Happy New Year!!
Thank you so much for your support and encouragement for ECHO Haiti this year. With your gifts we have been able to accomplish so much. Here are some highlights:
We were able to dig and install a new septic system for the orphanage. In the picture below, the area between the cookhouse and the main building was flooded and filled with green, slimy water. The previous system was overflowing and backing up in their shower and cook area. This was not only unsightly, but incredibly unsanitary. This pictures shows the area after the repairs. Aslo the septic was moved further away from the cook area.
· We have been able to purchase a large propane tank (seen in the picture) propane for cooking. This is beyond a convenience. Using charcoal on a daily basis is dangerous because the little kids risk getting burned form the hot ashes that get dumped or left behind, and the constant smoke from charcoal cooking is bad for our workers and kids.
Our school continues to grow and serve children from the city of Bon Repos. Without your gifts, these children would not have a chance to attend school. Our school now serves 96 children. Not only does this provide hope for them, but it provides jobs for teachers, which extends hope to those families. Your donations are echoing throughout the city of Bon Repos. Below is a picture of your school’s staff and the children. One of the teachers has come from our orphanage. She teaches the young children in the mornings and continues with her schooling in the afternoons, and then helps with night duties at the orphanage.
With your generous help, we have been able to send four students to school outside of our school. We have not been able to expand our school beyond sixth grade yet, and these students were ready to move on. They are so happy and proud to be able to continue with their studies.
This year we also have increased our food budget. These kids are growing strong and more kids are coming into the orphanage. We felt it crucial to increase the food budget so that they could get ample amounts of protein, vegetables and staple food products.
Thanks to you, we have been able to accomplish so much, but we still have a lot to do. For next year, we have a few major goals.
Raise $13,000 to build shower and bathroom facilities. Currently our 35 kids have 2 showers and 2 toilets. One of the showers is outside and offers no privacy, picture to the right.
Raise $14,000 to create a more sanitary cookhouse, provide animal proof and storm proof food storage, and create a dining area where all of the children can sit together and eat.
Raise $145,000 to purchase the land that is next to the orphanage. With this purchase, we would be able to expand the school. 96 school kids simply do not fit into the 1,000 square foot building that we created years ago. We also desperately need to provide better housing for our orphanage. The kids are growing so quickly and simply do not fit in their small house anymore. Also, as our kids become teenagers, we are afraid that there is not enough separation between the males and females. It is crucial that we have more land to be able to add on to the current orphanage house and create the proper amount of space. The land will provide plenty of space for these improvements and will also allow for a vegetable garden and ample recreation space.
We pray that you will continue to support our mission and help amplify hope for these young people, the city of Bon Repos, and the country of Haiti.
Please consider helping us out with our current projects! Our main goal is building the Bathroom and cook house, if you are donating toward building please put “building and land” in the memo! Thank You in advance!!