The End of Summer 2016

We had an amazing summer here at Tree of Hope Haiti (TOHH). Thank you all for following us through social media and sharing your comments throughout the summer. It has been very encouraging to us when people respond to what we are posting or sharing via the internet!

Last Sunday, we said goodbye to our long-term missionary Cassandra Clemente. Thankfully she has her next trip scheduled this coming January 2017 to lead our 1st Sponsorship/Holiday Team so it was a little bit easier to let her go. Cassandra had fueled the beginnings of our 1st TOHH Summer Camp Program that turned into such a success we know it must continue each year. We can't say enough about how much it means to our staff here in Haiti and our partners abroad for all the amazing work Cassandra did to help our kids have an enriched summer full of learning and fun. 

As summer camp came to a close, Djimmy had some help from Claude cleaning up the walls and putting a fresh coat of paint on the Guesthouse. They worked for three days painting the inside and outside of the TOHH Guesthouse. It is looking fresh!

 

In Haiti every student who attends school is required to wear a uniform. Every school has a different style and color but one thing is the same...they are hand tailored. This week, we had our kids arrive at Mission of Hope School for measurements, it takes time and patience but they got them all done. Every TOHH sponsored child get's two uniforms made, a backpack, school books and school supplies like pencils and notebooks. These kids are excited to start school September 5th! We will keep you posted with 1st day of school photo's.

 

We still have people coming to our TOHH office asking to register their child for sponsorship. This week we added three new children to our website. James-Ley Pascal is one of them. He lives with his mom, dad and 2 brothers in a plywood house and cement floor. His mom and dad both are unemployed. They do not have money coming in to pay for their children to go to school. James-Ley turns 5 years old this October. If you are interested in helping James-Ley get an education, click on this link through pure charity to find TOHH's children.  https://www.purecharity.com/james-ley-pascal

James-Ley Pascal

Even though Cassandra went back to America she continues to help TOHH. This week she put together our Sponsorship letters written by their children! 

 The letters went out in the mail this past Saturday! If you are a sponsor, please keep your eye out in the mail for a very special letter from your child! TOHH's sponsorship program is dedicated to keep our sponsor's connected to their child. We thank our sponsors for their investment in these children's education and future!!

Have you ever wanted to come on a mission trip to Haiti? We’re forming a team to come to TOHH January 1st - 8th 2017!

Cassandra Clemente will be leading this trip and organizing group meetings in America prior to visiting TOHH! This is a very special time of year to spend in Haiti. It is also an amazing opportunity to spend quality time with the children! During this trip, we plan on having a Christmas celebration with the children in our TOHH program! We will be planning lots of fun holiday activities as well, such as baking with the children, movie nights, and more!
The projects we do throughout the week will depend on how many people decide to join the trip. The more, the merrier! We extend this invitation to family and friends that would like to join the trip as well. We do know that we will include excursions to the children’s homes, where you will be able to meet their families, see their homes, and learn about what goes on in their day-to-day life. We are also offering the option of participating in home improvement projects, or a build-a-home project for an additional cost. Home improvements projects may include building tables, beds, chairs, and more. Our team will also be doing lots of fun activities, such as a beach trip!
Deposits for this trip would need to be collected but the end of September. The first deposit is $125 per person, which includes a t-shirt that we request you wear on travel day. The balance due for the guesthouse fee is $450 per person and will be due by the end of November. This includes three meals a day, travel to and from the airport, housing, and operation costs. The only additional cost is the plane flight to Haiti.
Click on this link to learn more about preparing for a trip to Haiti:
http://treeofhopehaiti.org/volunteers/preparing-for-a-trip/
We are excited to know if you, your family and/or your friends are interested in joining this trip! If so, feel free to email treeofhopehaiti@gmail.com ! We would love to know if you are interested by September 7, 2016


Stay updated with all we are doing here at Tree of Hope Haiti through social media! Have a blessed week!

Facebook: Tree of Hope Haiti
Twitter: @treeofhopehaiti
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TOHH Summer Camp - Week Seven

With our summer camp program coming to an end, we had a super busy week here at TOHH! We had three days of summer camp, and then a celebration for our sponsored children!

On Monday, the children were hard at work practicing their song for the celebration.

They also were working on another song - Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes! They knew it in Creole, but this time they learned it in English!









The older children were doing work in their notebooks. They were working on translating short sentences from Creole to English, and from English to Creole! They have learned so much!










On Monday, we also had a busy day at the TOHH office! We had twins, Nathalie and Nathacha come by to write letters for their sponsor. Aren't they just the cutest?!

On Tuesday, the children worked on subtraction! They glued hands to paper, but did not glue the fingers. They could bend the fingers to do their subtraction facts. This was a fun activity for everyone, and even the smallest of children were understanding!







Wednesday was our last day of summer camp. The kids all came and enjoyed fun last-day activities! First, they did a compliment game! Each child's name was put into a bag. Then each child picked another child out of the bag and wrote a compliment on their paper. The kids had so much fun doing this, and they were all trying to guess who wrote their compliment!






The kids also played balloon tag! This was definitely one of the kids' favourite activities! They each tied a balloon to their leg, and had to run around popping other people's balloons!

On Thursday, we spent the day preparing for our end-of-summer-camp celebration at Tree of Hope Haiti! It was a huge team effort! Our kitchen staff worked so hard preparing a delicious meal for everyone, and several of the kids helped set up tables, chairs, tablecloths, and flowers!







The party was a huge success! The children showed their parents what they have been learning this summer. To the right, you can see Donaldoni reading the date and weather in English!










Didi, Angello, and Emmanuel showed everyone how they could answer "Good Morning," "How are you," "What is your name," and "How old are you" in English!







The children also performed their song, "Lean on Me" for the guests! They did such an amazing job! Check out the video of this on Facebook!

After that, Cassandra spoke with the guests about how much she loved working with the children in the summer program! Gama also spoke about the summer program and plans for the upcoming school year!

Lastly, Cassandra handed out t-shirts to the children that she had used as a fundraiser for her trip! The kids loved the shirts! Here is a picture of Linedialine receiving her shirt!





You may have seen a preview of the TOHH tree our kids have been working on. It was finished and displayed at the party! It came out so beautiful! Check it out!

On Friday, the kids had one last movie night - they watched Shark Tale!







They thought this movie was just the funniest, especially when they saw dancing fish!













This weekend, Cassandra left to return to America after staying with us for the summer to run our summer camp program. We are so thankful for everything she has done, and we can't wait for the next time she comes back!

This week, we did a house visit to Wilberto's house! We had so much fun telling his family he now has a sponsor! Thank you so much to Jennifer, who is helping Wilberto continue his education here in Haiti! Check out the video on Facebook of TOHH revealing Wilberto's sponsorship!

This week, we also wrapped up our backpack drive! Over 80 backpacks we donated to us to distribute to our children here in the mountains - how amazing is that?! Thank you so much to everyone was donated! The children will be so grateful to receive these, and be prepared for the upcoming school year.

Our vehicle also arrived in the Miami shipping yard this week! We want to say a huge thank you to Gama's cousin Ticker, Robert Heald (who drove the vehicle to Florida from Massachusetts), and Angela's dad Dean Boudreau (who packed the vehicle)! It was definitely a team effort! We are praying for a safe boat voyage and release out of customs in Haiti.









What a successful week!! Stay updated with all we are doing here at Tree of Hope Haiti through social media! Have a blessed week!

Facebook: Tree of Hope Haiti
Twitter: @treeofhopehaiti
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TOHH Summer Camp - Week Six!

Our kids are having so much fun, and learning so much during summer camp! They are so proud to share with you all the work they've been doing!

On Monday, we started a project with the kids, that we will have ready for the end of camp. One of our children, Emmanuel, was tasked with tracing the TOHH logo on a piece of banner paper. He is so artistic and loved doing this!







Then, we had each child choose a color and place their handprint on the tree! Tree of Hope Haiti believes that "one seed sown produces a harvest of many." These children are the fruit of the TOHH tree, and we are so proud of each and every one of them!







On Tuesday, the kids learned adjectives! They have been working so hard learning the verb "to be," so now, using their adjectives, they are able to form short sentences in English! How exciting is that?!

On Wednesday, the children started using their new English words to write sentences. They chose their favourite animal, and wrote three sentences about it! They did such an amazing job! Here you can see that Penthia wrote three sentences about her goat "She is nice," "She is smart" and "She is a girl!"



The younger kids worked on writing their names, as they cannot yet write sentences. They are very artistic and their drawings are beautiful!










On Thursday, the older and younger children split up into two groups. The older children read two books. The first one was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? They caught on so fast to this story. They were able to understand, even though it was in English! The second book they read was One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Some of our most advanced children, Widleson, Emmanuel, and Donaldoni helped translate and read the story to the class in Creole!

During this time the younger children read the story Rooster's Off to See The World. The children read the book in French, which is called Le Coq Qui Voulait Voyager. This book helped them practice their subtraction skills.

On Friday, the children read another story: The Giving Tree! After that, they split up into groups. The older children got to create a superhero and write three sentences about their superhero. They really got into this, and were even playing superheroes outside during free time!

Meanwhile, the younger children learned a new song: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes! They had already learned the song in Creole, so now it was time to learn it in English.



On Saturday, the children in the community came for a movie night! They just love movies! Today, we watched The Incredibles. The looks on their faces are so joyful, as they laughed at all the silly parts :)

This week, we visited three homes. The first home is a TOHH home built by Team Vitello in August 2015. You may remember this house, because we visited them on July 13th, and posted an update about the family.










During that visit, the mother told us she was six months pregnant. When we checked in on them this week, she told us that she had had her baby on July 18th - just five days after we visited the first time! She told us that she had her baby at home all by herself.

The second home we visited was Terravil's house. We have gone to see this family before because Terravil's sister, Berlandie, was sponsored. This week, Terravil was sponsored, so we went to tell his family the good news! If you would like to see the video of us revealing his sponsorship, click this link!

TOHH Reveals Terravil's Sponsorship!

This week, we were also blessed to have two of our child sponsors come visit us here in Haiti: Chelle and Carleen!

Chelle sponsors Didi and Demas, and Carleen sponsors Dodo and Ketlove. The children were so excited to spend time with their sponsors, and open up some presents!

Cassandra helped the children show Carleen and Chelle all the hard work they've been doing in class. The kids loved this and were so proud of themselves!










The third home we went to belonged to our two sponsored twin girls, Nathalie and Nathacha! They live with their mom and dad, along with an older sister and brother. Their parents were so full of joy to have us stop by! When we entered their yard, we saw that they had a new swing to play on - how fun! All the kids enjoy playing with this :)

Lastly, we visited a new store that just opened here in our community! Up in the mountains, there are often few stores and people must travel down into the town to buy necessities. Having a store in our area is hugely convenient for our community. Here, you can buy rice, flour, oil, magi, macaroni, and more! We have been watching this store be built for the past month and we are happy that it's now up and running! This really the development of our community.

 We love sharing with you all we are doing here at Tree of Hope Haiti! Don't forget to like, comment, and share! We will also be posting updates daily on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! Have a blessed week!

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Twitter: @treeofhopehaiti