January 2011
2 posts
HOPE: A Look Back on 2010
Looking at the headlines, it would be easy to be discouraged and feel that nothing ever gets better in Haiti. But when I look at 2010, the images that come to me are not full of discouragement, but full of HOPE. I think of all the people who rushed to donate to Earthquake relief in the early days after the terrible news. News of so much depair, of refugees flooding Ft. Liberte needing help. And...
Getting To Know Kerby!
Hello Kerby the frog. His nickname actually has nothing to do with a frog. But if I could give him one I probably would call him Kermit instead of Kerby. He sounds like and looks like Kermit the frog. Well…maybe not looks like. Kerby is actually called Kawobas and I wish I could remember what it means, but for the life of me I can’t. It’s because I didn’t write it down. I actually think it...
December 2010
2 posts
Getting To Know Marc-Elie!
Meet Marc-Elie, the kid with a big heart and ADD. okay, so I can’t technically diagnose anybody with attention deficit disorder but if I could, Marc-Elie would be the first. Let’s just say, not much holds his attention for very long except for maybe soccer or the dogs. He didn’t last long in English class, but that didn’t stop his desire to hang out with the English...
2 tags
Mission Trip Update: Hand-washing Stations
As part of the current mission trip, Lee Wilkers from Warrenton, VA is spearheading a brand new project to build hand-washing stations throughout the community. The new hand-washing stations will be placed at the school, the medical clinic and the orphanage. The creative stations are made with lumber, a plastic jug, and a bar soap suspended on a nylon string.
Check out the poster below to get a...
November 2010
4 posts
Update From Ft. Liberte
Bonswa (good evening), This is Trish Putnam. We had an uneventful trip into Puerto Plata yesterday, except that the airport food in San Juan was bad to say the least. Laurie and Morgan met us as expected and their flight also went well. Great dinner and decent rooms at the Fun Royal. We left the “resort” at 5:00 a.m. and had a bit of a wait at the border. Everyone had some time to...
Cholera Update from Pastor Andre
Below is an update from Pastor Andre discussing the recent cholera outbreak in Haiti.
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Dear friends,
I have just read on TV that in the last 24 hours more than 80 people died in Port-au-Prince. That puts the number 700 and 800 deaths in Haiti. We still have one case in Grand Bassin which is about 20 miles from Ft. Liberte. Also, We have just learned from Emilio (MINUSTHA) that...
Flood Update from Pastor Andre
Below is an update from Pastor Andre concerning the recent flooding in Haiti triggered by Hurricane Tomas. There has also been an extreme outbreak of cholera spreading through the country. Please continue to keep the people of Haiti in your prayers.
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Dear friends, Claudin (the house father at the FFL orphanage) just called to tell us that right now there is dangerous flooding in...
Getting To Know Derlandie!
Meet the girl in Purple. I think the purple dresses were the ones that fit her. Derlandie, 11, is also known as Naika. All the kids have nicknames and this is hers. Any guesses at what it means? Me neither, I think it’s just a name. One thing you have to realize about the girls in the orphanage is, they are all sassy. Except one. Derlandie is NOT that one.
She makes me laugh. When I...
October 2010
1 post
Getting To Know GiGi
Lougenson—which he is never called, age 10. Everyone calls him GiGi. (not jee jee, but really gee gee, back of your throat sound). This kid has a laugh unlike anything I have ever heard. If there was ever a day when I was upset or sad, GiGi could brighten that day just by smiling. Something happens when he smiles and his smile turns into a laugh—every single time.
Not only...
September 2010
3 posts
Getting To Know Peterly
This is Peterly. A beautiful 8 year old. I could say everyone of these kids are sweet, and it would be true. But when I say sweet for Peterly, I really mean sweet. Like you could eat him up. He is shy around Americans and would prefer to just be with Josue or Ben, and he’s not the easiest to photograph at first. However, he did let me take more pictures of him by the end of the trip,...
Getting To Know Lukensia
Over the next few months we will be featuring a series of blog posts by Abby Lilly called “Getting To Know…” in which she will be writing a little bit about each child who lives at the orphanage. Abby spent a month working at the orphanage this summer teaching an English class to kids. Our hope is that this blog series will help everyone feel more connected to all the children at the...
Getting To Know Ben
Over the next few months we will be featuring a series of blog posts by Abby Lilly called “Getting To Know…” in which she will be writing a little bit about each child who lives at the orphanage. Abby spent a month working at the orphanage this summer teaching an English class to kids. Our hope is that this blog series will help everyone feel more connected to all the children...
July 2010
1 post
YOU: An Earthquake Relief Update
Dear Friends and Supporters, Thank you very much for your support to the survivors of the earthquake of January 12 in Haiti. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to respond effectively and come to help to those who were the most affected by that terrible disaster. Fort-Liberte was intact, as far as buildings, facilities and injuries were concerned. We felt bumps and shocks, we heard...
June 2010
2 posts
Summer English Program and more!
The following is a guest blog post from Abby Lilly. Abby traveled to Ft. Liberte with FFL on the recent May trip and has spent the past month teaching English at the orphanage.
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English is hard to learn and it’s hard to teach, but I’m...
Hope Changes Everything
The following is a guest blog post by Valerie Hulme. Take time to read Valerie’s amazing thoughts on her recent trip to Ft. Liberte with FFL.
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29 of us returned last night from a trip to Ft. Liberte, Haiti. It was my 5th trip and I’m always...
Earthquake Relief In Action
On Saturday morning we got to see earthquake relief in action! $10,000 worth of food from earthquake relief donations was distributed to quake victims and families who are caring for and housing earthquake victims in the community. The distribution was organized by Pastor Andre and the Jerusalem Baptist Church, who has devised a smooth and orderly method to distribute the food to those most in...
May 2010
3 posts
Greetings from Ft. Liberte!
Greetings from Ft. Liberte! The team has been working hard in the heat this week digging and pouring concrete for the newly designed footers for the orphanage.
After the earthquake on January 12th we felt the responsibility to build the safest structure possible in the event of a future earthquake.
After having the blueprints examined by a structural engineer the footers have been enlarged from...
April 2010
6 posts
Earthquake Relief Update Video #3
Introducing the "Help Yourself Program"
For years, the idea of micro-financing small businesses in Haiti has been a dream. Recently, thanks to our good friend Junior Mesamours and his wife, micro-financing projects have become a reality in the Ft. Liberte community. Junior and his wife have started a local micro-financing program called the “Help Yourself Project”. Below is a brief description of the “Help Yourself...
Trip Update - Monday, April 5
“Min anpil, chaj pa lou.” (With many hands, the load is not heavy.)
This famous Haitian proverb is a perspective we have carried this week. With our several mini missions, the work is possible with the wonderful teamwork from the groups. An astonishing 220 Haitians were seen at the clinic today. The medical group will be going to CapHaitian to relief a clinic that is overwhelmed with...
Trip Update - Easter Sunday
Happy Easter! I bet we spent more time in church than you! The morning service was a little over 3 hours and the evening was about 2 1/2 hours (as you can see the kids were struggling!), but what a blessing they were. Christie spoke in the evening service and the youth did a skit. The theme of the service was moving past disasters which is obviously desperately needed here.
A group...
Trip Update - Saturday, April 3
“Hallelujah!” This is what we heard before daybreak this morning. The women of the church like to gather in the sanctuary to praise the Lord. It is a great alarm clock for us Americans. Today was another day to celebrate. The clinic treated 180 Haitians, more sponsored children were updated, and basketball backboards for the orphans are in progress. On the farm, the working group...
Trip Update - Friday, April 2
“They are all in it together!” This was the response given when we asked Pastor Andre why the starving dogs don’t eat the chickens that are running around. Today was another great day. We got the shelving and painting finished, and water hooked up in the clinic! Unfortunately we don’t have a good way to drain the water out of the clinic but we are working on it. A group...
March 2010
3 posts
Adoption Update from Debbie Chapman
Below is an update from Debbie Chapman. John and Debbie made it to Ft. Liberte on Sunday. They are in the process of adopting Lou Lou and Loudeline(a brother and sister from the King Orphanage). Debbie said on a Facebook update that they learned the real birthdays of Lou Lou and Loudeline. They were both born on April 9th. Lou Lou was born in 1994 and Loudeline was born in 1996. Their mother died...
Medical Trip Update
Below is an update from Junior Mesamours who is working with our medical missions team this week in Ft. Liberte.
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Hello,
Yesterday we had a scary day here at the clinic. One 15 yr old girl has pneumonia and asthma, her medical history says she used to have sickle cell, though we don’t see any sickling cell...
Haiti: Visitors Treasure Small Victories
Check out the new article from reporter Elizabeth Gibson of the Columbus Dispatch who just returned from a medical missions trip from Ft. Liberte.
Touching, eye-opening stories.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/02/28/visitors-treasure-small-victories.html
**Click the picture above to go to the donation page**
100% of the donations collected through Friends of...
February 2010
10 posts
Trip Updates & More!
Just a quick update on the Friends Of Fort Liberte mission trips. The Columbus based team lead by Lee Platt got back safely, and the Charleston based team of 32 people led by Rick and Lora Hayes is flying out of Huntington tonight, and will arrive in Cap Haitian tomorrow.
We hope to have pictures from the latest trip posted by early next week.
Please continue to pray for the current trip and...
Day Five: Hard rains, a wall collapse
Day Five Blog Post from Elizabeth Gibson who is on the ground in Ft. Liberte with the medical relief team.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/special_reports/stories/2010/haiti/dayfive.html
Day Four: More Patients
Here’s what’s happening in Ft. Liberte this week, from the perspective of a Columbus, Ohio reporter who is along for the trip.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/special_reports/stories/2010/haiti/dayfour.html
Earthquake Relief Benefit Dinner
Help Haiti and enjoy a Delicious Pork Loin Dinner! Saturday 02/13/10 at the Quiet Dell United Methodist Church from 4-7 pm. All money raised is to go to Haiti. The cost is $8.00.
Earthquake Relief Video Update
NOTE: There has now been over 800 earthquake victims and refugees that have come to Ft. Liberte seeking care.
**Click the picture above to go to the donation page**
100% of the donations collected through Friends of Ft. Liberte will go directly to earthquake disaster relief.
NEW Update From Pastor Andre
Dear friends, You can feel proud knowing that we consider your donations as compassionate and generous response which is providing services to the victims of the earthquake of Jan 12. Through the assitance of friends like you, we are able to be of help to a large number of the survivors who are still arriving daily in Fort Liberte. At the arrival of the first avalanche of refugees, our church...
We Need Help
Watch & Share the final part of our 3 part interview with Junior Mesamours on conditions in Haiti.
The Emergency
Watch & Share pt. 2 of our 3 part interview with Junior Mesamours on conditions in Haiti.
Port-au-Prince Is No More
Watch & Share pt. 1 of our 3 part interview with Junior Mesamours on conditions in Haiti.
January 2010
35 posts
2 Corinthians 9:11-15
11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 12This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that...
Real Friends Are Forever: Thank You.
Real friends are forever. In this time of that horrible tragedy, your christian love is generating more confidence in your dedication to God’s work and people. Thanks to your prayers and your distinctive contribution to the efforts that are being made to help the earthquake victims, the yoke laid on our shoulders is being easier to bear. In this time of tears, trouble, despair and...
First Earthquake Victim Sponsored
16 year old Grayson Sperry is on his first trip to Haiti. He went down with his dad, Jeff, to deliver aid and medical supplies to help the Jerusalem Baptist Church deal with the influx of earthquake victims into the community. On his first day, he went to volunteer down at the clinic (see his first day impressions posted below). He met a 2 month old baby girl whose mother had been killed in the...
Earthquake Relief Update
The church leaders are meeting twice a week to share information and distribute aid. All the refugees are being welcomed and treated free of charge at the clinic. We spent $3,000.00 on antibiotics here and sent them in a duffle bag and they have bought supplies in the Dominican Republic and Cap Haitien. They know they are just at the beginning of this crisis in terms of what the displaced people...
Through The Eyes Of A First Timer
Below are the thoughts and observations of Grayson Sperry who is part of the relief team currently on the ground in Ft. Liberte. This is Grayson’s first trip to Haiti.
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There is so much to say. I worked at...
"Real and Faithful Friends" - Update from Pastor...
No problems at the border. The relief team told me when customs asked them what was in the bags, they just said “for Haiti” and they let them go. The same thing at the Haitian border. We have about 700 earthquake survivors in Fort Liberte asking to be helped. Our supervisors are doing a pretty good job identifying those in greater needs. Thank you for helping how you are doing. ...
Adoption Update from Chuck & Donna Wilkers
Dear family & friends,
Chuck & I don’t have time to make phone calls to update everyone. We’ve tried to put updates on facebook but know many of you are not on there so here’s where we are in regard to bringing Rose home…
It was not an easy task to coordinate Rose’s journey from Ft. Liberte to Port au Prince but she arrived there Friday and is being...
Update #8 from Pastor Andre
Dear friends, Yesterday evening we had a super service of thanksgiving, testimonies, and dedication. People from many churches here came to testify and pray together. The church was packed as for a MISSION SUNDAY. Right after the service (9:30 PM) the church board met to discuss about what we must continue to do. 3 of the 6 Supervisors presented their reports on the problems that we are...
Earthquake Relief Update Video #2
**Click the picture below to go to the donation page**
100% of the donations collected through Friends of Ft. Liberte will go directly to earthquake disaster relief.
Amazing.
Please watch this amazing story of hope. It doesn’t get much better than this smile!
Buy Art. Help Haiti.
A good friend of the Friends of Fort Liberte, Seth Hill, is selling 20 pieces of his artwork to raise money for earthquake relief. Seth is a West Virginia artist who has traveled with FFL to Haiti. All the proceeds from the paintings will go to earthquake relief.
To view & purchase his artwork visit: www.BuyArtHelpHaiti.com
Panic! - Update #7 from Pastor Andre
Dear friends,
This morning again, there was great panic in Haiti, mainly in Port au Prince, Cap-Haïtien, and Leogane. An earthquake ( or retort) of 6.1 has destroyed already damaged houses and forced more people to leave Port au Prince.
- Andre
**Click the picture above to go to the donation page**
100% of the donations collected through Friends of Ft. Liberte will go directly to earthquake...