We are humbled and proud to be part of a community that both supports each other and is not plagued by a small worldview. We dared to dream large and think that we could make a difference. So did you. Thank you for that.
Before I proceed with photos and the results of the fundraiser, I have a bit of news to share. We found out late Tuesday evening that World Vision was going to put the building project on hold. We don’t know the specifics, but I can only imagine that they have their hands full managing other more important issues at the moment. Food, water, shelter, and medical continue to be at emergency levels even though news coverage has all but disappeared. Backing up a couple weeks, our initial group of 60 ended up being a group of 9 people actually committed to building the school. Before we knew it, the trip had been cancelled due to lack of interest. We had already purchased our tickets. I begged for a two day extension to try and recruit a few others to meet World Vision’s minimum group number. We were able to find five incredibly passionate people who jumped on with only a day to make their decision. A few others also joined bringing our number up and the trip was back on. But in those two days of uncertainty, we started to develop a Plan B.
Early Wednesday morning, Plan B went from 0-60 in record time. By lunch, our disappointment over a lack of focus and mission turned into sheer excitement over God’s orchestration of our new purpose. You see, it was supposed to be Plan B all along. Plan A was merely there to get the right people in place for Plan B. So what is Plan B, you ask? Well, let me tell you… 
When I photographed the Haitian kiddos arriving at the airport a few weeks ago, I met a man who was on the board of the orphanage in Haiti and father to the budding news reporter. He shared his heart with me over how desperately they needed help. I wished I could do more. This chance meeting was supposed to happen. We never talked to him about Plan B before Wednesday out of fear it would get his hopes up unnecessarily. Over lunch we dreamed about making a lasting difference. They have received several containers shipped from their home office in the US, along with all the supplies they stuffed in a cargo plane. All this aid is parked in an empty lot that they were going to use to build a new orphanage. Slowly they are loading up trucks and driving to remote towns and villages that have not yet received any sort of aid. While their orphanage was not damaged (located higher in the mountains above Port-au-Prince), 90% of the staff who care for the children either lost or have severely damaged homes. The other five individuals who decided to go on the initial trip have made the decision to proceed on this new mission… delivering aid and rebuilding. I have been assigned a side project of documenting the people and their hope in the face of despair and complete loss to ultimately compile a book. This book already has a name and we’re working on collaborating with a certain Christian music artist to tie into his powerful lyrics detailing his own story of loss, grief, and the role of faith. Our prayer is that the faces and voices of the people of Haiti will speak to us in our pain and point to the Giver of true peace. If it can be found there, it certainly can be attained here. We also hope that it will be a continual reminder to not let this country disappear into the wasteland of absolute corruption again. As you all know, rebuilding is going to take a long time – we can’t forget that they can’t do it alone.
With our new purpose in mind, we still plan on hand delivering your donations of hygiene items and kids’ toys. Through the fundraiser we were able to raise $4790! In deciding how to use that money to the closest intent of it’s original purpose, we’ll be covering our travel expenses as well as paying for the additional flights required for the other five people on our team.
Now to the fun numbers… through your generosity, we will be delivering (as much as we’re humanly capable of):
1456 Happy Meal Toys (who knew they kept cases of old toys?!!)
1000 Plastic Cups
720 Tampons
369 Bars of Soap
331 Tubes of Toothpaste
275 Toothbrushes
240 Crayons
168 Tylenol Pills
163 Feminine Pads
100 Advil Pills
100+ Beanie Babies
80 Tee-Shirts
50+ Happy Meal Bags (gift bags…yay!)
19 Bottles of Shampoo
5 Lotions/Body Wash
2 Jump Ropes
2 Boxes of Hi-C Fruit Punch Syrup (not sure if they can use this yet – if not, we’ll find someone who can!)
Assorted Books and Small Games
*Not included in these numbers — 100s of hotel and sample sized hygiene products!*
Please remember to pray for safety and endurance for us as we fly out March 27th and return on April 3rd. Can’t say it enough… THANK YOU!! Also special thanks to all the vendors and donations that made the fundraiser so successful (see listing in the last post) and Ryan Prins for snapping the photos below!!
