express and his face when he sees Santa or the lit up Christmas tree takes me back to when I used to believe.  I remember laying awake listening for the bells of Santa's sleigh, and the one Christmas where my dad actually got out on the roof outside our bedroom windows and put "reindeer prints".  We all woke early to simply sit in front of the tree, peeking at the presents.  The largest one was almost always unlabeled and we all hoped what lay inside was for us. Eventually one of us would muster the courage to wake mom and dad so we could get the show on the road.

Hugues listened to my magical stories with a look slightly blank and without total comprehension.  Then he said that Christmas used to be his favorite day of the year because on that day nobody went hungry.

Nobody went hungry.  Each family saved so they could provide their family a meal that day, and if they could not, another family would always share.

That makes my memories so...empty almost.  This year we personally know countless people who will go hungry, even on Christmas.  There will be no talk of Santa, no bells in the distance, no presents or lights, and no Christmas meal.  But they celebrate all the same, and I wonder if their celebration isn't more meaningful in many ways.  Stripped of the trappings of Christmas (which I love and so enjoy, don't get me wrong), what does it mean to truly celebrate Christmas?

This year, I am more aware of what it means to celebrate and more thankful for what surrounds me this holiday season.  The first Christmas was not beautiful, contrary to the popular song, it was not silent, and there were no lights, bows, and probably little food either.  But there was JOY.  That is my prayer, that no matter where in the world we find ourselves this Christmas we would be able to feel the joy of the gift that was given to us through Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

A New Way to Give...Slumby!

Good friends of ours have started a baby sling, clothing, and accessory line called Slumby.  Their mission is to provide the most comfortable and easy-to-wear baby sling on the market, and even better, 10% of their sales are donated to help orphan and needy children all over the world.  Grain d'Espoir pour Haiti, Inc. has partnered with Slumby, so if you make a purchase, a portion of it will be donated directly to Grain d'Espoir!


Check out their website at:


www.slumby.com

Happy Shopping!

Hurricane, Cholera...prayers needed

Many people have asked how the people in Massey are faring with the cholera outbreak and then Hurricane Tomas.  The city of Les Cayes and Massey were not directly hit by the hurricane, so it was not nearly as bad as it could have been.  Still, there was extensive flooding in the area which has receded now.  Schools are closed but should begin again next week.  Hugues' brother, Fritz, has the most stable and well-constructed home in Massey and the hurricane blew parts of his tin roof off.  He said they had to stay outside during much of the storm because rain was coming in all the windows and through the roof!

Cholera is creating a large amount of fear throughout Haiti.  We spoke with Fritz tonight and he said that people will not even shake each other's hands for fear of catching the disease.  There have been a couple of cases in Les Cayes, but none in Massey.  The cases in Les Cayes are most likely people who obtained the disease elsewhere and then traveled south where they got sick, rather than catching the disease in Les Cayes.  The news reports are not accurate to the number of people sick or deaths because many people live so far from the nearest clinic that they do not have time to get medical help after the onset of cholera.  It is much worse than the numbers say and fear is gripping the country. Please pray fervently that this outbreak would be stopped and that the Haitian people would find ways to take precautions but that they would have peace rather than fear.

A New Year

School is off and running in Massey, Haiti!  Last Monday was the first day of class.  School was delayed starting this year for many reasons.  One was that no one was able to pay!  For quite some time, Grain d'Espoir students were the only ones who had paid tuition and were ready to start class!  A polling agency in Haiti estimated that 85% of children who attended school last year are unable to attend this year.  We definitely see this playing out to be true in Massey.  People are stretched very thin this year and the money just isn't there for school.  Everything is more expensive, from food, to fuel, to uniforms and books.

Massey has also experienced quite a bit of flooding again this year, as they typically do this time of year, and that delayed school a bit.

Now that classes have begun, we pray that they will be able to continue uninterrupted this school year and that the children in our program will have their minds expanded and stretched.  Thank you to everyone who donated to make this opportunity possible for so many people!  Be watching your mailbox for our newsletter, or  if you are not on our mailing list you can find it at our website:  www.graindespoirhaiti.com.

New Blog!

Our old blog was getting difficult to manage and a few people had reported problems with the posts disappearing, so welcome to our new blog!  Hopefully this will be more user-friendly and enable people to follow us more closely.  To view older posts that were on our old blog, CLICK HERE.