November 2024

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The hospital is now open.  Haiti did not seem to see much in the way of infections earlier but is once again predicted to see a large spike.  This building was built in partnership with Christian Aid Ministries in anticipation that the virus would cause much pain and suffering in the poor country.  It is separated from our conventional hospital to allow us to isolate any patients with COVID symptoms.

This summer we are trying a new technique to help some of the most deeply poverty affected individuals.  For the pregnant women and very young children, we started purchasing five gallon buckets and filling them with packaged foods that can last a month or more without refrigeration.  The buckets protect the food and are greatly sought after by locals for use after they are empty.

We have been blessed with the opportunity to feed the school children for some time now, however it was brought to our attention that some parents had safety concerns about sending young children to the school to get lunch every day while school was not in session.  With the maternity feeding program working very well, we are trying a similar program where students are issued a smaller bucket and they or a family member can return it each week to be re-filled with one week's supply of food. 

Pastor Edmo (lead pastor) recently reported that the churches continue to see growth.  In June, Pastor sent us several videos of the church in Lasill holding their annual conference.  In the picture above, the original LaColline church is holding their conference(April).  Pastor Edmo thanked us for the new fans as well as the funds from Christian Aid Ministries that allowed him to purchase literature that has been used in the church, school, and hospital to spread the Gospel.  

Christian Aid Ministries granted us a supply of food to distribute to the elderly population of LaColline for a six month period.  I was able to witness a distribution day first-hand this spring.  We went into some very remote parts of the country to pass out food supplies to some of the most needy.  While there, Dr Fara would examine some of the elderly.

There are so many things happening right now.  We have been converting to more solar power and less fossil fuel power over time, as funds are available.  We still need some more help to complete the hospital conversion. 

On a totally different note, we are trying to set an example of using our resources wisely by planting fruit trees on vacant land.  The above picture was some of the bananas that have been recently harvested on SonLight's property.

As we left for the trip, we knew things could be difficult with the increasing unrest, and just the amount of work that we had planned.  We also knew that no matter how well planned the trip was, there would be unexpected events.  We were not disappointed in this, however, God's faithfulness came through yet again.  We spent a week going from one impossible situation to another, yet as we left, we looked back to an amazing week.

Meeting with our on-site, day to day leaders, we were just so pleased to hear how well things were being operated.  The school was in full swing, student learning was remarkable, students were being fed, and the only things that need our help had to do with the terrible economic conditions.  Students continue to struggle to pay for their education.  We will be updating our sponsorship program soon and will be trying to get the word out about how to help.

The hospital reported continued smooth operation.  We got involved in the building of needed facilities for our soon to be arriving full time dentist and new doctor, who will be joining our current staff.  We were expecting to have a licensed pharmacist as well but due to complications with the Covid virus, she will not be joining our staff this year.  While I could spend hours on the details of the reports we were given, I can summarize by saying that we were very pleased with the vision and direction that our leadership have for the hospital.

While we were not able to attend a church service, Loren and Jared were able to meet with lead Pastor Edmo.  Edmo gave a similar report to the one given in June 2019, the church is growing spiritually and physically.  He explained that many of the longer-term members have left the country with the economic situation being so acute but that even with the large numbers leaving, more people are joining than have left.  While this is a great situation, it does lead to some minor issues.  One of the issues we had hoped to help them with was the building of 20 new benches to hep them with room for all the attendees to sit during the service.  Due to the craziness of the week, we were only able to get 10 benches done but were able to provide materials for them to build another 10 benches.  They would like to remodel the building in order to provide more space for community events. 

Loren and Jared were able to meet with director Pompe.  Mr Pompe took over for Mr. Frisno several months prior but this was the first time any of the board members were able to meet him.  While we have always appreciated the excellent work of Mr. Frisno, the energy level and fresh look at things that Mr Pompe has brought was very exciting to see.  Mr. Pompe shared with us some excellent thoughts he has for future progress.  Some of the ideas will need to be put on hold until more funding is available, but many of the the suggestions he has implemented already.  We are watching progress with great excitement. 

Anyone that works in Haiti can attest to the severe poverty that can be found there.  While poverty is an ongoing issue, inflation, riots, and Covid-19 have really exasperated the situation.  We had seen a growth in economic stability over our years of work in the area, however the last few years have been steps backwards.  We have also seen a decrease in partner organizations participation, mainly due to the political unrest.  In the past, some of the partners have helped us provide meals and packaged foods that were distributed to locals.  We have taken over as much of this responsibility as possible, feeding thousands of meals every month.  While this is much appreciated and needed, there are many needs that we see that we would like to address, specifically providing meals for pregnant women and new mothers/infants.