Happy 2006 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

From the children and staff here to you-

May 2006 bring you all much hope (espwa) and peace. May God bless you and your loved ones today and every day of the new year.

TiMak enjoying his Christmas gift, a very noisy toy cell phone.  

Bertrand, Fritzner and Enock hanging out and lustingly imagining that one day they will own a moped like Jean-Marie's. Such typical teens!!

December 28th, 2005

I took these photos this morning while visiting Castel-Pere. There's always tons of stuff going on and always many photo ops but there's only so much time. Enjoy these photos.

Samuel and Pierre-Rinot posing in front of our bamboo patch at Castel-Pere right near the pig sty. Looks real nice but smells real bad !! 

Here's a photo of the eleven little pigs before they ever thought of going to the market. These were born yesterday and seem quite at home already. 

What's with the photo? Help me find the opening to that sleeve! 

Jean-Robert, our own Denis the Menace in the flesh, is pictured here enjoying a quiet moment. 

This is a close-up of our manger scene for Castel-Pere. The Sisters of Mother Theresa lent us this set which was made locally. It is sturdy and almost child-proof. 

Biondy. 

Our potato field. 

Harvesting peanuts. 

The second floor of the Guest House is coming along. 

Saying grace before we eat is a tradition here. Yes, that's spaghetti for breakfast...the kids love it! 

Some of the children start lining up for breakfast. 

Jerome watches as Junior Macenat waters the small veggie garden near the school. 

Front of the new elementary school. 

Father Charlie presides at the Christmas Morning liturgy. A few of the members of "la petite communaute espwa" are seen in the background at right. The little community was responsible for the day. Mesi ampil, guys. 

Matante and TiJo at the end of the day. EXHAUSTED doesn't quite capture the feeling. Their work is incredibly challenging and difficult. We are blessed to have them with us. 

Just before liturgy... the kids are waiting for the word to start singing. Widmy, #67 in front, had an ear ache and he ended up returning to LaMadonne with me. He had a tough couple of days but is doing fine now. 

Here's Renold finally taking a moment to eat. Renold was the master of ceremonies for the day. The success of it was due in large part to his leadership. Thank you, Renold. 

What's Christmas without a special meal? Billy seems to really enjoy it. What did we have? Turkey? No. Ham? No. Chicken with rice and beans, the kids' favorite. 

A shot of some of the children and staff at Christmas Morning Mass. Notice the ever-vigilant "Mom", Denise, watching. 

Merry Christmas

Dear friends,

From all of us here in southern Haiti---- a very Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. May the peace of Christ be yours. Thank you for your support. Be assured of our prayers and gratitude. May God bless us all.

This is our manger scene in our chapel here at LaMadonne. The kids worked hard for two days to clean and decorate the chapel so that we can properly celebrate Christmas. Using what they could find, they did a fantastic job.

Makenson and Claude hamming it up. They look like they really enjoy their work which is to fabricate earth blocks. I can tell you this: they do a great job! 

A Home for Christmas

What a morning!! The first group of children from the failed orphanage in Fonfrede was transferred to Castel-Pere. They were waiting for us at nine this morning. I was there early and had a chance to speak to quite a few of the children. Most were sad at the thought of leaving their "home", some of their friends and David, the director, who has been like a father to them. When the vehicles arrived to come get them most were in tears and some were bawling. It took some doing but we got them to quiet down. The trip to Castel-Pere took only 15 minutes but that was enough time for many of them to realize what was happening. Their eyes were wide as they looked at the buildings, the animals, the crops, the staff and all the other children. They were welcomed with songs and laughter and paired off with buddies to make the transition a little smoother. It will take a while but I'm sure that by Christmas they will feel at home with us.
Thank you very much for your generous response to my appeal. Look at the good you caused to happen! May God bless you and yours.

This is a group shot of the boys from the small orphanage in Fonfrede. They are waiting to be taken to Vilaj Espwa in Castel-Pere. A few minutes after this shot most of the boys started crying.