What a great day!

Thank you to everyone who supported H2H in the Ride for Refuge!  We had 37 riders and over $30,000 was raised.  We're hoping to make this an annual event, so start training now :)

Renel is doing the Ride for Refuge!

Renel's got his bike tuned up & is going to do the Ride for Refuge!!  H2H is raising money to repair the damage done to our school during the earthquake and Renel is very excited about being a part of this!

Anybody want to ride with him? It's in Maple Ridge and the entrance fee is only $25 (or you can fundraise a minimum of $150).

If you'd like to ride with him, or support his team, let me know or use this link:
http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=2127179&langPref=en-CA

The school renovations began a few weeks ago but are far from being finished.  Here are a few pictures of the buildings this week.

Ride for Refuge

H2H is a non-profit organization which functions on monthly sponsorships & fundraising.  We are always in need of new sponsors for kids & new fundraising ideas.  Those of you who receive H2H's newsletters already know about the Ride for Refuge fundraiser... the rest of you can read the information below.

Please let me know if you would like to be involved in the ride, or have a creative fund raising idea of your own!

ps... if you don't receive H2H's bi-yearly newsletter and would like to please email me.

Heart to Heart is participating in the Ride for Refuge on Saturday, October 5.  The money raised through this cycling event will cover the expenses of expanding our high school to grade 12.  (We just added grade 10 to our high school this year!) 

Would you consider getting involved in this fun event?  We really would appreciate your support!  You may choose to:

a)  Sponsor an existing rider (donations are tax-deductible)...no amount is too small!
b)  Join a team (then get your friends and family to sponsor you)
                     OR 
c)  Become a team captain (and recruit other riders to join you)

The exciting thing about this fundraiser is that there are several locations hosting the RIDE, so H2H supporters from all across Canada can get involved!  We currently have four teams in Maple Ridge, BC and one team in Brampton, Ontario.  Just look for a location near you!  

When you register, you can also choose to ride a distance that suits you.  Typical distances include:  10km, 25km, and 50km.  During online registration riders can either (1) pay a $25 registration fee or (2), waive the fee and commit to raise either $75 (youth) or $150 (adult). Most select option #2 and fundraise knowing that they can always pay the fee later if they don't make it (the fee is non-refundable and non tax deductible).

Please contact Melanie at melaniepenninga@yahoo.ca OR go to http://rideforrefuge.org/partner/hearttohearthaiti for more details.

Change of pace

The pace has slowed down here at H2H... we've only had a handful of visitors this past month.  After 2+ months of solid teams, the change of pace has given us a breather... but only a short one as the next string of teams start next week!

I am now over 6 months pregnant so Renel, Hasannah & I will be heading to Canada this week so I can get ready for baby #2.  I have mixed feelings about leaving... the baby bump (not to mention chasing Hasannah around the compound!) is starting to make life in Haiti difficult so I'm definitely ready for the break but these past 3 months have been so busy that I feel like I'm leaving without spending the quality time that I'm used to spending with the kids.  I tried to make up for it last night with a "Hot Chocolate Party" but it poured rain just as we were pouring the hot chocolate into mugs so the party part was cut short.  Fortunately the internet has become much more accessible in Haiti this past year so I am able to stay in close contact with the kids, even from Canada. 

Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to the past few weeks...

Glasses have suddenly become fashionable in Haiti!!  The older kids buy glasses in the market, the younger ones make their own... lenses and all!
  

 

The kids have welcomed our new puppy into the family by building him a dog house.

The kids have been trying to teach Hasannah how to line up for food... she only has a few words mastered but one of them is "grangou" (hungry in kreyol).

During our spring cleaning we found this old picture.  Those of you who have been coming to H2H for awhile may recognize some of the kids.

MEI team

Our current team is a group of High School students from MEI... they have been supporting H2H for a long time and it's exciting for our kids to meet some Canadian kids their age.  In addition to spending lots of time with the kids, the students have been working tirelessly on jobs around the compound... not only working themselves but encouraging our kids to work along side them. 

 

Our string of teams continue!

Darcy's team has now gone (& the 2 tents stand firmly in Bouva & Foche!!) and Jason's team from Oakbrook Church just spent the week with us.  Here are some pictures of the projects they worked on...

Finished chairs for the Elementary School:

Framed & poured a cement island & shelves in the new kitchen:

Built shelves in the storage depots:

Enlarged the garden area:

Built cabinets in the Guest House:

And the most exciting thing.... they built a Gaga Pit!  It's an octagon shaped arena where the kids play a hand-ball type game.  It's a blast!!

The team left yesterday and this afternoon a team of High School students from MEI arrived.  It's been a busy, but very exciting, few months at H2H!!

We are now back from Bouva with the medical team, where we had our first ever clinic in Grande Savande & it turned out to be HUGE... a bit scary at times with the crowd control (which was my responsibility... opps!!!) but overall a great success!

Along with the medical team was an Artist who worked with the older boys to update our mural... it was sad to see the old one go but it was starting to peel so it was definitely time for a face lift.  The boys were nervous at first but they quickly took ownership of the project and made Carol (the artist) very proud!

 

   

The medical team has now gone and in it's place is Darcy's construction team from Alberta.  They are moving the two large tents (that served as our temporary Guesthouse & children's Dining Hall after the earthquake).  They have already moved one of the tents to Foche and we leave tomorrow morning to take the other one to Bouva.  They have worked long hours in the sun (or worse, under the tents!) and are looking forward to having the wind in their hair during the drive tomorrow.

PS... Hasannah is completely hooked on Haitian fried chicken... spices and all!

Medical Team

We have had a medical team here for just over a week & they have been busy doing mobile medical clinic in Grande Goave and remote villages nearby.  As always the clinics have been awesome & greatly appreciated by the community.  Here are a few shots taken during the clinics:

 

 

As many of the team are veterans they took full advantage of their minimal spare time to hang out with their Haitian friends.  Here is Enorck & Henri Claude getting their first ever snorkling lesson from one of the doctors!

 
We are leaving tomorrow for another round of clinics in Northern Haiti so tonight we celebrated Valentine's Day with the kids a day early... hot chocolate & sweet bread has become an annual treat and this year it was accompanied by special Valentines candies from the team.

Hello, hello, hello!

Well, I'm officially back online & have made a New Years Resolution to keep my blog updated weekly... if anyone wants to volunteer to keep me accountable on this I'm still looking for someone who can crack a whip!

These past few months have been busy for Renel & I... we spent a few weeks with my family in Canada over the holidays, celebrated Hasannah's 1 year birthday and are looking forward to becoming a family of 4 in July!   

We have also been busy at H2H with holiday celebrations, new kids & a time of preparation for the upcoming teams.  One of the highlights of this holiday season was buying & handing out Christmas presents to all of the H2H kids... thanks to a very generous sponsor through H2H's gift catalogue!  Each child in the home got a personalized gift bag containing; clothes, perfume, soap, cream, candy, hair accessories & toys.  It was so much fun!

We also had a blast handing out food hampers to the school kids & at our annual Christmas Banquet but you'll have to wait for your January newsletter to arrive to get the pictures for that... they are in the mail now & include a letter from your sponsor child.

It's that time again...

...time to write the sponsors!  Here is a picture of Jhennie, Sencia & Soukinho doing their letters. 

The kids love writing & drawing pictures for their sponsors - I wish I shared their joy, but 400+ letters is a lot to translate!!  JK, it is a good time for all.

Another day, another blockage...

Grande Goave has had some political problems this past month... I try to stay out of it as the reasons never make much sense to me... but the result is usually the main highway (right in front of our compound) being blocked.  They are hoping the inconvenience of the blockage will give their voices a microphone, but I think everyone is just fed up with it already.  The main highway is the only road to Southwest Haiti so the inconvenience is huge.  

Here's a picture of today's blockage....

A fun afternoon

A medical team from another mission came to spend the afternoon with our kids yesterday.  They 'dewormed' them and gave them a quick seminar on proper hygiene.

Each of the kids also got a new pair of running shoes!

And a new toothbrush... even Hasannah!

This past month has been a whirlwind - literally!!!!

The H2H school has been in session for just over a month but this rainy season has left us with lots of days off and lots of muddy uniforms!!


The bad weather hasn't just affected our school...

- no sun means clothes don't dry... we have over 100 kids... that's a lot of dirty, or clean but 'wet for so long that it's smelling musty' clothes and sheets!!!

- gardens that supply our local market have been badly damaged in the rain so fresh produce is scarce & very expensive - the price of dried beans has almost doubled in the past month!

- the damp weather is perfect for mosquitoes which means malaria season... Hasannah is just getting over malaria... not a fun first for Mommy.


- power & internet has been intermittent at best due to wind storms & broken power lines

The biggest storm was obviously Hurricane Sandy and it had terrible timing!  Right in the middle of it we had a caravan of trucks leaving H2H to go to a funeral (Gran Bar, Pastor's Luc's mom passed away) in Bouva.  We left as soon as there was enough light to see & didn't make it to Bouva until 10pm!  Here are a few pictures I took in Leogane (a small town 30 minutes away from H2H).

this is the main Highway into Port-au-Prince:

The funeral in Bouva was a 3 day affair and was huge!  I don't have many pictures as it rained most of the time but here are a few of the procession to the cemetery. 

On a personal level, this past month has had it's challenges...

- While we were in Bouva, Hasannah started having fevers.  She had no other symptoms of being sick & the fevers were very high - 102/103 (taken under the arm).  We were in the mountains so tylenol & a cold cloth were the only medical care I could give her.  We returned to Grand Goave 3 days later and immediately went to the hospital and she tested positive for malaria.  She responded immediately to the medicine and was back to her smiley self within a week.

- Renel & I are responsible for raising our financial support and our support has declined this past year and we've just been advised that we are significantly short of our support for 2012.  If we are not able to raise the funds before the end of December... and increase our monthly support for next year, we will have to reconsider our full time status with H2H.  This is a tough situation for us as we consider H2H home and the kids & community our family.

We would appreciate your prayers for our family in both of these areas.

On a more positive side, Hasannah is doing well and becoming more Haitian everyday...  her favorite foods are goat meat and black bean sauce (seriously, she loves them!!) and she has stolen a few licks of sugar cane when I'm not looking.  She loves going to church (even when the services stretch past 5 hours!!) and the heat doesn't seem to bother her at all.  Hasannah loves the attention she gets from the kids but she gets more excited when the chickens & roosters come close.  Here she is with her hair braided, enjoying her bath tub.