AN OPEN EMAIL UPDATE

Lois and Marilyn, 

I apologize for NOT acknowledging your continued support of our mission in Hiaiti.  While there I did the "blurbs" and tried to keep everyone updated on what we were doing and how projects were progressing.  

After coming home I tried to "blog" and continue to include our "support system"....

THEN I went back to work and seems the church takes up the time not spent on Haiti from Afar. 

We recently did a final accounting as the KEC VIM/DR Committee AND KEC Global Ministries Committee were having their last meetings as we move into the new Great Plains Conference.  From here we are a little uncertain who we will be accountable to.  

We continue to do presentations but that has slowed down. We did another presentation at Old Mission this last Sunday as they are interested in aiming their Christmas offering at an UMCOR Health Ministry that deals with water. 

Joe has been working with Andover UMC in Wichita the last two years to prepare them for the mission trip to La Gonave this last June.  He accompanied them and they will be setting up a partnership through the Haitian Methodist Church with a community on the island. 

We FINALLY have a good hand pump well near a community called Trou Baigai which is close to the goat park we sponsored that was started by the industrial development group APG.  The well at Dan Gerin is now operating as a community well with the solar pumping system we purchased with the last of the original GBGM / KEC grant that funded the drilling of 5 wells. Took 7 years for these two wells but both have good committees managing the maintenance and sales of water.

APG has grown by about 23 small groups and work with a Haitian organization called AAPLAG..a long standing micro finance group the originated over 30 years ago to teach adults to read and write. We have use some of the Round-Up funds to educate community leaders related to industry. We committed for 3 years to assist APG with training and support. That has ended now with over 23 groups involved in livestock, gardening and a few venders.  It is pretty much self sustaining. We maintain a relationship with AAPLAG (they have Church World Service, Salvation Army, and the AME Church Association as backing)...and they provide us transportation and a place to stay on the LGN.

We continue to work with the Circuit Superintendent on La Gonave who now receives and  hosts teams working on  the island.  Jacki Sincere was raised on LGN and says he is sure they will not leave him there too long but he has done some good work for the church on the island.

The clinic in Soursafilip is now open and running full time with nurses and a proposed physician. the West Virginia teams that come frequently have remodeled the house, completed the guest house and significantly updated the clinic.  They are in for the long haul and began with UMCOR support. 

The Methodist Church in Ansagale is now nearly completed by UMVIM teams from Georia, I think. They now are set up to receive teams working on North LGN.  

There is a team from a large church campus in Maryland that has been working in Trou Jacques, a community that was always on our mind.  We were attempting to get water for them but this team has repaired one cistern and built another AND has begun work on the school. 

The primary focus for me and Joe is the scholarship program we started 5 years ago for young adults seeking higher education. Mostly young people from the 16 churches on the island asked for some assistance in moving through grades above the required primary and help with university and vocational training. One nurse graduated last year from Adventist University and currently works at the clinic in SAP.  Another nurse graduates this month.  They have the equivalent of a nurse practitioner in the US and in Haiti can manage clinics and deliver babies.

I will walk down the isle with Benoit Dorvil, Nov 24th as he graduates from UNASCO University with honors.  He is a civil engineer who will be working on the island with teams at Trou Jacques until he find a job. He tried to get a visa to return with me to visit some churches, but didn't work out.

The attached excel sheets list the students we are still supporting with registration fees and tuition. Some have sponsors who provide small living stipends through our Advance.  Church of the Resurrection has been wonderful in providing lap tops for students from their refurbishing ministry. They have even taken some to Haiti for us with their teams and a one computer science major has worked with their IT people in Petit Guave.

I can't tell you how much we appreciate you "staying with us" with your personal support.  There are several churches who continue to provide support for water projects and general support of the mission. We committed to get all the students through the educaiton level they are in. A few completed secondary (college) this year and two are still in High School and two in industrial school.  We have a few in primary school but that tuition is not very high. Our scholarship program is somewhat a competition with the EMH as they give one a year in each circuit. Only problem is they give only teacher and agriculture scholarships and most students want technology, medical or business.  Most are committed to changing the infrastructure of the island they call home.

Joe and I alternate trips and have cut trips to 2 a year due to travel costs. If we can travel with a team that helps with cost but limits our movement on the island. 

Guess, I should have blogged this but wanted to communicate with the two of you.  We have been and continue to be so blessed by our experience and relationship with the people on La gonave and our Haiti experience, in general. The support of our mission has been phenomenal and allowed us to do more than we had ever hoped. 

The education program has and is dramatically changing a few significant lives, and in turn will effect many on the island.  Gratitude is a word that has been redefined in our dictionary.

Joe & Pastor Shirley Edgerton

Long Term Volunteers: La Gonave, Haiti
USA: 001-785-979-4495