Thank You and Update on Repairs

Thank you from the HATS-Haiti Mission to everybody who has helped, and who are continuing to help, with the unimaginable pain and suffering of the people in our area of Haiti.

Several people who were transferred from PaP, to the hospital in our area, have received financial help because of your generosity. Medical supplies have been given to the hospital as well as to individuals. Funds have been dispensed to help people repair their homes.

Your financial support and your encouragement are both so very important. You may be far from Haiti but it is very obvious that your hearts are in Haiti. You have been touched by what you have seen and heard and you have responded amazingly. Thank you.

At the HATS mission many large and expensive repairs need to be made:

• School;
• Director’s House/Offices/Water Tower Building;
• Compound Enclosure Walls;
• Kid’s Home for Boys.

Besides this we must finish the Support Missionary House that was underway during the earthquake. Too, there are repairs that need to be made to the washrooms for the orphanage – toilets and showers, etc. An estimate on the cost to repair or redo these things is $75,000.

Repairs have already been made to the secondary section of our school. The whole front wall had to be rebuilt, along with the foundation underneath that wall. Our school will likely reopen within the next two weeks. At this time we will be taking in a number of students, at no charge, who have relocated to this area from PaP due to the quake.

The building in which I live, and which also has two offices, and space for visiting missionaries has serious problems. Four 1000 gallon water tanks are situated at the very top of the building, which actually is level four. That whole level swayed back and forth a great deal on three different days – during the earthquake, and in two forceful aftershocks. Each time I expected it to fall. The support columns for that level have structural damage. Thus no one has slept in this building since the quake. At the moment there are seven little mosquito tents set up in the yard. We will continue to sleep outside until all repairs are made.

A water tower building has been started behind this building. The digging for the foundation has been done and construction of the foundation will get underway today. When finished the four water tanks will be moved to the top of that building. The bottom level of that building will have a storage depot for things for the orphanage.

This building in which I live has only part of the second level completed. The rest has remained without walls since the beginning. For short-term missionaries we have always set up mosquito tents there. They have enjoyed the airflow that has offered. Now, however, we see that we absolutely must finish the walls in this space. Doing so will give added and necessary support for the level above it.

One of the houses for children, that had been used for storage, but was being readied to house boys, has a lot of damage and cannot be repaired. It has slowly and steadily continued to crack – both walls and roof. We hope to get it down before it should fall. This was the one and only building here that was not done under the direction of an engineer. We plan to put up another children’s home on the same spot which will take ten boys. When finished I will welcome more orphans into our family.

Sections of the enclosure (high cement block fence) have to be replaced and some sections braced. In several places the support columns for the fence have cracked/split badly, and the fence could fall.

Lots to be done, but work is already underway. Last week all work was suspended due to all the other things we had to undertake and arrange due to the death of Serlande.

Again, a very big thank you to all of you. Thank you for the various fundraisers. Thank you to those who donated time, donated items, and donated money. All the work done by those taking care of the donations, followup, and banking is also donated. Every dollar donated to the HATS-Haiti Mission comes to Haiti to help in this community. All funds received are used for the purpose received.

On behalf of the people in this area of the Artibonite Valley ” Thank you and God bless you”. As you bless others in need you too will be blessed.

~Karen