It was great to have some familiar faces back for a
visit. For a while we had the whole crew
back…Ben, Josh, Isaac and Chris were in Haiti for a month when I arrived, they
went back for the summer. Chris came
back quite a while ago to help me run the English School…it is more like me
helping him though! Ben left on
Saturday, not sure exactly when he will be back, but he will be back. Isaac is here for a couple more weeks on this
trip, Josh is HERE.
We made some great progress on the library in the Jubilee
School. We had a couple of weeks worth
of teams here and they managed to install real windows, close off a lot of the
area to the elements and build some great bookshelves. Lots of donated books and a few donated
laptops are going to be great teaching aids for the staff there.
“Freddy” – I don’t know if I have shared any information
about this guy yet, but it is time. About
four months ago, I was having dinner at the town square. I was sitting by the monument and talking
with a friend of mine. I turned to the
right and I saw this guy with a very large infected wound on his leg. My first reaction was to turn away and
continue the conversation with my friend…but the second reaction was to see
what could be done. I called Grace and
she gave me the go ahead to bring him in to the clinic for a look.
I had a conversation with him through a translator and told
him that I would be there the next morning to bring him to the clinic. His infection was pretty bad, there was a
hole that went down to the bone on his shin and the infected wound was about
six inches in diameter. We started
treatment, cleaning and redressing the wound every day. He is homeless, so we could not just give him
some antibiotics to take orally, so we gave him two shots every day in the butt
for about six weeks. Nutrition is necessary
for the wound to heal, so I started giving him money for food too.
The money for food thing did not work out too well (there
are other things to buy) so I basically set up an account with one of the food
vendors in the square to get him two plates of food a day and I pay her every
week. The wound is healing up nicely,
down to about three inches across with the hole down to the bone healed
now. I learned that he had been in a
hospital for a while, but he was asked to leave. I was able to get him into another hospital
for a little while, but they asked me to come and get him from there too. In the states, there would be a place for
him, but this is not the states.
We have been caring for him for four months now, his wound
only requires attention every other day.
I still get him food, but now I am wondering what will happen when he
heals up. I ask that you pray for a
solution…maybe we can find his family somehow, maybe there is a place to care
for him, he needs care and supervision…he is also epileptic. Sometimes when I come to pick him up in the
morning he has a cut on his head from hitting the pavement after a seizure.
I am getting excited to start my trade school here…I have
lots of interest and I will start fundraising soon. I am looking for some land at the edge of
town for my building. I will start with
a carpentry school and grow from there.
I have talked with a plumber from the states that is interested in
teaching, so a plumbing school could come soon after. Once I have a secure classroom, I would also
like to start teaching some computer skills…typing, Microsoft Office, network
basics and computer assembly and repair are all classes that I could teach with
my knowledge. I would like to get some
laptops and then some components to assemble computers as a class.
Oh, I almost forgot about our trip up to Port-de-Paix. Emory was down here for a bit and he wanted
to do some traveling around the country and see where else we could help. He asked if I would like to ride up to
Port-de-Paix with him. We went with
Gertrude (she has family there), La La and a Haitian Pastor. It was a very rough drive, I rarely got out
of second gear, and we drove across some rivers on the way. It was some very beautiful country
though. When we got to the city, we
looked for an area resembling Jubilee.
We parked the truck and started walking.
Some kids started following us and eventually we ended up on a bluff
overlooking the town. The number of kids
multiplied and lots of adults ended up with us as well. We all had some conversations and did some
praying asking what God wants.
I know that there is need all over the country…not
necessarily a need for stuff (but no one would turn stuff down) but a need for
education and jobs I guess. So while I
plan on starting in Gonaives, I also would love to turn the school over to one
of my students and start a new one in another part of the country. My dream is to have “Tools for Success”
available for as many people that I can.
I would love to have several schools that I no longer need to be a part
of because the staff and students have the same dream that I have.
That’s all for now, thank you for your support.
Scott
