Hello Friends & Family,

I am excited to share that we had another incredibly successful Rally on the Runway event this year! This event was only possible because of generous supporters like you. I’d like to take a moment to highlight a few groups who made it all happen.

A huge thank you to our amazing volunteers.

Your countless hours of dedication—through meetings, phone calls, texts, and hard work—were invaluable. We couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you. Your commitment, talents, and passion make this event possible, and we’re so grateful for your loyalty to our cause and your love for the children we serve.

Thank you as well to our generous sponsors and donors.

Your continued support allows us to host this wonderful event year after year, helping us meet our goals and achieve dreams that once seemed out of reach. Your contributions, in every form, keep our school thriving. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your love and commitment. Because of you, we’re able to keep our doors open and continue making a difference in Fond Blanc.

We were also blessed to have Pastor Jean Claude join us this year, sharing his invaluable insight and vision. His time with us in Madison allowed us to brainstorm, dream, and plan for the future, ensuring that the school in Fond Blanc is operating at its best. We remain committed to walking alongside Pastor Jean Claude as we continue this journey together.

Our primary goal has always been to sustain the school and support the Fond Blanc community. Thanks to your generous help, we’ve raised enough to continue doing so for another year.

Thank you all again for your support. Bondye Beni Ou! (God bless you!)

Olivia Riggs
Fond Blanc Foundation Board Member

April 2021 Newsletter

Hi Fond Blanc Foundation Followers!

We’d like to take a moment to thank all of you for following our foundation, praying for us, supporting our fundraising endeavors, and loving the children of Fond Blanc. It is all of you, who make this foundation and the support of these children possible. So thank you!

Many of you so generously sponsor a child through our Fond Blanc Foundation Child Sponsorship Program. We can’t even begin to explain how important and impactful your support is to the daily lives of the children of Fond Blanc. This program is how we “keep things going” each and every day.

One of our very favorite parts about our FBF Child Sponsorship program, are the ongoing connections and relationships our children and you, their sponsors, are able to develop. Through shared letters and photos, as well as trips to visit Fond Blanc, our sponsor relationships have always been strong. However, the past two years have provided a real challenge in our efforts to keep everyone connected. Both the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ongoing political instability, have left us without ways to get consistent letters or trips to and from Fond Blanc.

The reassuring news is that despite these challenging times, the children of Fond Blanc remain safe, supported, and well-cared for by our Haitian partners in Fond Blanc. Being tucked away in our mountain village, far from the instability regularly impacting Port Au Prince, we are grateful that we don’t have to worry about their safety. We do however recognize that because of our current inability to get to Fond Blanc, and a lack of reliable postal service, our sponsors have not received the much anticipated sponsor letters and drawings from their sponsored children, as regularly as desired. We are so sorry for this disruption, and would like to assure you that this is a high priority for us, and we will work to get them to you as soon as it is safe to do so.

In the meantime, we’d love it if you’d continue to watch for our newsletter updates, follow us on social media, and keep the community of Fond Blanc & the country of Haiti in your prayers. We will continue to provide regular updates on the happenings in Fond Blanc, as we are able. Thank you all for your ongoing support throughout this challenging time!

If you’re not currently sponsoring a child, and are interested in doing so, please visit our Sponsorship Page.

Mesi anvil & Bondye beni ou!

-The Fond Blanc Foundation

Sponsorship Highlight

“The Child Sponsorship Program is especially important to us as it has such a significant and immediate impact on the lives of the children of Fond Blanc. These sponsorships go towards everyday necessities such as meals (chicken dinners!), essential medicine and healthcare supplies, hygiene products, clothes, school supplies including funding to pay for the teachers, caretakers, drivers, cooks, deliveries and other essential day to day operations of the foundation. Having served for an extended period on-site and being a long time supporter of the foundation, I can definitively state that these dollars are put to great use. They go directly where they are needed, helping the children, as efficiently and ethically as possible.

We are also very happy to have a connection to our sponsor child, Woodkelly, thanks to the Fond Blanc Foundation Child Sponsorship program. Despite the fact that the money from our sponsorship supports all children equally, there is something to be said for having a personal connection with a child. We always appreciate the letters and pictures that are provided to keep us up to date on his growth and development. We cannot wait til circumstances allow for us to make another visit back down to Haiti and see Woodkelly and all of the children who have had such a profound effect on us! ”

Spencer & Mary Pursley

February 2021 Newsletter

In a time when life in the US is complicated and uncertain, with COVID continuing to brace our nation and the politics of today making things additionally more difficult, it is hard to imagine how we can continue to properly support these beautiful children and this ministry in another “complicated” country.   With circumstances, both in the US and Haiti, preventing us from visiting this place that we adore so much, you’d think that we might be struggling to maintain running this ministry.

Truth be told, our Haitian partners are incredibly resilient, enduring, and steadfast in their approach to caring for these children. The school is running with great success; the long awaited and anticipated farming project is well underway, and most importantly the children in Fond Blanc are happy and healthy.

The school has been fully operational this entire year, serving a smaller number than usual, as some parents have elected to hold their kids out of school with the pandemic on their minds.  However, the kids that are attending school are thriving, and the teachers are happy to continue to have employment.  We are still serving Pre-K through grade 11, with 7 or our kids heading down to Cazale to finish out their high school education.  We should see those 7 students graduating within the next couple of years, which is a HUGE success story for them!

As you might know, we had to cancel all in-person fundraising this last year, but that didn’t prevent so many of you from showing up financially to keep this school operating.  Your trust in this ministry and our partners in Haiti has been more than we could have anticipated or asked for.  Our “Vision Rally on the Runway” fundraiser allowed us to raise just enough money to operate the school for this entire year, so THANK YOU!  God is good, indeed.

The beginning of our newly constructed fence, which will allow for our continued growth of our sustainability efforts.

The beginning of our newly constructed fence, which will allow for our continued growth of our sustainability efforts.
We are eager for the start of our much anticipated farming project on the 2½ hectares just down the road has a fence around it and is being cleared and prepared with the hope of a fall planting season.  Isaac, our foundation’s agronomist, has done such a beautiful job in planning, preparing and cultivating this project and our team feels blessed with him at the helm.

Our Haitian partners shared this video update of our farming project.

Our Haitian partners shared this video update of our farming project.

Although we’re confident in the progress of what is being done in this beautiful village of Fond Blanc, it is not lost on me that life in Haiti continues to be a struggle with ongoing instability, violence and political conflict as their cycle of darkness continues.  “My Life Speaks”, another non-profit ministry operating in Haiti describes the continued oppression like this: https://www.mylifespeaks.com/post/prayers-for-peace-more-politically-motivated-violent-protests-in-haiti-s-streets.

Hopefully, with faith in all things good, we will soon be back to visiting Haiti and fundraising for this ministry.  Then we will be able to fulfill our promise of opening that second school where the kids in Fond Blanc can finish their high school years locally, as well as offering a triage medical clinic and trade training on the same site as our new farm.

I long for the day to return when we can be back in person to our beloved Fond Blanc and am hopeful that the time shall be soon.  For now I rest easy on Galatians 6:9

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

With great love and appreciation,
Bondye Beni Ou ~

Tia Bunz

Executive Director

September 2020 Newsletter

Resilience is a bold word when describing something: the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Many of us would be honored to be described as resilient. And Haiti is just that; resilient. As a country, they have battled earthquakes, political instability, hurricanes, major poverty, and all different types of epidemics. And every time, they bounce back stronger, and more proud, as a country. These past 9 months have been no different.

Changes and difficulties have been plentiful during this season of change. Toilet paper shortages, food shortages, loss of income, we have all felt the sting of this pandemic. And Haiti too, is facing the challenges this pandemic brings. As we explained to all of you in June, these difficulties are particularly impactful on our Fond Blanc Community. Not only have we been feeling the effects of the food shortages, we’ve been feeling the effects of the poverty-level rising, the increases in costs of gas and oil, and the difficulties of getting our hands on basic supplies. It has been a competition for resources.

Thankfully, our Haitian partners have been true champions in this time. Waking up extra early to be some of the first people at the markets, being extra resourceful in coming up with alternates to our regularly planned meals, as well as being extra generous, allowing surrounding community members to hitch a ride into town with them in our communities pick-up truck, because this time has been difficult for everyone. For them, we are so grateful.

As of late, we’ve had a few additional reasons to be extra grateful in this season. When we reached out to all of you in June regarding these new difficulties we have been facing, we had a handful of groups with some serious will power & can-do attitude reach back and say “no problem! We will help.” Groups out of Indiana, Colorado, Ontario, Wisconsin and a few others stepped up to the plate in a major way. They all opted to participate in our Future of Fond Blanc – Donate Once, Give Twice Campaign: a give back fundraiser supporting both local communities & our community in Fond Blanc. In participating in this fundraiser, these groups were able to raise over $20,000! What a lot of people don’t know is how exactly this money is going to change the course of this ministry for these children.

(Check out these picture from one of our wonderful partner team’s local project helping to paint a porch & planters, and re-roof and paint a shed. Thank you for all your support for Fond Blanc & your local community! Bondye beni ou!)

This $20,000 is being allocated for our new farming project. As many of you remember, we brought our friend Isaac on in 2016 as an agronomist, to help us initiate our Chicken Dinner Operation. When we talked with Isaac about the difficulties we were facing in relation to this pandemic, he developed just the right solution. Isaac proposed a farming operation on the grounds, next to what we already have established with the foundation. This 5 acre land (see photo below) across the road from the orphanage will be turned into a full scale farm, overseen by Isaac, but run by our children. Using our very own chicken manure as fertilizer, Isaac proposes we will be able to grow fruits and vegetables such as peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, and watermelons. This opportunity allows us not only to have fresh produce for the children and surrounding community, but teach the valuable skills of farming to our kids, in a hands-on setting. The hope is that with this home-grown produce, we can again become more self-sufficient while building a foundation.

We are so thankful for all of you that chose to get involved in this fundraiser, along with all of you who continue to be involved in lifting this ministry up. You all are the greatest blessing.

Bondye Beni Ou!

Olivia Bunz
Fond Blanc Foundation Board Member

Help make a difference. Dontae Now!

Future of Fond Blanc Campaign:
Donate Once, Give Twice

Greetings and Happy Summer!

As the days warm up here in Wisconsin, it reminds me of Haiti.  With the snow gone, it is easier to envision our other home in Fond Blanc and the warmth from both the tropical climate, as well as the warmth from the love of the children and staff there.   In August it will be a year since we have been able to travel down to Haiti, due to a combination of civil unrest and COVID19 and it has an impact on all of us!  We miss the children, their joyful laughter, their praying, and all of their love.  Mostly we miss being a part of their world on a daily basis and watching them grow and thrive.

Although we have been limited in getting down there, we have not let our passion for the children of Fond Blanc to be deterred throughout this.  We continue to be committed to our mission, committed to our goals, and continue to want to support community sustainability, education and see them continue to thrive.

As we watch our own communities in the US struggle with our own civil unrest, as well as the uncertainty and financial impact of COVID19, it makes it hard to come to all of you with another “ask”.   This community, all of YOU have shown up time and time again over the years:  to start and run a school, to provide structure and support for the orphanage, to start a chicken farm and even to build a road!  So many times, we have asked and each time you have responded resoundingly.  Your overwhelming love and support has been what has kept this ministry moving forward.  So once again, THANK YOU!!

Right now in Haiti, in addition to continued government and civil unrest and dealing with COVID, they are suffering greatly from a food crisis.   Without NGO’s and mission teams traveling to Haiti, as well as flights not getting into the country, they are seeing food costs at quadruple the rate as last year.  This is a huge problem for a country already dealing with so much.

Here at the foundation, we are committed to not solving the problem for them, but to walk alongside them and help support them with a sustainable option.  Years ago when we asked all of you to help us provide a much-needed source of protein for the children’s diet, you responded by helping us to raise money so they could build a chicken operation.  This has been such a success story and has been amazing in so many different ways.  We were able to hire an agronomist, Isaac Lissage, who not only manages the whole operation, but also teaches all of the children about raising their own food.  He is passionate, knowledgeable, and dedicated to creating a sustainable world for them, as well as teaching the children everything they need to become tomorrow’s farmers.

With the success of Isaac’s initial agriculture revival in Fond Blanc, we looked to him once more to ask how we could help him with the current food crisis.  Within days, I had in my hands a proposal for a second phase to his revival movement and detailed project information on creating an entire farming operation.  Pastor Jean Claude was able to purchase around 5 acres (2.02 hectares) of land across the road from the orphanage and school and he dedicated 1 hectare of that land to the new farm operation.  The remainder of that land will be used for a second school in the future.

This farming project will not only have potential to grow many different types of vegetables and fruits, it will be fertilized by the chicken manure and we will be able to use the river as a water source. Most importantly, it will engage the students in school in agronomy classes!  It is an exciting and important project for Fond Blanc.

Once again, we are reaching out to all of you to help us fund this way to address food stability in Haiti.  We have partnered with Next Step Ministry and are asking our friends and churches to help with our FUTURE OF FOND BLANC – DONATE ONCE, GIVE TWICE campaign.  This campaign will specifically focus on giving back to our local communities, allowing people to get “sponsored” for their time volunteering locally (we are suggesting food pantries, however any volunteering works!).  The money donated to the Fond Blanc Foundation will then be used to help fund this new farming endeavor.  It’s a win win!!  Our communities win and the people of Fond Blanc win.

Watch this video to learn more about the Future of Fond Blanc- Donate Once, Give Twice Campaign

If you would like more information on how you or your church group can get involved in the Future of Fond Blanc:Donate Once, Give Twice campaign, click the link below.  We would love to have you along for this challenge together!

Let’s do this! How can I get involved?

I am so honored to be a part of this ministry, the people we serve and the people that support it.  It is truly what it means to be the hands and feet of God.

Bondye Beni Ou!

Tia Bunz
Executive Director

Bonjou!! 

Thank you so much for your willingness to participate in our “Future of Fond Blanc: Give Once – Donate Twice” food security campaign!   We are so excited for this, as it will serve both our local communities as well as our Fond Blanc community.  

We are all feeling the pain and uncertainty of the world today, between civil unrest and the financial unpredictability from COVID19, both here and in Haiti.  In addition, with Next Step Ministries having to cancel their mission trips and students and families feeling that emptiness of summer cancellations, we thought this might be the perfect way to impact many different organizations!

Here are the steps:  

•     Using our letter template, tell friends and family what this give back campaign is about. 

•     Choose a local organization, food pantry, etc. to donate your time to. 

•     Ask friends and family to sponsor your time volunteering locally.  You select the amount of time and monetary value (for example: 4 hours = $100 donated). 

•     Donate the money you raised to the Food Stability/Fond Blanc farming project. 

There are so many advantages to this campaign:

•     Our local non-profits get much needed volunteer hours.

•     We are engaged, supporting and helping our communities. 

•     We raise the money needed for food stability and the farming project in Fond Blanc!

Like we said, it is a WIN-WIN for everyone!! 

As an added bonus, the group or organization that raises the most money for this campaign wins the opportunity to travel to Fond Blanc, Haiti and help work on the farming project!!   We are so excited for this: we have past NSM interns willing to lead the team, we have a bit of flexibility with the date and you get valuable time with the kids in the orphanage.   Your group will be responsible for your food, travel expenses, and the costs necessary to get you up the mountain, but we will handle the rest!  We see this as such a beautiful opportunity, especially with Next Step cancelled for another year and the kids missing their friends, this will allow us to do a mini-mission trip. (Some conditions apply – we will have more details for the winning organization). 

Thank you so much for your participation in this wonderful give back opportunity benefiting so many!  We appreciate you all so much!

Please reach out with questions to Tia Bunz at tia.bunz@fondblanc.org or 608-444-7774

Mesi anpil and bondye beni ou!! 

The Fond Blanc Foundation Team

Dear Jacob,

I have read several of your writings about Haiti and I am gripped by the sense of disappointment they convey. You must be a fine journalist to be able to keep any tone of bitterness out of your writing. But I can still perceive disillusionment in your words and that is why I am writing to you – to offer some respite from what reads like a world-weary sense of regret about the plight of the Haitian people. Everyone who serves in Haiti needs encouragement from time to time.

When you are down in Haiti on a future trip, please come stay with us at the Fond Blanc orphanage, and enjoy a small piece of Haiti that is thriving. We are a small group that has been dedicated for the last 10 years to the work of assisting in the upbringing of about 73 Haitian children (and more recently, the schooling of an additional 400 or so kids who live nearby). I don’t really think of our work as anything special, but we are still there and the Haitians we serve are doing quite well. In light of all the broken promises – and broken lives – you report on, it occurs to me that you might like to experience some of that.

I don’t want anything from you – not for myself or our organization or even for our Haitian friends.In fact, we would probably decline anything a journalist could offer. I simply want to offer you an opportunity to be renewed by evidence that some promises are being kept, some Haitians are being helped, and there is hope in Haiti.

You already know how remarkable the Haitian people are. Their resilience in the face of a terribly hard reality has been both among their most encouraging characteristics, and also perhaps one of the things that has contributed to the perpetuation of their misery. If that sounds counterintuitive to you, consider this: Do you know of a people – in the western hemisphere at least – who manage better at mere survival? That is, people who can live so persistently at the edge of absolute destitution for interminable lengths of time, without ever seeing – or crafting – an improvement in their circumstances? If somebody were to give out awards for simply not dying, Hatiians would be among the top contenders. And I say that with a bittersweet reflection on what I have seen over the last 10 years. I always hope that today is the day when they finally say “enough!” and decide to get busy living, instead of simply surviving.

I am sure you would agree that the brokenness and dysfunction in Haiti is almost beyond comprehension, particularly by the American mind. I cannot tell you how to fix Haiti, but then, I am not trying to fix it. My goal is simple and clear: I serve God by serving “the least of these [His] children” in our little orphanage and school; and in the tough moments I am sustained by the joy in the face of a child who is fed, clothed, and feels safe today.

I don’t know you, or how you think and operate in the world. I make no assumptions or judgments (except about the weariness), and I am not here to change you in any way. But I can tell you that we could never have managed to do what little bit we do if we came at it from a secular, man-can-solve-all-his-own-problems perspective. It has been a relief to simply do what we are called to do and to trust the Lord in all else. Maybe a small scale, bottom-up strategy can offer real help where governments and big NGOs have failed so spectacularly.

Well intentioned people frequently volunteer suggestions to me on how to “fix” Haiti. But on my first visit to Haiti, surrounded by destruction and death, I understood that we cannot ask a person to change their behavior when practically every moment of life is already consumed by a 24/7 struggle against death. At Fond Blanc we do what we can to provide a small margin for real life to establish a toehold. Perhaps the children we serve will be part of a generation that will bring fundamental change to Haiti in the future. And just maybe they can offer a measure of hope and joy to a journalist-witness whose own supply has run a little low.

I have been thwarted in all of my recent attempts to head down to Haiti, but the bright truth is that they are coping better now on their own than they were when we were ever-present. And we continue to send support even though we cannot send people at this time. Anyway, on behalf of our little organization and our Haitain friends, I invite you to come visit and be refreshed anytime you can fit it into your schedule.

Bondye beni ou,

Paul Young

Late at night on July 27^th, a group of 24 of us began our travel down to Fond Blanc. After not being there in almost two years for most of the group, the excitement was tangible. However, much to our dismay, the travel was a nightmare. We ended up getting there in 5 different flights in total, and the last group got to the orphanage at 5 pm on Monday, July 29^th. With exhaustion, frustration, and confusion running through our veins, when we pulled through that big red gate, the only word on my heart was, “WOW.”

The physical changes to the orphanage first stole my breath. The new church / school has two levels and a roof and is inching towards completion. To our right, a new watch tower raised two stories high, with a “Wal-Mart” below that has increased some income as soda and snacks are sold to the village. The ‘driveway’ was completely and beautifully smoothed instead of the rocks and roots that we were used to. The one room, non-defined library we had left now had walls and windows, and electricians and masons were working on the kids showers and bathrooms. The sustainability area was flooded with chickens and plants. Every project we had once been so proud and naïve to think we began, was either finished or in progress in the extremely capable Haitian hands we left them in.

The update I know you’re all waiting for – the kids! They were beautiful, as always, but had grown so much. James and Linor were taller than me out of nowhere. Kervins and Manaica are no longer the babies. Masselene and Chilanda work in the kitchen and are becoming strong women. The faces of new children were excited to meet the friends they had heard so much about. Over two days, these 65 kids each wrote multiple letters and drew beautiful photos for their sponsors back in the states, and we are SO grateful for your patience in receiving these! (I might add that many kids asked for letters in return – they love to hear from you guys, too!) Along with the report cards, we had a brief medical clinic, a dental check-up, built tables and benches for the library, and every bunk bed in every kid’s room is now brand new! Much needed donations safely made it to the orphanage as well. Band camp was also going on, so there were an extra 200 faces sleeping and eating in Fond Blanc, so we had the beautiful opportunity to not only meet more Haitian friends, but see the kids interact with both friends and siblings from other places in Haiti. We were blessed with a beautiful band and choir concert on Friday night, which the kids were SO proud of! They are so talented.

Every time we go to Fond Blanc, I am overwhelmed by God’s goodness and by God’s timing. Wednesday night, Woodkelly had an incarcerated inguinal hernia (fancy words for “serious medical issue that needs surgery ASAP and is very painful”). We were incredibly blessed with an ER doc and a PICU nurse on our team that were able to, by the grace of God, save his life. He then went to Port-au-Prince the next morning and got the surgery he needed. Can we get a YAY GOD?! Perfectly placing each person in a position to do what He has called them to do.

Overall, I am so proud of the work our Haitian partners have been doing, but I am even more excited about what’s to come!

Bondye beni-ou,

Emily

Next Step Ministries- Community Coordinator 

Hello Friends,

First off, thank you so much for deciding to join us in Haiti this summer. We cannot express how much it means to us to have your partnership as we continue to serve in the community of Fond Blanc. The purpose of this email is to update you on what we know and are hearing from our partners in Haiti during the recent civil unrest.

Over the weekend the US government changed the advisory level to 4, resulting in our Fond Blanc Foundation friends having to cancel their dental mission that was to take place next week. The level 4 advisory indicates a “Do Not Travel” notice as the U.S. Government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Haiti. Flights and other travel will resume when the advisory returns to a level 3.

Protests are frustratingly common in Haiti, as we have seen over the years serving there, and usually settle quickly. That is our hope with this current situation. Why are people in Haiti currently protesting? From our limited understanding, many have been calling for the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse and Prime Minister Jean-Henry Céant over the alleged mismanagement of the PetroCaribe agreement. The deal allowed Haiti to purchase oil from Venezuela at a discount and was meant to free up about $4 billion US to aid development in the country, decimated by several major natural disasters and years of corruption, violence and political instability. On Saturday, Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant announced nine measures to alleviate the country’s economic crisis and said the government would reduce its own expenses by 30%. Whether that decree and the Sunday afternoon press release asking everyone to get back to normal will be enough to quell the protests and appease the Haitians who have taken to the streets will be put to the test in the week ahead.

Our mission teams and church’s safety is our top priority. We would never send a team into any situation that we felt was dangerous or where we would not be able to provide safe transportation to our host community. At this point we still fully intend to serve in Haiti this summer. God called us to Fond Blanc for a reason. These protests encourage us all the more to continue our mission. We will continue to monitor the situation and send out relevant updates. Most of all, we ask you to join us in praying for our friends and partners in Haiti.

Thank you again and God bless,

Barak & The Next Step Team

Barak Tschirhart
Missions Director

Direct: 608-286-9534
Office: 888-534-2009

www.nextstepministries.com
Where Short-Term Missions Collide With Long-Term Community Development

It’s gloomy, cold and sleeting back here in Madison, Wisconsin and absolutely NOT what I was expecting for this Saturday in February.

Instead, I was supposed to be with a fantastic team of dentists, doctors, hygienists, medical assistants, Fond Blanc Foundation board members and Next Step Ministry staff in Fond Blanc serving the community that we all adore so much.

I was hoping to be loving on Loudmia, Kervins, Manaica, and Givenchy.  Checking in on Franklin, James and Eugen’s school grades and English.  I was going to be giving Rilismy heck for picking on Victoria, my daughter, and loving on all of my other favorite kiddos in a country so far from mine.

Indeed, this was not how I expected to be spending this Saturday.

Instead, I am sitting here wondering, remembering, reminiscing, and feeling so far from my other home.

Unfortunately, such is life when working with a ministry based in a developing, and at times, unstable country.  When we cancelled a trip for the third time in just over a year and I had to reach out to the team to tell them, that the State Department had increased their travel advisory for Haiti to a Level 4 Travel Ban, but most importantly I wanted them to know that this is WHY we serve in Haiti!  The country’s political unrest, their protests, their fragmented and unstable lives are the REASON we serve there, and nothing will keep us from continuing our mission.

Yet still, this is heartbreaking for so many of us.

Our hearts are broken for those in Haiti who continue to struggle with uncertainty and danger.  This is FAR greater than my sadness from missing the kids and a country I love so much.

While we continue to exist in a country that provides so much for its people, it’s hard to imagine how a small country only 600 miles from the tip of Florida continues on a path of destruction.  While we strive to help to make things better for this mountain community of Fond Blanc, we are constantly wondering how we can help with the bigger picture in Haiti.

And then I remember what God is asking of us.  Serve and love these people in Fond Blanc, as this is where I have placed so many of you. HE has provided us with the love, devotion and ability to make much needed change for this region.   I recognize we cannot change everything, but we can help this.

This we can do.

We can continue to help provide salaries for our amazing staff in Fond Blanc.

We can continue to keep a much-needed school open and thriving in a community, previously existing so far from a sanctioned school.

We can continue to assist them with resources and funds to feed many.

We can continue to watch and support a farming and gardening operation that provides so much and has only just begun to see its full potential.

And although your sponsorship letters will once again be delayed, you can be ASSURED that your love and support is helping this community thrive beyond expectation.   What God has called us to do in sponsoring a child, donating to the school or farming projects, and supporting our school, are indeed abundantly blessing this community that we care so much for.

My heartbreak on this gloomy day in Madison is replaced by the reminder that so many of you care, resulting in meaningful change in this remote village in Haiti.

Hang in there! We will find a way down to Haiti to get those sponsor letters done for each of you. And when that happens, you can bet that they will be done with immense joy and happiness, each with the reminder of the love you provide for the kids and the love they express back to each of you.

Bondye Beni Ou

Tia Bunz

At the Fond Blanc Foundation we are narrowly focused on serving the needs of the orphans and community of Fond Blanc, but we also get many questions from our supporters about the context of the larger challenges facing Haiti. This commentary is intended to provide a broader perspective for understanding those challenges. Comments are the solely the opinion and responsibility of the author.

The July 2018 unrest in Haiti followed a large government-mandated increase in gas prices and attracted the world’s attention, putting missionary visitors at risk, cancelling flights and generating lots of disturbing news footage. Infrequent observers who recall similar scenes after earthquakes and hurricanes might think nothing has changed.

Such thinking would be mostly correct. Very little has changed. The recent violence is merely a symptom, not a cause, of the problems afflicting that nation. It is the causes, not merely the symptoms, which need attention. Even when things calm down and the symptoms seem to go into remission for a while, the underlying issues keep the whole nation perpetually simmering not far below the boiling point. The challenges in Haiti always seem impervious to genuine – and sometimes not so genuine – efforts to help.

A case can be made that three underlying causes are responsible for a great many of seemingly incurable problems in Haiti. They are the prosperity gap, the chronic breakdown in the rule of law, and dysfunction in the social and civic infrastructure. At the risk of over-simplifying these extremely serious conditions, it is helpful to offer a description of these problems for concerned friends of Haiti, who may doubt the wisdom of their own efforts to help.

The prosperity gap is just an antiseptic phrase for describing the vast chasm between the extreme poverty of the many and the very concentrated power and wealth of the few. It is not an exaggeration to describe typical Haitian daily life as a continual dance along the edge of destitution, deprivation and even death. Hope hangs on tenuously, but when hopes are threatened the people may react violently.

Life can be a cruel teacher and, sad to say, Haitians have become experts at misery. They seem to have developed a capacity to endure far more with far less and for far longer than most Americans could probably manage. For much of the last 100 years, the national resources have been carved up by the elites through rent-seeking, crony capitalism and outright corruption. The average man on the street expects that their elected officials will be primarily focused on looting the common purse for their personal benefit – and their votes are understood to be a way to fight for the scraps that remain. Promises are made, but few are kept, and the powerful protect themselves. The current president resolved his own corruption investigation by simply firing the investigators after he took power.

Select application of the rule of law allows the elite few in Haiti to control the land, the power, and the purse. Certainly, the jails are full of petty criminals, and the National Police are on the streets, but there are other gaps in the law. Property rights, for example, are an enormous challenge for the nation. A relatively few families control vast amounts of Haitian land, and ownership records for much of the rest is always in dispute.

Haitians who move from long time family homes often end up squatting on someone else’s land wherever they try to establish a new home. Perhaps it is easier for wealthy absentee landowners to keep the peace by generally allowing the trespassers to stay, but then people are routinely kicked off the land when someone powerful has as actual use for it. Property rights are at the foundation of a society’s structure, and countless efforts to bring business development or humanitarian projects to Haiti have been scuttled by the inability to gain clear title to land.

Corruption is endemic to the entire culture, but selective, and sometimes transparently political prosecution hasn’t helped curb the practice. Business enterprises may employ Haitian labor, but it is far safer and easier to export the profits than to reinvest that money back into a system where they cannot predictably protect their property and investment because of corruption and inadequate protections under the law.

A third underlying cause of Haitian problems is the nation’s dysfunctional social and civic infrastructure. A working electrical power grid and passable roads, along with clean water and effective sewage treatment are all essential components of infrastructure that are broken or incomplete in Haiti. When people must resort to washing themselves in rain gutters and defecating in public spaces, the foundations of civic culture face an existential challenge. We don’t need to look at Haiti for proof on this one; we can see it today in our own city of San Francisco!

The systemic dysfunction can break the hearts and spirits of charitable volunteers too. But rather than lose hope, many who volunteer to serve “the least of these” in Haiti put their energies into targeted assistance directed at small pockets of people in need because the bigger problems are beyond their capacity.

History teaches that the imbalances such as Haiti is experiencing are unsustainable over time. The recent rioting over gas prices is just one incident, one data point, in a larger panorama. It is hard to project when Haiti might finally amass the collective will and commitment to begin to address these fundamental issues. But whenever Haiti does decide that she wants to make things right, she will need every available citizen who can assist. The charitable work of volunteers, large and small, is perhaps the best way we can help more of those citizens to get prepared.

By assisting with things like food, shelter, health care, education and simple friendship, we have a chance to offer individuals a respite from that interminable dance along the edge and allow them a small margin against the pressures of daily life. When the opportunity comes at least more of them will be ready to respond. And we will have been grateful for the chance to help them on their journey. May God bless Haiti.

By: Paul Young

Passion for our kids at Fond Blanc runs deep among our friends and supporters so we wanted to offer some comment in the wake of the recent unrest in Haiti.

Our partners at Next Step Ministries felt obligated to suspend the few remaining summer mission trips to Fond Blanc. Safety of our guests is our top concern, and circumstances on the ground presented unacceptable risks at the time. We also want to reassure everyone that Fond Blanc itself did not experience the physical violence reported in the news, though the impact was certainly felt indirectly by interruptions to travel, transport and logistics. Perhaps we were protected by our remote location. We can all bear that in mind and try to feel more grateful the next time we make that difficult drive up the mountain!

Though the summer season ended prematurely, we want to reassure you that daily life and work continues in Fond Blanc. It has never been our mission to “fix” Haiti. And the good work with the kids and the community that you all make possible continues to happen every day. Children are excitedly preparing for school. Books are being purchased and new uniforms are being made for those who need them. Frè Fabo will be working on the new bathrooms and septic field. And daily life begins to once again spread out a bit into roomier spaces now that all our summer volunteers have gone home.

When you think about it, our focus hasn’t shifted. We continue to play the “long game”, helping to prepare young people for productive, healthy lives and equipping them for the opportunity perhaps to help their own country to heal one day. Fond Blanc is a refuge from all of the recent trouble. A stable, nurturing and teaching environment will help produce stable, nurturing and educationally equipped adults who can help lead their own nation out of its multi-generational morass in due time.

Pretty much everyone who volunteers to serve the Fond Blanc orphanage community is simply trying to carry out Jesus’ instructions to all disciples: to “love one another as I have loved you.” That is all we can do, but it is also the very best thing we can do. The faithful effort of all our supporters continues to show results every day in the lives of the orphans and also in the education of another 400 or so local schoolchildren.

As friends of Fond Blanc, we all get to see expressions of carefree joy in the children, or recognize commitment in the efforts of schoolchildren. Because of those experiences we are able to see beyond the frustrations of rioters portrayed on the news. In those kids we have all seen something of the real nature of Haiti. The hope for breaking the cycle in Haiti lies with our children. With your assistance and the Lord’s help, the Fond Blanc Foundation is working toward that vision.

This is not easy work. Our volunteers know that Haiti is a pretty challenging assignment as far as missionary work goes. But God has called us there nevertheless, and we will not be deterred. Our work will continue throughout the year, and already our Haitian partners are continuing with the projects that we had to set down prematurely this summer. Next summer we will welcome back teams, who now enjoy years-long relationships of their own with Fond Blanc. Remaining obedient to the Lord’s guidance, and ever-trusting in His provision, we will persevere and the kids will share their joy with us and we will all be blessed.

We pray that you will not be overly dismayed by the unfortunate events in the news last month. Instead, we ask that you redouble your prayers and support for all that is being done well in Fond Blanc for the right people and for the right reasons. And we thank you for walking alongside that community with us every day.

By: Paul Young

This week our Next Step Ministry interns left for Haiti. They will embark on a 10-week journey, living in Fond Blanc with the children and leading over 220 people traveling to Haiti to serve.   This is always an exciting time for us, as we know how excited the children are to reunite with old friends and make many new friends.

These summer mission trips serve as a valuable asset to the Fond Blanc Foundation, as we are able to work on projects that have been part of our long-term goals. In addition, the children love having their friends around ~ they get to participate in VBS, they work on their English, they learn about the world outside of Fond Blanc and they feel God’s undying love that comes from their visiting friends.

This summer our main projects are pretty special. We will finish up the library and bathrooms for the children and we will finally get a chance to work outside of the walls in the village of Fond Blanc, helping to build a permanent market place, with a concrete floor and a roof. This is something we have discussed for many years, as currently they are unable to hold market during the rainy season. We are feeling blessed that after many years of serving at the orphanage in Fond Blanc, we are able to finally do something special and needed for the community of Fond Blanc!

The library and bathrooms have also been on our long-term list, as currently the children do not have bathrooms upstairs near their bedrooms.   This tends to be tricky for a late night bathroom visit without electricity for lights!

Great progress last summer on our rec/library space!

The library has been on our wish list forever; as now we will be able to have a permanent place for the sewing machines, have tables where the kids can study and storage for school supplies, books and movies. One day we even hope to allow the kids an opportunity to have computers for exploring the world around them. This project goes hand in hand with our school, as the children advance in grade level and homework becomes more important.

In this newsletter you will also meet two very important people. For those of you that have been to Fond Blanc, you will likely remember Swenson, one of our translators who has been with us since the beginning. This past school year, he took on the job of teaching English (to the children and the adults!) and has done a fantastic job of it. Swenson is an incredibly valuable part of this ministry and someone whom lots of us consider family. I’m excited for you all to hear from him about his new role in Fond Blanc.

You will also hear from Next Step Ministries’ new Haiti Team Leader, Lucas Veran. Lucas has been to Haiti many times and this will be his second time serving as a Next Step Ministry intern in Haiti. I am positive he is going to do a terrific job this summer and all whom visit will see his love and passion for the people of Haiti.

Swenson (center) & Lucas (2nd from left)

Finally, for those of you who have the opportunity to travel to Fond Blanc, you will see the remarkable transformation of the sustainability area behind the orphanage. This is a project that we have been working on for many years through the help and assistants of our good friends with the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) Fraternity at UW-Madison.   They have helped us raise the funds necessary to start and maintain a sustainable chicken operation, as well as a productive and abundant gardening area. This has been an amazing addition to Fond Blanc, as we now have fresh eggs, fruits, vegetables and will soon have chickens that we raise ourselves to add to their diets. To the gentleman of the FIJI House, we thank you for your tireless effort to help change the lives of these deserving people.   Thank you!!

Our new chicks & improvements to sustainability areas

Our love and gratitude to each of you for your impact on this ministry ~ you make all the difference J.

Xo Tia

Hi evereryone! My name is Eswenson (Swenson) Blanchard. It’s an honor for me to have the chance to talk to you about my position in the Fond Blanc Foundation. I am the English/Bible teacher, so if by any chance you‘ve heard about me, know that I am really grateful to be the kids’ teacher. I can say the kids are a blessing for me. I love when we have classes because they put so much energy into it, which surprised me. My wish for the kids is seeing them able to send you guys letters with no one’s help, so that they can talk to you more about their lives, and they can perhaps teach you some Creole words… wouldn’t that be fun? Yea that will be very fun. I also want to say thanks to each one of you who was willing to help and support the kids at Fond Blanc. Thanks to everyone who helped with the road down at Kazal. Now because of you the population is able to move on. Deeply in my heart I appreciate that. Thank you again.

Eswenson

By: Paul Young

In the midst of all of our emergency work on the road and your active financial support of that critical effort, our friends and contributors still found the time and extra resources to fund our 3^rd annual Chicken Dinner Campaign. Thank you for blessing us all with those gifts!

This means that the meals prepared for the children will once again be regularly augmented by additional chicken and vegetables, which helps us provide the best nutrition we can. It might surprise some folks to see just how excited the children are about their “chicken dinners”. We all have a favorite meal, but most of us aren’t starting with a basic diet that is predominantly rice and beans, so their extra enthusiasm makes sense.

We also expect to see cost savings on our chicken dinners in two important new ways this year: storage and home-grown chicken. We have plans to buy 2 chest freezers, which will allow for safe storage of chicken meat, and cut down on the number of expensive trips to the market to buy more chicken.

The children are now assisting in the job of raising chickens in the new garden at the orphanage. This means more chicken and more eggs. It is a little too early in our experience to know precisely how much this will cut food costs, but we anticipate better and better results as we move toward more sustainable food sources.

We are profoundly grateful for the way God has provided for all of this through you, our friends and supporters. And if anyone gets a mind to come visit, we are always delighted to set another place at the table for you!

Bondye beni!

Happy 2018!

A few weeks ago we held our 4^th Annual Board of Director’s meeting for the Fond Blanc Foundation and had a lot to celebrate.   We had 11 of our Board members in attendance and were able to get a lot accomplished. I want to thank everyone on our volunteer-run Board for their relentless and loving approach to supporting this ministry and efforts in Haiti. It is because of this team that we continue to be able to have 100% of what is donated to the foundation go directly to the children and village of Fond Blanc. It is truly an honor to serve along side such committed and generous folks.

In addition to celebrating the many things we have been able to do to support our Haitian partners, we cheered that so many of you were able to help us raise enough funds to replace the washed out road from Hurricane Irma. This was remarkable for us to see just how much you all continue to love and support this ministry. Thank you for trusting us enough to bless this community and these deserving people.

We thank you also for supporting our thriving Child Sponsorship program, which helps us to cover the day-to-day costs of running the orphanage.   Typically we send our sponsors letters from their sponsored child twice a year, however, because of the washed out road we have been unable to get down to Fond Blanc to work on sponsorship letters with the children. Did you know that there is not a public postal system in Haiti? Because of this, we are not able to ask our Haitian partners to help work on them and ship them out to us.   Sometimes we look at this as a bonus, as it gets us down there to see our favorite children! With this, we want to give you all a heads up that your winter sponsor letters may have to be skipped, but you can look forward to hearing from them again this summer!

I am thinking they will have a lot to say to you.

My best to all of you in 2018!

Bondye Beni Ou ~

Tia Bunz

By: Paul Young

The eye of Hurricane Irma stayed off the north shore of Haiti, sparing the Fond Blanc community from the devastation experienced elsewhere in the Caribbean. However, the wind and rain still had an effect on our orphanage community.

During the storm, the wind whipped up a sheet of plywood that then crashed into one of the children, Loudmia, breaking her leg. It was a blessing that Frè Son was there to get Loudmia to the hospital, where she has had surgery to repair her leg. She is staying with Pastor Jean Claude in his home in Port-au-Prince until her medical treatment is complete and she can be safely transported back to Fond Blanc.

The structures at the orphanage were largely undamaged. It is something of a miracle that the balcony floors were poured in the church just two weeks ago. The goal was to use those floors as permanent roofs over the classrooms, and if Pastor had not pushed ahead at that time, the hurricane might have delayed the work – and the classrooms – by many months.

Everyone who has been to Fond Blanc knows how those steep mountainsides collect rainwater and can turn our river into a powerful force. When a hurricane dumps ten or more inches of rain on those mountains, a price is going to be paid while that water is returning to the sea.

The really consequential damage was downstream in Cazale where the only road up to Fond Blanc was completely obliterated where it had run alongside a bend in the river, leaving no automobiles on the Fond Blanc side. For the foreseeable future, all food and supplies will have to be carried by motorcycle up from Cazale. The Haitians are masters at enduring hardship, but this will put a real bottleneck in our operations.

Video of Road in Fond Blanc

We have provided a lot of assistance in the past to fix that road when storm water has eroded it, but we’ve never seen the whole road just disappear until now. After the hurricane, Andy Atwell went immediately to Haiti to assess the damage and we will post his report upon his return. Until then, here is what we know:

The consensus on the ground right now seems to be that we should not undertake any permanent repairs until after hurricane season ends because of the risk that limited resources could be wasted in the next storm. When the storms finally abate and the river recedes, we will have more favorable conditions for constructing a proper road that will last. A delay would also allow time for Pastor Jean Claude to personally pursue assistance from the government in Port-au-Prince. While we have never had high expectations of the Haitian government, Pastor hopes to at least secure the necessary permissions from the authorities to take official charge of the repair project. This could be quite beneficial to the solution because of a history of tension between the townspeople of Cazale and Fond Blanc. This road matters a lot more to Fond Blanc than it does to Cazale.

This will mark the third time in seven years that supporters of Fond Blanc will have had to divert significant time and resources to this road. While we cannot ever dismiss the power of storm water to wreak havoc with the plans of men, we are trying to be good stewards here; and we want to invest in a road solution that has a better chance of being permanent. Please watch for updates on this developing situation.

It is always humbling to see the Haitians so full of gratitude for what was spared and so resilient about what was lost. There is a life lesson for all of us here at home in America. Hurricane season officially lasts another month. Please continue to pray for protection for Fond Blanc and our brothers and sisters who live there.

Bonjou!!

Have you ever experienced a time in your life when things seem to be going great…and then life throws you a huge curveball?   That is a bit how it feels right now in Fond Blanc.   We had a wonderful summer filled with 10 weeks of mission trips with our remarkable partner Next Step Ministries. Between the summer mission teams and some off-season trips, we have been able to accomplish some huge, much needed projects in Fond Blanc.   Then Hurricane Irma hit.   Although grateful that most of Haiti was spared from its destructive path, those torrential rains did tremendously debilitating damage to our only road up the mountain.   In this newsletter, you will hear from Emily Krueger, as she highlights our summer in Fond Blanc and all of the projects they were able to accomplish.   You will also see an article from Paul Young, one of the original founders of the Fond Blanc Foundation, as he talks us through the impact this and other hurricanes have had on Haiti in general, as well as our small mountain village.

As things in our world, and particularly the United States, continue to see vast struggles, I am reminded once again of how simple life is in Fond Blanc. Although they do not have the resources or the infrastructure to build public schools, or to find solutions and revenue to fix roads that must run alongside rivers, they remain a tremendously loving and supportive community.   They live simply and freely. They appreciate and love those that support and help them.   If you have traveled to Fond Blanc and had the opportunity to spend time with the children, you will recognize this as truth. This is our motivation, as we have been working on a couple of key long-term projects that we set out to do at the inception of the Fond Blanc Foundation:

• We set goals to help them to become sustainable with their resources and food.
• We prayed for the ability to have a school, which could serve the community of Fond Blanc with trained and certified teachers.
• We are determined to provide a stable and loving environment from which they could feel God’s love and grace through those that cared for them.

We had so many exciting new improvements over the last several months in Fond Blanc. Here are some of the highlights…

Sustainability:

With the financial support of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity House (FIJI) from UW-Madison, we set the goal of helping to provide a more sustainable existence to those living in the Fond Blanc home.   Although this has taken over 2 years to come to fruition, we now have a beautiful space behind our buildings, that houses over 60 chickens, a garden and fruit bearing trees.   This has been an enormous blessing, as this space is not only functional for providing food, it is also a lovely place that has been used for community bible studies and English classes for those in the village. The vision was appealing, but the final result is magnificent.   Through the hard working fundraising efforts of the FIJI Fraternity house, as well as two weeks of trips with them in Fond Blanc, we are now open for business!

Back to School:

In addition to seeing the blessing of our sustainability area finally nearing completion, we are heading into our third year as a certified school in Fond Blanc.   Three years ago, we set out to bring in trained and certified teachers to teach the 60 children that live with us.   Through a very successful “Play It Forward” event in Middleton Wisconsin, we raised enough money to provide teachers, books and uniforms for over 60 children.   Last year, we were able to educate 140 students at our school!   We became a legitimate and authentic school, as we then hired a principal, a director and registered each of the students. This was a tremendous and proud accomplishment for us, as we learned that a community in the United States could generously provide this opportunity of an education for all of these children in Haiti.

Play It Forward for Haiti 2017:

On September 24, from 2-5pm at Keva Sports Center in Middleton, Wisconsin, we will host our third annual Play It Forward event, where we hope and pray to raise enough money to fund our school, which will now have over 400 students attending!!   This is an incredible blessing, as we learn that the need of the community for an education was far greater than we could have imagined.   From this we learn the true understanding of “build it and they shall come”.

If you would like to learn more about this event, where 100% of the proceeds go directly to the School at Fond Blanc, please visit the link below.

PLAY IT FORWARD FOR HAITI

Child Sponsorship Program:

Finally, I would be remiss in not mentioning our tremendous and robust Child Sponsorship program, which now see’s all of our children being sponsored by over 175 sponsors!   Through this program and our generous and amazing sponsors, we are able to provide our children with consistent and nutritious meals, medical care when needed, general health and hygiene care and paid “mommies” to help and care for the children.   Our sponsorship program is the bread and butter of our foundation, without which we would not be able to provide for the children.   Our gratitude and gratefulness is not enough, as your generosity within this program truly helps us to change lives.

Although I know life will continue to throw us those huge curve balls, I am grateful beyond measure for the love and support that continue to bless the children and community of Fond Blanc.   After watching the U.S. Government serve our communities struck by the recent disastrous hurricanes, I’m reminded again of Luke 12:48 – “From whom much is given, much is required”. Thank YOU for being the people of Fond Blanc’s infrastructure and footings during these bumpy days.

Renmen m’ ak apresyasyon m’,

Tia

By: Emily Krueger

My name is Emily and I am going to be the Team Leader for this summer’s Next Step Ministries staff team heading down to Fond Blanc, Haiti for 11 weeks! I am SO excited about our staff as a whole and what the summer is going to bring. I first went to Haiti about four years ago for a week-long mission trip with Next Step, and immediately knew I needed to go back. After another week-long trip, I applied for a staff position and got to serve as the Vacation Bible School Coordinator in Fond Blanc last summer. I also was lucky enough to do an offseason trip in January where I was able to feel completely at peace with my decision to go back as the Team Leader.

Fond Blanc has entirely changed the direction of my life. Well, God changed it, but through my experiences in Fond Blanc. I have developed such a heart for ministry and mission work through my experiences loving on these 57 amazing children and chasing after our Creator with them. I am now working towards a career doing medical mission work, full time! One of the biggest forces that was drawing me back to Haiti for a second summer was the way the kids loved me and the rest of the summer staff, and all the staff members before us, and constantly asked about Americans they knew- even people who hadn’t visited in four years. Their constant love for us and honestly, a bit of the confusion they have as to why so many people go for a summer, live with them, and don’t return, tugged at my heart and I knew I needed to go back to help show them that our relationships and love for them is continuous, genuine, and here to stay.

That is one of my biggest goals as in terms of the community this summer- I want the kids to know how big of a support system they have through the Foundation and try to explain to them how many people are working “behind the scenes” for them every single day, even if they may not get visitors as often as they would like. I want them to understand that we, as a foundation, are invested in them, long-term. These children are the future of Haiti and I want them to follow their dreams, knowing that they have as much support as we can possibly give them. My biggest goal for the summer with the American’s, is to be as humble of a servant as I can and constantly be working to mirror the way Jesus lives and serves. I’m going to make a huge effort to lead by example and try to be a role model, with the rest of the staff, for the American students. Hopefully we can inspire the students to serve Fond Blanc and continue to strengthen their relationships with the kids, all to empower this beautiful community, together.

By: Paul Young

This is the story of our Fond Blanc truck and it may be more than you ever wanted to know about getting things done for the Foundation.

When our previous truck was wrecked last summer, we discovered that someone had used rope to secure two steel rods that connected our steering mechanism. Rope!? Really? Our first reaction was gratitude that this “solution” hadn’t failed on the mountain roads where people could have been hurt. But after the shock wore off, not all our reactions were nearly so noble-minded.

My own reaction was disbelief and frustration because we had about $40,000 invested in that truck. Feeling discouraged and deflated, I went before the Lord in prayer and told Him flat out that the ministry didn’t have money for a new truck, and that He was going to have to figure this one out because it was beyond me. Which, of course, is exactly what He did!

A friend soon surprised me with a completely unexpected offer to help us buy a replacement. I didn’t realize he was even aware of the situation, and people don’t make $10k offers out of the blue very often. Looking back, I think I needed to be reminded of God’s caring provision for those who serve. My friend’s offer empowered me to bounce back: to re-acquire my grace, to re-engage both spiritually and mentally, and then to go find what would be needed to complete the deal. In the most important ways, that encouragement part of his gift was been far more powerful than any money.

We completed the fundraising, including funds to pay for the transport, tariffs and registration in Haiti. The import costs, in particular, can be hard to pin down in advance (best guess $5,000 to $8,000). And we plan to send some key spare parts in with the vehicle. Clearly, all of this was adding up to a much more expensive proposition than we had originally envisioned.

It took a while to determine our best path forward equipment-wise. After being burned by our last purchase in Haiti, we opted to buy the equipment here, where we could properly vet everything beforehand. Even so, there is not a lot of suitable used inventory of vehicles that fit our needs and our budget.

We have a “soft” date of April 28 for the scheduled delivery to the Port of Miami for shipment. I will drive the vehicle down to Miami myself. We are still thinking through the ground rules for using the truck – we sure don’t plan on replacing this one anytime soon! We rely on Haitian drivers for safety and legal reasons, but we hope to put at least one driver through driving school before the truck goes into service.

This will be a heavier truck. If you haven’t spent much time on those Haiti mountain roads we drive every day, you almost can’t believe how quickly a “lightweight” 1/2 ton pickup can get rattled to pieces. We don’t necessarily have big loads to pull, but the weight and sturdy build on a heavier full ton pickup will help extend the usable life of the investment.

We will post pictures and updates along the way. And we want to thank a gracious God and those wonderful donors who made all this possible.

 

Bondye beni ou,

 

Paul

When my two youngest kids came back from their first mission trip to Fond Blanc, they were full of love for and stories about several of the children they met. I asked each of them to pick one child a piece who we could sponsor. Together they picked five! How could I say no when they loved them so much? Sponsoring these children is such a joy as we think of them getting enough food to eat and going to school. I visited Fond Blanc this summer along with my kids and it was amazing to see the bond they had with each of our sponsored children (as well as many we don’t sponsor). Going to Fond Blanc is like going home, and our sponsored children are the people we go home to!

-Julie Pederson

I am sponsoring James, Benamy, Denos, and Wendy because I want to help make a difference in their lives and give them some hope. They are all precious kids and I wish I could do more for them.

-Millie Dickey

Are you currently a sponsor for a child in Fond Blanc? 

If so, we would love to hear from you as to how this sponsorship has impacted your life. If you have pictures of you and your child, we would love to see and share them with our friends in Fond Blanc! Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, or at our website.

By: Lois Sater

On January 5, 2017 an excited and adventuresome group of seven women and two young men flew to Haiti for a visit to the Fond Blanc Orphanage. Our group included Fond Blanc Foundation board members Lois Sater, Olivia Bunz, Molly Duffy and Letty Geanon, in addition to Carole Colletti (Tia’s Mom), Patti Hults, Chris Thompson, Demetrios Geanon, Emily Krueger and David Crocker.

We arrived in Haiti with a total of 20 suitcases stuffed with shoes, clothing and other supplies for the orphanage and were greeted by the our Haitian staff, Fabo, Laguerre, Tide, Swenson, and LeLe who loaded us into Pastor Jean Claude’s vehicle to bring us up the mountain. We watched a beautiful sunset and experienced such joy when we found that the repair of the road completed by the missions groups last summer was still holding strong.

The children were so happy to see us and started pulling suitcases up the stairs. The Haitian staff had prepared a meal for us including chicken! Having just completed an extremely successful “Chicken Dinner” campaign over the holidays we were able to assure them that they would be able to provide chicken or other protein to the children at least two days per week for the entire year!! There was such a generous outpouring of donations that we are now exploring the purchase of a freezer, so that meat can be safely stored and provided on an even more regular basis.

There were a number of projects that we planned to accomplish in the five days that we were there – besides loving on the children. We were able to do health assessments for each child and determine any current issues. We found that as a group, they were growing and thriving and there were only a few with skin and other minor health problems that needed to be addressed. At the same time the health screenings were going on, we were able to assist the children with writing letters with personal information about their favorite things to all our many generous sponsors. After organizing all the donated clothes and shoes by size, the children were treated to a chance to try on shoes. Every single child was provided with a new pair of shoes, thanks to the Prairie Athletic Club in Sun Prairie, which collected over 40 pairs. One afternoon was spent with sewing machines mending clothes for the kids as well, so the clothing closet was once again well stocked.

Because the children were at the end of their holiday break from school, they were ever-present and wanting to be entertained. With the help of some of the Next Step Ministries staff that were there – Andy Atwell, Nick and Mel Cocalis and Jacky Meremable – we hosted a movie night with gallons of popcorn. We also had a chance to celebrate birthdays with videos and cake. Soccer balls were a part of the “wealth of donations” that we brought with us, so the soccer games were constant. Molly Duffy never stopped engaging the kids in games and activities and snapping pictures. Olivia, Emily and David, who had spent the previous summer in Fond Blanc, were proficient with the language and knew so much about each individual kid’s particular talents.

What a gift it was to be able to experience the joy of seeing the smiles of the children, watching the mischief and fun, and knowing that for this group of children we are making a difference. For those of us on the “Grandma Team” (Lois, Carole and Patti) it was deeply satisfying.

My note on sponsorship:

I personally had not seen the kids that we sponsor for three years – three girls and three boys. So much has changed in their maturity and skills. The girls in particular had grown and taken on so much responsibility. I pray that they have opportunities to further their education if they choose, and gain from the experience of having been supported by the Fond Blanc Foundation as they grow into adulthood.   We plan to continue to support them all in following their dreams.

By: Tia Bunz

Bonjou!

One of the things I love most about my job is hearing the many stories on how the children of Fond Blanc have impacted people’s lives.   This can be from people that have visited there many times, to those that have never even met them.   It’s easy for me to remember why I invest so much love and energy into these children, because I know them all, and I care deeply for each and every one of them.   Then I meet people that haven’t met them, but pray for them, fundraise for our various campaigns or that donate their hard earned money to help support them.   I loved reading one family’s Christmas card this year referencing our Chicken Dinner Campaign and how it has helped in keeping life in perspective.

Each of these stories has been such a blessing and we, here at the Fond Blanc Foundation, thought it might be nice to share these testimonies with you in our newsletters.   So we are starting a new segment called “Impact Stories” for you all to hear the many magnificent ways these children have changed our lives.

We are also continuing our “Sponsorship Testimonies”, where we are introducing you to different families that are involved in our Child Sponsorship program. This month we are highlighting the Pederson family from Parker, Colorado. In addition to sponsoring 7 children, they flew in from Colorado to help at our Fond Blanc Foundation school fundraiser, Play It Forward, and they raise money for the children with their own fundraisers. The Pederson family has been a huge blessing to us all, in so many ways.

Mesi anpil, to all of you, for your continued love and support over the years. We are constantly reminded of the joy these children bring us, just by bringing us together as a common community.

Bondye Beni ~

Tia

By: Andrew Atwell

According to USAID, Hurricane Matthew affected 2.1 million people in Haiti. It was responsible for 546 confirmed deaths across the country, forced 33,600 people into registered evacuation shelters, and left 806,000 in need of immediate food assistance. And an ongoing cholera epidemic threatens to worsen after dozens of cholera treatment centers were destroyed.

It’s a sad realization that for Haiti, dealing with these types of humanitarian issues has become business as usual. But if I’ve learned anything from my time in Haiti, it is that Haitians are resilient people — they easily bend to the changing circumstances around them and rarely break. This doesn’t minimize the very real struggles that many people now face in Haiti as a result of Hurricane Matthew.

Fortunately for our friends at the Fond Blanc Orphanage, they were largely unaffected by the hurricane. Outside of some heavy rain, the orphanage and the beautiful lives within its gates were spared. However, the dirt road leading up to the orphanage has definitely seen better days. While it’s never been an easy road to drive, its washed out banks and large potholes are even trickier to navigate after the storm.

But it could have been worse.

This summer, a large stretch of the road near Cazale, a neighboring village, finally gave way and crumbled into the river. It prevented any vehicles larger than a motorcycle from reaching Fond Blanc. Our mission teams worked alongside local Haitians to rebuild over 200 feet of road, filling large wire mesh baskets with stones from the riverbed. In some places those baskets were stacked 12 feet high. It was a herculean effort. And despite taking a good battering from the hurricane, that stretch of road remains solid. Had it washed out again, it would have effectively cut off Fond Blanc from easily receiving any aid and support.

We thank all the volunteers whose tireless efforts this summer truly paid off. And we thank God for sparing our friends at the Fond Blanc Orphanage and surrounding community.

At this point, the Fond Blanc Foundation has no plans to become directly involved with Hurricane Matthew relief efforts. Our focus is the children at the Fond Blanc Orphanage and surrounding village, and we have little logistical ability to expand our efforts beyond that community. However, Pastor Jean Claude is very active in providing support through his other churches in communities that were harder hit.

Please continue to pray for Haiti as it recovers from Hurricane Matthew. Even during these hard times, we consistently see God at work in Haiti. The country will rebuild, again — and in the end it will be the stronger for it.

By: Olivia Bunz

Summer for us in Fond Blanc is a very exciting time of the year. Not only does it represent a break from our studies, but it also represents the return of many of our friends that we have made over these last few years, through Next Step Ministries’ summer mission trips. This summer was no different! We had a fabulous ending to the school year, with almost all of our children passing their tests and moving into the next grade level. With that, we had much to celebrate with all of our incoming friends! This year was a great combination of both returning groups, as well as a handful of new teams.

The children’s schedule changes drastically with teams around, but they are all fun, high energy changes that the kids adore. We still have morning prayer before the teams get up, and many of us are well into our chores when the teams get up and get to work. But that doesn’t stop us from jumping in and lending a hand wherever we can in NextStep projects. Whenever teams aren’t working, our kids spend majority of their time under the mango tree out front, developing and furthering relationships with the students. Come dinner time, we know we have a few hours of free time, so typically we try to drag our friends into a friendly game of soccer, Haitians vs Americans. To date, the Americans have only won once. At the end of the day, when the NSM students have worship, we still end our night in evening prayers, out on the veranda, under the stars. And at the end of the week, we are always sad to see our friends go, but we know, come Sunday, a new group of friends will arrive.

Overall, our summer was fun. It was amazing for us to be able to see old friends, and we made so many new ones that we will never forget. The kids were sad to see the NextStep staff go, but were in need of a few weeks’ rest before the school year starts back up.

We need to give a huge thanks to all of our Haitian partners, all of whom were essential parts of this summer, and without whom this summer would not have run quite as smoothly!

By: Tia Bunz

Bonjou!

Our job as a Foundation is to continually check in to ensure our Mission Statement is being properly executed:

“Providing a foundation, rooted and established in love, to promote the educational, health, spiritual and life development needs of the children of the Fond Blanc orphanage and the surrounding community.”

We must ask questions like…Are our children thriving?   Are we helping them in a way that will lead to their future success?   Is our presence at the orphanage creating meaningful change, to benefit the children, long term?

With this as my guideline, while in Fond Blanc earlier this month, I was determined to do a thorough assessment of our work to date:

• Every 6 months someone from our Medical Advisory Team does a health assessment of all of the children.   In the US, children typically gain between 4-6 pounds a year and grow on average 2½ inches a year. If you have been to Fond Blanc, you will notice that Haitian children are significantly smaller than a typical American kid. However, after this check, we are pleased to report that on average our children in Fond Blanc gained 3-5 pounds and grew 1-2 inches this year! Overall the kids showed positive growth and development and it is undoubtedly because of our Child Sponsorship program.   We credit this to the consistent good meals, lovingly prepared by our wonderful mommies, as well as the addition of chicken dinners, twice a week, donated by our generous supporters.   God is so good!!
• Two years ago, Alison and Goulit lovingly created what is referred to as the Prim Program.   A reward system that encourages good behavior through giving out points that can be used towards purchasing things (such as school/art supplies, toys, hair baubles, trips to a restaurant or beach, etc.) in our Prim Store.   This program has been so successful, and the children have grown to love and anticipate it’s rewards so much so that they are found encouraging the other kids to think about what they are doing because of their “points”.   It is a win/win in our minds, as it promotes positive behavior, as well it teaches them the life skill that good work equals reward.   Prim Store is one of their favorites, right after the Avenger’s movie and popcorn night J.
• Over the past 9 months, we have had the opportunity to use the resources our American team brings to the orphanage, to help with some necessary medical needs. Eton, although clinically blind, had lived for years without glasses. He managed quite well with the help of the other children, yet we could see that this was truly impacting his ability to thrive academically. In February, Spencer and Olivia were able to get him to “Haiti Medical Missions of Wisconsin’s” clinic in Thiotte, Haiti where they were able to do a thorough assessment and provide him with glasses. This has transformed his life, making his schooling and day-to-day existence more manageable.   What a blessing it is to see the changes in Eton, because of his new glasses. Additionally, with those same resources, we were able to get children to the dentist and even set and cast a broken arm. The Child Sponsorship program exists for these very scenarios and we feel so blessed to have the resources to serve the children in this capacity.
• Our school year wrapped up in grand fashion with a huge Flag Day Celebration and a reason to “selebre” as 90% of the children advanced to the next grade level after our “Play It Forward” fundraiser event was able to support and fund the school with certified/trained teachers, books and uniforms.   This is one area that we all keep as high priority within the Foundation and had reason for a huge mesi Jezi!
• One of my favorite things I witnessed while in Fond Blanc in August was the number of children communicating with the mission teams in English.   The need for paid translators has diminished as we are able to ask Franklin, James, Eugens, Maselene, Esther, Woody (to name a few) to assist us with our translation from Creole to English. In addition, they lovingly help us learn Creole every chance they get and encourage us to use it whenever we are able. Their English is going to come as a great advantage to them, as they continue they’re schooling, as well as in their future job search in Haiti.

Finally, I wrap up my assessment of our Mission Statement with a heartfelt and loving thanks to our American team that has served in Fond Blanc for the past 8 months.   Olivia and Spencer will be heading back to the states at the beginning of September to re-integrate into their American lives.   Although I will personally be happy to have my daughter home (as I know Cari’ Cato will be glad to have Spencer back as well), I am reminded of the powerful and amazing work they have done while there. In addition to ensuring that the children feel God’s love through their presence, they have accomplished many remarkable things: they helped to create our new sustainable gardens and chicken coop area, they spearheaded the road re-construction (a major undertaking!), they helped to guide another successful summer of Next Step Ministry missions, they lead many Foundation mission trips, they continued on with the wonderful systems that Alison, Goulit and Molly had put into place and most importantly, they helped to ensure our presence in Fond Blanc is continually within the respect and boundaries of the authority of Pastor Jean Claude and our beloved Haitian partners.   They did these things with remarkable grace, humility, kindness and joy and none of it was overlooked.   We can’t thank you, and your outstanding team of Haitians (LaGuerre, Frankie, Tide and Swenson) enough for your sacrifices and relentless love for the children of Fond Blanc.

Bon chans ak pwofon mesi nou!

Bondye Beni ~
Tia

By: Spencer Pursley

As many of you know The Fond Blanc Foundation was formed in conjunction with the partnership between Pastor Jean Claude’s Orphanage and Next Step Ministries (NSM). My role this summer as the Next Step construction leader and a foundation intern was to be the physical embodiment of that symbiotic relationship. Our goal for the mission team’s construction projects going into the summer was originally going to be building the walls and columns for the new recreation room/library and bathrooms for the children on the second floor of the orphanage. The idea behind this project is to give the kids a space where they can read, study, play and just generally be kids. As it is now, the orphanage does not have much in the way of free space. Currently, the kids must choose between staying in their rooms or playing on the veranda of the second floor, in the new church or in the front yard. All of these areas (minus the bedrooms) are outdoors and exposed to the elements, which in Haiti are limited to scorching hot or torrential rain. We are thrilled to be working on providing them with their own space that is indoors and dedicated to their spiritual growth and intellectual development.

Unfortunately, Haiti did what Haiti does best and threw us a curveball before the summer really even had a chance to start. Less than 24 hours after the NSM interns had arrived at the orphanage, a huge storm came through and completely washed out the road leading up to Fond Blanc from the town of Casale (the nearest population center to FB). The road itself was unpaved and ranged from 10-15 feet above the water level, running parallel to the river. After years of unchecked erosion, the whole thing eventually caved in, leaving a path barely wide enough for a donkey or motorcycle to cross at its narrowest point. Without an alternate route we had no practical way of getting supplies and materials up to the orphanage so we were forced to change our focus to repairing the road. We spent the first half of the summer solely doing road repair work, which consisted of placing steel wire baskets along the face of the collapsed road and filling them with stones from the riverbed itself. The cages themselves were roughly 16’ x 4’ x 4’, and we placed and filled nearly 40 of them. Needless to say this was a massive undertaking, but thanks to the hard work and perseverance of the missionaries and the local Haitian villagers, who worked alongside us, we were able to get the road operational again by the fourth week of the summer.

Once we had the road patched up enough to the point where trucks could safely cross, we were able to shift our focus back to the rec room. While the road still needed work, we were able to divide our crews and tackle both projects simultaneously. Starting at week 5, we began pouring curb footings to act as the foundation for the block walls that would make up the new rooms at the orphanage. Throughout this entire process we employed the help of two local masons, Fred and Fernand, who were instrumental in assisting the mission teams (and myself) with mixing concrete, tying steel and laying block. Once the footers were done, the walls themselves seemed to shoot up. After about 5 courses of block we began building formwork and pouring the columns that will serve as structural supports for the roof. Despite our unexpected setback, we were able to finish all of the exterior walls and columns as well as the interior columns by the end of the summer. Starting next summer, we will pick up where we left off with the bond beams, then form and pour all of the support beams in preparation for pouring the slab that will make up the roof. At that point the structure will be essentially complete and we will just have to finish up with the interior walls, installing the plumbing and electrical fixtures, windows, doors and paint.

Photos: Before and after this summer’s construction progress on the rec room

We have also made great strides in our sustainability projects with the addition of the newly-built chicken coops and the wall that will protect our chickens and vegetable gardens from intruders.  While we don’t have any chickens yet, everyone in Fond Blanc is waiting the new arrivals!

Photos: Before and after photos of our newly built chicken coops.

Photos: Before and after construction of the wall that protects our chicken coops & vegetable gardens.

Bonjou!

I am so excited to share with you all of the wonderful things that we have been working on these past couple of months. With so much to report, I find it hard to decide what to tell you first!

The most important thing, I believe, is that we have both learned and practiced the value of patience.   When we feel like things are moving along in a great direction, we often seem to encounter road-blocks.   When we take that celebratory high five for organizing and implementing a successful campaign, we enjoy it for a moment and then remind ourselves that this is Haiti, and we are likely to encounter yet another obstacle.   However, at this moment, other than a main artery bridge that has collapsed and is blocking our most direct path to the orphanage, we are passing out high fives all around!

I will start with our new American Missionary staff that is living at the orphanage.   After a sad farewell to Alison, Goulit, and Molly, we welcomed Spencer, Olivia and Rob to Fond Blanc. Read about them at our new blog titled “Meet Our New Staff”.   I love and support all of our American Missionaries, but I have a particular fondness for this team, as my daughter is a part of it.   I feel so honored having her there, as I now get to hear about and see pictures of the children every day!

In addition to our new team, we also finally purchased a new, improved and reliable generator for Fond Blanc. The photo below shows the delivery of our new generator.  This has brought joy to everyone on site and we are so grateful to our donors for helping us raise the money necessary to make this possible. The generator was a very large and completely unbudgeted expense, which could have been a huge problem for us. Instead, we were blessed by a substantial contribution from a long time supporter in Atlanta (who prefers anonymity), and the Rochester Central Lutheran School. The whole experience has been such a blessing thanks to our amazing foundation partnerships.

Our Christmas season’s “Chicken Dinner Campaign” was another huge success this year! Due to your generous donations, we are able to provide an enhanced protein chicken dinner for the children two times a week for all of 2016! This has been so important in fulfilling our “Health Initiative”, as we can visibly see the health of the children improving.   Thank you to all of you that donated towards this campaign.

Speaking of chickens…. We have started a campaign towards our sustainability efforts in Fond Blanc! This is exciting news for all of us.   Up to this point we have focused all of our efforts on the “now” and bringing the children’s quality of life up to our new foundation-standard.   Now, with all of that moving in a positive direction, we are expanding our focus to the future, with our sustainability efforts.   Through a partnership with the FIJI House – UW-Madison Chapter and Middleton High School’s Global Outreach Club, we will be building chicken coops and raised vegetable gardens behind the orphanage.   This will enable us to have eggs for additional protein, chickens for slaughter and vegetables for vitamins.   This is an exciting campaign for us because it not only reduces the cost of food for the orphanage, it also teaches the children about caring for animals and providing for themselves.   We are fully onboard with “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” (Chinese Proverb).  If you would like to donate a chicken to the orphanage, you can do so at our website.

Although I feel like I could tell you many wonderful things that are taking place at the orphanage, you will just have to continue to follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where you can catch “real-time” photos and happenings of the children of Fond Blanc.

Once again, thank you for your continued love and support of the children of Fond Blanc!

Bondye Beni!

Tia

by Paul Young

There is a popular praise song that says: “the cries of a broken heart are better than a Hallelujah”.

Talking with church groups who have made mission trips to the Fond Blanc orphanage, I hear over and over again about hearts that were broken for the children during the visits, and how missionaries left feeling an unquenched desire to do more. At the Fond Blanc Foundation, we give thanks for that!

I wonder if these are some of those “broken hearts that are better than a hallelujah”. Sometimes we come to the Lord through joyful praise, but sometimes a contrite and broken heart makes for a better connection.

This may be exactly where the Lord wants us to be. We are brought to our knees by the realization that things do not always go according to our desires and our plans. We are brought up short by the aching gap between what is and what we hoped would be. As missionaries, we discover that we love more than we knew we could, and we accomplish less than we thought we would.

Our desires to serve God and to lift up the children of Haiti were always bound to fall short of our goals. We dream of the possibilities, and we measure those goals against what is accomplished. If we then anguish over unmet goals or unfinished plans we still have a choice. We can doubt and blame ourselves and others, or we can turn it all over to the Lord.

The Lord’s presence is only magnified by our realization that we cannot manage things in our own strength. He is delighted when our cries strip our broken hearts bare for him. He is joyful about the many ways in which the children’s lives have been touched and fed. He also delights in how our hearts turn away from self and toward him, through our sacrifice and effort. The Lord’s mercy is overwhelming: he uses broken hearts to bring each servant closer to him.

It is so “American” to judge the missionary efforts in Fond Blanc against our own methods and outcomes when we could be focused on his desires. It would be a waste of our effort to think that we, within our human limitations, could fix everything that needs fixing down in Haiti. Instead, humility before the Lord says: “I joyfully give you all that I have to give for your glory and to the benefit of these children, and then I trust you to handle the rest of it.”

If you are someone who has labored, prayed and supported the efforts in Fond Blanc, you have been busy with the Lord’s work. Be glad for what you have accomplished. and present your offering just as it is. If your heart is broken – either for the children or for the unfinished task at hand – that is a most important offering to the Lord. More important perhaps than a hallelujah!

Tide has been helping all of us at Fond Blanc for the past few summers, and now Tide has been asked by Pastor Jean Claude to come and serve as the new resident translator and driver for our interns. Born with the given name of Rodchild D. Blanchard, “Tide” (sounds like tidy) is an easier nickname that is well-suited to such an affable and engaging young man.

Tide has been translating for visiting missionary teams at Fond Blanc for the last three summers, and is widely liked and respected for his constant good humor and his warm friendship. He knows the children and staff well, and we are excited to have him on the team!

Tide is completing his college education also. His school is close to the nearby town of Cabaret so he will be juggling classes along with his duties to the orphanage, but both and he and Pastor felt that he could manage both responsibilities.  So… welcome, Tide!

by Paul Young

If you give a mouse a cookie…he’s going to ask you for a glass of milk. Do you know that children’s story? It was a favorite for my kids and, apparently, several million others as well. If you haven’t read it recently, ask a child to borrow their copy. It will take only five of the best minutes of your day. At any rate, I was reminded of the story during my last planning visit in Haiti with Pastor Jean Claude.

As with most children’s classics, the simple charming storyline belies the serious messages embedded within. In the story, Boy gives Mouse a cookie, but that gift leads Mouse to ask for a series of other things (the glass of milk, a straw, and so on). By the end of this very short story, Mouse is back to asking for a cookie again, and any innocent joy of giving has long since worn off. I think the story popped into my mind because it relates to our efforts in Haiti.

Certainly, at first, there is something very rewarding in helping someone smaller and less capable. It is also uplifting to share in their delight of discovery of new things. But it must be pointed out that these new gifts are not really part of Mouse’s world, and they can lead to problems.

Typically, our donations to the Fond Blanc orphanage are helping with some pretty basic needs that would otherwise go unmet. That sort of gift is Biblically mandated and would make anyone feel good about serving the poor and needy. At first, anyway.

As the Cookie story makes clear, it seems any donation is just going to prompt a request for something else. Figuring out how we deal with those second and third requests is our own Cookie story in Haiti. Well meaning people can still cause big problems if their beneficiaries simply become dependent upon them. Pastor Jean Claude continually reminds everyone that the goal is not to “feed a man a fish, but rather, to help him become able to fish for himself.”

The children in the orphanage can be as endearing and lovable as Mouse in the story. But there is more to life than cookies and milk, and part of our work is discerning the appropriate boundaries for our generosity. When are we providing the essential foundation for their healthy development, and when are we contributing to Haiti’s 200 year history of dysfunctional dependence on outsiders? It is not always easy to see the answer to that question.

At the Fond Blanc Foundation we tend to obsess over the critical shortages of necessities, but we obsess just as much about the risk of fostering dependency. We are blessed to be able to give the kids the occasional cookie, but we insist that they must learn how to get their own glass of milk.

The Cookie dynamic can also backfire on even the most dedicated missionary. It is so easy to get jaded when you can’t see the benefit or evidence of previous contributions, and every inquiry is met with just another request for more. In the winepress of a dependent culture, even the best fruit can turn to vinegar.

The Fond Blanc Foundation is not immune to such challenges, but as 2015 draws toward a close, I think we can say that we have found a good balance. We are still able to find a servant’s joy in trying to meet the real needs of the kids, and we continue to refine our process for working there in ways that protect the stewardship of our contributions. Haiti may remain chronically needy, but it is encouraging to see a safe foundation of essential help slowing forming under these particular children. These children have a chance at a better future, and we are dedicated to serving them in a manner that will not let them get caught in the cycle of always asking for another cookie.

by Paul Young

Recently, we’ve been having lots of conversations with folks who are thinking about being a missionary volunteer in Fond Blanc. Since most of our volunteers come during the summer, this winter season is a time when some are reflecting back on a past trip, while others are making plans for a future trip. Many come for a week. Some come to serve for a year or more!

When volunteers come to work with the children of the Fond Blanc orphanage, they often arrive brimming with compassion. We can see it in their faces as they pile off the buses at the orphanage, undeterred by the sights and sounds and smells of Haitian poverty and struggle that they have encountered driving up from the airport. Their eyes cannot hide their desire to pour something of themselves into this little orphan community. There is an air of resolve about them; they will leave this part of the world a little bit better than they found it. But unexpected things often happen when God shows up, and His Presence is always revealed in the compassion of service.

That is God showing up when our response to those in need is to feel a welling up of compassion. Even when words fail us, we know that there is something about giving back and sharing in the burdens of others that brings us into a more right relationship with God. There is some vague sense of moving toward a better balance in God’s creation. We feel renewed by the simple purity of giving back, and we are refreshed even when we are not comfortable. Compassion is a potent fuel.

It is never a bad idea to pattern our responses after what Jesus did, and Jesus was all about the children and the needy. Missionary service trips are a time to devote ourselves to helping those in need. Serving itself is an act of selflessness, of doing for others and often going without something ourselves. When we do without a meal or the comforts of home it raises our sensitivity toward those who do without a lot of things every day.

Most of us go to Fond Blanc to serve the children, but along the way we discover that our own spirits are being spiritually fed as well. When we live so deeply cocooned in the comfort and control of the typical American life, our spiritual senses can become dulled and our appetites overfed. But to feed and nurture a child of typical Haitian poverty can change all of that.

When we find ourselves standing next to a cheerful Haitian child who bathes with a bucket every day and subsists on a diet of rice and beans, what we think of as our “problems” can suddenly seem petty and embarrassingly self-absorbed.  But what we all learn quickly in Haiti is how easily that ugly crust of pampered entitlement shatters in the presence of real world problems. Even a week spent serving in Haiti will re-calibrate our attitudes towards what is, or is not, important. We come home newly dedicated to a humbler, more other-centered perspective on life, and connected at the heart to those wonderful young children who help us make that adjustment.

So we invite you to consider coming down to Fond Blanc for a visit. Reach out to us at info@fondblanc.org to learn more. And if you are one of our Fond Blanc “alumni”, you might be encouraged to know that many of our supporters are already on their third or fourth visit! If you are unable to come, please keep the children of Fond Blanc in your prayers, and of course, we are always grateful for donations.

by Paul Young

We are often asked by friends of Fond Blanc what Pastor Jean Claude does when the Fond Blanc Foundation is not there to help him. Putting their question another way: Can Haiti actually “do” for herself? By way of an answer, here is a story about building a home, but it is a story of building on two levels.

The first level is simple – the story of a Haitian community rebuilding a home for one of their own. As the pictures in this post illustrate, a member of Pastor’s Fontamara congregation named Watson had been trying to survive under unlivable conditions in a makeshift shack. He was part of the church community, but he was too embarrassed to let them know about his life. He could not even bring himself to to let his own pastor see his home, even though the problems were beyond his own ability to solve. In this fashion, these unendurable circumstances… endured.

A Makeshift Shack

When Pastor Jean Claude eventually did get to see the condition of the house for himself, his response was immediate. He mobilized the congregation to come together and build a proper home for their brother. They found a way. They paid for better quality materials and did the work themselves. When it comes to Haitian believers, we should never allow their limited resources to mislead us about their intentions, their resourcefulness and their resolve to live out their faith.

This story reveals something about Haitian character and self-help, but it is also a reflection on the Lord’s desire to rebuild us. That is the second level to the story.

The Bible tells us that our souls and bodies are to be a dwelling place for the Lord – that his Spirit should literally live inside us. The crumbled walls and inferior material of Watson’s house can prompt us to think about what sort of materials we provide to the Lord in ourselves. Like Watson, there may be times when we feel ashamed of our dwelling. We may despair of the prospects for repairing that dwelling. Sometimes it feels easier to just endure the situation rather than confront an embarrassing truth about ourselves. In that case, the Lord is left to fulfill his purpose in us with only our poor quality materials and our limited participation.

The Congregation Comes to Help

Like Watson, we may still live secretly in a state of disrepair. Sometimes we conform our outside to the image of “churchgoer”, but perhaps, on the inside, we still live in shame and spiritual destitution – unwilling or unable to reveal our true selves, and therefore feeling cut off from the healing love of God.  

Watson’s home was restored only when he was able to set down his pride, and trust those who were ready to demonstrate God’s love for him. Watson was freed from the worldly anchor of maintaining a false image – that great disease of our culture. Yes, his physical home was rebuilt, but the real story was the renovation in his heart.   

A Home To Live In

The love of God is manifested in this story through the faithful fellowship of Pastor’s community. On that second, more intimate level, the Holy Spirit is doing a restoration job on our insides. After confessing faith in the Lord and receiving the gift of salvation, we can go further. Like Watson, we can break free from limitations of shame and secrecy and live into the abundant life of God’s grace when we choose to allow him full access.

Whenever we provide financial support to the Fond Blanc orphanage or come down to serve the children, we are helping to rebuild the living conditions in that community. But far more importantly, when we help with their daily lives and nurture those young hearts, we make it easier for God’s love to bloom in their hearts, conforming them more closely to the image of Jesus – which is the Lord’s desire for all our lives.

This is the important sort of work that Pastor Jean Claude and his congregation do when we are not there to support them – he helps his congregation conform more closely to the image of Jesus. When they rebuild a dwelling for their brother, the Lord is working on his dwelling place in their hearts at the same time. Watson’s restored home is just one example of how that happens.

This month we have the difficult task of saying goodbye and thank you to some people whose service in Fond Blanc has been at the very heart of all that we are trying to accomplish there. Goulit will be moving back to Port-au-Prince, while Alison and Molly will be returning to the States. It is always tough to see good people leave, but as you will see in a moment, there is some very exciting personal news behind these changes and, rest assured, the orphanage continues to operate smoothly while we await new interns arriving in Fond Blanc soon.

We’ll have more to report on our new staff arrivals in another post, but today the Executive Committee wants to focus on lifting up Alison, Goulit and Molly. Please join us in celebrating their contributions and thanking them for their hearts for serving the children.

To understand the magnitude of Alison’s commitment to Fond Blanc you have to try to put yourself in the shoes of a young lady who completely uprooted her life to move to Fond Blanc full time a year and a half ago. What depth of love fuels such a bold, all-in move? How humble a faith that so obediently follows the call to serve in a country and culture so far from her own? How strong is the heart that has the endurance and grace to serve more than 50 children, through both joy and chaos, day in and day out for a year and a half?

Alison’s passion is part of the taproot of the Fond Blanc Foundation which she helped to establish and which leaned heavily on her shoulders this last year. She – who has no children of her own (yet) – has stood in as a motherly figure to more than 50 kids, modeling nurture for a culture that tends to rely more on strict discipline. People often remark on how much better the kids are doing now. Whether they realize it or not, they are to a large degree acknowledging the effect Alison has had on these young lives.

Alison hopes to stay on with the Foundation, continuing to help us while she proceeds with her life…with Goulit! Yes, Alison and Goulit have plans to be married! That more than anything, is why she is leaving the orphanage a few months ahead of schedule. It turns out to be no simple thing to marry someone from another country, and the simple explanation is: the sooner she can return home, the sooner they can be married.

Which brings us to Goulit, himself. You would be hard-pressed to meet a more capable, engaging young man. It is impossible not to like Goulit. His personality and his outlook on life are irrepressibly positive. His energy and his thoughts seem to always be focused on what he can do for someone else. For the boys in the orphanage, he has been a role model like no other.

Goulit first joined the effort in Fond Blanc as a translator, but later took over many responsibilities for our daily operations in Fond Blanc. He has become practically indespensible because he does so much. Though he never complains, he absolutely wears himself out working for the children. It is said that performing an act of service for somebody is one of the “languages” of love. Some people come to know they are loved by the way others care and do for them. Goulit has become pretty fluent in English, but that still does not compare to his mastery of this love language of service. He has set a standard that we will work hard to maintain.

Goulit hopes to finish his education when he finally reaches the U.S. Both he and Alison have spoken about the ways they can continue to assist the orpahanage while they are in Haiti, and if God leads them back to Haiti in the future they will always have “family” in Fond Blanc.

Molly is another servant who has interrupted her life to come and live with the children. Most recent college grads can’t wait to jump into careers and get on with their lives. A rare few like Molly move purposefully to a more selfless path, heading out to serve in places such as Fond Blanc. Molly represents the sort of intermediate term intern that we are attracting to Fond Blanc. During her time in the orphanage, Molly has been a faithful servant.

As you might expect, the children have a strong interest in our language, and Molly has been helping them with their English – which is not an easy task if you can’t speak much Kreyol yourself. That English comes in handy when the children write letters to their sponsors, and Molly has been a big help for the kids with those letters. Another way Moly has made a difference is through her hands-on participation in the kids’ daily routines. We tout these routines as examples of ways in which the children’s lives are both improved and stabilized. But routines need to go smoothly to be helpful, and Molly’s effort and presence have been a big part of keeping things…well, “routine”.

We say goodbye to these three servants with mixed emotions. We are so grateful for all their hard work and commitment to the kids. We will miss them, but at the same time we are all excited to see what God has planned for them. We send them out with our blessings and we look for the joyful day when they will come back to Fond Blanc. And so we say: “Thank you, and may God bless you!” “Mèsi, e Bondye beni ou!”

by Tia Bunz

When asked what is the greatest need at the Fond Blanc orphanage, I find myself saying without hesitation: education! Hiring teachers who will show up to teach. Having a classroom that is safe and conducive to learning. Books. School supplies. Back packs. A place where the children can find hope and a future.

Although we have many needs for these children, this one resonates with me. In my world, the children are required to go to school. They have beautiful classrooms and schools and wonderfully educated teachers. We all take this for granted. I find myself telling my children that they have to go to school, it’s the law. In Haiti an education is a privilege.

We have engaged in many fundraisers to benefit the children of Fond Blanc, but we knew we had to pull out all the stops for this one. We want a consistent and engaging education for these children, and with that comes the need for money. We will need lots of money. When people asked if this would be a yearly event, we often joked that we would like to avoid the children ever having to say “yeah, remember the year we had school?”

That’s where Play It Forward for Haiti came in, and we did indeed pull out all the stops. We used all the resources we knew could help, we put together an amazing team to support it and we engaged a community of champions to rally together for these children.

We had UW-Madison athletes that donated their time to play. We had a local bakery and jam maker donate their treats. We had Bucky Badger. We had incredible donations for a rock-star silent auction. We had a dunk tank, where the temperature of the water was irrelevant. We had volunteers…lots and lots of volunteers.

Through all the craziness and fun, we raised over $34,000 towards the children of Fond Blanc’s education! Not only was this a day of fun, but we shared the news about what is being done in Fond Blanc. We loved having Swenson, Alison and Molly, back in Madison from Haiti, to help tell the story about our Child Sponsorship program. We celebrated our communities desire to help.

We joked about keeping our goals low for the event, but what actually happened far exceeded anything we could have fathomed. In addition to the children now having a year of schooling, we will also be able to start our much anticipated transition program for our older children. We strive to give them all an education, as well as a plan for their future! Hope.

Mostly we savored God’s blessings on this event, as we knew that His presence is what really made this possible.

by Paul Young

This is the third of four posts reviewing our efforts to help the children of Fond Blanc over the last year. In keeping with the core themes expressed in our mission statement, we want to assess the progress we have made this year toward better health, hygiene and diet at Fond Blanc.

The year started with some disturbing discoveries about the daily hygiene and living conditions of the children at the orphanage. Up to that point, we came and went from the orphanage just like all the short  term mission teams, with no authority and little say in how things were run. Once we were given a partner’s role in operating the orphanage in January, we learned – to our shame and disappointment – that there were some serious health and hygiene issues requiring immediate attention.

The good news is that we were aided in the initial response by the very spirited assistance of some returning volunteers from a very committed church community. Actually, I am understating the situation: they were really quite upset, both with the circumstances we discovered and also with us. But their understandable frustration was far outpaced by their passion and contributions and to everyone’s credit, we all moved to tackle the problems aggressively.

But from that unpleasantness came the following good: a brand new kitchen for more hygienic food preparation, new matresses and wet-proof matress covers all around, new showers for the kids, a large supply of new toothbrushes and personal cups for the kids, our first ever electric clothes washing machine, and more medicinal supplies than some clinics would have in stock.

We also have the blessing of a very involved Medical Advisory Board who helped us find remedies for some communicable skin diseases among the children. Think of it: the children of Fond Blanc are among the early beneficiaries of tele-medicine. If the staff saw evidence of a skin rash, they could just email pictures taken with their phones and get prompt diagnostic help from our medical professionals back home. I know I don’t have that benefit in my health plan!

There has also been a year-long push for a better diet. Your response to our campaign for Christmas dinners for the orphans was so successful we were able to convert that effort into an ongoing plan to serve chicken dinners twice a week. Although there have been times when that plan has not worked out, the focus on a better dietary balance is an effort that has been fully adpoted. When we can boost our child sponsorship donations a bit further, we will be able to plan better for a dependable supply of healthy food throughout the entire year.

Personal hygiene has been another area of success this year.  After the first mass distribution of new toothbrushes, it took the kids a while to own the idea, and we walked around the compound picking up toothbrushes every day. But pretty soon the kids learned not to eat the toothpaste, and they all got a lot better at saving – and using – their toothbrushes. The new showers have made it much easier for the older kids to bathe with privacy, and it is not uncommon for some of the children to shower twice – or even three times – in a day.

For the time being we’ll still need to rely on the health clinic down in Cazale for more serious illnesses, but the overall condition of the children now is generally quite clean and healthy.

by Paul Young

We are continuing a series of blog posts which review our mission work in Fond Blanc by looking at our progress through the lens of our mission statement. In this post we focus on the second of four core areas of need: education.

In the big picture we know that education is critically important to the future of the orphans at Fond Blanc – and, indeed, to all of Haiti. As we have written in previous blog posts here and here, education at Fond Blanc is not what it needs to be. We are responding in three main ways: raising funds to support the current teachers and students; raising other funds for a larger scale, more permanent solution; and working with partners to create a new school that can educate and train all the young people in the community and help equip them for independently productive lives.

That is quite an aspirational set of goals, but perhaps the most sobering observation is that our educational goals for Fond Blanc must be mostly described using the future tense. These are things we hope to do. What we have been able to do up til now is quite modest. We have been resigned to the reality that the “triage” nature of our introduction into a failed system has forced us to address the most critical issues first. Food and basic care were obviously more urgent priorities. We have tried to help the present system limp along, but other than that, education has had to wait.

It also bears mentioning that we have had no authority whatsoever in the school operations up to this point. We have tried to raise money for Pastor pay teacher salaries when he asked for help in the past, but we see our efforts to date more like a band-aid than a true solution. To keep this in perspective, we are just now completing our first year as official “partners” in the daily operations of the orphanage, with the inevitable kinks in our “joint” operations still to be worked out. To put a positive spin on it, we are learning from our mistakes and we have a better education plan because of our experiences.

Our Executive Director, Tia Bunz, has been singularly responsible for our best efforts to raise funding and awareness around the educational needs, and she will speak more to these efforts in her own blog post. Tia has a passion and a vision for what is needed educationally. The vision – which I can say we all share –  covers everything from elementary education up to trade-oriented skills training, and even higher education where students demonstrate aptitude. Just this month, we have been able to host one young Haitian on an eye-opening visit to the United States, which shows we are prepared to set out some lofty goals.

The school year in Haiti traditionally starts in October. The immediate needs are for schoolbooks and educational classrrom materials. There has been a concerted effort to upgrade our cadre of teachers, and we are helped in that by Domaingue Charles who has answered Pastor Jean Claude’s call to come lead the current school effort at Fond Blanc.

Domaingue is one of Pastor’s notable success stories. Raised as an orphan by Pastor many years ago, Domaingue has used his natural intellect, effort and musical ability to build on the opportunity Pastor provided to him. He has been a teacher, an accomplished musician, led the music training at Jean Claude’s main church and school in Fontamara, and is a regular member of the ensemble called upon to play at the Presidential Palace for affairs of state.

Upon arriving at the Fond Blanc school a few weeks ago, Domaingue wasted no time getting things in line. He replaced several teachers and submitted plans for other improvements that wait only upon our ability to fund them. We will be sitting down with him in two weeks to listen to the details of his ideas. While most of our team has not yet met Domaingue, we hope he represents exactly the sort of competent, self-starting Haitian leadership we are trying to lift up.

The general appetite for school and learning is practically uncontainable in Fond Blanc. The children took it upon themselves to use donated sewing machines to help make new school uniforms for everyone before school started. School uniforms are a real badge of honor in Haiti, so this was an accomplishment that really meant a lot to everyone. It is also common to see children with noses buried in their workbooks throughout the day and all year long.

With such a need matched by such enthusiasm for education, the best grade we could give ourselves at this point would be an incomplete. As other needs are being addressed, our educational goals have been able to move toward the forefront of our focus for the year ahead. For the present, we are focused on delivering all we can to support the existing school at the orphanage, and we are excited about the new school year.

by Paul Young

In Fond Blanc our most common obstacle is the language barrier. The children speak Kreyòl, some of the adults also speak French, and of course the missionaries all speak English. Alison has learned enough Kreyòl to communicate well with the children, but that is because she has been immersed in the language for well over a year now. We also have some wonderfully dedicated translators, but in the day-to-day of things it seems a lot still gets lost in translation.

If we are just making small talk with one another we manage pretty well, but trying to oversee and operate an orphanage in another language…well, you can imagine. And add to that the different cultural reactions when things go awry, and we can get caught in the weeds pretty quickly.

I was reminded of these challenges recently while re-reading the biblical story of the tower of Babel. That story in Genesis 11 reveals a lot about the nature of man and his striving to improve the world. As plans for the tower progress, the Lord God comes among men – unnoticed. They are busy carrying out their grand plans, but he introduces the language barrier to confound their efforts. In Babel, men were trying to do things out of their own strength and for their own ambitions. I think God wanted them to find their real function in Him instead. It made me think of Fond Blanc.

I cannot help but wonder if there isn’t a corollary here to the tower of Babel. Is the work in Fond Blanc always connected to God’s desire that I place my full trust and reliance on Him? Could confusions due to language and culture be the Lord’s way of reminding me of my limitations? Might my efforts here be more fruitful (and more fun) if I acted more like a servant and less like a boss?

I confess there are times when I have found myself fretting over Fond Blanc without realizing that I may have become too absorbed in my own plans, ideas, strengths and capability. Yes, we have a grand vision for serving Fond Blanc and the orphans, but far too often we assert our own control and rely on our own resourcefulness as we work toward that vision.

No one ever said helping Haitian orphans was going to be easy, and language and culture challenges just go with the job. For me this is all about obeying a call to serve, and I never intended to try to “do it my way”. Nevertheless, it is fascinating (and humbling) to see how often I manage to revert back to my base human nature that says: “I’m in charge”, or “I can do this.” Here I am attempting to live a life that testifies to the power and providence of God, and yet there I go again, taking over and placing my trust in myself time after time! Ouch! Thankfully, we serve a patient and forgiving God.

At this time of year the Fond Blanc Foundation is engaged in a lot of debriefing, assessing, budgeting and planning for the orphan community and the year ahead. At moments like these it is good for us to pause to remember why we are here, whose call we answered to get here in the first place and who is really in charge of the outcome. There are exciting days ahead if we can just keep our trust where it belongs: in the Lord who called us to serve.

In prayer, I continue to find confirmation that Fond Blanc is where I am supposed to be. In reflection, I admit that my “best” self has not always been showing up for that job. In humility, I am resolved to stay focused on the “prize” of Philippians 3:14, and to press deeper into dependence upon the providence of God who is the real author and finisher of all that is good at the orphanage.

By Paul Young

At the Fond Blanc Foundation, we are taking time to think about our recent efforts and to share our self-evaluations with you, our supporters. We’re asking ourselves a lot of questions about where we have been most effective and where we could improve. One way to frame up that assessment is to look at our work through the lens of our mission statement.

The Mission Statement for the Fond Blanc Foundation reads as follows:

“Providing a foundation, rooted and established in love, to promote the educational, health and life development needs of the children of the Fond Blanc orphanage and the surrounding community.”

Originally, we worked hard to distill our vision down to a short statement, but I propose to reverse that effort for the sake of this review. This is the first of four posts in which we will unpack that mission statement. The idea is to reflect on our work to date through the lens of the vision we set out for ourselves at the beginning.

“A foundation, rooted and established in love”

The Fond Blanc Foundation was started with the view that Haiti’s people could not reasonably be asked to grow and thrive if they could not first stand on their own two feet. Haiti’s history of false starts is well chronicled, and for the children of this orphanage to thrive, their circumstances first needed to be stabilized as well. We believe that the future for these children – and, indeed, all of Haiti – will come from within themselves. We are not there to do for them, but to help them do for themselves. One thing we can do, as Pastor Jean Claude always says, is “show them love.”

That love begins with our gifts of time, attention and nurture. Our efforts to show love to the children have produced some of our most satisfying and encouraging results to date. Visitors and staff alike frequently comment on how much better off the children seem to be. Much of the credit for this goes to Alison and Goulit who have lived with the children for over a year. You don’t just interrupt your whole life to move into an orphanage in Haiti if you are not powered by love. These two servants have built a model of care for us to follow in the future.

Some things are basic, such as new daily routines. Now, before the children gather for school they have all prayed, bathed, brushed their teeth, put on clean clothes and finished their daily cleaning chores. This sense of order and routine would be helpful to children in any home and Fond Blanc is no different. There is still plenty of time after school for them to just “be kids”, but now the children can pour some of that energy into sports and crafts and even books (there are never enough books!)

Occasional tears are still a fact of life as they are with children everywhere. But Alison, Goulit and the “mommies” on staff have been nearby to intercede, comfort and correct as needed. Their constant availability has brought a pervasive sense of safety that simply wouldn’t be there if the kids had to fend for themselves all day. Instead, we see the children becoming more curious and engaged in life, and growing increasingly confident and joyful.

We’re showing them love in other ways too. Alison and Goulit started a weekly tradition of Movie Night, for which they also prepare more than fifty individual bags of fresh popcorn (which they frequently pay for themselves). And if you keep up with our blog and social media pages, you already know about the new Prim Program which offers positive reinforcement by rewarding the children with their choice of prizes for good behavior. And did you know we have a orphanage soccer team now? They play in games we helped to organize against teams from the town and surrounding areas. Look for more news soon on this exciting development.

Grounded in such love, the kids are flourishing and becoming better rooted in life. Roots strengthen the tree against storms, but roots cannot take hold and grow in soil that is unsteady or continually shifting. These children need to feel safe in the conviction that their world is OK, that it will still be OK tomorrow, and that they have nurturing caregivers upon whom they can depend. That is what we have witnessed this year. That is something we are most thankful for.

So, for this portion of our mission, I think we can say, “well done!” and start to take this area of focus to the next level. The following posts will look at our progress toward our other core objectives.

By Alison Praisewater

Summer is here in Haiti.  In addition to temperatures rising to extreme heights, so have the number of missionary visitors.  This summer just about 300 high school and college students will spend a
week here in Fond Blanc with Next Step Ministries.

After a week of training in Madison, WI the Next Step Summer Staff arrived in Haiti last month ready to serve.  They will lead these 300 students in 9 weeks of mission trips this summer, guiding them through
building projects, vacation bible school, and nightly Christ-centered worship.

The main focus of the trips is to create an opportunity for students to experience Christ in a new way and to deepen their faith.  But students can’t help but come away with a new perspective on life and a shift in priorities.

“The first time I came here the children had a bigger impact on me than I had on them.  And in America we don’t appreciate what we have. But they do here, and I learned a lot about that.”  

                    – Chloe, age 17, from Parker, CO and now in her 3rd year serving in Fond Blanc.

The students never cease to amaze me as they jump in to the construction projects often doing the brute work while the locals carry on with the intricacies of laying block and pouring cement forms.  Students form assembly lines and pass buckets of rock and sand to be mixed into concrete.  They carry boulders and rocks from the river bed to the orphanage to build a sturdy church foundation.  And they sing and dance and create crafts for the children every afternoon in VBS.  During the summer, they quite literally represent the hands and feet of Christ.

By now, with our third summer with Next Step underway, the children are no strangers to the missionary experience. They have learned to develop friendships, speak a little English, and play and learn from our new friends.  Sometimes the effects of the summer can have an exhausting impact on the children. Imagine having 30 house guests in your home for 9 weeks straight!  Bedtimes get overlooked, bath times become a chore, and tantrums happen more frequently from exhausted and spoiled children.
But when surveying the work of the students we cannot help but thank God for the love they bring into the lives of the children and the numerous ways they have impact the children long after their one-week
visit.

The biggest encouragement is the comments received from returning visitors.  They mention how much healthier the children look.  They notice how much more well behaved they are.  They even notice the way
they have grown and how their interaction with missionary visitors has changed in good and healthy ways.

Every Tuesday evening our Next Step Team Leader teaches about suffering and God’s plan within that.  This message always hits hard here in Haiti as students really question why God would allow a whole
country to suffer for so long.  But every Tuesday he also tells the story of the children who live here.  And it isn’t hard to see that God is present throughout their suffering and that through this suffering some of the most beautiful things have come to be.

A nation’s suffering brought a wave of aid to Haiti, including Next Step, and now the Fond Blanc Foundation as well.  And it is in this place that we see such beautiful things happen.  Students receiving a needed reality check, a perspective change, a lesson in true humility.  And as a community witnesses these things in our students, they too cannot help but catch a glimpse of God. This is what leads them to pick up a shovel, carry a bucket, try out their English, and spend the weeks working alongside us.

If you have served with us this summer or in summers past, thank you. And if you are heading out here in the weeks to come, thank you.  Remember that the biggest impact that you can have is to come and serve; to simply live alongside these children for a week, and to laugh and play and love just like Jesus would.

By Paul Young

Seeing that the children of Fond Blanc get a good education is one of the top goals for the Fond Blanc Foundation. It is also our most complex and challenging goal. And it is going to be the most costly.

Recently, I had a chance to lead a group of missions workers through an exercise in problem solving. These people were young (by my standards anyway), but each had spent at least a year in the mission field, and all were pursuing training that would allow them to pair their entrepreneurial career interests with their passion for faith-based service. Our class was to conclude with a case study, so I presented our education goals and asked them to help me break down the problems and come up with solutions for Fond Blanc.

Everything you have been told about seeking ideas and input from new sources is true. These young people came up with what I thought were remarkably good ideas. Sure, we had thought of a few of the answers already, but even in those cases it was great to hear the ideas coming from a fresh perspective. Here are a few of their suggestions.

A “Teach for Haiti” campaign, modeled on the Teach for America program, might attract young people equipped to teach in Haiti for as season. Fond Blanc would only be a small part of that, but by helping to raise awareness, our community might receive early attention.

The “Escuela Nueva” (New School) model is one that some of these veteran missionaries had previously seen working in Central and South America. Somewhat similar to the old one-room-schoolhouse, the students move at their own pace and a fair amount of the teaching is actually led by older students, under the guidance of a professional teacher who moves from group to group, assisting as needed. It has been said that one of the best ways to learn something is to have to teach it to someone else. This model could be interesting for us in Fond Blanc because we struggle to attract enough good teachers all the way from Port-au-Prince.

Recorded lessons were suggested too. For core educational material, a videotaped lesson can be effective and could be replayed as often as it is needed. Fond Blanc is not a technology mecca by any stretch, but since we show the children a movie every week, we ought to be able to manage with recorded lessons.

Had we considered strategic partnerships, where we would team up with local NGOs in Haiti or schools and colleges here in the States? It turns out, yes, we have already reached out to local organizations in Haiti who have expertise in education and our Executive Director, Tia Bunz, has been exploring the same topic with major colleges here in the States for about six months now. Interest is strong. What still lies ahead is the task of actually putting a pilot project together.

These were just a few of the many good ideas that came out of the problem solving exercise that day. A full plan for a good education solution in Fond Blanc is still in the formative stages, and in the interim we are doing what we can with what we have. We will be talking more about this need in the months ahead, and if you want to help solve this problem, we would welcome any suggestions you might want to make.

by Alison Praisewater

Though I write this article with excitement for the wonderful changes I’ve seen at this orphanage, I also write it with hesitation. I hesitate because I know all too well the harsh judgment that someone may cast over the orphanage staff that I have begun to call family. Please know that prior to our involvement, the staff here was doing the very best they could with the little education and resources they had.

Every single time now that a solution is found for a problem, there is nothing but praise from the staff here. They are so incredibly grateful that we have brought resources to solve so many of the health issues here. I have walked away from so many conversations hearing, “This has bothered me for a long time. I am so happy we have found a way to fix it.” These issues were not being ignored – they were simply unsolvable for so long.

Diagnosis

Once our Operations Team got established here on the ground last winter, it became easier to see the health issues facing the children; issues that are all too common in orphanages all across Haiti, where co-bedding and close living quarters are the norm. And when you have 53 children and one gets sick, it is never over fast.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, photos of our children were sent stateside to our passionate group of doctors who serve on our Medical Advisory Team. Photos of heads, bellies and rashes were
carefully examined, and our medical team was successfully able to diagnose these issues. A variety of skin conditions were identified, the majority being ringworm on the scalp, and scabies.

Treatment

The team got to work on a treatment plan and in January, Dr. Karina Atwell, M.D., who is a member of the medical team, came out to help implement the start of the treatment. Because the condition had been going on for so long, and the ringworm so severe, we needed a stronger medication than the typical topical cream. An oral medication was tracked down both stateside and in Haiti, and through the help of a donor, we were able to afford treatment for all 38 of the children who were in need.

A sticker chart was created and treatment was begun. For four weeks, the children knew they would get to take their pill after the evening meal and place a sticker on the chart by their name. We were able to make the event fun and one for which the children needed no reminder! Four weeks later, the appearance of the children’s scalps was amazingly improved. They no longer itched constantly, and they were much happier with their hair cut short. They enjoyed showing off their clean and healthy heads. The photos speak for themselves! They still use a preventative shampoo twice a week to combat dandruff and to keep the ringworm at bay.

Five of the younger children also received treatment for scabies, a condition common in co-bedding situations. Here too, the skin condition cleared up immediately upon treatment.

Prevention

We felt it was important to do more than just treat the illness. Preventing any reoccurence was even more important. After listening to the advice and recommendations from the Medical Advisory Team, the Operations Team here on the ground had our work cut out for us.

For a typical American, some of the following conditions may seem unbelievable. But just as I stated up front, when you imagine life in Haiti, I encourage you to try to think outside of what you consider comfortable and “normal”. We needed to attack the problems where they truly lay: in the beds! Children were sleeping in bed bug ridden mattresses in the clothes they had played in all day and in sheets that were rarely washed. Many of the younger boys sheets that were peed in nightly, were simply hung out in the sun to dry without being laundered.

Improvement

Our Operations Team, along with many Fond Blanc supporters, got right to work with Fre Theo at solving each of these problems. Volunteers washed and sanitized every sheet and piece of clothing we have in the new washing machine donated by one of our supporting churches. Sure Foundations for Haiti purchased new mattresses for every single bed in the orphanage. Next Step Ministries donated bedbug-proof covers for all pillows and mattresses, and a wonderful Board Member also donated plastic mattress covers for the little ones who still wet their beds.

When we asked for a few new sets of sheets, we received dozens! We couldn’t believe how generously our supporters responded to this crisis. Now every bed has not just one new set of sheets but TWO! And a church partner in Madison donated a new pair of pajamas for every child. No more sleeping in the clothes the kids had worn all day. Now the children get to change into clean pajamas every night!

With their new clean beds and clothes, the children adopted a new attitude. They are proud of their rooms, their beds, and yep, even their new pajamas! The squeals of joy from the girls when they saw their nightgowns are one thing I will never forget!

We also realized that we needed to get the clothes out of the bedrooms. Clean clothes were getting mixed with dirty clothes and they covered the floor and the beds, and were stuffed in the corners of the rooms. New closets were built by some Next Step friends and the clothes were neatly folded and arranged by child. At first, the children couldn’t quite believe how much clothing they owned until they finally saw them all organized in one place. The clothes are cleaner, nicer and much more accessible now! And the rooms are free from clutter, bugs, and those ungodly smells.

Last and certainly not least was the addition of underwear! Yep, you bet! Not a single boy in this orphanage owned underwear. Packs and packs of underwear were donated and every child received
5 new pairs. They were taught why it’s important to wear underwear and when to change your underwear (EVERY DAY)! I’ve never seen boys and girls more excited about receiving underwear. Superman, Transformer and Frozen-themed underwear has never been more appreciated!

Thankful

We are so thankful for all the changes we’ve been able to make because of your support. Fre Theo is most thankful of all as he is able to rest easy knowing the children are cleaner, happier and will stay this way longer.

It’s amazing to think about the small things that we take for granted and how they can make such a huge difference in someone’s life. The changes certainly didn’t happen easily. It has been a slow process and, remember, we were only given our first real authority to do anything in the orphanage in January, so we were still figuring out our own role when the health crises first came to our attention.

Here in Haiti there is no Target that we can just stop by and pick up a pair of underwear. It took a few months to gather donations and supplies and to get them out here to Haiti. But this has been a challenge that we are so incredibly grateful for. We cannot thank God enough for providing everything we need – including every single donor, like you!

Sometimes I’m in awe as I open my closet of donations to hand out soap or toothpaste to the children (yes, there were so many donations they had to build me a storage closet too!). To see them today, it is hard to believe that just months ago the children didn’t have these items. I am amazed by how life-changing a simple bar of soap can be in this place. Or how dignifying a new set of sheets can be. And how priceless a dance of joy in a new pair of superman underwear can be.

Thank you!

The conditions for schooling and education at Fond Blanc are not what we would like them to be. We have seen some dramatic improvements in life at Fond Blanc, but this is the most important major need still facing the orphanage and the community.

A full scale, from-the-ground-up solution is needed for the 54 orphans and the roughly 200 other local children who come to school at the orphanage each day. We are already working on a plan for that major campaign, but we also want to try to help where we can right now.

The Fond Blanc Foundation has no authority or control over the current schooling situation. We can, however, still help by asking for funds to pay the 18 teachers who are working there now. These dedicated teachers have not been paid in several months, and cannot continue much longer without payment.

We had a tremendous response last fall, the first time we stepped in to help pay teachers. We will be starting another similar campaign this month because we think schooling is that important to the lives and future of the Haitian children.

Please visit our website and our New Teacher Campaign to see how you can help with this effort.

Ed. Note: Rachel is a returning volunteer at Fond Blanc. Her post is reprinted here with thanks for her spirit and with minimal editing.

The last three years accumulate to a total of 1,095 days, or 26,280 hours, or 1,576,800 minutes and many seconds. It’s a lot of numbers that are filled with daily routines and activities that shape who we are and what we learn. For the last three years, a total of 19 days, or 456 hours, or 27,360 minutes of my life have been spent participating in a special routine and activity with many others that have changed and continue to change me…The activity being spending a week doing construction work and playing with 54 children in an orphanage, the routine being traveling to Fond Blanc, Haiti where all that activity occurs.

As I start to prepare for the trip every year, which means scheduling last minute appointments to pick up the malaria meds, taking out the last load of laundry a few hours before leaving, or traveling to Chicago at 2:30 in the morning on a bus to catch our flight, I often ask myself, “Rach, why do you do this? Why do you keep going back?” To be honest, there’s not a clear answer to those questions or one defining moment from previous trips that has made the answer a no-brainer. But upon arriving at the Port-au-Prince airport, and then traveling two and half hours up the hills while getting coated with dust and inhaling exhaust fumes, we are finally greeted by familiar screams and songs as the gate to the orphanage opens. It is safe to say this is what keeps me going back. Those 19 days, 456 hours or 27,360 minutes have made me realize that the orphanage – through all the travel, laughs, tears and work – has become nothing short of a family.

This past trip to Haiti was a lot different than others. For one, this trip’s vision started right after we got back last year with an idea to build a brand new kitchen. The old kitchen consisted of a dirt floor and one wood fire that would be used to make meals for nearly 100 people. Not to mention, the women who cooked the meals were constantly bending over to clean, prepare and provide for us. From there, news spread, plans were formed, fundraisers occurred and donations collected. The new kitchen consisted of a much bigger space, counter tops, a proper ventilation system for the smoke from the fire, new cooking utensils and a brand new coat of paint.

By the time January 4th, 2015 rolled around, our group was headed to Haiti with 35 additional BIG bags of donated material including toiletries, clothes, recreational fun, first aid, work materials and the list goes on. Needless to say, we always make quite an impression on those we come in contact with on travel days.

 Our flight to Haiti ran smoothly, with no delays (I think that’s a first) and just a whole lot of excitement! Once we got to the orphanage, we put all the bags in their respective places and met to discuss what exactly was going to happen for the week.

Our agenda included finishing the kitchen, but we also had plans to build showers with proper plumbing and stalls for the children, help rework some electrical wiring, move the generator and install the new washer that was kindly donated. As the days went by, tile was cut, boards nailed together, shower heads were twisted on, materials were delivered and concrete was mixed. A huge reason why we were able to get so much done this year was due to the fact we had pre-bought material in Haiti to build with, and we were able to bring a lot of our own electrical tools which stayed at the orphanage in the end. While cutting metal or drilling nails into the wood, I couldn’t help but think of how different it was since my first year. A few years ago, we were sawing by hand and scrapping around for raw materials. Now with wonderful donors like you, and with the news and stories about the orphanage and the children spreading, it is really something special to see the quality and building progress increase.

One of the highlights for me was when we were just about done with the showers. We had everything cut and installed, including brand new shower heads and knobs!

Obviously, many pictures had to be taken to document this whole process. On the last day of work, I was going around taking pictures of the project. Tagging along with me was my buddy Didi, a very crazy and energetic seven- year-old who could often be found just randomly running everywhere, doing flips, somersaults, the list goes on…Bottom line, Didi knows he’s really cute and charming. I absolutely love Didi and it’s been so special seeing him grow up year after year. This time, we got really close and Didi would often fall asleep in my arms or tag along with me as I was cutting wood or metal or organizing the showerheads. Naturally, Didi was with me as I was going around taking pictures of the showers. I had him stand under one so I could get a picture of him in it. As I was doing this, I was trying to explain to him how a shower works.

Keep in mind, there’s an English-Creole language barrier, so we  had to figure out other ways of communicating, such as hand movements. Thus, I took the shower knob, turned it without thinking and we both got splashed with water. We immediately started laughing, but seeing the surprised look on Didi’s face was nothing short of priceless. This picture was taken right after all that happened. As you can see, Didi looks very proud of his new shower.

But, like any typical family, you run into your ups and downs. On this trip, as much as I don’t want to report it, there were some downs. Another job we decided to take on was helping the kids organize their rooms. There are about 12-15 kids who sleep in each room sharing bunks and mats on the floor. Well, this room organization did NOT turn out to be such a simple task. We discovered their rooms were in pretty bad shape, dirty clothes everywhere, bugs, dirt, bed bugs and more. It was heartbreaking and made us sad. When you come across those situations, you realize that yes, structures can be built, walls can be painted and concrete can be poured, but when it comes to kids health, it’s something that needs to take full priority.

Thus, our group also got to work on completely cleaning out and scrubbing every inch of the kid’s rooms. We sorted their clothes, threw away bad items, boiled the good ones, washed all the sheets, bags, shoes, the list goes on. I can’t tell you how hard a process this was to complete. I myself did not work on it that much since I was doing a lot of the construction, but a lot of the other moms and college girls took this under their wing. It was a challenge because not only was there SO much stuff these kids managed to store in their rooms, but it was hard getting them to work with us in order to get their clothes and other items clean. It took a lot of negotiation and trust, but we were so proud of them! Not to mention, it was so cute seeing them at the end of the week walk around smelling their clothes and folding them to be put away nicely! Thankfully, enough money was found to get all new mattresses and sheets as well.

We also designated a “spa night” for the girls, where they were bathed, given lice treatment and gifted with their first pair of brand new pajama’s. We provided lots of fun lotions and nail polishes for them to try out. At first, the girls were scared and didn’t know what to think of the big change, but after seeing and smelling how clean they were and squealing (literally) at their brand new, clean rooms, they felt so much pride and joy!

The boys didn’t get their jammies on the same day as the girls, so needless to say, when the time came for their PJ distribution day, they were more than excited to be strutting around in Buzz Lightyear and Batman themed tops and pants.

Another fun part was helping the children’s caretakers at the orphanage teach the children how to properly brush teeth and wash hands in order to stay clean and healthy. Again, thanks to donations, each child is set with their own toothbrush, bar of soap and a brand new Wisconsin Badger cup.

Some members of our group, including myself, were fortunate enough to take some time to volunteer at a clinic a few miles down the road from the orphanage. Real Hope for Haiti is run by a family who is originally from the States, but moved to Haiti after taking numerous trips there. Now, their clinic sees hundreds of individuals daily, almost all dealing with some sort of malnutrition related issue. We were able to work in the Rescue Center, which houses very sick children until they are healed. I will never forget walking into the center. It was right at bath time, so all the nannies had little kids everywhere waiting to be dried off and clothed. Looking at the children, you would have thought they were all babies, but a lot of them were two-year-olds, only weighing in at 15 pounds or less…

One little baby was on a ventilator. Other members of my group told me she was brought in the day before and they didn’t think she was going to make it through the night- thankfully, she did. It was shocking, but the hard work and compassion Real Hope for Haiti has and performs 24 hours a day is nothing short of amazing. I encourage you all to look at their website or follow them on Facebook to read stories and stay updated about the daily trials they encounter.

I will never forget one little boy at the clinic named Jonathan, who was the first child I encountered walking into the Rescue Center. There he was lying down on the mat, waiting to be dried off and changed. Kneeling down to him, nervous and overwhelmed, I looked at him and he looked at me. All of a sudden, despite the many cries and people running around, Jonathan spread this big smile across his face. I couldn’t help but smile and laugh back, his grin was just so cute and precious! Later on, we learned that Jonathan was discovered in the trash, abandoned and severely malnourished. He had been to two hospitals before coming to the clinic where he could be properly treated and taken care of for a long period of time.

Most of the kids who are admitted to the clinic stay there anywhere from 4-6 months in order to properly recover. For those who are abandoned like Jonathan, the organization works to find foster homes for them in Haiti. The owners say they see about 5-6 abandoned kids a year and have found that placing them in homes has been extremely beneficial. It really was eye opening and makes you appreciate the availability of health care we have in the States.

Closing out the week, we participated in our annual soccer game with the village kids and our older Haitian translators. This year, it was Americans vs. Haitians and surprisingly, we only lost by one on a penalty kick…Okay, so we might have had a few more people and the Haitians probably went easy on us… Same report as last time, they are extremely talented at soccer and play it any chance they get, even if that means being barefoot on a gravel field against some Americans!

It was a week filled with lots of hard work, laughs and hugs. I can’t emphasize enough how special it was being part of a group who got up at six in the morning with our tool belts and bleach ready and worked until the sun went down. I’m proud to say everything on those plans that got drawn up from the moment we came back last year has been completed. The children are ecstatic, clean and thankful.

This mission in Fond Blanc has become like a family. Strong and thriving families stand with each other through the good and bad, and we thank you for standing with us after all these years. You have contributed to these children’s lives and helped them thrive by providing a foundation and a structure for them to learn.

There are so many reasons to say thanks for your help: Didi goes to sleep in a clean bed with clean clothes. Rilusmy can show us what an amazing soccer player he is, all while being extremely humble. Olande can grow into a strong teenager, looked up to by the little girls in the orphanage when it comes to doing things like washing dishes or doing hair. Shelovee who is from the village, knows the orphanage as a place that’s full of lessons for her to learn. Your donations, kind words and support don’t go unnoticed. It carries us through these trips and into the lives of the children. You’re making a difference and making a family stronger. The progress for the children over the 19 days, 456 hours or 27,360 minutes has been amazing, and will only continue to grow thanks to the compassion and love given by you.

Mesi anpil,

Rachel Landgraf