Late last week, protests erupted in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and in the northern city of Cap-Haitien, after the the government announced a price increase of 38 percent to 51 percent for gasoline, diesel and kerosene. U.S. State Department issued an alert Sunday urging its citizens on the island to shelter in place, and many flights have been cancelled and road are unsafe.
The situation in Haiti is dire and we feel it at the Have Faith Haiti Mission. Some of our older children were at summer jobs and got caught in the protests and could not get home. They slept at offices. Members of our staff were also caught in the disturbances and had to abandon cars and walk. Thankfully, now, all of our children and extended family are safe and on our premises. For the moment, our supplies will hold. But getting around is difficult and dangerous. Our children are being loved and watched over, which is our mission there, and we thank everyone for their inquiries and prayers.
Many beloved shops and restaurants frequented by our children for special occasions have been caught in the blazes set by protestors, and we pray for the safety and wellbeing of our community.
The spring 2018 edition of a beloved Have Faith Haiti Mission tradition.
With four categories of classes participating in this year’s spelling bee, we had more winners & three-way ties than ever before!
In our Junior Spelling Bee, which consisted of Primary 2 students, Ms. Cara couldn’t defeat competitors with words like, “isthmus,” “archipelago,” “igneous,” and “accurate.” After a nail-biting finish, Nickenson, Bettinie and Josue stood proudly as our three winners. Lorvens earned our runner-up title.
At our Intermediate level, comprised of Primary 4 students, Louvenson and Enolyka tied for first after correctly spelling words like, “adenosine triphosphate,” “Proterozoic,” “amniotes,” “Ordovician,” and “mitochondria.” Cinlove fought for, and won, the runner-up position.
In our Senior competition, the Collѐge 1 students confidently breezed through words like, “Taiga,” “Apatosaurus,” “Cenozoic,” and “Eocene.” Widley refused to hand over his title as reigning champ, yet Djouna and Appoloste wouldn’t settle for second. Results ended with another three-way tie. Bianka took home the runner-up title.
Our oldest class, comprised of Collѐge 2 students, competed for the Advanced title. Students refused to surrender to words like, “Chiroptera,” “stalagmites,” “Haplorhini,” “pachyderm,” and “Tertiary.” Unfortunately, Junie-Anna was eventually taken down with, “paradoxically,” making her our runner-up and giving Edney the winning title.
Each winner earned a shopping trip to the local market where they picked a prize of their choosing, including watches, bottles, toy cars, and sunglasses.
“There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.”
Those wise words from gardening expert Janet Kilburn Phillips are fitting as we are proud to share updates from our vegetable garden. Just look at beaming Widley and his recent spring harvest.
The vegetable garden at Have Faith Haiti grows lettuce, basil, cilantro, aloe, carrots, lettuce, onions, beans, peppers and zucchini.
Miss Gina and the kids built the garden beds together, marking the first gardening project at the Mission. While students including Enolyka, Cinlove, Gina, Josue, JU, Esterline, and Lengee are in the rotation to maintain a garden bed, Louvenson and Widley have particularly taken to tending the garden and have insisted on taking responsibility for a garden bed each.
It’s been a long road of patience, and learning from mistakes. With trial and error, and with each hurdle, the gardening team has learned and gotten smarter.
Lesson #1: Nutrients are Important
The beds were first installed in the fall of 2016. In school, the kids were also learning about the parts of plants and monitoring the plant growth helped our studies. But nothing sprouted at first! The garden needed composted soil to help the seeds sprout and thrive. The organic matter in composted soil releases vital nutrients into the soil and helps build the right soil consistency for air, water, and energy to pass through.
Lesson #2: Provide Cover
When the seeds finally did sprout, they were eaten by rats! An enclosure was built to keep away the rodents, and keep all planting strictly within where it’s best protected from the elements. With such a severe climate, the garden must be watered twice a day from the reservoir, filled weekly with purchased water. (There is no water/sewage system in Haiti). They will soon be collecting natural rain fall to make the garden even more self-sustainable.
Lesson #3: Get Immunized
After conquering the issues of nutritious soil and rodent infestations, the plants would grow but develop diseases due to small pests. Natural pesticides helped reduce the incidence of leaf miners, which caused a white fungus to grow. Lettuce master Widley explained his process for quality control:
Lesson #4: You Need Room to Grow
Carrots were the first to sprout, but the soil wasn’t deep enough, so they were only an inch or two in length. They also learned the hard way that the plantings were overcrowded, which also stunted growth. After adding more soil and spreading out the seeds and learning about crop rotation, the vegetables were able to thrive to fuller potential.
Lesson #5: Farm to Table
When Miss Gina began the gardening project, the importance of a nutritious diet and self-sustainability were important teaching goals. The kids regularly volunteer at a malnutrition clinic, where babies were dying due to a lack of proper nutrition, and the garden showed the way to solutions.
You know the old saying about “teaching a man to fish,” and regardless of their future financial situation, Miss Gina enforced the importance of knowing how to grow fresh produce.
One of the best bonuses? Learning to cook with the veggies! They have made salsa from the cilantro, pesto sauce from basil, zoodles (vegetable noodles) from the zucchini, and salads with the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.
It’s not just the meals that have been fulfilling—with every set back and every lesson, they improved and have come to cherish each harvest and the memories made by cooking dinner together.
A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust. — Gertrude Jekyll
Easter is always a special time at the Have Faith Haiti Mission – and not just because of the new spring outfits generously donated by individual sponsors. It’s a celebration of faith and renewal, of community and coming together.
Let’s start with a little fashion show, brought to you by Widley learning how to put on a tie:
Best dressed in their Easter best (but sorry, no bonnets!)
They shared a special moment releasing balloons to heaven, in remembrance of those loved and lost.
So much Easter basket fun, with thanks especially to Beaumont Health for the teddy bears, and beautiful greeting cards in Kreyol from Cardz for Kidz.
These baskets belong to our newest additions, and are their first Easter baskets.
And then the hunt began–for 400 eggs, that is. Yes. 400! Ready, set, go….
May we all be as excited as this happy bunny Manes (even before any sugar!)
Josue and Bianka found the golden eggs and were later treated to ice cream at Sugar Rush, an ice cream parlor and candy store in Pétionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince where Have Faith Haiti is located. They also showed off their moves as they posed just like the mannequins in nearby store windows.
But perhaps what they will remember the most is the Jelly Belly challenge. Weird and gross, or sweet and delicious? Who knows! But you quickly get a good idea of how they fared once you watch these answers to li bon?
Can you tell who got coconut and who got spoiled milk?
Due to safety concerns – and logistics – large group visits to the Have Faith Haiti Mission is a rare occurrence. But we were so glad to welcome a group of fifteen students from Springfield College, in Massachusetts, for an alternative spring break on a service trip in Haiti.
Choosing Port-au-Prince over Puerto Vallarta, students led by junior Kristen Madeia, senior Jordan Pelletier, and President Mary-Beth Cooper spent time learning, reading and playing with the kids of the Mission while also working on a painting project. Madeia told The Springfield Student (newspaper), “It completely changes your perspective on the privileges we have being American and growing up in this country, specifically thinking of children …We don’t necessarily take advantage of our education and value it as much as children in Haiti do. It’s interesting how the children down there really value what they are learning. They are so excited to go to school and to tell you what they are learning in comparison to kids here, who dread going to school every day and don’t take their education seriously.”
Make your check payable to “Have Faith Haiti Mission” and send to
Have Faith Haiti Mission
c/o A Hole in the Roof Foundation
29836 Telegraph Road
Southfield, MI 48034
Have Faith Haiti is operated by the A Hole in the Roof Foundation, a 501(c)(3) org (TAX ID# 27-0609504). Donations are tax deductible.
About the Mission
The Have Faith Haiti Mission is a special place of love and caring, dedicated to the safety, education, health and spiritual development of Haiti’s impoverished children and orphans. You can learn more here.
