Wednesday, July 25, 2012
School out for summer?? Not at NEHLM!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
COKE BOTTLE LIGHTS!
Someone sent me a video about installing coke bottle lights into the roofs of tin houses. This allows for light to come into dark homes during the day! Chandalay's mother Tida is a beloved staff member at Hope for Haiti (Danita's Children) where I spent my first 18 months in Haiti. Chandalay wanted to learn how to do it when I told him about it. I was able to purchase all the supplies and he had to get the bottles. Keith Davis and I spent the day today helping him learn how to do it and installing the light in one room of the house! LET THERE BE LIGHT!! The goal is that Chandalay can start helping others in his neighbourhood and make a small business out of it as well! We talked about recording all the jobs he can do, costs and thinking ahead about collecting the bottles. We'll see how he does at the end of the summer.
You can check out the full set of photos on my website
http://jeninhaiti.org/whats-blooming.html
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Helping where needed............
I wrote the main part of this blog over a month ago when I got back on the island.
Today I was out in La Vega (25 minutes outside of Santiago) again to hike up into the hills, visiting the homes of the girls in the NEW HOPE GIRLS ACADEMY. You can see some of the photos on my website :
http://jeninhaiti.org/whats-blooming.html
Week of May 10th, 2012
This week I have been spending time with my friends who run the NEW HOPE GIRLS ACADEMY in La Vega. Joy and Vidal Reyes. I help where I can taking photos for their website, Facebook, publications and sponsors. Today, as I was taking photos of each girl for sponsors I became very reflective when I had a moment to pause. Some of these girls have seen more in these first years of their lives than I have in my 39 years. It's shocking. And infuriating. And so DISTURBING.
NEW HOPE exists for many reasons. A few that stick with me are because there are children in the DR who do not have birth certificates. If you do not have one you may not go to school. Their parents may not have one. Nor grandparents. It seems to say that if you do not have a BC you do not exist.
Some of the girls come from horrific living conditions that include physical and sexual abuse. NEW HOPE houses 4 of their girls who attend school because of the extreme conditions they have endured. All come from extremely poor families. Homes that are considered shacks in any 1st world country. We visited a girl's home today whose mother is dying. So sad but to see the love she has for her daughter is inspiring. Another precious girl only gets to go to school occasionally as she is required to take care of her 4 younger siblings, haul water and do laundry every day.
NEW HOPE has built a very basic but beautiful school that has a kitchen and a dorm for those living there. They also have a branch of the Academy that is employing some of the mothers of these girls. Training them to make gorgeous sandals and handbags. If they can help empower the mothers they can help improve the lives of the girls they work with. It is devastating to think about what these beautiful young children have gone through. And encouraging to see the opportunity that NEW HOPE is providing for them as well as some of their mothers. I am honored to be able to help them in any way I can. I love New Hope Girls Academy and what they are doing.
NEW HOPE GIRLS ACADEMY: “Dreaming for the girls in the barrio the same dreams we have for our own daughters.”
http://newhopegirls.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Hope-Girls-Academy/ - to take a look at the bags and sandals the mothers are making!
Today I was out in La Vega (25 minutes outside of Santiago) again to hike up into the hills, visiting the homes of the girls in the NEW HOPE GIRLS ACADEMY. You can see some of the photos on my website :
Week of May 10th, 2012
This week I have been spending time with my friends who run the NEW HOPE GIRLS ACADEMY in La Vega. Joy and Vidal Reyes. I help where I can taking photos for their website, Facebook, publications and sponsors. Today, as I was taking photos of each girl for sponsors I became very reflective when I had a moment to pause. Some of these girls have seen more in these first years of their lives than I have in my 39 years. It's shocking. And infuriating. And so DISTURBING.
NEW HOPE exists for many reasons. A few that stick with me are because there are children in the DR who do not have birth certificates. If you do not have one you may not go to school. Their parents may not have one. Nor grandparents. It seems to say that if you do not have a BC you do not exist.
Some of the girls come from horrific living conditions that include physical and sexual abuse. NEW HOPE houses 4 of their girls who attend school because of the extreme conditions they have endured. All come from extremely poor families. Homes that are considered shacks in any 1st world country. We visited a girl's home today whose mother is dying. So sad but to see the love she has for her daughter is inspiring. Another precious girl only gets to go to school occasionally as she is required to take care of her 4 younger siblings, haul water and do laundry every day.
NEW HOPE has built a very basic but beautiful school that has a kitchen and a dorm for those living there. They also have a branch of the Academy that is employing some of the mothers of these girls. Training them to make gorgeous sandals and handbags. If they can help empower the mothers they can help improve the lives of the girls they work with. It is devastating to think about what these beautiful young children have gone through. And encouraging to see the opportunity that NEW HOPE is providing for them as well as some of their mothers. I am honored to be able to help them in any way I can. I love New Hope Girls Academy and what they are doing.
NEW HOPE GIRLS ACADEMY: “Dreaming for the girls in the barrio the same dreams we have for our own daughters.”
http://newhopegirls.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Hope-Girls-Academy/ - to take a look at the bags and sandals the mothers are making!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Transition...........
I am heading in a new direction in Haiti! Or expanding on a greater scale the love I have for growing things in Haiti! You can read all about it on my latest update here!
http://gallery.mailchimp.com/5786041a973e10ad92fcc7029/files/Newsletter_May_2012.pdf
Saturday, January 14, 2012
THANK YOU Oxford Regional Education Center!
Today was a great day! For the second year in a row students at OREC in Oxford, Nova Scotia (where I went to school) raised money to purchase bikes for kids in our school who have very long walks in terrible heat. Thanks to Tracy Calder-Swan and her students for being aware of the need and being willing to give up their Christmas Exchange this year in order to do this for the kids!
Checkout the photos of the kids and bikes at my website.
http://jeninhaiti.org/gallery.html
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Celebrating our kids from Port au Prince
For the 2nd anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti I want to celebrate our children who live with us at Danita's Children. They are amazing survivors!
Check out their photos on my JeninHaiti Facebook page. You do not need a Facebook account to view the page.
Click here
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.290427444338360.59713.113775092003597&type=1
XO
Jen
Check out their photos on my JeninHaiti Facebook page. You do not need a Facebook account to view the page.
Click here
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.290427444338360.59713.113775092003597&type=1
XO
Jen
Monday, January 2, 2012
New Hope Girl's Academy Sandals!
Shoot me an email at jen@jeninhaiti.org to order sandals from New Hope Girl's Academy in La Vega, DR
And check out their website to see the wonderful work they are doing!
http://newhopegirls.wordpress.com/about-us/
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