A Visit from Massachusetts Friends

 Over the past week, a group from Massachusetts visited us here at Espwa. Along with bringing tons of love and laughter, they donated clothing, medicine, toys, and school supplies to our children. They also dedicated time and energy to the new mural in the boys’ village, which is almost finished! And, of course, they spent lots of time with the children playing soccer, dancing, learning Creole, and teaching English. Finally, the group was able to pass out care packages to the surrounding community. We are filled with gratitude after their visit. Mesi anpil!

It’s a bittersweet day for the Espwa family - our Assistant Guesthouse Manager, Kens, left for the United States yesterday! He is off to immerse himself in his education in South Carolina, where he will be attending university.

Kens is incredibly bright and has been a warm and welcoming face to everyone. On Sunday we had a little party for him in the Guesthouse with cake and friends.

We will miss him dearly, but we are excited to see what his future holds! Bon chans, Kens!

Update: August 3rd. Have had the chance to speak with Kens several times since his arrival in the states and am happy to report that he is doing very well. Thanks for all your prayers and support. The folks in Greenville, S.C. are truly exemplary in their hospitality. Just amazing!

Bon Vakans (“Bon Vahkans”)

Bon Vakans (“Bon Vahkans”):

As older students finish up their exams this week, they may be wishing each other a “happy summer” by saying bon vakans! It’s the season of pick-up soccer games, jump-roping, and attempting to stay cool in the hot Haitian heat. As summer officially kicks off this Fourth of July weekend, maybe you can wish your friends a bon vakans too!

Celebrations at Espwa

Last week, Espwa had two big celebrations! First, Espwa celebrated the older boys who are entering the transition program. Children came together to watch soccer, listen to music, play awesome games like musical chairs and participate in funny relay races and contests. It was lots of fun celebrating such a big accomplishment. Congratulations to them!

A couple of days later, Espwa gathered in the church to honor the fathers who work here. Children performed dances, sang songs and the fathers were given certificates of appreciation and delicious refreshments. We are so grateful for all fathers!

A New Mural!

Last week, a group from Southern California visited Pwoje Espwa. They brought with them many donations and lots of special skills to share with the children. While some worked on organizing donations...

others taught art and dance classes…

and many got involved in basketball and lacrosse games. 

They also worked hard on painting a mural in the boys’ village and they made lots of progress over the week!

We are so grateful for their hard work. Thanks!

New Guest House Managers!

 Almost a week ago, we - Lizzy and Emma - arrived at Pwoje Espwa to begin training for our year-long position as Guest House Managers!  During the week we have spent time meeting children, taking tours, going through binders, and learning more about the empowering Fi Ki Fó program. We are immensely excited to continue growing in the position and meeting visitors! 

Kate and Brenda have been such wonderful mentors and we hope to follow in their footsteps and continue being the good and strong forces that they were at Espwa. We wish them all the luck in their future endeavors. Much love to them and to Pwoje Espwa; we are so happy to be here! 

Fi Ki Fo Week!

Many of you may already be familiar with the Fi Ki Fo ("strong girl" in Creole) program, which provides Espwa's oldest girls the opportunity to take skills-training classes and participate in empowerment exercises throughout the year. 

The program, funded by Write to Be, includes mentorship, where each girl is paired with a "pen pal" in the US who they correspond with throughout the year to talk about important topics such as goal setting, leadership, and culture. 

This past week, the pen pals came for their second annual Fi Ki Fo week, which was filled with activities to help raise self-esteem, identity awareness, leadership, and fun. 

We learned how to...

give and receive compliments,

non-violent communication techniques,

identify future goals, ambitions, and careers,

the power in rhythm and dance,

and most importantly, create a space where we can just be ourselves!!

When the group was not working with the girls, they were busy building gardens of all kinds in the girls village.

It was an incredible week and we are so thankful for all of the hard work that went into making it such a special time for all of the amazing women and girls that were a part of it.

Write to Be funds the Fi Ki Fo program, which is a skills-training program for Espwa's oldest girls to learn important skills such as sewing, cooking, and language taught by women in the community to increase opportunity for the girls to be financially independent when they must live on their own. To learn more visit www.writetobe.org or follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/write2be.