Haiti News - Schools, Sponsor Students, Shipping ~ Winter in Canada and Cap-Haitien

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Hello Everyone,

It's been a long time since the last blog post update. I hope everyone had a good break over the holidays. I am in regular contact with the staff in Cap-Haitien, and I've had some news to pass on to you.

Auguste emails that, following the Christmas break, our young people in both Cap-Haitien and Sen Rafayel started school again on Monday, January 12. He is busy paying second trimeste fees and is expecting the students' first term reports cards and/or bulletins to come in shortly.

Student Sponsors

• Marlene and Elorge, our students attending university in the Dominican Republic, returned to Santiago for classes January 5.
• Deles and Vincent are back in class for the last semester of Year Two at the University in Limbe, Haiti. As you may recall, Vincent's sponsor was unable to continue, and as yet, we do not have a replacement sponsor (See December post and post from last March ). Since Starthrower Foundation can no longer support post-secondary students, he will have to forgo his studies if we are unable to find a new sponsor to support him for 3rd and 4th year.
• Plenitude has returned to Port-au-Prince , again borrowing money to finish his first year in telecommunications study. We also ask again for a sponsor for him.

If you know of any associations, groups or clubs who may want to undertake post-secondary sponsorship, please pass along this message.

Winter in Haiti ~ Vitamin C Needed
Auguste also reports that nearly everyone who comes to Lakay Fondasyon for safe drinking water has winter colds, which are giving rise to eye, ear, throat and chest infections, and that we are nearly out of vitamin C. As we are unable to purchase some necessities, such as Vitamin C, in Haiti, any and all donations are greatly appreciated.

In the past we have been able to provide everyone with enough vitamin C for a daily dose. When food is in short supply, as it is now, we always see an increase in the number of illnesses which in turn prevent school attendance. These illnesses also keeps Auguste busy informing the schools of absenteeism. Also he is once again responsible for handling all student medical referrals and prescription purchases as we were unable to replace Jhennie after she left in May.

Supplies Received via CASCO ~ Thanks!
Thanks to Cindy and Maureen in the States for supplies received. CASCO is again functioning with about a 4 to 5 week wait time for warehouse (Ft. Lauderdale) to warehouse (Cap-Haitien) delivery. Although changes in customs routines have necessitated price increases. it is still more reliable to have CASCO see goods through customs.

As I am still unable to travel, I know the staff would really appreciate receiving anything anyone can send. My dream is to have enough supplies arriving that we don't have to keep asking. Contact Starthrower by return e-mail if you need shipping information.

Special thanks to the Solon Family for their Christmas fundraiser to benefit Starthrower. Thanks again to everyone who wrote and phoned over the holidays. Your support has been overwhelming.

My 'first' Winter in Canada
In closing, my health continues to improve slowly and steadily. Weather permitting, I meet with the surgeon January 26. Tests originally scheduled for this week in Toronto have been postponed as the original surgical wound is not yet healed.

I qualify every day's activities with "weather permitting". This has been my first winter in Canada in many years. I had forgotten how beautiful and how brutal winter can be here. Somehow the nurses from St. Elizabeth and the support workers from Red Cross manage to get to my place in spite of inclement conditions. They are truly dedicated, amazing people. Thanks Lesley, Jenna, Joanne and Marie.

Plis pi ta (more later)

Beni-w (Blessings)
Sharon

Haiti News - Christmas Dinners, School Sponsors, Food Distribution, New Bridges to Potoprens

Hello Everyone!

Many thanks to those who phoned and sent cards, flowers and get well gifts over the past few weeks. Your support is very encouraging. The healing process continues and will involve further surgery and recovery time. I hope to have more information after tomorrow's (Monday, Dec. 15) appointment at St Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

Sister Rosemary, who flew to Canada with me on the medivac flight and stayed on to help me, has now returned to Haiti and will continue working with our staff until I return. She will work out of our center two days a week as she did before our rather abrupt departure. Her presence, wisdom and knowledge of the Haitian culture and language provides a link for our staff.

As I am able now to enjoy short walks outdoors in this wonderful Canadian weather, I am taking advantage of the proximity of the library and its internet service. Auguste informs me that school exams finished Friday, December 12, and schools will most likely resume classes the second week of January. Report cards will be ready at that time and our tutoring programs will begin mid January. The date is fluid at this point in time.

The biggest problem in Haiti continues to be malnutrition. Although prices in the market place have levelled off, they are still too high for us to reopen the food distribution program. Thanks to the generosity of Mme Cindy and her community in Pennsylvania, our young people will have rice, beans and oil for a Christmas meal. But that is one meal. Other than that Christmas meal, our young people have no food and no options to get food -- no food bank, no government food distribution program. We continue to purchase and distribute potable water.

The good news is that the bridges between Cap-Haitien and Potoprens (Port-au-Prince) have been repaired and bus service has resumed. Bus fare has increased however.

We are still looking for sponsors for post-secondary students. Vincent Robert is in 2nd year agriculture in Limbe, and Plenitude is in first year telecommunications program in Port-au-Prince. Vincent's sponsor in unable to continue and Vincent desperately wants to finish his 4 year program. Plenitude borrowed the money to register and he is staying with friends to minimize expenses. Both are hard workers.

Marlene has returned from first semester in the Dominican Republic. Elorge has stayed behind for a few weeks. We await their reports.

Will close for now - energy tends to depart without advance notice.

Thanks again, everyone!

Pi ta (later)

Sharon

Haiti School News Sen Rafayel successes, post secondary sponsors needed

Hello Everyone,

This week, staff from Sen Rafayel hand-delivered 5 typed letters from our students there who are finishing Philo (high school) this year. That Sen Rafayel, a poor little village in the mountains, will have high school grads is unheard of!! We should be proud of our part to make this happen, and I thank you all for your support!

Each of these graduating students went to see Guilene (our blind student) and asked her to type on their behalf a request for assistance so that they may attend post secondary schools.

To Don and Cindy and everyone in Pennsylvania who secured the Brailler and typewriter for her, thanks! Guilene has become the village secretary! Bon dye va beni-w. (see website for pictures of Guilene)

The requests for financial assistance are from these students:

• Danius and Jhonley want to become master mechanics, and so will have to go to Port-au-Prince to study study Genie Mecanique.
• Brunie wants to become a nurse, so will have to leave Sen Rafayel, as the village has NO post secondary offerings.
• Casimir and Osman want to study agronomy, so they will need to move to either Limbe or Port-au-Prince to study La Science de l'agronomie.

As well, other students need help with post secondary education:

• Deles and Vincent, our first 2 university students, are completing their first year at the University in Limbe, and will need financial help to continue. Although we can spread our limited resources further for secondary support if we pool the funds, these post grad requests really require one-on-one sponsorship.
• Jhennie is still waiting for a sponsor to send her to study Tourism Administration.
• Frantzy needs a sponsor so he can study Medicine.

Sponsored students Elorge and Marlene will go the Dominican Republic to study intensive Spanish, and then Medicine. Both of their sponsors have approved their out-of-country study.

If we expand our mandate to see these young people through post secondary institutions, they will truly be in a position to affect change their country. The elite 1% still has a stranglehold on the country. That must change for Haiti to flourish.

For example, Marlene finally had breast surgery yesterday. We have been waiting for this surgery for almost a year. I received a phone call at 8 pm last night saying she had arrived home (by taxi; we had sent Daniel and Jackson to bring her from Milot back home to Cap-Haitien). The hospital in Milot was unable to keep her, as it is on short staff due to the Easter Holiday.

We recently purchased beds and mosquito nets for 3 of our young people -- Dieunet, Jean Ricot, Nandecie -- as each of them had suffered multiple bouts of Malaria this year. We do what we can one person at a time.

We will try to meet the demand, if possible, but housing, of course, is another, great challenge. Often in their ti kay-yo (rented rooms), there is insufficient space for a single bed. Dieumane moved into a new room this week, so she is next on the list for a bed. Auguste and I visited it last week with some of our Canadian visitors.

Her new room is just a cement box without windows, but at least it is out of the swamp she was in before this. Houses are available for purchase in Haiti, but (again) red tape and lack of funds make this virtually impossible.

These are the stats courtesy Paul Farmer, writing in his book The Uses of Haiti

There are 1.2 doctors, 1.3 nurses, 0.04 dentists for every 10,000 (Haitians), in the U.S., there are 27.9 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants; in Cuba, there are 58.2 doctors for every 10,000 inhabitants.

If you haven't yet read Paul Farmer, I highly recommend getting a copy of the Uses of Haiti. Another good book about Haiti and Paul Farmer is Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. If you buy more than one (get one for a friend) you may get special shipping rates in the U.S.

Sharon