March trip to Haiti

Growing Children, Growing Needs

Grow Haiti’s Children

phanage staff and children.

Our next trip will be in ear-

ly October of 2016 and,

hopefully, we will be able

to involve travelers in pro-

jects over the coming sum-

mer months. Anyone inter-

ested in participating

should contact Cathy Olds,

colds@standrewchandler.

com or 480-899-1990, ext.

130, for more information or

to apply.

On Wednesday, March 2 seven

travelers left for Jeremie, Haiti.

Gerry Smith, Lindsey Smith,

Thibault Denamiel, Tevin Mil-

ler, Nik and Henry Helfenbein

and Lilia Santiague spent the

week with the children, playing

soccer, building with Legos,

painting the girls’ fingernails,

visiting the children’s schools,

taking lots of pictures and

measuring the children for

shoes and clothes.

Fr. Gary, the founder, and Mdm. Dilene,

the director, met with our group to dis-

cuss finances and the growing needs of

the children.

Travelers were able to join the children

for Sunday mass at Fr. Garry’s parish

and enjoyed the hospitality of the or-

We have 70 growing children

between the ages of 5 and 19

years old at Our Lady of Perpet-

ual Help Orphanage. Each trip

we take we bring clothing and

shoes. With the shoe collection

from last fall, we still have a

good supply. Clothing, socks,

underwear are often a more dif-

ficult project. To meet the need

for clothing we are initiating a

clothing sponsorship for each

child. Individuals and families

can pledge to shop and provide

play clothes, socks, underwear

and dress clothes for one of the

children. We will provide, sizes

and a current picture of the boy

or girl being sponsored. In Octo-

ber and March we will deliver the

clothes during our semi-annual

trips.

Other needs include, backpacks,

donations for 14 computer tablets

for older students to be used at

school, tuition for a nursing stu-

dent and a cosmetology student.

March Trip 1

Growing Children 1

Travel Reflections 2

How to Get Involved 4

Dining Room Renovations 3

Priorities for Development 3

Fall Fundraiser 4

April 2016 Volume 1, Issue 3

Inside this issue:

Haiti Outreach of St. Andrew the Apostle

Traveler Profiles: Trip Reflections from Lindsey Smith

My Experiences and Reflections On The Spring 2016 Trip To Haiti By: Lindsey Smith

As I boarded an evening flight bound for Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and even-

tually Haiti on March 2, 2016 with strangers I would be proud to call friends in only one short week, I had many preconceived notions of what I would

see and experience. Many of these notions proved correct, however I

came away with so much more.

For me it was a trip that opened my eyes to the humanity behind the words

orphan, poor, and third world. I came home with a love of the people I met, a respect for the fortitude of the orphans and the orphanage staff, a

deeper appreciation for the modern conveniences and securities that I en-

joy at home in the United States, and a stronger desire to help better their living situation.

Before embarking on this trip I was told of the tremendous hospitality that

Father Gary, Dilene and the staff and children of the orphanage extend to their guests from St. An-

drew’s. This was indeed true. From the delicious food prepared for us at lunch every day, to the daily hugs, attempts at English, and time and effort the kids and staff put into planning a blow out celebration

at the end of our trip, the people we support in Haiti exemplify hospitality. Every day when we arrived

at the orphanage, we were greeted with swarms of beautiful children wishing us “Bonjour” with hugs, kisses, and hand holding. This is where I began to experience tumultuous emotions. I was touched by

the sincere gestures of kindness and affection of the kids. Yet, I was heart broken because, as I got to

know many of these wonderful kids, I could see that while their basic needs are well met, our visit brought them a novelty that the orphanage staff simply cannot provide, and that is one on one attention

and affection. The staff is truly kind and committed to the children. With a staff of 12 and 70 children

combined at both the boys and girls homes, regular individualized attention simply isn’t realistic. As a mom to my own 10 year old son and 8 year old daughter my heart broke wide open as time after time

one little 8 year old girl named Anne Stassy, who was newer to the orphanage, would come and hold my

hand and hug my leg without any words every day for 20 minutes or longer at a time. One day I even picked her up to hug her, and she very needily wrapped her legs around me and laid her head down

on my shoulder. It was very rewarding to know that each of us who came to visit could provide these kids with more individualized attention. It was also bitter sweet at the same time because unlike our

own kids at home, that one on one experience doesn’t come nearly often enough.

All of this said, these kids really do have a better living situation than many of their counterparts living

in the surrounding area who do not know if they will get to eat every day, go to school, or have shelter

from the elements. While there was a significant language barrier since I don’t speak French or French Creole, the frequent smiles and upbeat attitudes of most of the kids and teenagers conveyed to me that

they too know that what they have at the orphanage is superior in many ways. It’s my hope that many

other parishioners will take a week to travel to meet these great kids personally. I can promise that they will touch each visitors heart in the same way they touched mine. It’s also my hope that everyone

that comes home from their visit will bring with them the same motivation to continue to help these kids

just as I did.

Page 2

Lindsey Smith with a special hair do

the girls provided.

During our regular trips to the orphanage

we assess needs for both the children and

the facilities . Here are some of the short

and long term goals:

Short term goals include:

• Continue working with the Knights of

Columbus to complete the rewiring

project of the boys facility and raising

the electrical standards for a safer facili-

ty. There is a need for battery power

for fans and lights in the bedrooms and

an exhaust fan in the kitchen to remove

carbon monoxide from the wood fires.

• Repair water system in the boys facility,

re-piping the shower area, converting

pvc pipe in high use areas to galvanized

pipes, adding a second water storage

Priorities for Development

Page 3

tank on the roof, repair cistern, install water

pump to move water from cistern to storage

tanks.

Long term goals include:

• Establish a scholarship fund to put our high

school graduates through college, university,

or vocational school.

• Purchase a delivery vehicle to extend bread

sales into the community at large.

There are generous donors for some of the short

term projects. Our hope is that we will be able

to obtain grants and major donations for the larg-

er projects.

Over the past year, work has been done to

renovate the boys dining room. A year

ago, the room was unpainted cinderblock

walls and ceiling. See the picture to the

right. Over this past winter we were able

to have local workers sand and smooth

and paint the walls, floors and ceiling. This

provides a safer and healthier space for

the children to eat.

Other renovation projects are in the planning

stages. With the financial support of the Kights of

Columbus, Paul Hursh and Gerry Smith are head-

ing a committee to fix the electrical system at the

boys dormitory. We also have a donor for reno-

vations to the substandard water system at the

boys dormitory. Anyone interested in infor-

mation on these projects can visit our web site to

view pictures and progress on these projects.

Dining Room Renovations

Dining room after renovations

Dining room before renovations

Non-Profit Status has been granted

to Grow Haiti’s Children!

How You Can Get Involved

Page 4

We Are on the Web at :

www.standrewchandler.com/

haiti-outreach

Vision Statement

We of Grow Hai’s Children, the mission out-

reach of St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Faith

Community to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Or-

phanage join with other members of the body of

Christ in joyful response to the Lord’s words

“Love one another as I have loved you.” In re-

sponding to this Gospel mandate, we choose to

walk in solidarity with the Hai(an people, rec-

ognizing them as family, promo(ng their dignity

and encouraging their self-determina(on.

Therefore, through our presence, collabora(on,

educa(on for jus(ce in Hai( and the United

States and the channeling of resources and tal-

ents, we commit ourselves to empower the Hai-

(an people to realize their full poten(al. Joining

hands and hearts with others whose dream is to

work with the Hai(an people, we con(nue to

collaborate in building a new Hai(, born of

suffering, courage, hope, love, compassion, and

jus(ce -- a new Hai( standing as a dignified

member of the global community.

Pray for the children of Hai� and donate what you are able. Get to know the

children and share the story of this ministry.

Assist with our various fundraising events. Join one of the working commi�ees.

• The Travel commi�ee coordinates the applica�ons, planning, prepara�ons

and travel arrangements for our twice a year trips.

• The Special Projects commi�ee plans and implements projects at the orphan-

age that improve the living condi�ons of the children. This commi#ee also

works on administra�ve projects like establishing and maintaining our non-

profit status.

• The Children’s commi�ee looks to the needs of the children and keeps track

of their health and growth to share with parishioners. They also collect items

to meet these needs and arrange for ac�vi�es for travelers to do with the

children on our trips.

• The Fundraising commi�ee helps raise funds for opera�ng expenses, special

projects and travel expenses. This commi#ee plans and implements two

events per year and cooperates with fundraising efforts of various ministries

at St. Andrew.

• The Communica�ons commi�ee publishes quarterly newsle#ers, annual re-

ports and maintains the new Grow Hai(’s Children web site.

Contact Cathy Olds for more informa�on or to get involved in this very special

outreach ministry.

cathy.olds@standrew-cfc.org/480-899-1990, ext. 130

Grow Haiti’s Children

3450 W Ray Rd.

Chandler, AZ 85226

Phone: 480-899-1990

Fax: 480-917-8475

E-mail: colds@standrewchandler.com

SAVE THE DATE!

We will hold our annual

fundraising dinner on

Saturday, October 22, 2016.

We are hoping Fr. Garry will be with

us for the weekend.