Hello, Health for Haiti friends. I have a few updates for you from Grande Saline. First of all, the school is almost complete, All that is left to do is finish the walls and paint. Although school has not officially started yet, we hear that the students are ready for class and excited to begin. Dr. Robinson has been purchasing school supplies with the money that was so generously donated by Health for Haiti supporters. He plans to give out the supplies when the school officially opens and all of the local children are present.
Progress continues on construction of the bathroom as well. The next step will be to cover the opening with concrete. All of this construction work is being done by hand.
We are also moving closer to developing a good plan for the Grande Saline Community Garden. Thanks to a lot of hard work by Tida and Schneider, we have identified a suitable piece of land. We also have a good idea about the kinds of tools and equipment that will be needed for starting and maintaining the garden. In Haiti it is possible to grow different crops in different seasons. We still have a ways to go to get this project started, but we hope to start with corn and melons and then plant some beans later in the year. An important goal for this project is to grow produce that can be used to help provide lunch for the students attending the new school. The students can also use the garden as a living laboratory to learn about agriculture. We hope that the Health for Haiti students will also be able to help in the community garden.
Bridge to Haiti computer classes continue at Don Bosco Ecole Informatique. Tida is thinking about having the students do some research on the Internet to help prepare for the community garden. The students will also try to learn about what flowers and plants they might be able to plant around the new school (once construction in completed).
In more Bridge to Haiti news, Tida recently brought the laptops to a neighboring community and taught a computer class for fifty young people in a different part of Grande Saline (see pictures below). We are excited to see more young people in Haiti are getting the chance to learn about using a computer.
We are also happy to have recently heard from our good friend, Pastor Vincent, that the computer school at his mission in Cite Soleil is doing fine and is a blessing for the community. We look forward to working with Pastor Vincent this January when our 2016 class will assist with medical and dental clinics and provide education programs for children and young adults in Cite Soleil.
Thanks again for all of the support and a special thank to our amazing past Health for Haiti students who worked so hard to help make these projects a success. Maureen and I are so proud of you and what you have accomplished! Looking to the future, we hope to accept a few more students to join us as part of our new 2016 Health for Haiti class. We are excited to welcome our new students and we know that they will accomplish a lot when we return to Haiti in January!
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This is so exciting!!! Marcia