Well, it's our last night in Haiti...  our team is reflecting on the amazing experiences they've had this week and preparing for the return back into the world of America. They've been processing the sharp contrasts between the two all week. 

In the morning, we headed back to the Bercy campus to work on the greenhouse project. After three days of packing dirt in bags and planting topsoil, it can get easy to lose sight of the big vision of the greenhouse project. Yet, today, there were thousands of seeds planted and amazingly, the avocado seeds we planted on Monday had started to sprout already today. It was an excellent reminder that we're not just planting seeds; we're laying the foundation for thousands of trees. We planted mahogany, coconut, citrus trees, acacia, palm, mangos, teak, neem, cedar, avocado and more in the past few days. At the end of our time today, we had planted 6,800 trees!  The teamwork, determination and fierce work ethic of our group is the only way that was accomplished. While we set a crazy goal of 10,000 trees, we would have easily accomplished that goal except for the realities of Haiti. One of our biggest obstacles is the fact that we had 8 team members daily dedicated to digging up and sifting through topsoil. When we arrived, we found out that would also be part of our task. Yet, it's Haiti, and those things happen quite often. Next week, that Haitian agronomy team will take over the rest of the project and work toward completion. 

I've attached a number of pictures to give you a window into our experiences today. 

Todd

These pics should give you a pretty good window into our day today. Our team will have plenty of details to share with you regarding the story behind the pictures. 

As you look at the pictures, each and every team member is genuinely filthy dirty. This is how we've looked each of the past three days.  Being covered in dirt is a natural outcome of the hard work our team has been doing each day. Every day we become more efficient, as we strive to reach our goals. There is no quit in this team, only genuine love for one another, the Haitian people, and a passion for reaching our goals. 

As you look through the pics, you will see our bag packing process, which is done out in the Haitian sun. You will see a team digging up topsoil, which is mixed with compost and manure for our tree packs. We've been blessed to have amazing Haitian translators who have worked alongside our team each day, while providing great insights into Haitian life and culture. In addition to the thousands of small tree bags, we've also planted coconuts in our rustic greenhouse. You can also see how we've been rapidly been filling up the large greenhouse. Lastly, we decided to take a team pic at the end of the day with everybody's favorite work tools. 

Hello everyone, 

Well, it's been another long, exhausting, yet productive day. We spent the morning working on the greenhouse project in Bercy and planted trees in the village of Minoterie this afternoon. Our kids continue to do an amazing job, while they work and learn. The afternoon was an opportunity to directly connect with Haitian families while seeing the potential of the impact of trees in the yards of Haitian families. When you're focused on bagging dirt and planting seeds, it can be easy to lose sight of the future of each of those bags and seeds. This afternoon, our team got to see what happens many months after seeds are planted. I've attached a number of pics of today's activities. 

Good Night, 

Todd

Hello All!
The internet is back on at MOH for the first time since we arrived. #LifeinHaiti. Here's the quick version of the update:  We're all doing great. Our team has been amazing, from their hearts to their minds to the way they serve. Our focus on Saturday and Sunday was experiencing and learning more about Haiti. Today was our first true work day. Our team battled through the hot sun all day as we worked on MOH's Bercy campus. We completed our rustic Bamboo greenhouse, cleared out the existing greenhouse, prepped it for our project, mixed soil, packed hundreds of bags for seeds, despite the heat. If you check out the following pictures, you will get a glimpse into our work today. I'll try to send out a more thorough update tomorrow. My apologies but sleep is calling, we're all exhausted. They're already sleeping, as we look forward to another big work day tomorrow. We are headed back to Bercy to fill more bags and plant countless seeds. In the afternoon, we are headed to a new housing area in the village of Minoterie to plant lots of trees throughout the village.

Bon Nwi (Good Night)

Todd

Students from Avondale and Renaissance High Schools are joining together to serve in Haiti over Thanksgiving 2017

We are a combined team of students from Avondale and Detroit Renaissance High Schools, who will  serve in Haiti from November 17th-24th. Our team is partnering with Mission of Hope Haiti to create the Seeds to Sustainability initiative, where our team will create a Greenhouse program to start a massive tree growing initiative which will grow thousands of seedlings.  Those seedlings will then be planted by teams in surrounding villages to help reforest a badly deforested nation and provide greater food security for families and villages.  Our greenhouse project will lead to the growth of over 10,000 trees initially, but it will also enable MOH to continually plant trees, have a sustainable tree seedling program that is self funding, and tangibly change lives. These trees will be bearing fruit and sustaining lives for years and decades to come.  We will be planting a variety of fruit trees, that will provide greater food security for families, as well as planting trees that will be used for shade and charcoal for families. 

We have a team heading to Mission of Hope Haiti from November 20th-27th.  We will try to post updates daily, but due to life in Haiti, technical difficulties often arise and we may not be able to post frequently. 

Thanksgiving in Haiti

Thanksgiving in Haiti

While America celebrated Thanksgiving today and turned their attention to Black Friday, we went to the beach in the morning and to a Haitian orphanage in the afternoon.  The trip to the beach is a great way to decompress a bit and gain a greater appreciation for the beauty of Haiti.  We left MOH by 7:15 am, so we could spend a couple hours at the beach, eat lunch and maximize our orphanage time.  Our team is always amazed at the beauty of Haiti, especially at the beach.  Sometimes it’s so easy to focus on the problems and struggles of Haiti, that you can easily miss the incredible beauty of the country.  The mountains are captivating, as they seemingly go on forever, leading hearts to want to know what’s beyond those mountains and what stories they have to tell.  The beauty of the Haitian people is always missed in the news stories about a country riddled by corruption, natural disasters, and hunger.  The children are so warm and loving and parents are trusting, knowing a village is truly raising their child.

After lunch, our team loaded up for a brief journey to Barbancourt, a village where the orphanage that my daughters’ came from is located.  Our teams have been able to visit the Barbancourt orphanage on each of our last four trips.  Our visits are always bittersweet, as we are able to love on those precious children, yet our hearts break for them every time we leave. 

Below are some insights from Maddie and Jillian about our trip to the orphanage:

Maddie
            Today was a day I’ve been looking forward to for almost a year now. It was an amazing day for two reasons. One, I got baptized. Two, my little girl remembered me.

            I got baptized in Wahoo Bay today by Mr. Henderson, Villarson, and Delmonte. Last year when I came to Haiti, is when God first came into my life and my faith became real for me, I found a relationship with God. From then to now, my life has gone from being completely about me to completely about following Jesus (wherever, whenever, whatever). I’ve seen Him work in incredible ways in the past year, I knew I wanted to get baptized but I could hear God tell me to wait until I’m back in Haiti when I thought about doing it at the baptism church service. To me, there is no better place than to be baptized in Haiti, a place that is home to me, and by three of the biggest role models in Christ that I have. I’m so thankful for it and excited about where God has brought me in just one year and where He will take me in the future.

            On another note, I’ve waited a year to go back to the orphanage in Barbancourt where Hendo found Jaline and Marie-line. Last year, God broke me with Jaline’s story and transformation, then later that week He broke me even more at the orphanage. Tonight, my heart is on a little girl in the orphanage, my heart will always be on her. Her name is Clenusa. I met her last year. Then, I spent the afternoon with a little girl that I saw such brokenness in her eyes, even if she smiled. Last year, when I left her, she held her hands behind her back and looked right down at the ground.  I left knowing that she would be going to bed on a cement floor. The reality of that for Clenusa and the rest of those orphans wrecked me.

Since then, I’ve seen God move mountains even though I’ve been back home, through a perfect stranger agreeing to help us get bunk beds into Barbancourt, after we raised the money, and again through Kids Against Hunger. Today, I wanted to run up to the orphanage. I tried to make myself afraid that she wouldn’t be there to sort of protect my emotions but I knew she’d be there. Julia wrote me a letter telling me that she hoped I’d see her again, but she knew I would because I’d go to the end of the earth to find her again and today, she remembered me. I couldn’t help but break down crying as she jumped right up into my arms and held on to me so tight. She showed me her bed and we put new sheets on it that we brought down for the kids. There was also a Kids Against Hunger box in the corner of her room. Getting to love this little girl for four hours were the best four hours of this trip, because in reality, she needs this love, she’s an 11 year old girl who does not have a family and does not go school, but spends her days in a dull orphanage. One girl on our team asked if I thought she was better than last year, physically, yes/kind of, she looked a little better, definitely didn’t look worse than last year. A year ago I could fit my index finger to thumb around her upper arm (I can’t even do that on my 5 year old little peanut of a cousin). This year I couldn’t do that and her hair wasn’t as orange, but still she wasn’t in any way great. But emotionally, I see her as much worse. The way she has to grow up breaks me and I can see the sadness in her eyes. 

I’m so lucky to have spent the afternoon with her at my side, anything we did she held on to me so tight… and so leaving her this year, was a million times harder. Four hours last year and four hours this year built a bond with this girl. When I had to tell her goodbye, I told her goodbye and I love you in creole. She buried her head in me, after a while, she ran off into her room. I followed her to find her sitting on her bed quietly, with tears coming down her cheeks. I had been trying not to let the kids see me cry, but at that I just lost it, I sat there as long as I could just hugging her. But this time, I left knowing she had a bed and wouldn’t be sleeping on cement. I don’t know where God’s taking me, but I do know that I love that little girl, I do know that my heart is for the orphans in this world, and I do know that I will follow wherever He leads me.

That’s my heart for tonight.

Jillian

            My heart has always been with foster children. When Mr. Henderson told us we were given the opportunity to go to Barbancourt I couldn’t wait for the day to come. As we arrived at the orphanage I was overwhelmed with so many different emotions. But it didn’t hit me until I had to say goodbye to all the children.

            I was carrying a three year old boy who had such a bloated stomach from the worms that his shirt would just sit on top of his little belly. And I had a six year old girl connected to my hip the entire time, and she insisted on carrying my backpack for me as we held hands. We all walked the children back to the orphanage from the soccer field. As we arrived to the orphanage the little girl squeezed my hand and walked me to her room. She pointed me to her bed and I laid down next to her as the little boy with worms laid on my stomach. The little girl and I talked until I had to officially say goodbye. As we were talking I started to cry; She asked me, “Why you cry?” and continued to wipe my tears away. At this point I couldn’t even tell her why I was crying.

            Haiti is beautiful, but it sure knows how to break your heart. Today my heart was left at Barbancourt with a young lady named, Lakden. I simply couldn’t explain to her how I felt when I laid next to her in that bunk-bed. Knowing I had my last couple minutes before leaving her I couldn’t handle all my emotions at once. I have been away from my family for a week now, and I already miss them like crazy. But this little girl didn’t have a family. I left the orphanage knowing that I will be seeing my family soon. Lakden on the other hand goes to bed crying knowing she is all alone. This put my whole life into perspective. A six year old girl sharing her life story with me as she just wants to be loved, but all she feels is that she’s invisible. I love all the children and Haiti, but my heart will always be with the orphans.