There are so many updates to share this month we don’t know where to begin! Here are just a few of the highlights from the last month in Haiti.
Sewing Building
Over the last year, a wonderful teacher has been offering after-school sewing classes to students in the WWV school in Williamson. A collection of young women have been learning to measure, cut and stitch fabric. This teacher has a heart to give these women a skill that will provide them with a sustainable livelihood.
Combine the heart of this teacher with generous World Wide Village donors who have a strong desire to serve the people of Haiti and amazing things can happen! On March 6th a new World Wide Village sewing building opened, creating an incredible opportunity for more young women! There are now 20 young women signed up for sewing classes right in their own community with access to brand new sewing machines. Longer term, there is the possibility to teach the young women to make school uniforms. The income brought in by selling school uniforms would pay a salary for the teacher, upkeep and maintenance on the sewing machines and also allow for a steady income for these hard-working women.
A special thanks to Harold Zupon for generously donating 9 sewing machines in memory of his daughter, Robin. What an amazing way to bless women in Haiti in such a tangible way.
Also, a big shout out to our rock star team from Renovation Church for raising funds and helping construct the new sewing building in Williamson. In addition to money, lots of sweat and hard work went into the construction last month! Read more on the Renovation team’s experiences HERE.
Spillway
The Peace 2 Haiti team from Minnesota also worked tirelessly alongside our Haitian friends last month to move TONS of dirt from the ravine alongside the medical clinic. They built a concrete spillway to allow safe water passage through the culvert during the rainy months in Haiti. The ravine is normally dry, but several times a year, water will pour down from the mountains through this ravine. What a labor of love in making sure our medical clinic is kept safe!
The Medical Clinic
Speaking of the medical clinic, more layers of block have been laid in preparation for the windows! The next step for the clinic is shipping in windows from the United States that cannot be purchased in Haiti. Most buildings in rural Haiti do not have actual windows, but because of the specialized equipment that will be stored in the clinic, windows are definitely a necessity. Please join us in praying that these windows will come through customs smoothly and quickly! Until then, the clinic is a great place for the women to dry the clothes they wash at the World Wide Village well on a hot day. 🙂
The Reward
Have you ever wondered why anyone would take time off work to travel to a developing country to work and sweat instead of vacationing on beautiful beaches somewhere in the Caribbean? There are two reasons: The first is that the love of Christ compels. The second can be clearly seen in these beautiful smiling faces. You can almost feel the love!
Read more about our short-term mission teams HERE.
Also, be on the look out next month for more stories on our Haitian brothers and sisters who recently accepted Christ!