Beautiful family and friends,

As we celebrate during this Christmas and New Year Season, we are again so very grateful for you all! You have helped us partner with our leaders and communities in Haiti to bring some BIG CHANGES this year!

I want to mention some fabulous but hard truths that have driven us forward this year into new and risky - but exciting developments!  

A healthy nonprofit is one who’s programmatic goals and activities directly connect to the independence and capacity-building of vulnerable communities. In other words, a healthy nonprofit is actively working themselves out of a job. That's what Frontier Projects Haiti eventually hopes to do! Radical! This hasn’t often been the case with most nonprofits and humanitarian groups in Haiti and around the globe.

Frontier Projects have partnered with Haitian NGO - Light for Living International Ministries (LIFLIM) for well over a decade. I am keenly familiar with harmful charity mindsets that plague this incredible country, a mindset that is not unique to Haiti. Scholars such as Dr. Lupton in his book Toxic Charity, Dambisa Moya in her book Dead Aid, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert in their book When Helping Hurts, and many others have stressed the dangerous effects of our common giving practices. Philanthropy across the globe is often characterised by deep cycles of aid that cause an unhealthy dependence on the giver while stripping the receiver of dignity. The ‘normal’ in the nonprofit world hasn’t been working for a long time. 

This year Frontier Projects Haiti made a commitment and followed through - to dig deeper and do better. To BECOME the change needed. More than ever before - we partnered with LIFLIM in Haiti to be part of the change. 

We  all continue to have the divine opportunity to re-imagine what our partner communities could look like years from now without our interventions! How can we ensure we are on the right track? Here are my top 3 tips that we implemented more strongly than ever before, in 2025: 

1.   We ask before we aid
Dialogue with local community leaders is the foundation of all of our support. It’s easy to assume and project our desires onto local communities, but it’s their community, and their voice should be the prominent one. Frontier Projects constantly ask about their dreams and goals. We ask about the assets they already have in their communities. We ask them what role we might play in helping them reach the goals they’ve set out for themselves. Ask before you aid, always.

2.   We find the real heroes  
It is common to see outsiders positioned as the “heros” instead of locals being the heroes of their own stories. Local leaders within their own communities should be the ones bringing solutions to their problems. They should be the ones taking leadership roles and guiding their communities to change - this is how Pastors Reginald and Johanne Celestin from LIFLIM always operate. They are the most invested in solving local problems because they are the most implicated. Our responsibility, therefore, is to affirm their dignity, invest in their capacity and then get out of the way and watch them transform their community.

3.   We evaluate our impact
Too often nonprofits celebrate their reach without acknowledging impact. If you’ve served 500 people but had little impact, your interventions may be wasting precious time and resources. Evaluation is key. This year we fully evaluated all our programs and made some radical changes! These are the DIFFICULT changes where we put in place firm steps to try and ensure we are always moving towards enabling communities to become self-sufficient over the coming  decade (or sooner)! 

We know things like this are difficult to read and think about for you - our families and friends who continue to care and to give.
At the same time, in the midst of these circumstances, there are incredible ways we have seen our leaders from our Haitian partner - NGO "Light for Living International Ministries",   overcome such difficulties and hardships as they serve their communities.

So let's meet some of our amazing leaders from LIFLIM (Light for Living International Ministries - our partner NGO in Haiti,) who constantly monitor and support our children and families across our multiple humanitarian Programs:

Pastor Reggie Celestin & Johanne Celestin - CEOs LIFLIM
Program Supervisor Johanne Celestin,
Social Worker Yndjy Belval ,    and
Love Community Home Mumma,   Merline Vincent.

These incredibly  passionate and dedicated men and women, share stories with us in our regular monthly meetings, of how even though our families and children and students in Carrefour live in the constant reality of the gangs, the violence, the sickness, the food shortages and sky-rocketing inflation - they are grateful every day that we are partnering with them faithfully to support the children and families with

• food packages,
• community programs,
  
• sponsorships and
• education.

We want you to know that our sponsored children and families are all safe, they have you and us all together -THANK YOU.

It always blows my mind that we are not only on the same planet as Haiti, but that it sits in the Caribbean - just a 90 minute flight from Miami, Florida!

But tragically each week, this proximity to America, sees Haitians on rickety boats trying in dangerous ways to get to the USA! Some are washing up on the shores of Florida, others are risking their lives trying to get to and across the Mexican border, and still more are patiently waiting for an elusive humanitarian visa. They just want to live in peace and with the hope of a decent life.

The dreadful oppression of poverty is their present reality... but we believe with our Haitian leaders, teachers and parents, that Haiti has HOPE. And that's why we - you and us together with them - pour love and kindness and resources to combat food and educational insecurity into their communities and families - to help support and care for them and their precious children!

AND WHAT IS HAPPENING IN REGARDS TO THE COLLAPSED GOVERNMENT AND STRUGGLING POLICE FORCE IN HAITI?

Other UN countries are now about to offer Haiti's failing Police Force some assistance. We hope and pray that this helps rather than hinders the process of stabilising the country as they try and head towards democratic governance again.

Our amazing leaders - Heros and Heroines all of them - share stories with us in our regular monthly meetings, of how even though our families and children and students in Carrefour live in the constant reality of the gangs, the violence, the sickness, the food shortages and sky-rocketing inflation - they are grateful every day that we are partnering with them at this traumatic time, to support them with

• food packages,
• community programs,
• sponsorships and
• education!
  

I and our Haiti team meet with Johanne and Reggie, Yndjy, Jean and Merline every month online.
Our amazing Haitian leaders @ LIFLIM.
We chat often on Messenger to be with each other and to discuss important choices.
We all wish we were meeting in person.

Even though Haiti is still dangerous and volatile... some would say even more so, our leaders are constantly filled with gratitude. And so am I. So is all our team in Australia and the USA.

We are so grateful for THEM.

These incredible leaders from our partner NGO (Light for Living International Ministries), are visionary, resilient, grateful and kind. We love them all.

Most of you may be aware of the serious implications of Haiti’s ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis for all our children and families in Haiti. With daily protests and civil unrest against the government of Haiti, armed gang violence that has now reached Carrefour; with shortages of fuel and clean drinking water, and widespread acute hunger, our families are truly struggling.

However, our essential Frontier Projects / LIFLIM Programs: our Food Security Programs and Educational and Training Programs - are continued by these amazing leaders as they give so much to provide food, education and critical support for so many of Haitian families and children!\
We are honoured and grateful to partner with them!

Thank you for your incredible care and support!
We are so very grateful!
Merry Christmas and happy New Year!




Cheryl and John
and all the Frontier Projects Haiti Team
in Australia and Haiti

Although situated on the crystal blue water of the beautiful Caribbean, Haiti’s story in 2023 continues to read as a nation shaken to the core by constant natural, political and humanitarian crises. I could post so many negative photos. I am choosing not to. Again.

For amidst the tragedies – of which our leaders @LIFLIM (our partner NGO in Haiti) and children and families are personally very familiar, we have so many stories of HOPE and LOVE and LIVES TRANSFORMED through their RESILIENCE and PASSION, and through our faithful partnership – which is also made possible through your care, prayers and generosity. Thank you!

And every year, we send out gratitude and thanks for our FPH Ambassador - Michael Crossland
 for his faithful love and support for so many kids, orphans and families!

Even though we cannot as yet, safely take teams to Haiti, we continue to faithfully meet ONLINE regularly,  often weekly, with our leaders – to ensure that all our families and children are safe and that our partnership programs are still growing and continue to meet the needs of so many families and children experiencing extreme poverty and hardship.

How do we continue to do what we do, when we cannot get to Haiti? That’s easy – our Haitian LEADERS are the HEROS!

3 important ways we are always moving forward:
1.   We ask before we aid. I've always believed that our Haitian leaders have the answers within - they are the visionaries in their own communities - particularly for us in Haiti through the leadership of Reginald and Johanne Celestin - (LIFLIM). We always ASK what they wish to do in continuous relationship - and then partner with their vision and inspiration.
2.   We find the real heroes  in their own communities and invest in them. We have invested in new Haitian leaders since 2012 - and this year - 2023-23, even moreso! We employ Haitian trainers, teachers, educational and administrative leaders and social workers!
3.   And we are committed to Evaluating our Impact together with our Haitian leaders. This can be hard to do when things are so tough - but we are committed! We will never just keep doing the same old same old! We have undertaken this through many Zoom meetings, in 2022-23!
In these meeting, we hear and partner with their REAL LIFE STORIES, to bring HOPE, LOVE and TRANSFORM LIVES!

Love Community: Some of the highlights and challenges in 2022-23.

• Our amazing Social Worker employed - Yndjy Belval.
• Christmas celebrations - which mean so much to our children!
• Safe food distributions and community meetings for our sponsored families and children - this has been very challenging due to the widespread civil unrest and gang kidnappings!
• 2023 will see the graduation of several of our long-term sponsored youth, out of our LFH program and into simple business ventures.
• In June, 2023, sadly, Love Community Home suffered severe flooding and then a huge fire. Thankfully all the children and staff were safe. We are now helping them undertake massive renovations to all the downstairs rooms. Thank you to all who have given so far.
  

If you would like to help make a difference for all the orphans & staff at Love Community Home, we would appreciate all the help you can offer. Thank you so very much. Just head to:  https://www.frontierprojects.org/simplygive.html

Hatchlings Early Learning in Australia - Our incredible Educational Sponsors for all our LCH children!

Hatchlings Early Learning Group in Australia heard about the incredible Love Community story through our inspirational ambassador, Michael Crossland.
Rachel Langford and the whole team at Hatchlings - across their two campuses at Waterford and Rochedale in Old, Australia are now supporting the education of all our LCH children! They will also join with the children in Haiti to participate in ESL fun and learning via live video-link in 2023-24! Incredibly exciting!

Thank you for your incredible care and support! 
Blessings for the new financial year. xoxo

Cheryl and John
and all the Frontier Projects Haiti Team in Australia and Haiti
www.frontierprojects.org/simplygive.html

Every day, my heart turns to Haiti. Every. Single, Day.
And every online meeting we have together with our Haiti partners, is inspirational!
And heartbreaking.
But there's incredible opportunity within the hardships!
Let me explain.

Every week we listen with open hearts as Reggie or Johanne, Merline or Yndjy share with us the immense difficulties that they and most Haitians face, on a daily basis! These incredible leaders from our partner NGO (Light for Living International Ministries), are visionary! We meet often to discuss all our partnership Programs together... Programs that are able to continue strongly through your giving and care and generosity.  So a warm thank you to YOU - our giving community in Australia!

Most of you may be aware of the serious implications of Haiti’s ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis for all our children and families in Haiti. With daily protests and civil unrest against the government of Haiti, armed gang violence, and now an outbreak of cholera amidst the continuing covid pandemic; with shortages of fuel and clean drinking water, and widespread acute hunger, our families are truly struggling. However, our essential Frontier Projects / LIFLIM Programs: our Food Security Programs and Educational and Training Programs - enable our leaders to continue to provide for our families and children - food, education and critical support! This all happens because of you all - your giving means so much!

This year, more than ever before, as I've tried to grapple with the serious implications of our partnerships 'moving ahead' amidst the incredibly tough reality of life in Haiti , I have realised that we are faced with an unprecedented opportunity! Amidst this crisis, there’s an invitation to change, to re-imagine and to reinvent ourselves. Although it’s tempting to return back to 'the way we've done things in the past' - the old normal - when we are able to again return to Haiti in 2023, we shouldn’t. The 'old normal' was the problem.
We need a 'new normal'.
Let me explain.

When the borders of Haiti (and across the world) slammed shut in March 2020; Haitians remained in Haiti. Rightfully, Haitian nationals were tasked with taking charge and leading their people through these challenging times. Lives are dependent on their leadership. And we have some of the most incredible leaders that we know and love and work with!

Here is the problem: Historically, charity to Haiti has come in the form of handouts - mainly food, clothes, buildings and money. In an ongoing time of crisis like this, we have keep asking ourselves:

• “How can we strategically invest in the capacity of our Haitian leaders, so that they can operate and succeed without us?”
• “If we can’t return for extended periods of time, how can we support our Haitian leaders to carry out all the work we have partnered with them to undertake?

A healthy nonprofit is one who’s program goals and activities directly connect to the independence and capacity-building of vulnerable communities. In other words, a healthy nonprofit is actively working themselves out of a job! Sounds counter-intuitive, I know.

This 'healthy' approach hasn’t been the case with most nonprofits and missions groups in Haiti and around the globe. Giving with the 'best intentions' across the globe is often characterised by deep cycles of aid that cause an unhealthy dependence on the giver while stripping the receiver of dignity. I've spent much time over the last 2 years reading books like When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert and Dambisa Moya's confronting book Dead Aid. All my research - including much online - is now informing our future Frontier Projects aid in Haiti!

So what are the best voices all saying?
Our past ‘normal’ in the nonprofit world hasn’t been working. 
I believe that NOW is our chance to dig deep and do better!

Nonprofits and missions groups work with vulnerable communities that desire real change, and we can be part of that change. What an incredible adventure! We have a divine opportunity to re-imagine WITH our partner communities, what they could look like years from now without our interventions. How can we ensure that we are on the right track? I believe in the following THREE STEPS - and this is how we are have been moving ahead - particularly this year more than ever before! We are creating a NEW NORMAL!

1.   We ask before we aid. I've always believed that our Haitian leaders have the answers within - they are the visionaries in their own communities - particularly for us in Haiti through the leadership of Reginald and Johanne Celestin - (LIFLIM). We always ASK what they wish to do in continuous relationship - and then partner with their vision and inspiration.

2.   We find the real heroes  in their own communities and invest in them. We have invested in new Haitian leaders since 2020 - and this year moreso! We employ Haitian trainers, teachers, leaders and our social worker!

3.   And we are committed to Evaluating our Impact together with our Haitian leaders. This can be hard to do when things are so tough - but we are committed! We will never just keep doing the same old same old! We have undertaken this through many Zoom meetings, in 2022!

As we head into 2023, I believe with all my heart, that now more than ever, we have the opportunity to change course and amplify our impact. My hope is that nonprofits around the world will lean into these challenging times and re-imagine how we can better achieve independence and capacity-building in vulnerable communities. These challenging times for us all  will forever reshape our world, and it’s our responsibility to ensure it’s for the better.

So, from us all at Frontier Projects Haiti and Light for Living International Ministries in Haiti , we bless you and your families and wish you a very special Christmas! See you in the New Year - which we believe for you as well - that it will be a year of incredible IMPACT - for your loved ones and for those you care for across this vast, beautiful planet that is our Global Community!

With Love, thoughtfulness and Gratitude,
Cheryl
Cheryl and John Ward
on behalf of our Frontier Projects Team

My heart is always filled with hope! Despite the reality that it has been a difficult time across the globe, with rising costs of living and difficulty accessing supplies, and as you would realise, Haiti still being no stranger to these difficulties. Every day in Haiti our leaders from our partner NGO - LIFLIM (Light for Living International Ministries) deal with ongoing fuel and food shortages, days without access to electricity, and then there's the constant political unrest and gang violence!
​
​However, now more than ever, we remain committed and hopeful, we stay positive and we continue to empower our leaders, families and children through educational and social programs designed by our inspirational Haitian leaders! 

Hatchlings Early Learning Group in Australia heard about the incredible Love Community story through our inspirational ambassador, Michael Crossland.
Rachel Langford and the whole team at Hatchlings - across their two campuses at Waterford and Rochedale in Old, Australia are now supporting the education of all our LCH children! They will also join with the children in Haiti to participate in ESL fun and learning via live video-link in 2022! Incredibly exciting!

We have been able to celebrate the birthdays of the children with a monthly gathering, and of course cake ! The celebrations honour each child during their birthday month. It is a lovely way to bring a smile to the faces of these precious children and young adults. ​

Frontier Projects partners with LIFLIM in Haiti to provide holistic support for parents in poverty by assisting in areas related to their children’s well-being. Through the incredible support of Michael Crossland, our champion, friend & ambassador, & YOU, our incredible sponsors, we have re-united over 30 of our Love Community children back into their own homes, through our Love Family Homes program.  Our 9 orphans in Love Community Home (LCH) are always lovingly cared for & attend school in a large family environment.

We continue to employ a Haitian Social Worker - Yndjy Belval to support each child through their school & home life and support their families with monthly food packs (from you, our sponsors), community support & life-skills. 

As part of our commitment to building community across the globe, we are offering our sponsor-families the opportunity to get to know your sponsor child better and to allow them to get to know you. We are inviting you to put together a short video or letter about yourself and family. We would like to share this so your sponsor child / children get to know you. This could be a start to forming a relationship with you. This is not meant to be professional or flashy, but simple and real. Please consider finalising a short video or letter as soon as possible, so we can prepare all the material together to present to the children. If you prefer a letter with a photo you can email this to us and we can translate to French for you.  You can find a blank template right here if you would like to use it!

As you know with EOFY fast approaching, you have an opportunity to reduce your taxable income through making a donations of any amount. You are invited to do this as a one off lump sum, or set up an ongoing donation or continuing your sponsorship!  Any support you are able to offer to the children of Haiti is appreciated, we know this is a challenging time and we appreciate you more than words can say!  www.frontierprojects.org/simplygive.html
  
Thank you for your incredible care and support! 
Blessings! ​

Merry Christmas wonderful friends and families! All the very best for a New Year filled with joy, peace and love throughout 2022!

At this time we always love to share our heartfelt gratitude for all of the ways you have blessed so many, through Frontier Projects Haiti.  
 
We simply couldn't do it without you, so THANK YOU! 
 
The gift of your partnership and support continues to enable Frontier Projects Haiti to radically change the lives of hundreds of sponsor students, children and their families. After the earthquake this year, so many of you gave again! We were blown away by your generosity and care. From the bottom of our grateful hearts we thank you.  
 
We would like to acknowledge and share with you efforts from the staff on the ground in Haiti - our partner NGO - Light For Living International Ministries (LIFLIM). The resilience and joy shown by our precious leaders in Haiti - often against seemingly insurmountable odds - is constantly inspirational! Intuitive wise decisions by our Haitian staff Reginald & Johanne Celestin (Directors) and Yndjy Belval (our Social Worker) allowed all our Programs to continue safely.  Regg, Johanne and Yndjy have shown resourcefulness and initiative to safely navigate the way through many challenges, including a natural disaster with the 7.2 magnitude earthquake near Les Cayes, political devastation and gross instability, and of course the Covid-19 pandemic. They have overcome lack of basic resources and acute food shortages, skyrocketing prices for goods and fuel, to continue to provide your food parcels, often personally delivered to the families, to ensure safety.  Incredible!

What's been happening in 2021… 
 
Bouvier Mountain School is continuing to flourish with 140 students and 8 full time teachers. Bouvier School welcomed three new dedicated teachers this year. Shelove Millien, Dieufort Volcy, and Smith Juste. To support the teachers, a Haitian School Supervisor and Trainer - Mr Germeil also joined the team!  He has been employed to tailor specialised teacher development training and provide professional supervision for the teachers.  
iNSPIRED EDUCATION - https://i-edu.com.au/kshare/ based in Queensland- through CEO Rashan Senanayake, has shared his passion for education by partnering with FPH to sponsor multiple children for their educational needs in Haiti. Thank you, Rashan! 28 students have so far been sponsored for the whole school year! Check out our partnership video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDdCXh5hid0 & read more at: https://www.frontierprojects.org/kshare.html 

We have developed a FPH calendar to sum up what we do and to bring you joy! 
Our incredible 2022 Calendars arrived on Christmas Eve!! Filled with smiles, love and photos from all our Haiti programs as well as inspirational quotes from our Ambassador Michael Crossland! Every calendar purchased brings hope and can feed a family for a week! With love from us all… They are only $20aud (plus postage if needed) and are available on our website HERE. https://www.frontierprojects.org/2022calendar.html

This is a way you can feel close and connected to FPH all year round!  
And EVERY CENT GETS SENT 
GET ONE HERE. https://www.frontierprojects.org/2022calendar.html
​Just some of the calendar pages are shown below...

Through building great relationships and partnerships we continue to be able to do what we do - despite not being able to take teams to Haiti in person - which breaks our hearts. Connection and relationship is something we believe is so vital.

We invite you to get to know your sponsor child and build a relationship. When you write, we translate your words to French and ensure they receive this. When they write back, they write in French and we translate to English.  Jump on email with your family get to know each other!  
 
Tips on communicating: keep it simple, share your true family blessings. Share a digital photo of yourself and your family if you like.
 
*Please understand this is a process and any reply won’t be a quick turn around.  
 
We are looking forward to another year of achieving great things with your incredible support.    
 
We wish you a beautiful Christmas and a happy and blessed New Year! And we wish you and your loved ones, a 2022 filled with joy and peace.  
 
Love Cheryl and John Ward and the entire FPH team xxx ​

In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined the same thing happening again. 

I went to Haiti for the first time, just after the 2010 earthquake when the earth shook and thousands and thousands of people died in 12 seconds. It was devastating to see the level of destruction that was still everywhere when I touched down in Haiti, December, 2010. Let alone what it must have been like to live through such death and trauma - as our leaders and all our families from LIFLIM (our local partner-NGO in Carrefour) did. To try to understand the meaning of tragedy like I had never witnessed, shook me to the core and bonded my heart to my Haitian brothers and sisters forever. 

Our precious friends on this small island in the Caribbean are once again going through the shock, horror, disbelief of another shaking and now the start of picking up the pieces (literally) and beginning again...together. But we are there from the start with them, this time! With our prayer, love, care and support, hope, faith and love abound! The medical, physical and emotional needs will take time to meet but we are there with them for the long-term!

We are so thankful that the greater Port Au Prince area was spared physical destruction (for the most part) as the lives lost surely would have rivaled the infamous earthquake of 2010, but it is important to note that all wounds are not just physical, and the people who survived the earthquake a decade ago are reeling all over again. 

One of the local men in the community of Cavaillion - directly near where our Frontier Projects farm is located, said to Pastor Reggie last Sunday: “Everything that we had was destroyed. My wife is 9 months pregnant and counting days until the baby arrives and she had just left the house when it happened and the house collapsed."

So many who lost family and friends a decade ago by being brutally crushed by rock and wood, are re-experiencing memories long buried. The emotional toll is huge. 

Pastor Reggie shared with us in his video straight after the quake, that when things like this happen, people came to him worrying that "they are not in the plan of God". Reggie loves on them and he his family and our teams comfort so many fearful people - reassuring them that they loved and seen, heard and precious beyond measure!

It would be hard for them not to feel fearful and it is our greatest desire - all of us at LIFLIM and Frontier Projects - to be supportive emotionally and spiritually as well as financially. Our giving generously in time, prayer and financially IS helping to restore HOPE, TRUST and indeed LIVES! 

So daily, we speak or write with our leaders - our brothers and sisters in Haiti -  and let them know that we believe as they believe - that God is weeping through their grief and trauma with them. He IS their strength and hope. He has nothing but Compassion and Love for his beautiful, beloved people. And we join with so many in Haiti who get to be His Hands and His Heart to all who need Him and each other -  so much ...

So is there Hope? Yes! And today her name is Kettelie. Read her story below.
​Love Chez. xx