HAITI :: Holding St. Vincent's Close at Christmas

For so many of us, the holiday season—from Thanksgiving to New Years—holds much joy, laughter and hope. Our busy schedules often welcome:

• Spending quality time with family and friends. 
• Sharing bountiful feasts of every nature. 
• Attending sacred religious services to nourish our souls.
• Celebrating at endless parties and family get togethers. 
• Giving gifts to those we love and care for.
• Making resolutions to become better people in the coming months.
• Anticipating a new and prosperous year.
• Counting our seemingly endless blessings.

For others, the holidays bring something very different. It may be a time of sadness, loneliness and depression, especially for those with no home to return to. It may be a time of growling stomaches and empty hands for those who have been orphaned by circumstances beyond their control. It is these people—those who have forged a permanent place in our hearts—that we remembered this Christmas day.

In recent months you've read blog posts about the food crisis at St. Vincent's Center for Handicapped Children (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) and our combined efforts to provide a constant source of food for the kids. We are conducting an on-going food drive to ensure that the children are once again able to receive 3 meals a day. This Christmas, we wanted to make sure every person with the last name "Vincent" (the sir name for many of the permanent residents) and staff was reminded that they are each loved and cared about. 

On December 25, 2012, The Red Thread Promise set out a feast within the gates of St. Vincent's. With the hard work of Jonas, our all-around-handy-Haitian-friend, and his fiancé, Nathalie, the tables were set with traditional food of every sort, ensuring that every child would have something they like. (So much food was provided that there was a shortage of tables!) 

The Christmas feast

The first to enjoy the meal

Marie Line (background), Clauricianne, Judith and Genie

One of the many desserts

St. Vincent's staff members enjoying a meal

(foreground) Yolene waiting for her meal
(background from L to R) Zacharie, John Marc, Gary, Frenel, Evans, Elisme

As you look at the photos, no doubt you'll recognize many of the faces from Camp Jake as these are also our campers. Here are a few of the many thank you's from the kids:

Merry Christmas and happy new year 2013! 

Que dieu vous protege, Tom. (May God bless you)

~ Kenson

Thank you so much for dinner. 

~ Moise & Maill & Zacharie

Hi Tom, happy new year 2013 and thanks for diner. 

My God keeps you safe. 

~ Rosana

I send you a package full of joy, peace, love and health.

 Merry Christmas. Thanks for all, God bless you! 

~ Dieumene

10000 thanks for the diner and 11000 thanks for the cake. 

I'm happy you remember my birthday. 

~ Marieline

Marie Line and her birthday cake

Special thanks to Tom Landry II & Shawn Richard, Anne Mire, and Jackie & Mark Richard for their generous donations to make this special meal a reality. 

Donations for St. Vincent's food drive can still be made via PayPal (button on the right) or check (to the address below). Please indicate "SV Food" in the memo line. 

The Red Thread Promise

249 N Belfield Ave

Havertown, PA 19083

With your continued support, we plan to hold St. Vincent's close throughout 2013 and beyond.

Your Donations at Work in Haiti

Your contributions are truly making a difference in the lives of others. Whether it is the treatment of an individual orphan like Zheng LuYuan, or bringing supplies to an entire mountainside in Haiti, it is news like this that warms our hearts and reinforces that our work is effective. Thanks to your generous support, we have sent over $13,000 directly to the directors of Mountain Top Ministries and Rivers of Hope orphanage in the past few weeks! Your donations have directly impacted the lives of thousands of Haitians and we wanted to share some of the news with you.

Mid January
Willem was, and still is, highly engaged in helping relief supplies get to the people of Haiti. He met with the Minister of Commerce, the Prime Minister and President Preval on January 21st to discuss this massive undertaking in the mountains outside Port au Prince, where Mountain Top Ministries and Rivers of Hope orphanage are located. Willem worked closely with a team to set up food distribution points in Gramothe and Dumay. The villages of Madeleine, Boucan, Planchet, Tala and Depense were also served at the distribution point in Gramothe. Beth and their sons, David and Stephen, spent hours organizing supplies for rationing. They packaged medical items creating health kits as well as organized and filled large bags of medical supplies from the MTM clinic.

Hugs were shared and tears shed as they said goodbye to friends who evacuated to the Dominican Republic. Those remaining at MTM tried their best to keep their spirits up as they continued to search for classmates and friends. Even though the work was exhausting, sleep was an elusive luxury that many were unable to find for themselves.

Late January
Willem was instrumental in food distribution in the outer lying areas of Port Au Prince as well as in the immediate areas around MTM. The people's desperation was mounting as their need for clean water and food escalated. Willem and Beth reported that there were a few "close calls", but thankfully, God brought them through without incident.

Mountain Top Ministries' school principals reported that all of their teachers survived the earthquake. Sadly, they could not reach each and every family at both the Gramothe and Dumay schools. They prayed for word from all families.

On January 28th, a dry food distribution was done in Gramothe. There was enough for each family to get a 100 lb. bag of food items. On the 30th, Willem, Stephen and a crew from the Gramothe / Thomassin area arrived in the village of Dumay with rice. They handed out one 50 lb. bag of rice for every 4 villagers to be shared; the very elderly received 1 full bag. Once the line of adults was complete, a new line was formed with children. There was enough rice remaining that every 5 children were allowed a full bag to share. Everyone in the village that came for distribution left with food.

Early February
The village of Madeleine is 2 mountain sides walk from Gramothe and is home to some of the poorest children that attend the MTM School. Coordinating a food distribution for this village was challenging. Only a tiny footpath leads to the village making it impossible to take a truck there. MTM assigned one of the older MTM high school students from Madeleine the task of making a list of one name from each family in the village who would receive rice for their family. That one person would come to the Gramothe church to receive their provisions. On February 5th, a large crowd of Madeleine family representatives appeared on the basketball court just below the MTM church. Two by two the family representatives came forward when their names were called and received a bag of rice to be divided between them. 127 families were given food that they otherwise had no way of getting.

Stephen and David were able to assist Willem in the food distribution to the remote village of Boucan on February 9th. 192 more families received rice and oil through the distribution work of MTM.

On February 12th, a family representative from each of the villages of Planchet, Tala and Depense gathered at the church in Gramothe to receive rice and oil. The villagers cooperated so well that Willem was able to give rice to two villages simultaneously, enabling the distribution to move quickly. The people were able to return to their homes before the night settled. 250 more families were served that evening.

From Willem and Beth: Together on behalf of the Haitian people, we are grateful for the donors that are helping to make these kinds of food distributions possible.

From The Red Thread Promise: Thank you for showing your love of humankind by supporting The Red Thread Promise's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.