July/Aug Update

My latest update was sent out via email at the beginning of July. For those who did not recieve it, shoot me an email at mary.hooke@gmail.com and I will be happy to pass it along. Since that time, in additon to continuing work on other ongoing efforts, I have been helping to facilitate a number of individuals who have come into Jacmel for short term trips, seeking to assist them in making the greatest impact possible out of the short time that they had.

One couple from my home church, Brad and Beth, came into Jacmel for one week with the intention of providing a clean water system for a single school, impacting the health of and providing a life-line essential resource for hundreds of children. Great intentions and goal, and would in and of itself have been a huge impact for such a short term trip. By the time they left, however (and all of this on the same budget with which they came in, mind you), they had not only repaired the water system of one local school serving hundreds of children, but they also sponsored and built a water system that a local orphanage is using to provide CLEAN drinking water for literally thousands in their community-- a project that, without exageration, is preventing potentially hundreds of fatal cases of cholera and dysentery; and on top of that, they participated in the repair of a local school who will now finally fit the paramaters be able to qualify for World Food Program assistance, providing many of its students with is often their only filling meal each day. They also distributed three suitcases full of tarps and mosquito nets-- literal lifesavers during the Haitian rainy season-- to the neediest in Camp Pinchinat, one of the largest and most desperate IDP camps in Jacmel, and assisted in the sponsorship of a local family of 10, who recently, out of desperation approached an orgphanage to take in their youngest children. Because of Brad and Beth and others like them, this family will be able to stay together. Awesome!

The following week and a half I spent with Ashley and Alex, two fellow North Carolina friends. Ashley is a trained EMT currently in nursing school, and came to Haiti with medical supplies to provide assistance for IDP camp dwellers. We focused our efforts mainly in Pinchinat, who have not recieved any medical assistance for the past five months. I was present mainly as a logistics manager and translator, while Ashley conducted clinics, with follow up from a local doctor and nurse. We found, as expected, overwhelming need there, especially among youth and women, and I am still involved in following up with the most serious cases.

And currently, two former GVN friends working in and out of the states, Europe and Haiti, are staying in my home. These friends, Frank, a Belgian university student from North Carolina, and Olivia, a schoolteacher from England, operate an organization called EduHaitian, which connects foreign donors with local children for school sponsorship. Their work mainly focuses in Port-au-Prince. This trip to Jacmel, however, has been a particularly personal effort, as their goal has been to ensure that the children who were sponsored by GVN volunteers last year are still able to attend school, despite the fact that GVN is no longer operational in Haiti. When Olivia reached out to former volunteers, the response was overwhelming, with everyone eager to remain involved in the children's lives, even from afar. Its been wonderful to spend time with Frank and Olivia again, and to help out with keeping our old friends connected to the kids and families that they love and care for in Jacmel. Hard to believe that it has nearly been a year since we all ventured to Jacmel for the first time!

Finally, the Pinchinat summer youth arts and recreation program-- a collaborative effort of the Haiti Initiative and a collection of local artists and musicians promoting gender equality and social skill development while integrating food distribution and health services that the children could not otherwise access-- is finally underway, and going well. Though I assist with various areas of the camp, my main responsibilities are over the girl's soccer club and the provision of medical services. Photos to come soon!

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Special Request

In other news, cholera has been running rampant in the prisons for the past month or so, and it has unfortunately been impossible for myself or others to enter the prison to provide sanitation and nutritional supplies. The police have welcomed my friends' supply of doxy and other cholera prevention medicines, but will not allow us to distribute items ourselves, or to cook in the prisons until they deem that the epidemic has been sufficiently controlled. Please pray for the prisoners and protection against cholera, as well as favor for us to be able to gain entry as soon as possible! I have one friend in particular who was recently imprisoned and is awaiting judgement on his case, who I am very eager to visit.