Hi everyone,
Currently we have enough funds in the Slate Hill Church account (thank you to all who have given!!) to do the following:
$6500 School support--included in this is some funds to be able to expand one of the schools to 9th grade. I would LOVE to see a high school for Pestel (talented kids go to cities...and stay)
$300 Thomas Elie school floor--this will allow the school to finish off the floor of one of the schoolrooms
$600 Alfred Bonhomme--support for Alfred's kids to go to school (4 kids, one now in high school)
$700 Health vouchers
$750 Abriko Clinic (new clinic in the mountains that just opened up and needs some supplies) You may remember that the village of Abriko built their own clinic AND school over the past year by receiving a grant. I have been VERY impressed with this particular village, ever since my first visit to Pestel.
$500 Play therapy supplies for kids with post-traumatic stress disorder after the earthquake. Sister Jo is a licensed therapist and this is an excellent opportunity for her to use her skills to help the kids in Pestel who migrated in from PAP after the earthquake.
$1800 Sewing school--this is a new venture to provide space for young women to learn skills in sewing
How exciting is that?!?! I'm personally thrilled. Imagine what good will be done through each of those gifts. Try attaching your imagination to God's promises (as opposed, for example, to concerns for the future) and you get some really incredible possibilities. Imagine these good gifts (which come from God through us) being used to help someone who is ill...a child who is hurting after the earthquake...women learning to sew...children going to school for the first time...
This is joyful news and we know that God is honored/praised/thought very highly of through it.
Cholera:
The United Nations office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) said Sunday that 254 people have died, while 3,015 cases of cholera have been reported.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/10/25/haiti-cholera-water.html#ixzz13Mu4UGFI
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/10/25/haiti-cholera-water.html#ixzz13Mu4UGFI
Again, cholera is indicative of widespread poverty. With a huge # of people migrating out of PAP after the earthquake, the other areas have absorbed the impact. But obviously not well. More mouths to feed (in high-malnutrition areas), more people crammed into small houses and rooms.
It is telling that Haiti has not had an outbreak of cholera in many decades (one place indicated that it's been a century).
Finally, I visited a most unique farm in Gettysburg on Saturday with two friends--Johnny Zook and Doug Stauffer. We learned a lot of really important lessons that we believe can be adapted to help small farmers in Pestel. The way forward for agricultural purposes will very likely need to include livestock (cows, goats, etc) and chickens [I had to look up whether chickens were considered livestock or not, and apparently they can be, but I guess they're often put under 'poultry'].
:)
Ben
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