TOHH Updates: April 2017

Saturday, April 29, 2017

April 2017: Milestones

Thank you for making April a success at Tree of Hope Haiti in Grand Goâve! We are very excited to share with you all that has happened in the last month!

Evando loved his cake and gift from his sponsor, Melissa!

Each month, we have several children that celebrate their birthdays! This month, we celebrated Evando, Diacle, David, Didine, Waljince, and D'Haity!

Waljince is so happy to celebrate his birthday!

The children came to our TOHH Guesthouse in Haiti where they sang "Happy Birthday" (in English and French!), ate cake, and opened a present.

Didine thanks her sponsor, Chelle, for her present!

In Haiti, children may not know their birthday and, if they do, it is not celebrated. Thank you for allowing us to celebrated our sponsored children's birthdays!

Happy Birthday Flantorge!

Happy Birthday Kattia!

This month, we also had some staff and missionaries celebrate birthdays, including Kattia (our kitchen manager), Flantorge (Haiti Side Sponsorship Coordinator), Cassandra (our summer camp coordinator), and Alicia (the missionary teacher)!

(Left to right): Mama Jo, Angela, Nyah, Gama, Papa Drex)

We love having visitors at our TOHH Guesthouse in Haiti! This April, Mama Jo and Papa Drex came to visit! Gama and Angela lived with the at the MOHI Guesthouse in 2013, while were building the Hands and Feet Project.

The two barrels are on their way!

We are also so grateful for the all those who support our mission stateside! A huge thank you to the Erving Evangelical Church for shipping two barrels to Haiti!

Gemima (and her mother) are
so excited that Gemima is sponsored!

Laurie Lianna comes to our
office to learn she is sponsored!

Each time a child gets sponsored, we are so excited! As the children come to our TOHH office in Haiti to sign up for the sponsorship program, we learn their stories, the challenges they are faced with, and their hopes for the future. We love what we do everyday, and that we are able to call children to our office to tell them that they have been sponsored to continue their education. Just in the past month, sixteen children were sponsored to continue their education! The children's names are Gemima, Wilda, Cherlie, John Peter, Johnsley, Woodeline, Wideline, Christina, Wadley, Stephanie, Louidemia, Onèse, Gilberta, Ecclesiaste, Taloundia, and Julien. Thank you!!

Cassandra frosts the
cupcakes for our celebration!

A special thank you to Charlie's Project for sponsoring eleven of these children! Thanks to you, we have officially reached 100 sponsored children! We announce this milestone during our (first ever!) Facebook Live - check out the link here: http://www.facebook.com/
Treeofhopehaiti/videos/632007643667384. We even made cupcakes and juice for the occasion. We are so happy about this milestone, and we are very excited for what the future holds for our child sponsorship program!

Taloundia, our 100th sponsored child!

This April, we were also able to give food to families in need.

The first child to receive food was Mirlanda. We met 14-year-old Mirlanda when she attended the women's conference that Team Good News held in the mountains. She does not have any parents, and she has been living with a different family member each time we visit her. She dropped out of school two years ago after sixth grade. Now, she is able to continue her education. Not only this, but Mirlanda's sponsor sent food for her this month. We are so grateful for our TOHH Child Sponsors, that care so deeply about their children.

Mirlanda is very grateful for her sponsor!

Taking the food home!

Next, we distributed food to Delcom, the mother or one of our sponsored children, Steph Dony. Delcom is severely malnourished, and the only adult caring for Steph Dony. Each month we have been weighing her and finding that she has not gained weight, despite being given additional food. This month, we gave her vegetables, butter, Magi (spice), and beans for protein. We hope this will help her gain weight and strength.

Delcom and her son, Steph Dony with their food.

We also gave food to the Jelin Family this month. As part of their sponsorship and school tuition, the children receive one meal each day at school. This may be the only meal they eat during the day. Since the children have school vacation in April, some of them may go hungry. This family has ten children, and their parents are often not around.

These kids are so happy to receive food! The will have full, happy bellies when they get home!

Nathan is so happy to receive peanut butter!

Thanks to your donations of non-perishable food items, we were able to give them pasta, chicken, canned chili, tomato sauce, peanut butter, jelly, and Magi.

Pete and Claude carry their food home.

We visited their house shortly after we gave them the food, and found everyone with their bellies full!

During their school vacation week, we also had an Easter Program with the children!

During the first day of the program, we invited the sponsored children to the TOHH Guesthouse for Easter activities. The kids sang, listened to the Easter story, and tried to guess what which items were in Easter eggs, based on the story. Lastly, the children did an egg hunt! We hid Easter eggs outside, and had the children find them all - they were so excited to find the eggs and the candy inside!

Nathan takes his eggs home.

On Good Friday, we invited the sponsored children, as well as some community children, come decorate eggs! This is something they have never experienced before. They were mesmerised by the tablets of dye dissolving in the vinegar. Some of the kids got creative and even tried making their eggs multi-colored!

Berlandie's eggs match her dress!

After dyeing the eggs, the children were allowed to choose toys to take home! These toys were brought to Haiti as donations, and many of them were on the box truck that arrived at the end of March. The kids were so happy!

Choosing new toys!

As part of the Easter Program, we also held a movie night for the children where we showed an Easter film.

The kids always love when we give out popcorn during the movie!

Albidus untangles his kite.

During Easter weekend, many people in Haiti also fly kites!

Our staff made their own kites!

We found some of our sponsored children flying kites outside. Our staff also made some beautiful kites!

We're also getting ready for our 2nd Annual TOHH Meet and Greet! This event is open to the public, and we'd love to see you there!

Our 2nd Annual TOHH Meet and Greet will be held June 9th, 2017 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. It will be held at the Hope Chapel in Sterling, MA. RSVP on Facebook here: https://web.facebook.com/events/141098696421471/

Come meet with Gama and Angela as they share the progress TOHH has made in the past year and our vision for the future! We will have food, info booths, an annual presentation, raffles, and an opportunity to hear about how TOHH has impacted the lives of those involved with our mission. We will also be sharing how you can get involved whether it be through coming on a mission trip, sponsoring a child, building a home, helping fund a water project, or partnering with TOHH through monthly support.

Thank you for an incredible month! Stay updated on what's happening in Haiti and in the US by following us on social media:

TOHH Website: www.treeofhopehaiti.org
Facebook: Tree of Hope Haiti
Twitter: @treeofhopehaiti
Instagram: @treeofhopehaiti
To donate to TOHH, please click here: http://treeofhopehaiti.org/donations/

TOHH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Would you like to come on a mission trip to Haiti?

We would love to have you volunteer for one week (or more) at TOHH in Grand Goâve!

Holiday Sponsorship Trip 2017:

December 27, 2017 - January 3, 2018

We currently have spots available on the Holiday Sponsorship 2017 Team! This team will be doing a variety of activities with the sponsored children! These include home visits to the children's homes, crafts, baking, a holiday party, a hike, a trip to the beach, and a possible home improvement project (additional cost, to be discussed at pre-trip meetings).

This team will have pre-trip meetings before traveling to Haiti. The cost of each trip is as follows:

$125 - Deposit (includes the cost of a TOHH shirt that we request you wear on travel day)

$450 - TOHH Guesthouse Fee (includes three meals/day, housing, transport to and from the airport in Haiti, and operations costs)

Flights - Purchased by each volunteer at a pre-trip meeting

If you'd like to join the trip, please fill out an application form here: http://treeofhopehaiti.org/volunteers/application

For more information about preparing for a trip to Haiti, follow this link: http://treeofhopehaiti.org/volunteers/preparing-for-a-trip/

Would you like to lead your own team to Haiti?

Are you a church or school group? TOHH accepts missionary teams of 6 - 24 people. One you have a team forming, contact us to request dates and begin preparing your team for Haiti. To submit your request for a one- to two-week trip, please email us at info@treeofhopehaiti.org.

Sunday, April 2, 2017

March 2017: Serving our Community

March was a very busy month at TOHH! We are very grateful for everything we were able to accomplish!

Saintai takes a photo with her cake!

March was filled with birthdays! Several of the sponsored children celebrated birthdays in March; Dodo, Javensley, Marie Flore, Saintai, Terravil, and Willy!

Happy Birthday Marie Flore!

In Haiti, children may or may not know their birthday and, if they do, they rarely celebrate it.

Thank you to the Erving Evangelical Church
for sponsoring Javensley! He had a very happy birthday!!

We are so happy that, because of your support and donations, we are able to throw a small party for each of our sponsored children on their birthdays!

Dodo loved his cake! He finished almost
the entire piece before we could get a picture!

They absolutely love coming to TOHH for a cake and presents! The children will most often come in their best clothes, and with a new haircut.

A very happy birthday to Terravil!

How adorable are they with their cakes and presents?!

This family will eat well for the next month

We are so grateful for all that our child sponsors do for their children as well as their children's families. In March, Brenda decided to purchase food for her sponsored child Sonson's family.

Bringing the food home!

Sonson's mother is very malnourished and, as a result, is very weak and also anemic. TOHH does pay for her to be seen by a doctor monthly and for medication, but what better way to give her strength than by providing food!

Sonson's mother (left)

A very big thank you to Brenda for not only providing Sonson with access to an education, but also for blessing his mother with food to help her gain strength and live longer.

As many of you may know, Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti in October 2016. Many animals died during the hurricane, creating shortages and raising prices of animals significantly.

Several sponsors chose to give a goat to their sponsored child or children as a Christmas gift. After Hurricane Matthew, it became extremely difficult for us to find goats for sale at reasonable prices.

The Julien Family, with their two new goats!
Thank you, Chelle and Carleen!

Berlandie's goat is a little camera shy!

During the month of March, we were able to start finding goats for the children. So far, 18 goats were purchased for children whose sponsors sent money for a goat. Four goats remain.

Linedialine loves her goat! Thank you, Annastina!

The following children received goats in March; Berlandie, Joanette, Loudia, Peterson V., Rose Berline, Jude, Ketlove, Francois, Javensley, Willy, Dodo, Didi, Linedialine, Terravil, Demas, Emmanuel, Simonia, and Marley.

Peterson with his new goat! Thank you, Leslie!

A huge thank you to those who purchased a goat for their sponsored child for Christmas! Many families lost some, if not all, of their livestock during Hurricane Matthew. Your gift means more now than ever!

We love the creative idea that Drew and Paige used to collect donations for TOHH! This year, instead of asking for presents on their birthdays, they asked for TOHH donations! They collected cake mix, powdered sugar, baking soda, frosting, candles, and food coloring which we will use to make cakes for our sponsored children's birthdays. Thank you Drew and Paige! Because of you, a child in Haiti will have a very happy birthday!

Team Becker College from Be Like Brit

In March, we were very happy to have Team Becker College from Be Like Brit come tour the TOHH Guesthouse in Haiti! Thanks for all the amazing work you are doing for our community and the children of Haiti!

Sarah interviews Jared while Ben films
footage for TOHH promo videos!

We are so excited to be working on TOHH promo videos! A big thank you to Ben Mertzic for all the hard work he is doing in organizing and creating these videos. IWe spent an afternoon at Good News Bible Church in Wilton, NH, doing interviews that will be used in these videos. We interviewed several members of Team Good News, including Rick and Megan Robichaud, Megan Sones, Kelly LaPrade, Peter Vitello, and Jared Vitello. We also interviewed Cassandra Clemente, Sarah and Jon Vitello, and three of their children, Ethan, Riley, and Emeryn Vitello. Thank you to everyone that came to do an interview!

This family receives food!

Marie VeDean with her adorable new dress!

Also in March we were able to give out donations of clothes, blankets, and food to our community. They were so grateful! Thank you so much to Angie Sones for the blankets! Another thank you to Bruce and Anita Bevis for the clothes donations! A big thank you to the Erving Evangelical Church for sending food donations! Our community thanks you!

Our community is so grateful to receive blankets!

The box truck has arrived!

On March 23rd, our box truck arrived in Haiti!! We were so happy to receive it, and unpack all that was inside. With the box truck came tables, chairs, a generator, food, clothes, shoes, toys, construction supplies, and more to help us serve our community!

Time to unpack!

Thank you to everyone involved in making this project a success, including Alan Roseberry for donating your company truck to TOHH, Dean Boudreau, Dale Kandoll, and everyone else who helped pack the truck, and Robert Heald for driving the truck to Florida!

Damaniel receives toys, and more!

Several sponsors sent gifts for their sponsored children on the box truck. Damaniel and Terravil were so happy to open their gifts, and to know their sponsors were thinking of them. Thank you Joanna and Lauren!

Terravil is so thankful for his new clothes, parachute toy, and plane toy!

At the end of March, we also had Cassandra arrive in Haiti! Cassandra will be working with our Child Sponsorship Program (Haiti Side), since the program has grown from 25 to 85 children in just one year!

Thank you to much to everyone that made the month of March a success! We could not do what we do at TOHH without you!! Stay updated with what's happening in Haiti and in America by following TOHH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

TOHH Website: www.treeofhopehaiti.org
Facebook: Tree of Hope Haiti
Twitter: @treeofhopehaiti
Instagram: @treeofhopehaiti
To donate to TOHH, please click here: http://treeofhopehaiti.org/donations/

TOHH ANNOUNCEMENTS:

TOHH has a new phone number! We can now be reached at (857) 302 - 0817.

Did you know that TOHH has a wishlist on Amazon Smile? Check it out here: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/36SQPA9V5JAP2/ref=cm_wl_list_o_0

Mackenson's Recovery

In December 2016, one of our workers, Mackenson, had a horrible accident while working on the third floor roof of the TOHH Guesthouse. While using a heavy mallet to remove 2x4s from the roof, he overexerted his swing and gravity pulled him to the ground. It was a true miracle that he hit the retaining wall around the second floor, which slowed his fall and flipped him around. Mackenson fell on his face, broke his jaw, and lost almost all his teeth.

Gama, being trained as an EMT, was able to instruct the other workers to transport Mackenson into a vehicle. Gama then drove him to a hospital in Grand Goave, where injures were assessed and pain medications were given. They then continued on to Port-au-Prince where, after five hospitals, they finally found one that would admit Mackenson. In Haiti a hospital will not admit a patient unless there is a doctor present willing to work on them, and unless the cost is paid for upfront.

We are thankful to God that Mackenson survived this fall, and with minimal injuries. After breaking his jaw, he was not able to eat on his own and needed a Nasogastric (NG) feeding tube. Mackenson had a successful surgery to reconstruct his jaw. Just before Christmas, he was released from the hospital and spent the holiday with his family. Soon after, his feeding tube was removed and he began a liquid diet with some soft foods. He is recovering and doing well, and he continues to tell us how grateful he is to be alive.

The hospital that Mackenson was admitted to has taken very good care of him because we have been able to pay. For Mackenson's recovery, TOHH has paid $5,000. His life is very important to us, and we will do anything we can for him. He is twenty-three years old and has a two-year-old bay girl at home. We will do anything we can to help him recover.

Please share Mackenson's story and help us raise awareness and funds for his recovery. If you would like to contribute to Mackenson's medical expenses, follow this donation link and write "Mackenson's Recovery" in the memo: http://treeofhopehaiti.org/donations/ On behalf of Mackenson, his family, and TOHH, thank you!!