Sept 09 - Vehicle News!

O happy day!!!

8:00 p.m. Just returned from Port with a new vehicle. Hallelujah. HATS now has a vehicle - in my name of course. It can't go in the name of the mission. I had to put money in to be able to get it but I do not regret it. I only need one vehicle so my money is better off there and I have something I am very happy with. It is a new vehicle - 2008 Mitsubishi L 200, white, and with automatic transmission. I drove it home and I was very relaxed and happy to be doing so. Luckner drove behind me in his truck (I had Martha and Ti Luckner in with me coming home and a policeman.)

I will send photo as soon as I can. I thanked God all the way home. How wonderful it is to be relaxed when driving. It was not a torture at all, like it has been in the other truck - in fact driving it home was fun.

I will get an update done too as soon as I can with photos and give huge thanks to all who helped.

Love and Blessings to you all,

Karen,

Aug 09 - Still in Canada, Schooling Results!!

August 20, 2009

Greetings to all our 'friends of HATS'. Again this month the HATS Update is coming to you from Canada.

Karen is extremely thankful for the availability of good medical help in Canada, and for how well her doctor has taken care of her during this illness. X-rays were redone this week and some blood work as well. The results are in and Karen's doctor is okay with her heading back home Tuesday, Aug 25th. O happy day !

Karen is very thankful, too, for all the help and support of her family and friends during this time. She has been able to get lots of necessary rest and has been greatly blessed with tasty and nutritional food. She has gained a necessary 12 pounds (was 93 lbs when arrived in Canada) while really enjoying the delicious food. She will miss it when she leaves. Having time with her two daughters and grandchildren has meant a great deal to her.

Luckner, like Karen, has many hats to wear. He is the assistant director of HATS and he takes his work obligations seriously. During this period of illness and recuperation, while Karen is away from Haiti, he is keeping things going beautifully. He continues to cover for Karen and at the same time is handling all the work necessary for the HATS school to reopen. Too, he is doing necessary repairs to our plumbing and electrical system at the mission. He is always willing to work hard undertaking anything that needs doing.

We have good news to report about our school. In the Haitian school system all students in grade 6, grade 9, and in Rheto and Philo (the last two years of school) are required to pass a government exam. The results of the exams, written in June, were released two weeks ago. Many students every year do not pass and need to do these grades at least twice. This year the percentage of students throughout Haiti who passed the grade six exams was extremely low. The HATS school, however, had 100 percent of our grade six students pass. Karen, and the HATS board, is extremely thankful to Luckner for the good job he has been doing with the school.

Karen is missing time this summer with the HATS children and with her special little guy Ti Luckner. She, however, has been assured by Luckner that the children are doing well. No doubt they are ready to return to school next month.

HATS is happy to report that we now have someone, Karen's cousin Jim from Lytton, BC, on board to take care of the website and other internet services. Thank you, Jim, for taking on this important job.

We continue to thank God for the funds towards a vehicle for HATS. Since being in Canada Karen has received more funds towards this very necessary project. At this point we think we will need another $1000 - $2000 more to be able to make a purchase. We will not, of course, know definitely until we can go to a couple of dealerships in PaP. Again, thank you so very much to all who have donated to this. May you be blessed as you are being a blessing to everyone connected with HATS-Haiti and to many others in our community.

Fundraising is underway for the construction project of housing for support missionary staff to assist Karen and Luckner with the heavy workload. This work is planned to go ahead in January 2010 by a group from Canada and in February by a group from Texas. Anyone interested in donating to this very important construction project, or in joining a workteam coming to Haiti, can contact the chairman of the HATS board - Gerry Rhyno - jkrhyno@ns.aliantzinc.ca or Karen and Luckner - hats.haiti@starband.net.

July 09 - From Canada & Many Thanks!

July 29, 2009

Greetings to all friends/supporters of the HATS-Haiti Mission.

This Update is in a different format as it is coming to you from Canada instead of Haiti.

Most of you knew that there was a plan for Karen and her assistant, Luckner, to be in Western Canada in September to do some fundraising for the mission. Those plans are now on hold. Things have changed due to Karen becoming ill and needing to return to Canada for medical help. Liette, Karen’s daughter, recently travelled to Haiti to return to Canada the following day with her mom. Karen gives Luckner and Martha the credit for bringing her through a very ill and scary time before Liette arrived for her. Karen is recovering, in Calgary with Liette and family and in Kelowna with Dana and family, from acute pneumonia and severe inflammation in her chest. Her doctor has scheduled follow-up x-rays for Aug 11^th after which they will discuss how much longer Karen needs to be in Canada to fully recover. Karen will return home to Haiti when she is healthy and strong.

Karen is presently missing all her children and especially her special little guy - Ti Luckner. She knows, however, he is in the very capable hands of Luckner, and Luckner has the support of Martha. (Martha is sleeping at the house with Ti Luckner while Karen is away.)

Due to Karen’s being away from the mission at this time, Luckner has the start-up of school to prepare for on his own. This is a very big job, along with running the mission by himself at this time, but Karen knows he will handle it all.

We continue to thank and praise God for the funds that we have in the bank in Haiti towards a vehicle for HATS. We still need approx $5,000 to meet our goal and be able to make a purchase, but we do know the funds will arrive. Again, thank you so very much to all who have donated to this.

The ‘Privacy Fence’ for Karen mentioned in June has been completed. It has made a big difference to Karen’s comfort. She is now able to completely relax in her home during the evening and night time hours.

MESSAGE TO OUR FRIENDS

Dear friends of Karen and HANDS ACROSS THE SEA-HAITI (HATS),

It has been felt for a number of years that Karen needed help in carrying on the work that the Lord has given her to do in Haiti. Many of us have watched on the sidelines while she has forged ahead with plans to develop an orphanage and school, helping where we could but for the most part it has been sporadic. It was decided that a board should be developed that could assist Karen in whatever areas she felt needed attention at that time. Also to help her with regular fundraising to meet the ongoing and ever present need of funds to run these two establishments .

HANDS ACROSS THE SEA ASSOCIATION was incorporated on July 9, 2009 in the Province of Nova Scotia, with nine board members. The board has requested charitable status from the Government of Canada, and we expect to have that status by the first of January 2010.

Starting January 1, 2010 there will be a change in donations to HATS. Cheques will no longer be payable to Yarmouth Wesleyan Church, designated for HATS. All cheques will then need to be sent to the same address "Hands Across The Sea in Yarmouth" but must be payable to Hands Across The Sea. Your income tax receipts for 2010 will come to you from the Hands Across The Sea Association.

Because of the downturn in the economy in the last year we have experienced a huge drop in donations to HATS-HAITI. Our prayer is that this will change soon. It is getting extremely difficult to run the orphanage and school with the present amount of funding. We also pray that God will speak to the hearts of His people and the monies needed will come in.

Too, we would like to encourage our faithful ‘Friends of HATS’ to consider giving some of their Aeroplan Miles to Karen to enable her to travel North America in support of the Mission.

The last time we were in Deschapelles, doing construction of the second building for the school, Karen shared her vision and her need for a missionary minded couple to come and live at the compound. In order for a couple to come, a place is needed for them to live. The HATS Board has decided to send a team to Haiti in January to start building proper accommodations to meet this need. The project is expected to be between $20,000 and $25000 US Dollars. If you are interested in being part of this project or helping with the funding please contact us, through Karen, or via email gkrhyno@ns.aliantzinc.ca. There is a team from Texas which has expressed interest in going down in February to help complete this project.

The new Board wishes to express thanks for all that each of you has done in the past. We know that it was God’s leading that accomplished all that has been done to date. We pray that His will shall be accomplished in Deschapelles in the future with your generous help.

May God Bless Each of You Greatly

Gerry Rhyno Board Chair

THANK YOU TO THE HATS-HAITI BOARD FOR THE SUPPORT IN THE PAST AND FOR WHAT THEY WILL BE DOING IN THE FUTURE.

PLEASE MAKE A NOTE OF THIS:

Starting January 1, 2010 there will be a change in donations to HATS. All cheques, starting at the beginning of the new year, will need to be sent to the same address "Hands Across The Sea in Yarmouth" but must be payable to Hands Across The Sea. Your income tax receipts for 2010 will come to you from the Hands Across The Sea Association.

1 John 3:17 "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with ‘actions and in truth’ ."

We continue to give God thanks for his provision - past and future. We will always do our best to show the love of Jesus to those we serve with ‘actions and in truth’.

" Thank You " once again, on behalf of all the people in Haiti whose lives are touched by the HATS mission, for your support. Your prayer support, along with that of encouragement, and your financial help, is needed and greatly appreciated. The work we do cannot continue without you.

June 09 - Fencing, Vehicle

We were happy to have Karen, from BC, with us for four days this month. It was lovely having her here. Ti Luckner asked for her for days afterwards.

Tammy, from NS, will join us on Tuesday, June 30th. Tammy's plans changed and so she will stay with us just one week. We look forward to having her.

This month a needy project was completed - that of repair and thorough servicing of our generator. Luckner was able to talk a repair man, associated with the store in PaP where we purchased the generator, to come out from PaP and take care of it for us here on site.

generator being repaired

Karen was very happily surprised one day when returning from a quick trip to the bank in St. Marc to find that Luckner and his apprentice, Coubano, had undertaken another project of putting new screens in the gallery where needed. What an improvement in mosquitoes and other bugs in the house.

A project very important to Karen, what she calls a privacy fence, is well underway. Funds for this have been raised by ladies at Yarmouth Wesleyan by the making and selling of cards. Thank you to all involved in this project. Karen has lived on the mission compound for five years with what she considers no privacy. Every move she has made, and every phone conversation she has had, could be seen, and/or heard, by other people in the yard, and especially at night by security. It reached the stage where she could no longer handle it and a plan was made to put a wire fence around her house. Luckner undertook the leadership of this project and is doing a great job. He has five helpers - Coubano, Ricardo, Jacques, Merise, and Ti Mili. All 30 metal fence posts are cemented in the ground as of yesterday afternoon. When finished Karen will happily remove all the bedding that has been covering her windows for almost three months.

Luckner & Coubano - privacy fence going in

We have a Praise report in regards to the fundraising that has been going on for a vehicle for the mission. The total has risen beautifully and another $5000 would see us reach the goal set. Hopefully in the near future HATS will once again have a vehicle. It is important to Karen that the vehicle have automatic transmission. The three men from Texas who were here in December, spearheaded by Nolan, have been fundraising for a vehicle since they returned home from Haiti. The United Church in Springdale, NL held a fundraising concert recently to assist with the vehicle purchase. THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL WHO HAVE WORKED TIRELESSLY TOWARDS THIS END AND TO EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED FUNDS FOR THIS VERY NEEDY PROJECT.

HATS has had only a one wheel vehicle for some time

We have mentioned in the past the need of a storage building so we could renovate the house presently being used for storage into suitable housing for additional missionary staff. There has been a change of plans in that regard. We now plan to build on the second level of the Children's Home. That house was engineered for housing on the second level and space was allowed for stairs to it. This will work out better in many ways, especially in regards to giving the additional missionary staff more privacy and more air flow. The plan is for additional staff, when they join HATS, to be overseeing the orphanage end of things, and living there would be very suitable.

We have a group coming from Texas, most likely in early February, who are willing to work on this housing project. Is there a group from Yarmouth area, under the direction of fearless leader Gerry, willing to come again in January to also work on it? If we have two groups splitting the work, and the fundraising, we think decent missionary housing could be put there by end of February.

Tarantulas anyone?? Karen has been seeing too many of them recently - inside and outside her house. She has since started checking out things around her a little more carefully than she did in the past.

Ti Luckner continues to slowly develop and he continues to be a joy and delight to everyone - our other children as well as our employees.

Trying to feed himself yogurt

It looks like we might have something to look forward to in December. There are plans underfoot for a group from Yarmouth - Bob, Linda, and some family members to come for a week early in December before school exams; and Karen's daughter and three precious grandchildren to come from Kelowna, BC for two weeks Dec. 21st. We will keep you informed.

1 John 3:17 "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth."

We continue to give God thanks for his provision - past and future - as we do our best to show the love of Jesus to those we serve with actions and with truth.

A huge " Thank You " again for your support. Your support of prayer, encouragement, and financial help, is needed and greatly appreciated. The work we endeavour to do here cannot be done without you. Again, on behalf of all the people in Haiti whose lives are touched by the HATS-Haiti Mission, we say a huge thank you.

Luke 6:38: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

To many people who live around you, and to many who work with you, you might be 'one person'. But to one person, i.e. a needy child in Haiti, you might be 'the world'.

Apr 09 - Bottles Galore, Ti Luckner, Expansion

Our school students wrote exams and received their report cards before Easter. Then a blessed two week break was enjoyed by everyone. Classes have resumed and we head into the last part of this school year.

The thank you letters from students to their sponsors have been written. Now we have help from two different areas of Canada to get them into the hands of the sponsors.

We had an offer of help from Karen's daughter, Liette, that was too good to be true. She offered to translate all of the letters into English for us. They are in her hands in Canada at this time. When translated she will forward all 52 of the Education Haiti letters to John and Bev Chappelle in Halifax. The others she will forward to Sandra and Dickie in Yarmouth and they will send out via e-mail or snail mail. Thank you, Liette. Thank you, Sandra and Dickie. This help has removed a burden from us and is allowing us to focus on other tasks. All of you who have sponsored a student for education through HATS will soon receive a letter from your sponsor accompanied by one from HATS.

Speaking of education and sponsored students, we want to say a long overdue huge Thank You to John and Bev Chappelle, and all those who work diligently with them, in collecting, cleaning, and recycling bottles, in the Halifax area for the education of children in Haiti. John and Bev started Education Haiti after a trip to visit Karen in 1997. Karen had been in Haiti two years by then and was involved with sponsoring students for school. Karen shared with them that she saw a need for land purchase and a school to be built. John and Bev quickly saw, too, that getting children in school was a very important thing to focus on, and came on board with Karen. They returned to Canada and started "Education Haiti".

They have put untold numerous hours since then into working for the schooling of students in Haiti. Their hard work in the Halifax area paid off and the recycling program grew, with other volunteers stepping in to help with the project. Despite their lives being busy with other things, Bev still teaching, and John undergoing major heart surgery, Education Haiti has continued to grow. From 1997 to this year Education Haiti has collected, cleaned and recycled 1,418,235 bottles/cans, etc which has netted in $70,911.75. That, folks, is a lot of education funds and it took a lot of hard work to get it. These funds have been used for the schooling of many students since 1997, helped with school construction, and have also been a tremendous help in the feeding program of students. The work of Education Haiti has touched many lives in our area.

The new school expansion is indeed a huge benefit to the school. The completion has made it possible for all classes to once again be in session on the school property. Hopefully before school reopens in September we will be able to complete the rooms with doors and blackboards. Too, we will need to construct more benches/desks because we will be adding Grade 9 in September.

We mentioned last month the back part of the school property had been cleaned up to be used by the school for soccer, which is the national sport in Haiti. This , however, is on hold until we can get it enclosed, at least with wire, due to several neighbouring families continuing to use our land for a toilet.

We had a special service at our little church Easter Sunday. We decided to bless all who attended with a meal and juice. A lot of work was put into preparing meals for 60 people, but we could have used more. It was well received and appreciated. We had our Easter service which was followed by serving the meal and the showing of the video The Passion.

The HATS pickup, that has been broken down a lot for a long time, will not run again without a new motor. A decision has been made to sell it 'as is'. We will continue to operate as we have been doing until such a time as a replacment vehicle is available.

The photocopier we told you last month had been donated to HATS is in our office and running beautifully. This is not just a photcopier folks. This is a Xerox Work Centre. It can do two sided copies, reduce, enlarge, and more. What a tremendous blessing this is. Thank you once again Nolan and Jerry.

Sandra wrote and asked Karen where the nearest Xerox serviceman was located. Karen told her she was afraid the service person was actually the same person who was sitting at the computer responding to her question. With noone but Karen and Luckner operating it hopefully it will be quite some time before service help is needed.

Thank you to all who responded with help to the very well done story about HATS-Haiti by Stephen Puddicombe, Christina Harnett and Pauline Dakin in Halifax, NS. Thanks again to the three CBC employees who worked on this and who are still in contact.

Awhile ago Alex decided he wanted to be "Ti Luckner' instead of Alex. One day two employees who work in Karen's house (Mon - Fri), and who spend a lot of time with Alex, told him he was 'a Ti Luckner.' In other words he was like Luckner, who is 'papa' to Alex. Alex liked that and decided he wanted to be 'Ti Luckner'. Since then whenever we call him Alex he says "No". If we then call him Ti Luckner, he grins and says "Yes". He now tells everyone his name is Ti Luckner. What an adorable child he is. This morning Mama Karen said "Alex, Mama loves you very much." He quickly said 'no'. Karen said "Yes, Alex, you know Mama loves you very much. Papa loves you too". Again he said "No". Then he continued "Alex pa la anko". (Alex is not here anymore.) Oops, Karen quickly caught on and said she was sorry and said "Ti Luckner, Mama loves you very much." That brought a resounding "Yes" and a huge smile. So Ti Luckner it is right now. Our little Alex has a strong will, for which we are thankful.

He continues to develop and continues to amaze some people. Mama Karen is never amazed anymore as she fully knows the capability of her boy. There is a lot of yet 'untapped' potential in Ti Luckner.

Karen recently met a lady, Drexey, who is in Haiti and staying at the hospital. She is teaching students in this area. She has done a lot of work with 'Special Needs' children. She has come to the mission a few times in the past two weeks to do some work with Ti Luckner. She has given Karen some good pointers on how to help him use his arms and hands and some exercises to help him move his tongue which will hopefully, in turn, help improve his speech. She plans to come, with her students, for two hours on Friday as that day she is actually teaching on Development Delay.

Drexey working with Ti Luckner

Luckner is working on the adoption of Ti Luckner by Karen. Please pray that it will go smoothly and be completed within the five month time frame predicted. Karen, naturally would like it done earlier. She has been wanting this for a very long time. She anxiously awaits the day when Ti Luckner will legally be Alex (Ti Luckner) Huxter. O happy, happy day!

There will be a celebration that day!!!!!

Ti Luckner cleaning

and doing laundry

Cutie Pitutie Josie looking pretty in pink

We mentioned a necessary project of a storage facility. When this is done, and all the stored supplies are moved into a depot, we can then focus on housing suitable for additional missionary staff. Karen needs help.!!

Some offers of short-term help have come in recently. A lady from NS, Tammy, plans to come for a few weeks during the summer. Karen has been corresponding with other potential short-termers.

We mentioned last month about Karen and Luckner going west this year to try and raise funds for the mission. Karen feels that early fall (September) would be a better time to go than during the summer months. With Luckner also being the director of our school, and with him teaching some classes to our secondary students, September will not be an easy time for him to be away. Luckner, however, sees the necessity of going to try to fundraise for the mission, and the benefit of doing so in the fall instead of summer.

Other missionaries here in Haiti have shared that they feel it is very important for them to go out yearly. They have experienced that if the hard working supporting people behind the scenes do not see and hear from the people they support, the support dwindles. With this in mind, we continue to move towards going to Alberta and BC in September after we have the school open and running smoothly.

In regards to us going out to try and raise funds Karen is wondering if there might be anyone who has extra Airmiles, or Aeroplan points, and who would be willing to share some to cover a ticket. It takes funds to go and look for funds and that makes it difficult. Karen used the last of her Aeroplan points for our fundraising trip back east last summer.

While speaking of fundraising we must be honest and tell you that we are struggling to keep things running here. Our trusty 'BEAN COUNTER' Dickie MacDonald, who processes donations sent to Yarmouth for HATS, e-mailed us to let us know that for this first four months of 2009 our donations are down more than 60%. We have been living it and we, the directors, have cut every possible corner. Only what is absolutely essential is being fixed or done, i.e. our generator seldom is in operation; the children's home is cooking with charcoal a lot instead of propane; ice is now being purchased only once a week for the director's house, which is what has been making the deepfreeze serve as a fridge. (The refrigerator is used as a cupboard most of the time.) Karen has loaned/given HATS the funds she had. For two months we had to borrow in order to pay salaries on time. We are doing the best we can with what we have, and will continue to do so. We continue to give God thanks for his provision.

Thank you again for your support. Your support of prayer, encouragement, and financial help, is needed and greatly appreciated. We are here, but in many ways so are you. It takes a good team to do good work. Teamwork, as we've said before, is essential to touch the lives of the needy children. On behalf of all the people in Haiti whose lives are touched by the HATS-Haiti Mission we say a tremendous thank you for being on the team.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT WE DID, OR WHAT WE SAID, BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW WE MADE THEM FEEL. LET'S CONTINUE TO MAKE PEOPLE FEEL HOPEFUL, ENCOURAGED, AND LOVED.

Mar 09 - Construction, Beach and Kids

Warm greetings once again from all of us at the HATS-Haiti mission.

On the last update we talked about the completed school extension that the NS workteam did in January. Grade 7 and 8 classes moved into two of the rooms shortly after construction was finished. This addition is a tremendous asset for the students in our area. We still do not have doors on the classrooms but the learning continues. Many people throughout the area are happy, and thankful, about the expansion at the school.

School Expansion

Luckner had a bunch of students clean up HATS property that is behind the school. This was done so it could be used for a soccer field. Soccer, or football as it is called in Haiti, is very important. We want to get the area properly fixed up so our school kids can use it.

For them to play soccer there it will need to be enclosed as several neighbouring families like to use our land for a toilet.

Early February the school students in grades 4-8 had the opportunity to go to the public beach for a fun day. A great time was had by students and teachers.

Truck filled with students to head to beach

A great school day

On Friday and Saturday of this week all the school students who have sponsors for their schooling will be writing them a thank you letter. We, Luckner and Karen, will get the letters translated and off to you, as soon as we can. Please be patient as there is much here to be done.

Thank you again to Gerry, and group from NS, and to those who purchased the Creole Bibles that were presented, in January, to our grade 5-8 students. The students are arriving t church with them Sunday mornings. Luckner has been doing some great Bible teaching to the students and also helping them learn how to use their Bibles.

Note taking as Luckner teaches, including Alex using his feet.

The HATS pickup that was in the mechanics yard most of the time the group was here, was thankfully running again for a short while. It, however, is now sitting on our compound and once again in need of parts and repair. Without the truck running many important things are 'on hold'. The three men, from Texas, who were here helping early December have taken on the big job of trying to raise funds for a dependable replacement vehicle. Thank you Nolan, David and Shane for trying to do this for HATS. As mentioned before, having a trustworthy and reliable vehicle is needed for the mission to run properly, but is of utmost importance in this country too for safety reasons.

Thank you, too, to Nolan for finding someone in the US to donate a photocopier to HATS. It will be a tremendous help. For example this morning Luckner had to go to St. Marc to photocopy the exam papers for our school, as students will be writing exams during the next three days. The person behind this blessing is someone Nolan knows, Jerry Castellini. A huge thank you goes out to Jerry. The copier is waiting for us in PAP and will be picked up as soon as we have transportation.

It was mentioned on the February update that Karen had decided to take a short break, in March, to see her daughters and grandchildren in Calgary and Kelowna. Well, due to the accident on January 19th that involved two of the NS team members, Dickie and Ed, and also Karen and one of our boys, Cabano, Karen had to change her plans and leave for Canada earlier. Karen had been having a lot of problems with her head, vision in her right eye, and with her right knee since the accident. These problems did not improve, as she expected they would, but gave her more trouble as time went on. Finally, Luckner could not watch her suffer any longer and decided she needed to leave for Canada right away to look for help. Karen listened to him, and Luckner might say - for a change - and booked flights. Luckner drove her to PaP to leave that same day. Help was available as soon as she arrived in Calgary. After three weeks in western Canada , with medical help, and precious and enjoyable time with her two daughters and grandchildren, she returned refreshed and recharged.

Leaving for help as Karen did, however, caused her to be away when Stephen Puddicombe, a reporter with CBC, NS, came to the compound to do a story on what this Canadian lady from eastern Canada was actually doing for children in this area of Haiti. Karen was, however, interviewed by CBC in Nova Scotia by going to the CBC studio in Calgary, as arranged by Christina Harnett. Luckner did a great job of showing Stephen around and sharing information about HATS with him.

The 30 minute story about the HATS-Haiti mission was aired Sunday morning, March 15th. It was extremely well done. Karen heard it herself on the internet and many good reports have come from people who have heard it. We have received five e-mails, and Karen was phoned by a Newfoundlander who heard it. These people were touched and want to help. Thank you so very much to CBC Nova Scotia for doing this. Thank you once again to Stephen Puddicombe, Christina Harnett, and Pauline Dakin. You did a great job getting the story out for us here at the HATS-Haiti mission.

Help is needed at HATS with administrative office work. If there were someone available to come even for 3 - 6 months a year, that would be helpful.

Moving towards making this assistance a possibility the next project would need to be a storage facility. This could be done by construction of a cement block building or by the purchase of a couple of containers that are regularly shipped into Haiti full of supplies. When we have a place for storage the house on the compound, that is presently being used for this, could be worked on for suitable housing for additional missionary staff.

Our children are all doing well. Photos of some of them are below

JJ & Moise

Serlande and Sabine

Maladette & Mirlande doing laundry

Moise & Josie

TiFi & Alex with ther backpack gifts

2008, saw us, Karen and Luckner, head to eastern Canada, NS and NL, for a few weeks to share our hearts on our work with children in this area of Haiti. That fundraising trip, with the help and support of many in those two provinces, saw us able to provide HATS school students with a hot nutritious meal every school day this year. It appears that HATS will be able to continue to provide the same when school opens again, Sept. 2009. Thanks go out again to all who helped with that project. Getting at least one good meal a day, that is taken for granted by children in Canada and the US, is not available for a great deal of the children in Haiti. Sending children to school to learn is not productive if they have no food to sustain them.

It has been suggested that Karen and Luckner do a similar thing in 2009, but go to western Canada. Many supporters there would like the opportunity to see Karen, and to meet and hear Luckner too. Thus, with this in mind we are seriously looking at doing so.

Are there any churches, or groups, in western Canada, especially Alberta and BC, who are wiling to give Karen and Luckner, the opportunity to share. Please let us know!!!

Thank you once again for your support, and encouragement for us both and the work God has called us to do here. As we've said before, we can't all be in Haiti, but we can all work together for the good of others. Teamwork is essential to touch the lives of the needy children. On behalf of all the people in Haiti whose lives are touched by the HATS-Haiti Mission we say a tremendous thank you for your help.

Once again - We 'all' are a part of this mission, and we 'all' are on the same team. As new HATS supporters come on board to help, may we become even more united, as we continue to do what we can to make a difference where needed. May we be more considerate of the plight of others and reach out in love to those in need.

To many people who live around you, and to many who work with you, you might be 'one person'. But to one person, i.e. a needy child in Haiti, you might be 'the world'.

God bless each and every one of you as you continue to bless many through the HATS -Haiti mission.

Nov 08

You heard last from Karen mid September with a report of some of the devastation in Haiti due to the four hurricanes that had hit this country. (Thank you for your response. Photos below.)

Haiti is still, and will be for a long time, trying to recover from the damage. Temporary bridges are open in some areas, as the damaged ones continue to be repaired, so traffic is moving more normally. Road damage was severe and many areas are still almost impassable.

Mud and smashed houses are still being dug out in many areas. Bodies of people who have been missing are still being uncovered. Disease and sickness have risen dramatically due to the contamination of the water and soil.

The government delayed school opening by a month. Our school has been operating normally as of October 6th but schools in some areas are still not open due to mud and water damage.

For the first two weeks after our school opened a small helicopter would have been very useful there. Students and teachers had to walk through water and mud to reach the toilet. Students could not play at recess and they had to stand in water for the raising of the Haitian flag each morning. Too, in order to get around on this orphanage/administration compound employees and children had to also walk through water and mud. We, the directors, decided this could not continue and we used some funds to purchase 4 truck loads of rocks and gravel so paths could be made to enable movement on both compounds. On the days, however, that rain continues to fall the water levels rise again due to the earth being already saturated.

Both compounds are still much too wet. Lots more rocks and gravel are needed. Mosquitoes breed on still water and more mosquitoes is the last thing we need.

Our own children are pleased to be attending school again. Our little Alex started in our prescolaire class this year. He is thrilled every morning to put on his uniform and be taken to school. Alex learns things quickly and retains them well.

Alex ready for school

He loves being at school with the students, and his teachers. Too, of course, he gets to see his own 'Papa Luckner' there too. That is always a highlight for him. He is still unable to control the use of his hands but is doing better. When the other students have paper and pencil Alex quickly removes his shoes and socks and procedes to try writing with the pencil between his toes.

We are very thankful to the people from Nova Scotia who are presently fundraising and who plan to come down, as a group of 14, early January to work on three additional needed rooms for our school. We look forward to the fun and fellowship time with them as well as to getting the important work done.

We reported on a past Update that, due to our fundraising trip to Canada, we would be giving our school students a meal five days a week this year, instead of two. We, however, are still waiting for the food shipment from the group "Feed My Starving Children" to arrive. The containers left the US Port for Haiti at the end of August. We were told we should have it in October, but are still waiting.

More about workteams/visitors - We are also looking forward to having five people from BC. under leader, Kathy Tait, with us Dec. 1st, 2nd and 3rd. They will be installing a swing set on our school grounds, that they will be bringing with them, and will do some other work on this compound. This, too, should be fun.

We say a huge thank you for the food funds that have been donated recently, for us to purchase food to distribute to hungry people who live around us. We purchased large quantities of rice, cornmeal, beans, and oil and have been distributing to many people throughout our area.

Matthew 25:35 "I was hungry and you fed me."

Measuring rice to be distributed

All who have received food gifts from you have been very thankful and have asked that we say 'thank you' for their food. We, Luckner and Karen, say a very big thank you on behalf of all these families outside the mission who have been blessed with food gifts. Thank you very much, too, to those who have donated funds to purchase food for our children onsite.

There has been a plan in effect for some time, being arranged by John and Bev Chappelles in NS, for Karen to take Mirlande to the Children's Hospital in Halifax where surgery would be done on her eye. Mirlande was to receive an artificial glass eye. The work was going to be done pro bono as doctors and others were willing to donate their time. It looked like this would happen this fall. Now, however, this is 'On Hold' as the hospital there is left with only one eye surgeon. We have been working on her passport and other things on this end.

Mirlande

We are wondering if there might be people willing to look into the possibility of this being done for Mirlande in another province. If so, please contact us.

Too, we have a passport in the works for Alexandre. There is work underfoot in Canada and here, to try and have Alex also seen by specialist in Canada. We would like a diagnosis for Alex and more information as to how best we can help him with everything in his life.

Speaking of Alex. He continues to try to do what others do naturally, and he always finds a way. Yesterday, he was playing outside the back door by himself, with a plastic tub of water and was washing clothes, with his feet of course. He had found another plastic container and proceeded with his feet to fill it with water from his tub. He then brought that container upwards with his feet and threw the water over his body and head, giggled and said he was bathing.

Our young soccer boys - Moise, Alex and JJ

More good news about visitors. Karen has family arriving for 15 days over the Christmas period. Oh happy day!! Liette, Mariah, Josiah, Ariane, and Tevan will be joining us on December 15th. They are coming to help as well as enjoy family/friends time while celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Liette is presently collecting donations toward building a small storage facility on our school site. When a meal is cooked for the students all the huge cooking pots, the food, utensils, etc have to be transported from this compound to the school compound, which takes several trips, by wheelbarrow. After the tummys are filled, and everything has been washed, everything has to be returned here again by wheelbarrow. It cannot be left on the school site until we get a building where these things can be safely locked up.

Too, they are trying to help in another way by filling their suitcases with clothing and shoes to be distributed to needy children in our school. We have a lot of school students who attend our church services Sunday mornings. Haitians love to dress nicely for church but many have nothing but their school uniforms, and so they do not come. Liette will be collecting sandals, and shoes, (new or in good condition), skirts and tops, or dresses for girls, pants or shorts, and shirts for boys, (also in good condition) for ages 3 -18, but the biggest needs are most likely ages 10 - 16. Short sleeves ideal for both girls and boys.

We want to join Liette in making people aware of these two workwhile projects at Christmas time for HATS-Haiti. Many of you are already giving to HATS, or to other groups and organizations, and many are unable to give right now. There is no pressure to be involved with Liette in this, but the opportunity is there if you feel so led.

Haiti still needs your prayers. Please remember to pray for the leaders, and for the people, of this country.