It has been a long time:)
To see pics of the School, click here.
by Kim O'Dwyer on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 3:59pm
Hi friends, I know it has been a long time since you have heard from me and my apologies for that. The weather has been very rainy at night which causes the internet not to be reliable. But here I am today, ready to update you:)
The orphanage is going very well. We now have 26 kids. Yes 26. We took in 3 new ones in October, 1 from the mountains and 2 from a tent city in port au prince, where there dad died in the earthquake and their mom was paralyzed in the earthquake. So we are bursting at the seams, but we are a happy home. The kids are all doing very well. We have 15 kids going to school every day. So there is much to do every morning to get them to school by 730 am. And then that still leave 10 kids at home and lots of laundry:) I have a great staff of 6 nannies and 1 security guard. God has truly blessed me with this staff, they work very hard and love these kids as if they were their own.
Ms. Lyn is doing very well. She continues to lead strongly and God continues to give her new vision for the mission. She has been such a good friend, support and encouragment to me. It has not been easy, we have had many challenges, physically and also financially, but we keep telling each other that together with everyones help we can continue with this mission. Is has been amazing to see the church grow to 150 people every sunday and the school just opened last week with 80 kids. As busy as I am at the orphanage I continue to feel a pull towards the school as we have so many needy kids from the mountains. We have hired 3 teachers and 1 director from Port Au Prince who are very qualified but are challenged with their classrooms because many of these kids have never even held a pencil and they are 8 or 9 years old. We started the school with providing 1 meal a day, consisting of rice and beans and 2 days a week we serve Gleanings for the Hungry soup. and then today one of the teachers that teaches ages 5-7 came and asked if there is any way we could give the kids breakfast as they cannot even function until after the rice at 11 am, as they have had nothing to eat since the night before. So we are starting to feed the kids each morning, bread, peanut butter, banana and juice. We knew that we would need to feed them in the morning but we did not have the money to do it yet, but we will trust God for it as these kids are in need of the simplest things.
One quick story. The first day of school started at 8 am and at 9 am i looked down the hill and I saw one of our dads pulling a horse up the hill with 2 little girls on the horse' back. I got Ms. Lyn's attention and said I wonder how long it took them to come to school today, so we asked the dad and he said it took 2 hours to come. So me and Ms. lyn talked about it and decided to offer them the orphanage to live at during the week and then dad will pick them up on friday and take them home for the weekend. It stretches us at the orphange but I could not turn my back. They would never be able to last that trip every day. But that father valued education so much that he would bring them every day. The heart of that father touched my heart. So on friday he picked them up and i gave them money for food before they went home and they walked 2 hours home.
We are doing a good thing here in Carries, Haiti. and you are all part of it through your prayers, your encouragement and your financial support.
Next week i will be heading to California to visit my dad and gleanings family there and also doing some speaking and fundraising, I will be there for 2 weeks so please contact me and i can answer any questions as it will be easier internet access for me.
Friends, Blessings to you from Haiti. I am so blessed because you are standing behind me with love and encouragment. It is not easy but I look at the kids at the orphanage and the school and am continually reminded of God's faithfulness and that through Him we find our strength, through Him we find more love, through Him we find the patience to parent 26 kids:)
If you would like to donate to the orphanage or school in the United States you can send a cheque to "Gleanings for the Hungry" and put a note saying Kim O'Dwyer/Orphanage or School and mail it to Gleanings for the Hungry PO Box 309, Sultana, CA 93666
and in Canada make the cheque payable to "Rolla Baptist Church" and put a note saying Kim O'Dwyer/Orphanage or School and mail it to Jessica O'Dwyer c/o Children of Grace PO Box 97, Pouce Coupe, BC V0C 2G0
We have a Gleanings for the Hungry team coming to help us build shelves for the school and also a cook shack for the orphanage. They will come November 22-December 3, we are really excited about them coming.
Financially if you would like to give to specific things here is a brief list and email me with any other questions.
These are some of our expenses for Grace Community School:
$100 for child sponsorship per year
$30 for child uniform and books per year
$500 per month to feed 80 kids breakfast and lunch
$1500 per month payroll for 4 teachers, 2 cooks, 2 helpers, and 1 security guard
Children of Grace Orphanage:
$50 a month for child sponsorship
$1000 per month payroll for 5 nannies and 1 security guard
$1000 per month for food, water and cooking supplies
The orphanage is going very well. We now have 26 kids. Yes 26. We took in 3 new ones in October, 1 from the mountains and 2 from a tent city in port au prince, where there dad died in the earthquake and their mom was paralyzed in the earthquake. So we are bursting at the seams, but we are a happy home. The kids are all doing very well. We have 15 kids going to school every day. So there is much to do every morning to get them to school by 730 am. And then that still leave 10 kids at home and lots of laundry:) I have a great staff of 6 nannies and 1 security guard. God has truly blessed me with this staff, they work very hard and love these kids as if they were their own.
Ms. Lyn is doing very well. She continues to lead strongly and God continues to give her new vision for the mission. She has been such a good friend, support and encouragment to me. It has not been easy, we have had many challenges, physically and also financially, but we keep telling each other that together with everyones help we can continue with this mission. Is has been amazing to see the church grow to 150 people every sunday and the school just opened last week with 80 kids. As busy as I am at the orphanage I continue to feel a pull towards the school as we have so many needy kids from the mountains. We have hired 3 teachers and 1 director from Port Au Prince who are very qualified but are challenged with their classrooms because many of these kids have never even held a pencil and they are 8 or 9 years old. We started the school with providing 1 meal a day, consisting of rice and beans and 2 days a week we serve Gleanings for the Hungry soup. and then today one of the teachers that teaches ages 5-7 came and asked if there is any way we could give the kids breakfast as they cannot even function until after the rice at 11 am, as they have had nothing to eat since the night before. So we are starting to feed the kids each morning, bread, peanut butter, banana and juice. We knew that we would need to feed them in the morning but we did not have the money to do it yet, but we will trust God for it as these kids are in need of the simplest things.
One quick story. The first day of school started at 8 am and at 9 am i looked down the hill and I saw one of our dads pulling a horse up the hill with 2 little girls on the horse' back. I got Ms. Lyn's attention and said I wonder how long it took them to come to school today, so we asked the dad and he said it took 2 hours to come. So me and Ms. lyn talked about it and decided to offer them the orphanage to live at during the week and then dad will pick them up on friday and take them home for the weekend. It stretches us at the orphange but I could not turn my back. They would never be able to last that trip every day. But that father valued education so much that he would bring them every day. The heart of that father touched my heart. So on friday he picked them up and i gave them money for food before they went home and they walked 2 hours home.
We are doing a good thing here in Carries, Haiti. and you are all part of it through your prayers, your encouragement and your financial support.
Next week i will be heading to California to visit my dad and gleanings family there and also doing some speaking and fundraising, I will be there for 2 weeks so please contact me and i can answer any questions as it will be easier internet access for me.
Friends, Blessings to you from Haiti. I am so blessed because you are standing behind me with love and encouragment. It is not easy but I look at the kids at the orphanage and the school and am continually reminded of God's faithfulness and that through Him we find our strength, through Him we find more love, through Him we find the patience to parent 26 kids:)
If you would like to donate to the orphanage or school in the United States you can send a cheque to "Gleanings for the Hungry" and put a note saying Kim O'Dwyer/Orphanage or School and mail it to Gleanings for the Hungry PO Box 309, Sultana, CA 93666
and in Canada make the cheque payable to "Rolla Baptist Church" and put a note saying Kim O'Dwyer/Orphanage or School and mail it to Jessica O'Dwyer c/o Children of Grace PO Box 97, Pouce Coupe, BC V0C 2G0
We have a Gleanings for the Hungry team coming to help us build shelves for the school and also a cook shack for the orphanage. They will come November 22-December 3, we are really excited about them coming.
Financially if you would like to give to specific things here is a brief list and email me with any other questions.
These are some of our expenses for Grace Community School:
$100 for child sponsorship per year
$30 for child uniform and books per year
$500 per month to feed 80 kids breakfast and lunch
$1500 per month payroll for 4 teachers, 2 cooks, 2 helpers, and 1 security guard
Children of Grace Orphanage:
$50 a month for child sponsorship
$1000 per month payroll for 5 nannies and 1 security guard
$1000 per month for food, water and cooking supplies
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