Hands For Haiti Newletter

2012 Goals and Direction

noreply@blogger.com (HandsForHaiti) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:49:00 +0000

Hello to all our friends,

We are very excited about the progress we have made over the past year in Tremesse, Haiti, and we look forward to building on this progress during the new year. Thank you to all of our donors who made the opening of the Solidarity School possible.

The Hands For Haiti Board has developed the following goals for 2012:

- Add a 6^th grade class, as well as a new classroom to the school. The shared goal of Hands For Haiti and the Solidarity School is not just to provide our students with an education, but to use that education as a pathway out of poverty for our children. We now have 270 students from preschool through 5^thgrade. Each year we will need to add an additional grade as our students advance, with the goal of seeing our first students enter college or trade school in another 7 years, where they will learn the skills that will enable them to provide for themselves and their own children. Our vision is to work together with the children and parents of Tremesse to break the cycle of poverty through education.

- Provide English classes for the students. Being able to speak English will open up a number of future opportunities for our kids that would be otherwise unavailable to them. Classes have already started.

- Build a modest kitchen for food preparation for our daily lunches. Food is currently being prepared each day on an open fire on the ground, with the cooks sheltered only by a tarp when it rains. A new kitchen will not only get the cooks out of the rain, but will also make it easier for them to prepare the food in a clean, safe manner.

- Provide a new well for the people in the Tremesse Village. This will help thousands of people gain access to clean water, and will reduce the heavy load on the well at the school. It also makes it much easier to ensure that the water in the school well remains uncontaminated—a priority in an area where cholera has sadly taken many lives over the past year.

- Make our school a Center of Excellence in Northern Haiti. This will require teamwork with the parents, students, and the teachers. We want all of our students to pass the national exam that is given at the end of 6^th grade, so that they can continue on to higher education and become the future leaders of their country.

- Finally, with the support of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), and the STAR Alliance of U.S. Universities, we will install new computer hardware and software at the school. This will give our students access to a number of new educational platforms. UNCC students will work to install software, servers, and set up Internet access at our school in during their Spring Break.

I also wanted to address our financial future. Unlike many other schools, we do not have the backing of a church or larger parent organization. As such, Hands For Haiti and the Solidarity School only exist due to the generosity of our individual donors. We are incredibly grateful to these donors, and we take our responsibility to them very seriously. Every dollar donated to us goes directly to Haiti. Outside of wire transfer fees, nothing is spent in the United Sates. Our board members pay for their own travel, as well as donate their time, their talents, and funds of their own.

Our biggest concern is finding enough funding to cover our monthly operational expenses so that our school can continue to run. These expenses include the salaries of our teachers and cooks, funding for the over 100,000 meals we provide each year, the annual physicals for our students, as well as schoolbooks and supplies.

Finding funding to operate a school with 270 children is an enormous challenge for a small organization like ours, so we urge you to consider helping us with this project. Everything that was accomplished in the past year was done through the support of less than 20 individual donors and board members. Two years ago our children had no hope. Now, thanks to these donors, they have uniforms, books, a warm meal each day, and they go to school in a basic but solid building that has the only power in the entire village. Their lives are changing for the better, and you can be part of it. A donation of any amount will help us meet our monthly expenses of $2,500, and there are a number of ways you can give, including sponsoring one of our children. You can click on our button on our home page to see these options.

We would also like to invite all of you to visit our school and meet the children and teachers. It is really a great experience and a wonderful thing to see.

Thank you all for your help,

Mark Creasser

Dedication of the Solidarity School

noreply@blogger.com (HandsForHaiti) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:27:00 +0000

Hello to all our friends;

The Board Members of Hands For Haiti and their families have just returned from the dedication of the Solidarity School at Tremesse and we wanted to share news of the celebration.

In short, it was a wonderful, uplifting day that was attended by Representatives of the United Nations, local clergy, Brothers of the Missionaries of the Poor, Haitian Government officials, Police Sector Inspectors, education leaders, and hundreds of people from Tremesse. There were TV crews filming for the Cap Haitien television stations.

There were marching bands, beautiful music, speeches, soccer games, great food and a great deal of good will between all involved.

The local village members worked very hard to prepare for the day with beautiful decorations, a stage, soccer fields, and wonderful food including local fruit and vegetables.

One of the most exciting parts of the dedication was the tour of the new facilities including our computer lab proudly displaying 25 X/O laptops and 15 Dell laptops powered by 10 BP Solar panels. All our classrooms have fans and lighting powered by the same solar panels. We should mention that this equipment was donated by WavePlace, St. Matthew Catholic Church of Charlotte N.C., Missionaries of the Poor, and Mothering Across Continents.

The Solidarity School at Tremesse has become a lightning rod for activities in the area. Last month, Hands For Haiti provided cholera prevention training at the school for the people in Tremesse, with Doctor Eugene Maklin teaching the one-day course. Many of the villagers worked together as neighbors to help construct the building, paint the exterior and interior, and plant flowers and shrubs.

At the ceremony, the Solidarity Committee, police, and clergy all spoke about one of the unintended consequences of the school: it has become a center of hope for the villagers, who now see a future for their children. This new hope has pulled the villagers together to fight a number of gangs who preyed on the local young people with the nightmares of drugs, prostitution, and intimidation and beatings of the local farmers. God always has His own plans.

We hope you know how much you have done for the Tremesse families, who before now have never had the chance to improve their lives and educate their children. The people cannot say “thank you” enough for the blessing of your good will towards them.

Regards,

Mark Creasser

July 15, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (HandsForHaiti) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:11:00 +0000

Hello to all our Friends,

This is our first newsletter and therefore a special event in the history of our organization. The Board members want to thank everyone who has made the Tremesse School possible and we will always be grateful for your past and continued support.

What began as a dream of the parents and children of Tremesse, Haiti has turned into a reality thanks to the efforts of good people and the Blessings of the Lord. When we first met the village committee in 2008, we had little to offer but hope that we might be able to do good things together. First, we were able to purchase the land because of donors at our charity auctions in Charlotte, North Carolina. Then we moved the tent school to a new temporary “Tiki Hut” on the new land and installed a water well and latrine at the new site. We were also able to pay for 8 teachers and provide for a daily hot lunch (rice, beans, and vegetables). Last August, a wonderful man and his family donated funds to build our 6 room school and provide operational funds for 18 months. After looking at the collapsed buildings cause by the earthquake in Port Au Prince, we designed single story classrooms with reinforced concrete block, 14 feet high ceilings with a zinc roof, and electrical connections for fans, lights, and outlets. In late fall, donors provided funds for the children to have annual physicals. For most, it was their first medical exam. Many thanks to Doctor Ray Ford who provided the medicine at his clinic and Doctor Eugene Maklin who performed the exams and treated the children for common abnormalities including head fungus, worms, parasites, and he selected 20 malnourished children for the enhanced food supplement (Medika Mamba) from Doctor Virgnia Wolff and the wonderful staff at Meds for Kids (MFK). After the cholera epidemic, Hands for Haiti provided education and medicine to all the villagers to help prevent another outbreak of this fast acting disease. Children would die in 4 or 5 hours after coming down with the symptoms. The good news is that it is preventable and easily treated through education and medicine also provided by Doctor Maklin. We now have 170 children in pre- school to 4 TH grade and will add 5th grade in September and 6 grade in the 2012 school year. This fall we will have 220 students and add 2 teachers In 2011, the Hands for Haiti Tremesse School was selected to receive meals from Stop Hunger Now through the help of Pam Carter and the good people at Providence United Methodist Church. This month, Mothering Across Continents (MAC) selected our school to receive 20 X/O laptops and training for a computer lab in our new school. A lady from Houston has donated books for all the students in our school which will allow us to submit for accreditation from the government. You see, it is like playing it forward. One good intention leads to another..Our goal is not to just have a school, but to have a good school where the children are healthy, receive a daily meal, and where they can learn to be creative and become the future leaders in Haiti. It has all come about because of people like you who have opened their hearts to people who are just asking for a chance. Most of the parents and grandparents were never able to attend school because of the costs. Our school is free and the parents are asked to help with “sweat equity” providing the cooking, cleaning, vegetables, security, and to give the children the history of their country. Every child deserves a chance, that is where we come in.

Thank you again for all your help,

Mark Creasser
Hands For Haiti