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

Supporting our children not just to attend school, but to monitor their literacy skills, our social worker - Yndjy Belval & our Programs Administrator, Johanne Celestin, started meeting with the children for literacy checks on a monthly basis. The children are growing in confidence!
We also believe it's necessary to give the children other types of Fun Days as well, during such a serious time! We did this in 2020 -  creating life long memories!

 To say that this financial year has been a HUGE year, is of course, an understatement - for us all! But it's been AMAZING and we are filled with gratitude! We are grateful for you our sponsors and supporters, we are grateful for our small but awesome FP team and our wonderful ambassador, Michael Crossland - who shares our story across the world, we are grateful for our amazing leaders and teachers on the ground in Haiti, and of course we are so grateful for every child and family  that we are privileged to be able to help - seeing their lives be transformed through our sponsorship, education, training and our welfare programs.

Even in the face of the COVID19 pandemic and the fact that Haiti is still in the grip of this and further political and financial upheaval, Frontier Projects Haiti in partnership with Light for Living International Ministries (LIFLIM) grew and strengthened in all our Priority Areas:

1. LOVE COMMUNITY Child Sponsorship continued to grow steadily and we now sponsor over 40 children into their own homes!  We permanently employed our Haitian Social Worker (in training) YNDJY BELVAL to work directly with these families - visiting them at home and at school every month to oversee their wellbeing. Our 9 orphans / displaced children at LOVE COMMUNITY HOME have participated in specialist educational and recreational programs and psychologist sessions during the months when schools were closed by the government due to the COVID19 pandemic.  Our amazing ambassador, Michael Crossland continued to support Love Community in every way, sharing his story, their story... and raising vital funds! Thank you, Mike!!

2. BOUVIER SCHOOL grew in sponsorships, teachers and staff and programs this year! The Food and Wellbeing Program was initiated when 'Feed My Starving Children' Foundation ​generously gave hundreds of nutritious meals to our program through John sharing our story with them and applying successfully for their support! So grateful, as many children can often come to school hungry.  We employ two parents from the Bouvier Community to prepare the meals twice a week! Our eight amazing teachers continued their Staff Development Training - both online with Chez and John and with a Haitian education consultant! The Bouvier School Board was initiated and the school and teacher's apartment underwent some renovations.  

4. ALYSSA RENEE BARBER from the USA joins the Frontier Projects Haiti Core Team! Alyssa spends months in Haiti over the last two years for Frontier Projects, and her incredible work with our team leaders in Haiti as Co-facilitator of Programs has helped every program to grow and improve! We love this amazing, vibrant, caring and passionate friend  - and so do all the children, youth and leaders in Haiti that she so lovingly cares about! Welcome Alyssa!

5. JOURNEY of TRANSFORMATION 2019:  So many FIRSTS this year THANKS to our fantastic Aussy/USA/Haitian team: Ben Adams (Aus), Reginald Celestin (Haiti), Laurie Newland (Aus), Yndjy Belval (Haiti), Robin Brown (USA), Alyssa Barber (USA) & Chez & John Ward (Aus).
Click HERE to read all about it!

5. COVID19 PANDEMIC: KEEPING OUR CHILDREN and FAMILIES SAFE: (Click HERE to read more on our website about what is happening in Haiti) 
We continue to be committed to the following priorities and will continue to respond to the situation as it may change:
i) WE CLOSED BOUVIER SCHOOL in line with the Presidential order and INITIATED FURTHER TRAINING FOR OUR TEACHERS in the meantime:  Our staff used this time for FURTHER TRAINING... with safe-distancing practices-  as a group of 10. Bouvier School along with all other schools will reopen on August 10th, 2020.
ii) We TRAINED OUR LEADERS, CHILDREN and FAMILIES  in SANITATION PRACTICES.See photos below.
iii) We are PROVIDING VITAL MEDICAL, HEALTH and SANITATION SUPPLIES along with their usual sponsorship MONTHLY FOOD SUPPLIES. See photos below.
iv) We are CONTINUING our FROMZION- SPONSORED VOCATIONAL TRAINING COURSE for our Love Community mums.
v) WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS and SPONSORS to continue to provide HEALTH CHECKS and SANITATION & MEDICAL/VITAMIN packages for our families.
If you would like to join us with funding the cost of a Family Sanitation and Medical/Vitamin Pack, you can Simply Give HERE. ​

On Thursday, March 26, Haiti became one of the last Caribbean countries to report its first cases of COVID-19.  Covid-19 was officially detected in Haiti but the impact is only just beginning to be felt NOW.   

The President of Haiti, Jovenel Moise, called for the immediate shut down of all schools, factories, airports and borders. A daily curfew was put in place for all Haitian residents. ​​As of the posting of this blog (5/5/20), the nation of 11 million has so far only tested less than a thousand people for the deadly coronavirus and has 865 confirmed positive cases and 26 deaths. But most Haitians can't afford testing- let alone medical treatment.
​
​While the economic implications are tough enough in Australia, the impact in Haiti for those already in such vulnerable situations can be devastating.The majority of Haitians do not have access to any preventative training or medical and health supplies needed to combat the disease if it grows rapidly.

We are also very aware that not being able to work in the future, may have disastrous implications for our Haitian families - and therefore - our sponsored children. 

As Directors of Frontier Projects Haiti, John and I went into immediate meetings with the CEO of our Partner-NGO in Haiti: Reginald Celestin, from Light for Living International Ministries. Pastor Reggie works with our teachers from Bouvier School, our Love Community Home Parents, our Love Family Homes parents, our trainers at Libellule Training Academy and our Haitian Social Worker. We also began meeting regularly online with Johanne Celestin - our Programs' Administrative and Finance Co-ordinator and also our Social Worker, Yndjy Belvel, who works directly with our Love Community children, orphans and families. 

Meet our three core Haitian leaders below, who are working tirelessly in Haiti to care for our families and children.

We are committing to the following priorities and will continue to respond to the situation as it may change:
1. CLOSING BOUVIER SCHOOL and TRAINING OUR TEACHERS
We have now closed Bouvier School in line with the Presidential order.  Our staff will use this time for meeting (with safe-distancing practices) for further training as groups of 10 or under are allowed in Haiti.
2. TRAINING OUR LEADERS, CHILDREN and FAMILIES  in SANITATION PRACTICES 
See photos HERE
3. PROVIDING VITAL MEDICAL, HEALTH and SANITATION SUPPLIES along with their usual MONTHLY FOOD SUPPLIES.
See photos HERE
4. CONTINUING our FROMZION- SPONSORED VOCATIONAL TRAINING COURSE for our Love Community mums, teaching them the trade of Pattern-making and Sewing! 
5. WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS and SPONSORS to continue to provide HEALTH CHECKS and SANITATION & MEDICAL/VITAMIN packages for our families.
If you would like to join us with funding the cost of a Family Sanitation and Medical/Vitamin Pack, you can Simply Give below: just click the DONATE button to give in a few simple steps.

Much love and thanks, Cheryl and John and all the children, families, orphans, students, teachers and leaders in Haiti. Blessings and stay safe. xxxx

We spent day doing early morning renovations and traveled back to the mission to have lunch and prepare for the monthly Love Family Homes meeting and food bucket distribution. At these monthly meetings, it is our goal for our families to come together into community to learn about different life skills and to find ways to support each other. It was a pleasure to be present this month to witness how Johanne and Yndjy put together each session and prepare every food bucket with their own team.  Alyssa, who is living in Haiti for the next few months, is also a big part of Love Family Homes programming, and with love and wisdom, she was not afraid to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's such a blessing to have a strong team!

The thing is, as a team, our hearts and minds are so focused on all that we are undertaking for the children and families -and amidst all the constant political unrest - that posting takes a back seat...(not to mention the sketchy wifi connectivity). But apologies and here I go catching up from Day 4: HUGE day as we helped Johanne and Yndjy and Alyssa get ready for Love Family Homes Program bucket collection day! Once a month all the families come in to gather as a community, share stories and care and receive their monthly staples food bucket! It was such a privilege to spend time with them all. We have now returned over 30 children out of the orphanage and back into their homes with family! Supporting the families holistically is what we are all about and we passed on love and care from all their wonderful sponsors. Xoxo❤️❤️❤️

Talk to you soon,
​The Frontier Projects Team

(click below for our photo journal)