Haiti Journal

October newsletter

2011-12-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

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What's New With the Work of Ihaf...
Consolation Center School is Open!! Our new school is open and we need your help! Can you help us? Only $20. per month will send a child to school! Please make out and send your sposorship donation to: International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc. P.O.Box 13 Midland Park, NJ 07432 (please note on memo line- “for student sponsor”) (or donate at www.ihaf.us using paypal) Thank-you! Yours in service, Andy Andrew Topp, President International Humanitarian Aid Foundation We currently have about 100 students registered, many of whom have never been to school before. It will cost us about $200. per year per student for all expenses. Most of the children have never been to school because they cannot afford this, so we are stepping out in faith, that many will support our work and make it possible for the children to continue going to school. Each family is paying a small fee (about $5. US) as a registration fee, but beyond that the burden of teachers salaries, books, supplies, etc. is on us. Eddie and Djoune Constant, directors of Consolation Center, are already using some of their own income to get things going. There is only one way to support the growth of children everywhere --through education. A formal education is an extreme privilege for any child in Haiti, where the literacy rate is about 53% with only one in five reaching high school. Ninety percent of all schools in Haiti are funded and managed by non-governmental organizations, students usually are not able to go to school unless they can afford tuition, books, supplies and uniforms. At Consolation Center, we realized a desparate need for a school and not just any school, but one that would make accomadations for older children that had never been to school as well as children that could not afford to go to school, a school that would give them basic skills to live, a good education, opportunities for a vocation, as well as helping them to develop their faith in God. At our school, students are provided with an education as well as a caring family of teachers and new friends! When they cannot afford tuition, which is the case with almost all of our students, we count on you for support. Will you help us educate the youth of Haiti? Help us give them a good education, learn a new way of life that will guide them into a responsible adulthood? Please sponsor a child to go to school. For less than $20. per month you can send a child to school! It costs us about $200.00 per year to have a child at our school. We currently have about 100 students at Consolation Center School, many of whom have never been to school! We have 8 teachers and 8 classroom areas (4 at the new school building and 4 at Consolation Center – A home for girls) We hope to have funding to complete the building of the school in the next year or so and eventually have 12 classrooms and grades. Please help us in this demonstration of love and caring in Haiti. We ask it, not for ourselves, but for the good of those who have no one else to turn to. Please let us know if you would like a presentation to your group. We will gladly send a dvd or come in person if possible! International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc. International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in the State of New Jersey, USA. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowable by law.		Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, NJ Saves Jasmine's life! Jasmine came home from Valley Hospital last week! The tumor that was removed is benign, Her infections seemed to be cleared, (although they did say to keep an eye on her temperature), her potassium level is normal again, the only medication she is on is for some pain. She has started eating again, taking it slowly. She seems to be resting comfortably so far. She has several weeks of recovery and followup visits to do before being able to return to her new baby, Lana! (photo attached) I have attached a few photos - of Jasmine with Dr. Burke the surgeon who has done so much and also with Dr. Brizzio who helped a lot with getting Dr.Burke on board and writing a visa request letter for Jasmine. (and we are now working on helping others who need heart surgery!) A big thanks also goes out to Douglas Dittrick for clearing everything with Valley Hospital Adminstration! We still need to get a photo of him with Jasmine! I would just like to say, that all of those who have been involved in Jasmine's care have been incredible and have contributed to saving her life! Between the size of the tumor she had, the types of infections she came with (one was an ecoli blood infection) I seriously doubt things would have worked out so well if she had to be treated in Haiti. Please help us to help more like Jasmine! Please make out and send your donation to: International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc. P.O.Box 13 Midland Park, NJ 07432 (or donate at www.ihaf.ususing paypal)		Dear All, Praise God! Paola is cleared to go home (still has a little recovery to do) As for Paola, the girl who was trapped in the house that killed all of her family and fiance in the earthquake in Haiti, she is recovering nicely from her 2 surgeries! One was done at Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, by Dr. Kopelman, and the second at Clara Mass Hospital in Belleville. The photo is with Dr. Kaputo from Clara Mass, who did a special surgery to try and free up her left eye muscles from all the scar tissue and damage that had been done there. (she had multiple skull fractures). Dr. Kaputo was pretty happy with the movement that Paola has with her eye now. Its not as good as they had hoped it could be, but it is better than he expected after they realized all the damage that had been done, and it should improve as the swelling continues to go down. Paola is scheduled to go back to Haiti October 24, the only trouble is, she has no home to go home to. So, Eddie and Djoune and I have discussed having her stay at Consolation Center and helping us with the work there and the girls. Paola will be great at teaching dance and perhaps some English and Spanish to the children at the new school! She is happy to have a place to go now! Somehow everything will work out wonderfully! And so we continue to thank God for all of the support that makes these good stories have such happy endings! There is so much still to be done, please do not hesitate to pass this good news on to others and invite them to share in this good work by sending their support or getting involved! Please send donations to: International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 13 Midland Park, New Jersey 07432

Consolation Center - A home for disadvantaged girls and now our new school has been the main project of International Humanitarian Aid Foundation since 2009.

We have come a long way in a short time, with your continued help we can do so much more! We currently have 36 girls that have been rescued from abuse, neglect, and poverty. We are teaching them a new way of life, how to be responsible, have good morals, a strong faith in God, and good relationships with others. Won't you help us to help them?
Please make out and send your sposorship donation to:
International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc.
P.O.Box 13
Midland Park, NJ 07432

(or donate at www.ihaf.ususing paypal)

International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in the State of New Jersey, USA. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowable by law.
International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 13
Midland Park, New Jersey 07432
Visit – http://ihaf.us EIN: 26-0487974

Pastor Andy is the founder and president of International Humanitarian Aid Foundation. As such, he spends most of his free time and beyond helping others. He continues to need financial, hands on, and prayer support. If you would like to support his work and help him to do more, please contact him at: andy.ihaf@gmail.com or Please make out and send your donation to:

International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc.
P.O.Box 13
Midland Park, NJ 07432

Please note: For "Pastor Andy Support" on the memo line.
(or donate at www.ihaf.ususing paypal)

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2011-11-07T18:44:00.001-08:00

2011-10-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

DearAll, Praise God!

Paola iscleared to go home (still has a little recovery to do) and Jasmine came home from Valley Hospital lastnight! The tumor that was removed isbenign, Her infections seemed to becleared, (although they did say to keep an eye on her temperature), her potassium level is normal again, the onlymedication she is on is for some pain. She has started eating again, taking itslowly as things don't sit too well yet. She seems to be resting comfortably sofar today. She has several weeks ofrecovery and followup visits to do before being able to return to her new baby,Lana! (photo attached)

I haveattached a few photos - of Jasmine with Dr. Burke the surgeon who has done somuch and also with Dr. Brizzio who helped a lot with getting Dr.Burke on boardand writing a visa request letter for Jasmine. (and we are now working onhelping others who need heart surgery!)

A big thanks also goes out to Douglas Dittrickfor clearing everything with Valley Hospital Adminstration! We still need to get a photo of him withJasmine!

I would justlike to say, that all of those who have been involved in Jasmine's care have beenincredible and have contributed to saving her life! Between the size of the tumor she had, thetypes of infections she came with (one was an ecoli blood infection) Iseriously doubt things would have worked out so well if she had to be treatedin Haiti.

As forPaola, the girl who was trapped in the house that killed all of her family andfiance in the earthquake in Haiti, she is recovering nicely from her 2surgeries! One was done at ValleyHospital, Ridgewood, by Dr. Kopelman, and the second at Clara Mass Hospital inBelleville. The photo is with Dr. Kaputofrom Clara Mass, who did a special surgery to try and free up her left eyemuscles from all the scar tissue and damage that had been done there. (she hadmultiple skull fractures). Dr. Kaputowas pretty happy with the movement that Paola has with her eye now. Its not asgood as they had hoped it could be, but it is better than he expected afterthey realized all the damage that had been done, and it should improve as theswelling continues to go down.

Paola isscheduled to go back to Haiti October 24, the only trouble is, she has no hometo go home to. So, Eddie and Djoune andI have discussed having her stay at Consolation Center and helping us with thework there and the girls. Paola will begreat at teaching dance and perhaps some English and Spanish to the children atthe new school! She is happy to have aplace to go now! Somehow everything willwork out wonderfully!

And so wecontinue to thank God for all of the support that makes these good stories havesuch happy endings! There is so muchstill to be done, please do not hesitate to pass this good news on to othersand invite them to share in this good work by sending their support or gettinginvolved!

Please senddonations to:

InternationalHumanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc.

P.O. Box 13
MidlandPark, New Jersey 07432

2011-09-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

Journal for Haiti trip August 2011

Finally on the way home from a week in Haiti working onConsolation Center School! Started homeon Saturday, was supposed to be on a direct flight to JFK, but with HurricaneIrene heading straight for NYC area that flight was canceled. With the help of Ken in Iowa, monitoring thehurricane and my flight, I was fortunate to be booked on an additional flightthat was added from PAP to Miami. Alsoam fortunate to have my good friend and board member, Mary Packer in Boca Ratonwhere I could stay while waiting for Irene to leave its path of damage and thentry to find a flight home! I was initially booked on a flight for Thursday butthat will not due since I need to be home to co-officiate at a Jonathon andNicole’s wedding on Thursday evening, rehearsel on Wednesday! Only way I could work it out is this flightfrom Miami to Washington, DC then rent a car to drive to JFK to pick up mycar. The good Lord willing, I should behome around 8pm. All part of theadventure of working in places like Haiti I suppose!

Dave and David made it home with no problem, leaving LesCayes at 7 AM and arriving back home at their houses around 2 AM the nextday! Lucky guys!

In any case, we had a good week of work on the new school! DaveWester, Dave Brown, myself, Honel, and another Haitian guy, worked all weekcreating the end walls for C.C. School out of re-bar and square steel. We wanted to leave it as open as possible tocatch the wind so we created a pattern by bending 3’ pieces of re-bar into andS shape then welding them repeatedly to vertical bars every 6”. It creates a very nice pattern ofhearts! I suppose representative of allthe love and dedication that has gone into creating a new home and now schoolfor so many disadvantaged children in Haiti! We finished about ½ of the welding work that has to be done. Honel and his friend are going to finish therest of the second end wall and thewindows.

We have 2 new girls,

OslaineSouverain 4 years old, she lost her Mother since she born and nobody knows whois Oslaine's Father

JolaineNazaire 11years old, rescueed frombeing a restavek by social services who asked if Consolation Center could take her in.

We also havea new puppy that was quite cute and friendly! All the girls loved picking him up and having their photo taken withhim, we named him Roscoe – for some reason the girls had trouble pronouncingthat name so I am not sure it is going to stick! We will see next time if theyare still calling him that!

Other than that the girls all look good and loved having usthere. We tried to spend a little timewith them each day, even though we worked long hours every day, only taking ashort lunch break for snack crackers or peanut butter and jam on bread. We also were able to finish hooking up thesolar system and batteries at Les’s house so we stayed there the last 4 nightswith at least some lights and eletricity (still cold water showers!)

Eddy and Djoune currentlyhave about 70 kids plus our own 34 girls enrolled in school, about 100+ total. Most of them have not been to school beforeso there is much work to do to get them caught up! We are praying that we can find many goodfolks who would like to sponsor these children to go to school. Itwill cost us about $200.00 per year per student for supplies and teachers. Can you help us?

There is always more to do and money is tight! We really need the support of many regulardonors! Please help us to helpthem. Please send your donations to:

International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 13
Midland Park, New Jersey 07432

Or donate on www.ihaf.usthrough paypal. Thank-you!!

Haiti in August - New School!

2011-08-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Heading back to Haiti, Monday, August 22 - 27 with David Wester and David Brown from Iowa. Of course, just to keep things interesting, there is also a hurricane, Irene, on the way there now too! Our flight has been delayed 2 hours so far, lets hope thats all it will be. We continue to need support, prayers and donations as well as hands on help! Please remember us whenever possible! Thank-you! Andy

Please send donations to:
International Humanitarian Aid Foundation
P.O.Box 13
Midland Park, NJ 07432

Working on the New School! Lodi teacher, Aimee Cook gets an education!

2011-08-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

Journal – July 2011

Here we are, on the way to another adventure! Ken is in Ft. Lauderdale on his way to Les Cayes, Haiti- probably his last trip with his twin engine C340- N6267N! He was in the process of signing contracts to sell it to someone in Canada just before he left Iowa to meet me in Haiti and work on the next phase of the school! That means that he needs to get busy and find a new plane! Hopefully a bit larger with larger payload capacity.

In the meantime, I am at JFK waiting for the AA direct flight from here to Port au Prince. This afternoon I will be meeting with Rachel from Project Medishare of University of Miami who has set up a meeting with Paola who was injured in the earthquake. Paola lost 11 members of her family in the earthquake, only her and one brother survived. She is now mostly blind after suffering multiple skull fractures and is in need of neurosurgery to relieve pressure on optic nerves. Meeting with her today to set up when and where to meet her on Friday when Ken and I will go with her to the Embassy to prayfully get her permission to travel to the US for treatment. We are planning on having her come home with me on July 29. She will be graciously hosted by Charlene and Bob Klingen. Surgery will be compliments of Dr. Kopelman and Valley Hospital.

We also hope to train a couple Haitian guys to install the galvanized roofing on the school while Ken and I work on other stuff. Prayerfully, we will find a way to have our truck repaired again! We have a broken front axle, for the second time! Don’t know if its because of the very rough roads, inferior repair parts, or some other problem. All we do know, is the truck is a vital link in our work, and its always expensive to repair it! Its one of the reasons its so important to have ongoing undesignated financial support from many people. Unexpected expenses come up frequently!

We should be able to get the windows and doors cut on the two containers for the school and arrange to have dividing walls built. Then there will be lots of finishing work to do.

We have a special guest coming to visit and work with the girls on Friday. Aimee Cook is a teacher at Lodi Highschool and has also been Interact Advisor there. Her and her Interact Club (Rotary at the highschool level) have been interested in what we are doing in Haiti and have already supported us somewhat, but she felt the need to have some first hand experience to share with her students. She would like to have her Interact Club and perhaps some friends at Berkely College, get more involved in helping the girls and with our school project. It should be great to have her help!

Well time to get to the gate and board! Please spread the word about all the work we are doing and how much we need many to help us! Thank-you! Yours in service, Andy

Wow! What an adventure! It never ceases to amaze me how God uses us (when we let him) and works things out so beautifully! The adventure began in earnest with meeting Rachel from Medishares in the parking area of the airport. We drove in her truck/ambulance to the Bernard Mevs hospital to meet Paola and go over logistics of getting her visa and the embassy meeting on Friday. After some investigation Rachel figured out that she should have already gone to the embassy and her paperwork was about to expire, so she reapplied for her to get a Humanitarian Parole and permission to travel to the US for medical treatment. From there I went to meet Ken at the general aviation side of the airport to Head to Les Cayes.

The almost 2 weeks went so fast with all we were working on. First we spent some time working on Les’ house, setting up his solar system so that we can soon have power there. Then we went to work on finishing the roof of the school. On Friday we flew to PAP to pick up Aimee and Brett (who ended up being delayed until Saturday), and to escort Paola to the US embassy to help Paola with her application. That did not take very long, so we had time to do some “shopping” for a new axle for my truck (bummers – we did find one but cost $1,000.00) At least we had the truck working and useful again in a day or so. Also bought 2 new tires for the Kia - $110. Each. We go through a set of “40,000 mile” tires about every 10,000 miles here in Haiti with the incredible rough roads!

Aimee’s arrival was obviously eye-opening for her. As she stepped off Ken’s plane in Les Cayes, there were a couple of the usual beggar children at the fence asking for food, one of them rubbed his belly, and Aimee lost it- broke into tears as she threw a bag of potatoe chips over the fence to them. She met all the girls on Saturday, and I think was pleasantly surprised by how happy they all are and how pleasant Consolation Center really is! She asked a thousand questions about everything she saw and about the girls as she began brain storming how she could help. It was quite interesting and a joy to see how she got involved and learned about each girl, eventually creating individual file folders for every girl which with health, social, psychological and education information on each! She had a great time with the girls and they did with her as well!

Sunday we began with a visit to our friend Wadsene’s church, then headed to a scheduled meeting in Anse sa Voire, a village on the north coast, about a 3 hour drive away, to meet with Ronide, an architect, and her family, to look at property and a project they are working on to build an artist’s village, possibly using this new Sukup SafeThouse. That is why Brett came, to come to this meeting and to see what we are doing, etc. Ronide, who we had met at the meeting with President Martelly a few weeks ago, did tell me that the road was a bit rough, so I decided to take the Toyota Hilux that Eddy and I bought last year. Good thing. We drove on incredibly rough roads, which because of recent rain, some were very muddy and slippery. There was no way you could pass them with only 2 wheel drive. Then there were the rivers and streams! The 3 small streams were easy, then one medium size river about 1’ deep, then there was the big river – about 100 yards across and at one point, over 3’ deep! We took some video while we crossed and it looks like we are in a boat! The truck made it with flying colors!

We toured the property, had dinner with Ronide and family, she really wanted us to stay, but we knew we had a lot of work planned on Monday, so we headed home just after it started to get dark. We had an escort to the river and even had a guy walk in front of us in the water to make sure we passed in the most shallow area! After that we knew we could make it the rest of the way home! We drove through some very remote kinds of uniquely beautiful fishing villages as the road follows the coast. Amy and Brett were most impressed by the way so many of these people are living on the land here. There are no grocery stores, just local people each speciailizing in their own food or goods, and everyone knows who sells or trades what. Not many have cars, so travel is all on foot or motorbike taxi. We made it home after a long adventurous day, feeling satisfied and inspired to continue our work, knowing that with persistence we can make a difference and others will follow.

Monday Brett and Ken took a look at property we are considering buying to build a “Sukup village”. Our idea is to build a whole little village of “grain-bin homes”, provide those homes to families and/or single mothers that are struggling to keep their families together. The plan is to have everyone contribute some combination of work and maintenance fee income to help keep the village running once its built. It will be overseen by a board in Haiti but will prayerfully become a place for people struggling to learn a new vocation, get the help they need, and eventually become self sufficient. Its largely on the drawing board still, but Ken, Terry and others think they will have the money together soon to purchase the property. The order for the houses has already been placed with Sukup! Moving ahead in faith!

To make a long, hot story short, the rest of the week went quickly with many things to do. We finished installing the roof panels and the supports for the roof. Using the plasma cutter, we cut out all of the window openings and the large openings to create 4, 18’x20’ classrooms. Every day cutting and working in the heat and humidity is a challenge. Ken and I both felt the effects of it in major ways, taking breaks as needed, a long noontime lunch and then working later in the day when it’s a little cooler, etc. At least now it is to a point where the concrete dividing walls can be built. We are still debating over what kind of windows or grates we should put in the openings we cut, and perhaps the entire end walls should simply be a wrought iron open wall to allow as much air flow as possible. We will see.

Other things that were accomplished was the completion of the mural painting on the girls homes! Honel did a beautiful job! We had to replace the water purifier ultraviolet light transformer again, not sure why they are burning out, and thank goodness we were able to have 2 extras overnight shipped to Aimee to bring down with her! The girls can now feel safe with drinking their water again! We also were able to help Paola Cesar receive her approval to come to the US for surgery, so she made the trip home with us and will have surgery 8/11/11 - let's keep her in our prayers!

Aimee had a great time getting to know the girls, beginning to do some assessments of their personalities and skill levels, creating individual files for each, etc. When we finally had to leave on the 29^th, there where more than a few sad and teary eyes! Aimee is now excited to be going home to start to raise more support for what we do and to help us keep records on each of the girls, tracking their progress as they grow!

As the economy at home struggles, so do we! Getting home I discovered not many donations have come in, giving is definitely down, and the checking account shows it badly! We really need the support of many regular donors! Please help us to help them. Please send your donations to:

International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 13
Midland Park, New Jersey 07432

Or donate on www.ihaf.us through paypal. Thank-you!!!

New School - Medical Help for Earthquake victim - Lodi Teacher visiting - and more!

2011-07-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

Journal – July 2011

That’s the first project on this trip. Next will be to install solar system at Les’ rented house, get the water system running, clean and make the place liveable for Ken and I. We would much rather stay there than in town – its quieter and if we get the electric working, we can have a fan running all night, making sleeping a lot easier. This house that Les rented is for he and his wife Kathryn who were supposed to be moving there in June to work as farmer/missionaries, until their daughter decided to get married in August, so things got put on hold a bit! Just thought of something – whats it going to be like when some of our girls from Consolation Center, start getting married?! Scary thought! Lol!

We also hope to train a couple Haitian guys to install the galvanized roofing on the school while Ken and I work on other stuff. Prayerfully, we will find a way to have our truck repaired again! We have a broken front axle, for the second time! Don’t know if its because of the very rough roads, inferior repair parts, or some other problem. All we do know, is the truck is a vital link in our work, and its always expensive to repair it! Its one of the reasons its so important to have ongoing undesignated financial support from many people. Unexpected expenses come up frequently!

We should be able to get the windows and doors cut on the two containers for the school and arrange to have dividing walls built. Then there will be lots of finishing work to do.

Well time to get to the gate and board! Please spread the word about all the work we are doing and how much we need many to help us! Thank-you! Yours in service, Andy

We Need Your Help!

2011-07-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

We have a list of urgent needs I am hoping and praying some may be able to help with. Please pass this on!

1. We have a warehouse here in NJ full of much needed supplies that are ready to be shipped to Haiti. We have the cost of shipping covered (about $5,000.) but we would like to purchase the container that we ship in so that we can turn it into housing once it arrives. The cost of containers has risen considerably in the past year, now at $3,500.00 and we just do not have the funds for it. If there is anyone that can help us with that specific cost it would be great!

2. The Cost for everything in Haiti has been on the rise, we have had to make several major truck repairs, construction costs have repeatedly been more than anticipated, and we just don't get enough undesignated donations to cover all of them. If we can get more undesignated (not sponsorship donations) to help with these ongoing expenses, it would be great!

3. Sponsorships - Currently we are providing full care, food, housing, schooling, and medical for 32 girls. Only 27 of our girls are fully sponsored at $2,000.00 per year (it costs us $2,000.00 per year per girl on average). That means that our monthly income is already short of where it should be. We need 5 more full (or joint to equal full) sponsors to cover the girls we have currently. We have space for 50 girls total and there are many more who are hoping and waiting to be rescued! We would love to help them but cannot until we get more sponsors! Can you help us?

Donations can be sent to:
International Humanitarian Aid Foundation, inc.(a 501c3 foundation)
PO Box 13
Midland Park, NJ 07432
Or by credit card at: www.IHAF.us

May - June Haiti trips! June 1 update!

2011-06-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 6/1/11, rain, rain, rain!

The good thing is that we finished welding all the framework for the roof of the school yesterday, in the rain. Now we need a good break in it to prime all of it and then start putting the corrugated roofing on. After that is the thatching. We decided to do both because we want to make sure its water tight, but we also want to make sure its as cool as possible, and quiet in the rain (which they sometimes get a lot of!) The thatching acts as an excellent insulator and when it rains its as quiet as can be.

Les’ boys also got a good start with the plasma cutter, cutting as much of the windows and doors as we could. There is still some stuff in the containers so we didn’t finish the cuts yet. If we move some of the stuff over to the other container we could probably finish some of the cuts still in the rain.

Radalphta finally had her remaining stitches removed on Tuesday at General hospital by Dr. Leger! I didn’t have time to get over there but her mom called later and said that everything went fine and they were back home. Both Fredette and her husband are very appreciative of everything that everyone has done to help Radalphta! Now we just have to help her through school! Some of the folks in North Carolina have started an education fund for Radalphta that we will help to manage here. If any would like to contribute please send a check to IHAF, PO Box 13, Midland Park, NJ 07432, with a memo that it is for Radalphta’s education. It costs between $200.- $300. Per year for a child to go to school here. Only about 50% end up going to school. Its one of the reasons we are building our school. We hope to have sponsors for each child that can’t afford to go.

Ken left early yesterday morning to make what we like to call a “Home Depot Run”. He flew to Fort Lauderdale primarily to pickup a solar power system for Les’ house and then we gave him a long list to shop for at Home Depot! He was making really good time, Mary Packer from IHAF board, met him there and drove him to the store etc., he got back in the air to head back here, landed in Exhuma, Bahamas for fuel, and that’s when the rain set in heavy between here and there. Its been raining hard ever since and the are predicting about a week of this! That was last night, now its Thursday, Ken and his crew were planning on leaving tomorrow, but at the moment he is stuck in the Bahamas (yea, I know, Poor Ken, right?! Lol) We are hoping for a few hour break in the weather at some point where he can fly in under the weather either later today or tomorrow. Prayers would be appreciated!

We will probably head out to Consolation Center before long, there are a few things we can do in spite of the rain. Not sure I can get Internet now, its often not working in the heavy rain, but if so, will get this posted along with some pics! Until later, yours in service, Andy ( I would love to add photos to this, but the internet is so intermittent, it will not load them now! )

May - June Haiti trips!

2011-05-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

April 11, 2011- on the way again! Heading to Haiti for a quick 5 days. First stop is Petionville to check on Pastor Wilson’s orphanage project. Apparently the group that was supposed to be sending down some type of modular housing has backed out. He has property that he and his wife bought, they installed footings for the housing, they have some 40 or 50 orphans, many of them since the earthquake, but nowhere to put them. They were hoping to have something built and be moving in by May, but that does not look like it will happen unless we can come up with something quick! I am thinking container homes would be the quickest as long as we can get them in PAP. We shall see what we can do.

Ken and I were also able to do some fundraising and speaking while I was there, meeting first with folks at Albert City E.Free Church, who have been so wonderful supporting the girls of Consolation Center, and raising and donating about ½ of the money we need to build the school! Then we made a visit to our new friends at Oakdale E. Free Church, it was great to see all the guys there that recently did so much work at Consolation Center, meet their families, their pastor, and talk about our needs for the future! Already their support has been wonderful!

On another note, we ask for you continued prayers that Ken and myself will both find (have donated?) more suitable airplanes for all the transport and trips we are taking back and forth to Haiti and elsewhere. Ken is looking for a twin engine with good payload and speed or ideally, a Pilatus! I am praying for a single engine plane with good payload and speed, something along the lines of a Beechcraft Bonanza A-36 or even a Cessna 182 RG or Cessna 210? We will see what God has in mind!

We also have just submitted the case of a 12 year old boy with a recurring benign growth on his right hand. He has had 4 surgeries on it so far, it keeps coming back and now he cannot use that hand. We are praying that there is something better that an orthopedic doctor here can do to help.

I have a suitcase and a half, full of new activity supplies for the girls from Daniella Scaglione, a senior in Wayne Highschool, who is doing her Girlscout Gold Award project for our girls! She dropped off a really nice pile of great stuff last night! Have to make sure I get some good photos!

I quess that’s it for now, I will try to update more as the week goes on! Eddy and Djoune and I will be meeting to finalize plans on the school, go over finances and such, and I would like to spend some time with the girls. Yours in His service, Andy

That was a fast 5 days. At the airport again waiting for the flight home. Not a bad week, was able to get almost everything accomplished that I wanted to. Looked at Pastor Wilson’s orphanagae project, is definitely doable with Containers, although on Wednesday he called to say he finally heard back from the guy in Texas – he is supposed to be coming in a week or two to finalize his plans then he will set up shipping what they said they would build. P.Wilson will have to be patient I suppose, I told him if things don’t work out, let us know and we could help. Containers are available here in PAP for $3000. Each and could be delivered quickly.

I was also able to make a visit to LaBoule to the YMCA project there to check on the progress. It is moving along, roof is mostly finished, concrete is poured for most of it, they still have to build the cistern and bathrooms if they are still going to do that, and they need to build dividing walls, front wall and entry, extend the roof over the entry, and add some windows and doors. Brian, from Canada, was there when I stopped by, conducting an English class!

The days at Consolation Center were good, no big projects to work on, just a number of smaller ones. New girls, Naomi, ….

May 25, 2011, back in Haiti again. It’s a Wednesday, no Tortug flight today so have to drive to Les Cayes. Yvald meets me at the airport, but without a truck! Our truck is having an overheat problem, he tried to rent a truck but it was too expensive, so he took the bus. I call Jean Gary, the driver friend of mine, he has his cousin pick us up. First we go to Behrman motors to get some parts for my truck, then hire Jean to drive us to Cayes. It is the usual 4 ½ hr. crazy drive, through insane city traffic, around open sewer holes, through a river in several spots where bridges are washed out, over mountains, over earthquake damaged roads, dropoffs, etc. 85 miles. Saw several newly wrecked cars, obviously hit by large truck or bus, certainly several people killed in each. A good friend of Eddie and Djoune was just killed in one of these accidents. Also saw a first, a large steer, with the big horns, must have been hit and killed by a truck, its partially butchered carcass was at the side of the road looking quite fresh, guess someone is cooking and drying a lot of beef for the next couple of days.

Thursday, May 26, 2011 its always a little different when I am here by myself for a few days. If I have any free time, usually spend it by Djoune’s families house. Her dad always greets me with a big handshake, and says, “family – family”. Then I look for Christian and now Lenz, to give them whatever little gift I usually try to bring for them. They are good kids, Christian was rescued almost starved to death when he was 1 ½ years old, now he is 5 and looks great! Eddie and Djoune adopted him, Lenz is their own, 1 ½ year old now. Today, Yvald and I get to do something we almost never do, plan ahead! We are pricing and then buying and having delivered all the steel for the school roof and windows. I know it is the biggest part of the expense of the school, but I spend almost $5,000. And now wish I brought more cash! Most of the money for this first part of the school has been donated by Albert City Evangelical Free church in Iowa. We are very grateful for them and there making this possible! Of course we will need more money to finish the school with the 8 classrooms we originally envisioned, solar power etc. We have already spent a bit more than we anticipated, larger on the cost of shipping in the last couple of containers that we are now converting into the school. With all the delays in Haitian customs, the extra storage charges on 2 containers, was over $6,000.! If there is anyone who would like to help us with some of these unexpected costs, we would be very grateful!

Once we did our “shopping” for the day, we finally made it out to Consolation Center around 1. When I was here 2 weeks ago, I had left Micah and Nathan with the job of finishing our new swing and climbing set. It is largely finished, but I still had to make the chains on the swings longer, double up some bolts, etc. I wanted to see the girls start using the playset as soon as possible, so I finished up a few things and then asked the girls if they could try it out. The funny thing is, they all walked over by it and then just kinda stood around, not sure what to do! They had never seen anything like it before and did not know how to use it! I asked Yvald and Gaspar if they had ever seen another swingset in Haiti before and they both said No! The closest was in Dominican Republic. So, I demonstrated how you get on a swing, pump it to get higher, and actually did a “flying dismount”! then put one of the girls on a swing, and showed how to push each other to help get it going. Next was to encourage and demonstrate how to climb the levels of the tower and how to use the firemans pole! Well, within 5 minutes, they were all busy climbing, swinging, laughing, screaming, etc! it was really good to see and hear! I am glad we decided to make this now

So that’s about it for today, had to stop to have the truck looked at on the way back to the house, looks like we need a new cylinder head and gasket. Will get a price tomorrow and hopefully have it fixed soon. Until tomorrow, yours in service, Andy

Friday, Ken, Les and Les’s 3 sons, Josiah, Zachary, and Jonathon arrived! Now we can get some serious work done! We get them settled at the house, head out to Consolation Center after lunch, after picking up Deunica and Islande who both had eye infections and had to spend some time a Brenda

Hospital getting diagnosed and treated. The two girls, with Sam who works for us caring for the girls, have lunch with us at the gas station restaurant, probably the first restaurant meal they have had! Spend the rest of the afternoon getting set up to make trusses for the school roof, make one pattern and all looks good

Saturday, we get a good early start after some cinnimin raisin french toast! Can you believe these “poor” Iowa guys have never had cinnimin raisin french toast??! It was really hot all day, but we got almost all the truss piecies cut and several put together! Long hot day, worked until sundown, everyone hot tired and very dirty! Spent some real nice time resting over lunch time with the girls. We ate the same lunch as them which was a combination of bread dough, salt pork, yams, carrots, quail grass, etc. Was very delicious! Thank- God also for Yadley who cooked a delicious dinner for us as well! Everyone is tired so I am going to load this to the blog and call it a day also. Yours, Andy

Building a Swing and climbing set! Radalphta is Home!

2011-05-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are again. Its Wednesday, Les Cayes Haiti. Its Hot, humid, and there is the usual number of things to do and not enough time. 2 college guys from Iowa met me in NJ Sunday night, stayed at my house, and then we all flew on the direct flight from JFK to PAP. Finally around 6:30 pm, after 4 ½ hours of a bone jarring, hair raising drive on the still earthquake damaged roads, we arrived in Les Cayes. It was a good introduction to the country for Nathan and Micah. All the usual questions flooded out of them and continue to come, trying to understand how a country in the middle of a caribbean paradise, could be in this state. It’s a long story, that if you are interested, you need to check out for yourself. Its not a story that you will hear on the news, unless there is a catastrophic earthquake, of course.

The original plan was to have the guys work on cutting windows and doors on one more dorm and then some on the school, but, this is Haiti and every plan must change! Lol. Seriously, Kirsten Deutsche, from our church in Boonton and fundraiser for IHAF, had come across some playground hardware for a swingset and such, that was on sale. With the end of school coming, I thought it may be good to have some good activity things for the girls to do, and so we are now in the process of building a climbing and slide setup, with swings. Today we were able to get most of it welded together and set in place, once the concrete sets, tomorrow, we will install the bars that hold the swings, then the guys will paint it and install the swings etc. Its looking pretty good! Now if we can only get someone to help us offset the cost of it, it would be great! (looks like total cost will be about $1,000.) The girls are already eagerly eyeing it up and talking amongst themselves about what it is and how you use it!

The other interesting, good thing that happened today is, I was able to meet with Radalphta and her mother Fredette, at Dr. Leger’s office. We arranged for Radalphta to have corrective surgery for severe burns and scarring that she had received here after gasoline was spilled on her and lit. She had a few stitches to be removed still from her last surgery. It was good to see her and to catch up with Dr. Leger. Unfortunately, she would not sit still to let the Dr. remove all the stiches, so we have to bring her to the hospital on May 30 to have them removed under sedation. She does look a lot better and has good movement of her arm and back, so I would say it was a huge success! Thank-you North Carolina Gift of Life program!

New work in Haiti, Update on Radalphta and Danson

2011-04-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

April 11, 2011- on the way again! Heading to Haiti for a quick 5 days. First stop is Petionville to check on Pastor Wilson’s orphanage project. Apparently the group that was supposed to be sending down some type of modular housing has backed out. He has property that he and his wife bought, they installed footings for the housing, they have some 40 or 50 orphans, many of them since the earthquake, but nowhere to put them. They were hoping to have something built and be moving in by May, but that does not look like it will happen unless we can come up with something quick! I am thinking container homes would be the quickest as long as we can get them in PAP. We shall see what we can do.

In other news, Danson, the 5 year old boy who came from Haiti for Heart surgery through our Gift of Life program, is now living with his adopting family in Iowa! I brought him out there 2 weeks ago, he had a great time flying there, he is absolutely in love with flying! He even got to seat in the American Airlines Pilot seat of the 2nd jet we were on! There is still a lot of paperwork to be done, but it looks like it will be pretty straight forward. At some point, Ryan and Laura, the adopting parents, will have to go to Haiti to finalize things there, and then the rest will be finalized here. Danson is doing well, he loves his new family! The town they live in is small, so everyone knows about his coming there and I think at the moment he is enjoying celebrity status!

Ken and I were also able to do some fundraising and speaking while I was there, meeting first with folks at Albert City E.Free Church, who have been so wonderful supporting the girls of Consolation Center, and raising and donating about ½ of the money we need to build the school! Then we made a visit to our new friends at Oakdale E. Free Church, it was great to see all the guys there that recently did so much work at Consolation Center, meet their families, their pastor, and talk about our needs for the future! Already their support has been wonderful!

Then we made a very interesting visit with the Sukup grain bin company, who has come up with a design to convert a small grain bin into housing for earthquake victims in Haiti and elsewhere! Really cool stuff – they are shipping 16 – 18’ diameter grain-bin houses, called “SafeThomes” to an organization in Port au Prince Haiti, to be set up and given to families currently living in tents. They ship unassembled, but assembly is simple, taking as little as 4 hours. They can easily be transported because individual pieces are light enough to hand carry. They can be used on one site temporarily and then easily taken apart and moved to another site if needed. Yet they are heavy duty galvanized steel that will last a long time, be termite proof, earthquake proof, and if anchored sufficiently, hurricane proof! Pretty cool stuff!

On another note, we ask for you continued prayers that Ken and myself will both find (have donated?) more suitable airplanes for all the transport and trips we are taking back and forth to Haiti and elsewhere. Ken is looking for a twin engine with good payload and speed or ideally, a Pilatus! I am praying for a single engine plane with good payload and speed, something along the lines of a Beechcraft Bonanza A-36 or even a Cessna 182 RG or Cessna 210? We will see what God has in mind!

One other “project” that is continuing nicely, is the recovery of Radalphta Moises, a 10 year old girl from Haiti that we arranged and Ken brought to North Carolina for burn repair surgery. She has been here since December, is recovering nicely from her surgery, although they did do just one more surgery for her. She should be ready to return to Haiti in May.

We also have just submitted the case of a 12 year old boy with a recurring benign growth on his right hand. He has had 4 surgeries on it so far, it keeps coming back and now he cannot use that hand. We are praying that there is something better that an orthopedic doctor here can do to help.

I have a suitcase and a half, full of new activity supplies for the girls from Daniella Scaglione, a senior in Wayne Highschool, who is doing her Girlscout Gold Award project for our girls! She dropped off a really nice pile of great stuff last night! Have to make sure I get some good photos!

I quess that’s it for now, I will try to update more as the week goes on! Eddy and Djoune and I will be meeting to finalize plans on the school, go over finances and such, and I would like to spend some time with the girls. Yours in His service, Andy

Oakdale guys go to Haiti! Great work!

2011-03-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hello all from Haiti, Consolation Center again! We have been here since Monday, seems much longer already because of all the work we have been doing. The new group of guys from Iowa all work great!
We have not gotten much of anything done on the new school, other than finally receiving the last container that was shipped in May. Eddy had some guys unload some of it, still have some more stuff to be unloaded. We have been trying to get a reasonable crane to lift them into place, the first guy we thought we had, suddenly decided he wanted $4,000. US! We negotiated that to $2,000., still way too high, today after we had finally found someone reasonable, $500.00, the first guy called back and said he would do it for $1,000. Unfortunately, the $500.00 guy did not have the right chains and straps, and he did, noting more than drag one container a bit. Supposed to be back tomorrow with better chain etc. to set in place.
In the meantime, we decided it was most important to finish two other things; the composting bathroom, and steel storage cabinets for the main food supply building, as well as wooden cabinets for the girls to store their clothes and personal stuff in. Both are almost finished and we should start painting/varnishing them tomorrow.

The girls have been great! All the guys love having them around while they are working, they really get to see why we are there, what a good job Eddy, Djoune, and the woman working there are doing with raising the girls! Today, they all started drawing various pictures for us and passing some of them out to the guys.
A couple of the guys, there are 9 plus me here now, made concrete toilets in the compost bathroom, we have almost finished installing the exhaust system, tomorrow hope to install the water tanks, sink, faucet, piping, etc. and have the bathroom operational before most of the guys leave on Sunday.
We are planning on taking the girls to the beach Sat. afternoon then watching and sharing photos and videos with them Sat. night.
Well gotta get some shut eye now, tomorrow promises to be another long day. May God bless all and all the children of places like Haiti. Yours, Andy

Well as usual, once things get rolling, they really get rolling! I am now on my way home on the final flight back to NJ. I sure miss flying with Ken! I hope his flight is going alright. He should be almost home or home already. The winds were not favorable for he and Les who was with him – very high and in the wrong direction. Needless to say, the week since the guys from Oakdale left has been very busy. Getting the first 2 containers for the school placed on their footings was a big priority. It took multilple phone calls, several trips to the Taiwanese rice processing project down the road, about 8 days, and finally we had a crane on site and enough chains that we borrowed from some missionaries at City Luminaire project, now we just had to teach the crane operator how to use his crane! He had never lifted some thing this heavy before and did not quite know how to do it. Thankfully, a few of us had some experience and finally coaxed him enough to let us direct him. When we were finished, he hugged and thanked us tremendously! He just got a valuable education! (although he still wanted $700.00 for his time!)

With all the expert welding, cutting, carpentry, and electrical help that we had with the guys from Oakdale, we were able to almost completely finish the new composting bathroom! Only some painting to be done and toilet paper holders! Honel, who works with us, is going to finish those items. This is a huge accomplishment and I am so thankful for all of the help we have gotten to finish this. The one-hole outhouse we have been using, simply has not been adequate for 30 girls, we now have a tiled bathroom with four stalls, self closing doors, double sink for washing hands, and it is environmentally friendly in that it is a completely sealed composting station, producing after 1 year, safe, usable nitrogen rich compost!

There is a long list of other projects that were accomplished, including building new shelves/cubbies for the girls –large enough for each girl to have 2- 2’x2’ spaces for clothes and things! We also made 2 large metal storage cabinets to keep rats and mice out of edible food supplies, canned goods can be stored on top of the cabinets! Thanks to a donation made by the Oakdale church, they paid for most of the steel to build those cabinets! This was an extremely important project that had to be done before the work on the school, since it affects the girls health directly. We also had a new disconnect/shutoff switch installed on the solar system which will give us more protection and easier maintainence, Ken realized the women were always washing dishes on the ground and could use a much better place to work, so with some pressure treated lumber (thanks to Home Supply and Lumber!) and steel for framework, we now have a nice work shelf on the outside of the kitchen! Then there is a new water tank on top of the bathroom, new roof framework on bathroom- ready for thatching, repair of one leaking tank, building tank bases, installing new PA system, welding outdoor handles, springs, and lock hooks on all the container doors, touchup painting, fixing some things on the truck, etc., the list goes on and on! So a huge thank-you goes out to not only Ken, Les, David, David, Kent, Kent, Eric, Steve, and Lloyd, but also to all their families and Christian friends that have supported their working with us and in the process have made a huge difference in the lives of these girls.

One of the things I always am impressed with, is how much the girls of Consolation Center look for affection from visitors and appreciate just having these guys there. Of course by the end of our time there, as short as it was, parting is difficult. Williene seems to be the most affected as she cries and cries when the guys leave. Ken, Les, and I try to reassure them that we are staying for another week, and that these other guys will be back, yet, I see many tears and slightly broken hearts. How is it that God brings people together in situations like this, and has them bond so closely- in spite of not speaking each others languages and having many years apart? It is one of His miracles that is proof of how we were created to be in loving relationships with one another, no matter how far apart we live. These are our neighbors, and we are all God’s children.

Working with the YMCA

2011-02-16T14:30:00.000-08:00

Back from a week of working with the YMCA in Port au Prince and Laboule. Great week, lots of hard work, really long hours! Great group of people and new friends! LOTS of BLUEJEANS!

Jeff and I were there a couple days early, checking out the construction site, making plans. When the rest of the group arrive, the real work began, unloading tons of boxes filled with donated jeans, clothes, and construction supplies.

We had to unload and move at least 2 containers full of supplies so that we could use those for the new YMCA Education Center we were to build.

All hands did an incredible job! Meanwhile, we had a bucket loader level the property where the new center is going to go. Carol Wells and her team of workers, along with lots of YMCA helpers, sorted hundreds of boxes of clothes to be divided up between several locations for distributions. The construction team only got to see the distribution that happened on the construction site on Friday, but we heard that there were hundreds that came each time to see what they could use of all the donated jeans and clothes.

Construction began in earnest on Tuesday finally, when the both containers were finally on site and leveled. It was a bit of a challenge requiring some careful engineering to level them, since we only had the bucket loader to work with and it could not lift the whole container, only one end at a time or push it - without pushing it off the cliff! When we finished, not only where they very close to level, but the front of each container were only out of level with each other 1/4" !

to make a long story short, we worked from early, leaving the hotel about 5:30 AM, until dark every day. By Friday 3pm, our dedication ceremony deadline, we had most of the windows and doors cut, one security wall installed so we could store some supplies there, all the roof framing on, and just a few samples of the corrugated roofing on. The real test was putting a sheet of plywood on the upper roof framing which I stood on and even jumped around a little!

I think a few more photos should give you the idea of what we are doing. It should be a great place with many uses when its finished. Cant wait to work with the YMCA again! yours in Christ, Andy

Feb. 3, 2011 update

2011-02-03T04:46:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I have update the blog, so here goes- Our big project of course, is Consolation Center. Djoune and Eddy have been doing a great job of managing the project as it continues to grow. We now have 30 girls on site, and another 3 that we support while they live with other families.

Support has been growing nicely, we have full sposors for 24 of our girls ($2,000.00 per year per girl). The Evangelical Free Church in Albert City, Iowa has been wonderful! Not only are most of our sponsors from there, but their Thanksgiving offering was given to us to help us start building the school! We have about half of the $50,000. - $60.000 that we estimate we will need to build a school for up to 200 students!

We have been getting other support from several RCA churches and individual donors to help us with our final construction on Consolation Center costs. We still have a few things to finish like the composting bathroom, 2nd coat of paint on all, perhaps some better latches on all the doors, finishing one more dorm/container, making some more bunks and buying more mattresses, etc. We can still use more financial support, we are not there yet!

Cedrick Pierre came to the US last April-July for foot surgery, I have been to visit him twice since he has been home, he now walks all the time, no more crawling!!! He even runs a bit even if it is a little stiff. It will be great to see a boy who did not walk until he was almost 6, grow up to run around and do most things that all kids do.

We helped to arrange for surgery and for passports and visas for Radalphta Moises, a 10 year old girl with severe burns and scar tissue. She is currently in NC, has had her first surgery, and is recovering nicely. She will undergo a month or more of physical therapy here before heading back to Haiti.

This week, I will be working with Jeff Wells and Tom Wells and friends on a project of the YMCA in Port au Prince. We will be training some local Haitians there how to convert containers into classrooms and homes. I am on my way now to Les Cayes to do some quick repairs on the solar system, then load up our truck and head to PAP with Yvald for another adventure! Already we have some snags as it looks like the containers will not be at the site where they will stay when finished. We may have to work on them where they are, then they will be moved and finished later to their final site. We shall see.

I am picking up another medical chart of a 4 month old baby that needs cardiac surgery as well as meeting with Wadsene breifly to pickup some other charts on kids with other medical needs to see what we can do. Danson, who came in October for heart surgery is still in US, he was only cleared medically 2 weeks ago but they felt he should stay longer still if he can. Jen is taking great care of him while I am away (and a lot when I am home!)

So much to do, so little time!

our latest girl picked up from hospital after xrays and exam

2010-06-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

Got a call from Eduoard Constant (Eddie and his wife Djeune started the orphanage) yesterday afternoon to go to the hospital to pick up a restavek girl, Merty, 8yrs., that had been badly beaten. She was taken away from her "owner" by police and social workers, that owner is now in jail. I brought her to C.C. Where they are give her a shower, new clothes, and food. She will stay with us at least a few weeks until they investigate her family etc. To determine where she should stay. It is a very common story, and part of the reason we now have 20 girls, 6 new ones in the past 2 months. I will have her story and photo on the website before long. http://www.ihaf.us/
We would love whatever help you can send our way! Thank-you for anything you can do for the people of this poor country. In His service, Andy

Here is Merty after the doctors determined nothing was broken but there is enough injury to her shoulder area that it should be immobilized for a few weeks. In the photo on the right, Eduoard and Djeune are interviewing Merty and welcoming her to consolation Center! Already, after a few days, she is smiling and quickly takes the hand of any friendly person.

Another week - A lot more complete!

2010-06-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

I always tell people, when working in Haiti, whatever you hope to accomplish during your time here, if you accomplish 1/2 of it, it was a successful trip! This week has been no different! The guys from Iowa- Ken, Roger, Alan, and Chad, all did a fantastic job! I was hoping to work on the compost bathroom container or installing solar panels but the compost container was full of donated supplies that we are still distributing, and the containers with solar panels are still in D.R.! So we did all of the conversion work on the dining room and kitchen containers instead, including cutting windows and doors, roof framing, and security bars on windows. It was a lot of work in the time we had and of course very hot! Eddie and Djeune's car that we used all week, may never get the smell of 5 sweaty guys out of it again!

It was especially great being around the girls quite a bit this week. Djeune, Eddie, and our house moms are all doing a great job raising these girls to be polite and fun to be with! Photos speak louder than words, so I will insert a few here, and I think you will get the idea.

Our next big push has to be to raise more funds to finish building and to support our increasing number of girls. We currently have 19! I will update the full list of girls on the website in a few days. We would like to have each girl fully sponsored for what it costs us per year as we move forward. With God's help, I know we will!

To see a bunch of recent photos go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/Andy.IHAF/ConsolationCenterHaiti62110?feat=directlink

2010-06-14T04:21:00.000-07:00

Wow! Time flies when you are busy as can be! Its June 14, 2010, and I am on the way to Haiti again to meet Ken from Iowa along with some guys from his church! We will be working on finishing some more of Consolation Center, especially the composting toilet container and hopefully installing the solar power system - if the container gets in! We have two more 40' containers in D.R. that we are waiting for. All the paperwork has been turned in, exactly what we are waiting for at this point, I am not sure. Hopefully in the next day or two they will be delivered. In either case, we have plenty of work to do. I will attach some photos once we get going down there. Right now I am in the airport, a little early, waiting for the flight to leave. Quickest checkin ever for some reason this morning! didnt even have to wait on line!
We also hope to start making plans for converting the first of several containers for earthquake victim families. http://www.ihaf.us/

April 1, 2010 update- The Girls Moved Into Their New Home!

2010-04-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

Update plus some photos , 4-1-10
Finally landed in NY. 345 AM. Of course then we have 2 older women who are not
feeling good and now we all have to sit here more while the paramedics take care
of them. Only another hour to home. I'm supposed to speak at a Kiwanis meeting
lunchtime, then conduct services at church tonight! Finally got home around 5AM.
Its gonna be another long day! Oh well, God is good.

We were delayed 5 hours on the runway in Port au Prince w mechanical trouble,
then we could no longer go to JFK direct. The airport is still a mess and a
nightmare to get thru. I wish I could have flown back with my pilot friends in
the small plane, it would have been quicker!

We did finally move the girls into their new home Tue. Night! They were so
excited! Wed. they all took showers for the first time! They thought that was
really cool! Eddie told me they ran around all day excited, thinking that its a
big playground! And they had neighbors and others visiting all day. We were able
to get the solar panels installed, wired, and the new solar powered well pump
installed, along with piping underground to the water tank on top of the shower.

It was of course the typical Haitian struggle getting everything done! Only real problem we have is the well does not produce as much water as the driller said. Had to choke the pump back all the way and it still draws all the water out of the well in about 20 minutes. Thank goodness I have a low water shutoff on it. It waits 20 minutes and starts pumping again. We may have to drill another well before long that is deeper and has better supply.

Worked untill well after dark each day and then met with Eddie, Djeune and others working
on plans etc each night. We already have 5 new people coming in, as u know, 4
girls and the grandmother of two of them who is now going to work with us. They
lost everything they had in the earthquake. We have space right now for 36 (soon
50) we just need to know we have financial support before we take many more. We
trust that God will provide. Thanks! YIC, Andy

Andrew Topp

International Humanitarian Aid Foundation
PO Box 13
Midland Park, NJ 07432 USA
ph.-201-410-0155
fax- 201-857-3046
Haiti Cell-509-38360447
check out- www.ihaf.us

2010-03-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

March 24

Another crazy week here at home. Trying to get everything ready to fly down with Jack and John Cooper on Friday. Jack has a twin engine Piper Seneca, a really nice plane that we will be filling with as many supplies as we can to bring down with us. Went shopping yesterday for a good supply of tools, a tool box, etc. so we can stop scrambling around for some basic tools all the time. Already received a shipment with a new plasma cutter, compressor, drill, and other supplies that we will need to keep working on converting containers into homes. The big item I am waiting anxiously for is the solar powered well pump and solar panels etc. Have to pick up the pump wire this morning. See you later! Hoorah! The pump and solar panels arrived! Oh no! I'm not sure they will all fit in the plane! I met Jack at the plane this afternoon, It was kinda like a jigsaw puzzle, but we got everything into the plane and still have a little room to sit! Just have to figure out now where to put my backpack and Jack and John's clothes! Should be a fun ride. Andy

2010-02-21T06:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Saturday, February 21, was again an eventful day! Ivald, our faithful friend and tireless worker, probably starts most days before the rest of us. He has been picking up and dropping off some of the guys working on Consolation Center. The masons are just finishing the outdoor kitchen we decided to build behind the rear dorm container, there are some guys finishing the thatching of the third container, and a couple others have just finished welding the bed frames together for up to 36 beds. After some preliminary organizing in the morning, we make 2 pickups of supplies, pilots and visitors at the airport. Peter takes the one pickup truck that we have been renting, giving a tour to our pilot and supporter from CA, while I, for the first time, rent/borrow a "Tap Tap"! You should see the faces of people when they see a "blanc" driving a tap-tap (taxi pickup truck)! I wonder if it has ever happened before! It worked out beautifully as we gave quick tours to a couple of our pilots, Justin, Mike and Mike's wife Donna. They of course loved the girls, the new orphanage and the work happening at the hospital. Donna and Mike are going back to their home church to see if they can help raise more ongoing support for the care of our girls. That will be greatly appreciated! Currently, it costs us about $2,000.00 per child per year for food, clothes, school, medical care, etc. With the new expanded orphanage, we will need every penny we can find. Please pray that support will come in from everywhere as needed!

I keep finding that God has a way of giving us just what we need when we need it. Yesterday I was at the hospital, one of the Brazilian docs mentioned that they need small xray film. late in the afternoon I rode a motorbike, on the 1mile rocky road no less, to Espwa for a meeting about housing. ended up staying for dinner, happened to mentioned that we are looking for xray film, guess what? One of the teams that had been there left some behind- just the smaller sizes that the hospital needs! It just keeps happening like that over and over. Some of the pilots flying supplies in are so impressed with the work here, they are coming next week to volunteer for a few days helping out. Thank-you for the prayers and the support! Could not be here without you!

After our visitors were on their way back to the Bahamas, Djeune (and baby Lenz) and I picked up Dr. Jerry who is from Alaska and volunteering at Pwoje Espwa. We asked him to stop and take a look at our girls to check on a skalp condition that some of our girls have. Not only did he and the girls have a great time visiting, but he found that 6 of our girls have impataego (sp?), a type of staff infection easily treated with anti biotics. A few others are still showing signs of malnutrition from before we had them, but they are slowly getting better.
Ended the work day around 7:30 after a meeting with the Haitian board members that work with Eddie and Djeune to discuss where we are at with Consolation Center, etc. Had supper with Natalie, who works with Pwoje Espwa, and ended up stopping back at her apartment with the Haitian guys that share the apartment with her, to help her remove her arm cast! It was time to take it off, (she broke her arm when she fell on a motorbike). We soaked it for about an hour in a bucket and then cut and broke it off with the help of my swiss army knife! That was kinda fun, and her arm looks all healed up now!
I will try to attach some photos to this in a little while if we still have internet. Going to be meeting with Pierre shortly to talk about more orphans that he knows of that need help. Will try to update later. yours in service, Andy

Haiti Earthquake relief news

2010-02-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

Hello all,
I am going to try to send a bunch of photos that show some of the current things going on here. The girls home is coming along beautifully, we just have to finish the bunk beds, showers, and cooking area and then we can move them there. the hospital has a team of Brazilians here, they didnt have many patients until we made a TV announcement in this area that Brenda hospital would see any patients who are still suffering from earthquake related injuries for free. On Monday they had over 100 people show up, many with injuries that had not been treated professionally and were now infected, some with broken bones still not set, others that had been treated but bones had shifted or other serious infections had set in. Apparently many people were staying home because they have no money and some of the other hospitals, especially the private ones, have been charging for care.

We have brought some of the private pilots into to see the hospital and the orphanage, many of them have been volunteering themselves, and their planes, including thousands of dollars worth of fuel to fly supplies and people whereever they are needed, and have never seen where everything is going and being used. They often never leave the airport. The guys that have come through so far were just blown away by what they saw and very impressed with all the efforts that are being made to help the people here. Its very important for them to have a sense of how important their work is. Without the private pilots there would be so many people suffering so much more.

We are still looking for certain things like an xray developer, another autoclave, an oxygen flow valve, etc. Just heard last night that Sisters of the Poor children's hospital and orphanage desperately needs diapers, formula, baby wipes, baby clothes. I asked for a list to be put together so we can add it to one of our containers.

Guess thats all for now, let me add the photos and see how long it takes to send! yours in service, Andy