One more thing Haiti needs...

It's been a while since I posted anything on the blog and I do apologize about it, I have been really busy. Nevertheless I never stopped reading your comments and reacting to them. Thanks for your interest and thanks for letting others know about this wonderful blog.

Everyday I have people coming to me asking me suggestion on how they can help Haiti or what is it that Haiti needs. Of course it is a long list of stuff and I have debated on many of them on my previous blogs just browse around and you will see for yourself. But, there is one area that I have not emphasized on enough and please give me a minute of your time to let you know about it. Now, as a disclaimer before I start, I am not a psychologist or a professional of any sort, I am just a regular Sam putting down on a blog what he thinks and I welcome your comments whether you agree with me or not as long as we respect each other and my other readers.

What is need that we need that I have not mentioned on my blog till now? (drum roll.........) It is entertainment! Yes entertainment! Growing up, we used t play soccer every night till we could not see, as a matter of fact the darker it gets the more fun it becomes since every time we get to kick the ball we yield gooooooooooooaaaaaaallllllllll(we were cheating, since any of us could barely see the ball! Oops!) Anyway, here in the US or any develop countries, there are hundreds of recreational parks! We are lacking that. If you go in the street of Haiti anywhere you will see some rocks in the street 'cause some young guys have been playing soccer and you will also see many makeshift basket ball goal sometimes using electrical polls (dangerous!!!). They do it because they need to entertain themselves. They even have tournaments in the streets and believe me this attracts a huge crowds and of course drivers are not happy since they still have to use the street and spectators are frustrated because of the interruption (recipe for a little not so pleasant moment).

This means, we need gymnasiums, soccer fields, basket ball fields and any other facilities that we can use to accommodate different disciplines. Let's be honest, you know Haiti is always on the news because there is always something going on there if it's not a natural disaster, it is a some political turmoil or diseases or hunger and what have you.

I believe in the power of entertainment. We have to entertain ourselves otherwise we will go crazy and this goes for every one. Have you ever been to Haiti when there is a championship in Europe, America, the Caribbean or better yet the soccer world cup? Believe me crime goes way down ( I do not know if anyone has done a research on that) but I can tell you it goes down because people are busy sitting on their TV sets or their neighbor's watching TV and when there is a team scoring you can hear noises for miles. One of the biggest rivalry that I know of is when Argentina and Brazil are playing against each other. Not traffic jam, as a matter of fact there is barely anyone in the streets.

Haitian people need to be entertained that will calm down on their frustrations. How many times here in the US we have people snapping 'cause of stress? It goes the same way for Haitian people, they have been through so much and they are still going through some! What do you expect? If you sit at home everyday or under a tent and doing nothing but thinking what do you expect? If you do not have a way to relieve your tress, you will find a way and this is how it can get ugly since it just a vicious cycle!

Let's be clear on that I am not condoning any bad behavior but I am saying this is how regular people react to situation but unfortunately some go further than the others.

More movie theaters are needed for young lovers or people dating or talking to each other or just for someone to go and relax. We have beautiful beaches but are neglected this needs to be taken care of as well.

There are many others areas I can bring up but I am stopping right here and I am eager to read your comments. God bless and have fun!


Your servant!

From dream to reality

On Tuesday the 25th of August I landed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It was so great to see all of my old friends and kids I was raised with. Moreover, it was great to see the country! It is not getting any better on the poverty side! More people than ever are on the streets of Port-Au-Prince. I was amazed to see that so many new roads have been built. On the political side or should I say on the security side it has improved a lot. The police is getting more effective thanks to their training by foreign agency such as the UN. I did not hear not even one gunshot during my two week stay in the country and not even heard or read about any kidnapping. I am not saying that it is 100% safe 'cause there is no such place on the planet but I think that it is pretty safe to travel to Haiti as always one should use their good sense.

If you have been following my blog you will know by now that I have been teasing you about the dream/goal well it finally came to reality. My bags were filled with with pencils, pens, erasers, pencils sharpeners and rulers that I have been able to buy and most of them were donated by good people from neighbor to friends, former co-workers, siblings, in-laws and local churches ( I thank you all guys).

We had enough funds to buy copybooks and more pencils and school kit in Haiti which was a blessing. With your donations and the help of a dynamic team we had in Haiti, we were able to provide school supplies to about 650 kids who would have not been able to afford such. The kids and parents were grateful to us but unfortunately we had to turn away some people since we did not have enough More people showed up even after the distribution we are praying to be able to do a bigger distribution next time!

We had school supplies distribution in 3 different sites

The first one was in Lompre, Trouin a remote village around O treacherous! When we finally made it 3 hours and a half later, we found about 250 to 275 well behaved kids sitting quietly waiting for us.

They sang and clapped they hands and welcomed us! I was so glad and proud of my crew. Unfortunately, I lost my memory card which contains the picture but I have the whole event on film and I am looking for somebody who can transfer it on DVD for me,if you can help us please contact me.

On September 2, 2009 we headed to Thiotte, it was overwhelming to see the kids come so far away to receive something from us. Some of them walked as far as 5 miles to receive some little thing that they parents would otherwise might not have been able to provide to them. My cousin and brother went ahead of time and targeted the poorest people from the area and gave them a card and the location to come in order to receive the school supplies but word came out we had people with and without cards who showed up. We were able to give to even those with no cards but unfortunately not all of them could get something. About 250 kids participated in it. We delivered the items per session just to avoid overcrowding! Thanks to the crew it all went smoothly! The pictures below are only from Thiotte! I only have video from Trouin and please contact me if you want to help us convert it into DVD.

This is how we basically did it: we gave each kids 3 copy books 2 pencils, 2 pencils a ruler a pencil sharpener,those in 6th grade or higher received on top of these a copy book with a school kit.

No, we did not have the press covering this project and yet I feel so satisfied! I want to thank the special crew I had in Haiti without them any of this would have been possible!

I want to specially thanks my wife and kids, also Mount Sinai Church for being our biggest church sponsor and to my brother in law and his wife for their generous support, they were our biggest individual sponsor. I would also thank Mr. Smoorenburg director of Fondation Coeur Pour Haiti for providing us with the logistic and as well as a 4X4 pick-up and a driver. He was our biggest sponsor in Haiti hands down! I would also like to thank Believer’s Fellowship and it members for their support as well, my siblings and cousins who really invested in the dream (the trip to Thiotte was made possible by my cousin who drove us there and stayed with us), Smilemakers Inc and its employees for their support. Any one who has helped a way or the other to make this trip possible I do thank you and the kids are thanking you as well.

Thanks to all of you who made it possible financially, through your prayers or your showing up physically to help! In the name of the kids and parents of Trouin and Thiotte, a big thank you! If you have a dream go for it! You won't know till you try it and even when it does not work the first time don't give up as long as it is a legitimate one!

I have even bigger crazier dream for Haiti and I know that God will make them come true but first I have to start slowly! You will be made aware of the other projects in due time!
Thanks for helping and loving Haiti!

1 day to go

I just can't believe it! Times fly as they say!
Everything is pretty much ready! I had to go through my luggage over and over to make sure they stay at 50 lbs each. They are full of pencils, erasers, pens, pencil sharpeners and some toys.

This is not enough for the kids but I wish each Haitian can do as little as that and we can begin then to see a difference. I am not trying to brag about myself which I would not have the right to since I was helped by so many others but when we put ourselves together to give back to our communities, our countries we all can make a difference. I will go through the details on my latest posts.

I would like to thank all of you who have made everything possible up to this point I will single them out on a later post.

I am still in the process of coordinating with a crew in Haiti on how we are going to do the distribution, we are still not sure about transportation but I know the Lord will work something out!

Please pray for us since they are so many activities in the Atlantic Ocean as far as potential hurricanes (none of them are welcomed)

This project is about putting Faith in God knowing that he will provide and I will elaborate more as well at a later post. Wowwww.... so many things for me to follow up with it means the blog is getting more and more interesting!!!! Just keep on reading it and make your comments!

6 days to go!

Though I have not been updating the blog in the past few weeks, I have however been working on making the trip a reality! I have received more supports than expected and I will tell you more about this on a later post.

I will be updating my blog a little more often now and I am hoping once in Haiti if I have internet access I will do a daily update (if possible) I will put the pictures on it once I am back in the US.

Please keep us in your prayers. A lot of hurricanes are forming and we are not sure how safe Haiti will be and you remember we just had 4 of them in a year and we are still recovering from that we do have a long way to go!

Thanks for loving Haiti and thanks for praying for the country!
Thanks for reading the blog and as always you are welcome to contact me and/or leave a comment and no you do not have to register to do so!

We are walking toward the goal!

Be blessed!


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Walking toward the goal

I am so excited to announce that everything so far is going wonderfully great with the project. I am collecting pens, erasers, pencils sharpeners. I am looking for ways to be able to buy some notebooks (copybooks) to distribute to the kids as well.

Moreover, I am planning on having a hot meal with them (chicken with beans and meat) on the day of the toy distribution and I am still looking for a sponsor for this part of the project.

The plan is to feed about 250 kids on this day and then to give them the schools items that I I will bring with me.

You do not have to be a star to be a part of helping and you might go unnoticed which is great but your rewards will come from heaven and to see a smile on a child's face is priceless! We all can make a difference!

I am leaving by the end of August to Haiti! Please, if you can help please contact me! You can follow me also on twitter

God bless!

The project in pictures

On a previous trip to Haiti, I was blessed to receive some toys donation from Smilemakers INC and its employees. I did not have time to stay to distribute all the toys myself but just part of it. Pastor Raymond Antoine took care of this matter for me and he took some pictures as well ( I know the cam says 94 but it was 2007). I want to thanks also all my friends who have helped a way or the other to make this past trip possible. These pictures where taken in Trouin a locality of Leogane.

I am not naming names in fears of forgetting someone and be in trouble but you all know who you are. I will be going again this year in the not so distant future. Please pray that we get more stuff and more sponsors.

Look at this pictures yourself and tell me what is more precious than helping feed a child, giving a toy to a child! A smile of a child is just priceless! I know there are many charities helping Haiti and no matter how many there are we need 10 times more. So you are encourage to help where you can how you can, just do something!

God bless!

Kuddos

Congratulations to my brother Lucson on his graduation in his Spanish courses with honor he scored 9 out of possible 10 points. We are proud of you!

You are welcome to send him your well wishes!

Kenbe fèm pa lage!

Feeding program in Haiti

As you know by now if you have been reading my blog (if not please browse around), I have a lot of love and projects for Haiti. This time I want to be as specific as possible and hit one target at a time. My priority is to be able to set up a feeding program in Haiti.

Why a feeding program?
Well, you wake up have your breakfast and lunch and dinner and do not even think about it? What if I tell you there are some kids/family in Haiti who have to get on their knees to wait to literally wait on the Lord just to have one meal a day. Unfortunately some others choose to steal and others just beg. Whatever the means they use it is just a problem that we should not be even talking about now! It is a reality and it is not a secret. It is all over the news, it is real. Specially after this four hurricanes we had in Haiti last year.

I was talking to a pastor who has a school and wants to start with a feeding program and he was telling how the kids come to school hungry and can not even learn and he even told me that most of them just quit coming because of hunger and if the school could have a feeding program he would also have more children coming to learn! What a combination!

SO, I am begging you, would you please help me set up this program? Do you know someone who already has one and would want to partner with me or a church who is looking for a project in Haiti to help? Please help me make a difference for the Lord knowing that we will make a difference in someone's life just as it was done in mine. Please contact me or post your comment here if you have any ideas.

Thanks for loving and helping Haiti!

Sammuel!

Warning!!!! Crazy idea!!! But... You can make it happen!!!!

I need your input!

As you know in the US every year around December different people do something special for others less fortunate or for a total stranger, well... this happen actually more often than that. This year I want to be able to do something special as well! Here comes the crazy part: I have no clue how am I going to pull it off!

I am thinking about giving at least a thousand poor kids in Haiti a very special Christmas! Where they will have a nice meal and some good presents! I do not know how I am going to pull it off! I surely do not have the financial means to do it.

SO, I am asking all my readers, occasional readers and even if this is your first time reading this blog to let me know about ways I can help make this dream come true.

I was like these kids very poor but God help me through and I would like to help in this special occasion and hopefully more often!

If you are out there and have some ideas or know someone who might be able to help with fund raising ideas or somebody who can help set up a fund raising or someone who wants to provide the finance necessary for this project, please have them contact me by either responding directly to this message via the comment section or just write me via contact.

Thanks for making this wild idea a reality! Please forward this to as many people as you know! You never know! Let's make it an internet sensation where the online community can join together for a good 'cause!

Gather your church (good project for youth group), your classmates (good classroom project) your co-worker, parents etc... and let's make it happen! They are many TV shows who are looking for bad news to broadcast, encourage them to read this blog and they can as well participate in this great project (which is higher than I)

I know God will make a way! Do you want to be the one through whom he extends his miracle?

Thanks in advance! One thing I have learned about America is that if you put your mind to something the sky is the limit! I do believe this!

God bless!