Haiti Update!!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving...we all have so much to be thankful for.  As you are aware, for personal reasons, I did not join the group when they went to Port au Prince this past September.  I will be traveling with them this February (February 19 - 26) and want to take this opportunity to update those who gave such generous donations, and to those who might still be interested in supporting our efforts.

The people of the Croix de Mission Church and its neighborhood in Port au Prince, Haiti, have benefited greatly from your gifts.  This past September our team employed neighborhood men to help us repair the walls of five earthquake-damaged homes in the village, to reinforce the church foundation we began in February 2009, and to fill the foundation with 300 cubic yards of gravel.  The concrete floor was poured after our team left this past September.  Each day during that visit, 110 people were fed a hot lunch, which contained meat (not something this community is able to provide to their families due to lack of money.)

Our team had expected to erect metal trusses and put a metal roof on the church in September, but after the earthquake, new building codes required an improved foundation.  To see pictures and read a blog from the September work group, visit:  http://www.croixdesmission.blogspot.com/.

The friendliness, faith, and patience of the members of the Croix de Mission Community are remarkable under any circumstances, but in the dire state of Port au Prince at this time, they are truly a miracle.  Nearly all the surviving homes have structural damage.  Some families do not eat every day, and no one in the neighborhood has a job (and NOT for lack of wanting one!)

Now cholera and other diseases endanger the people of Haiti.  We pray that the government and volunteers can stave off this horrid danger.  Meanwhile, our team remains faithful to our promise to arrive in February to finish building the Croix des Mission Methodist Church so it can be used to serve the neighborhood not only as a place to worship, but also as a temporary medical clinic and a school for the children.

Please follow my blog while we are away - February 19 - 26, 2011 - http://haititales2010.blogspot.com/.  And if you haven't already, please consider supporting our work in this impoverished country.  A little goes a long way and is appreciated more than you could imagine.  Thank you in advance for your support and Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Donate toward the cost of roof construction for the Church ($25,000)
Donate toward the cost of repairing badly-damaged homes in Croix de Mission ($5,000)
Donate toward the cost of feeding the hungry community we are working with ($2,000)

You can make you tax deductible check payable to:  Lebanon Methodist Church.  Please mail to me, Robin Caissie, 986B Route 12A, Plainfield, NH 03781.