Feels like home again. We have been back for nearly two months and I definitely feel like I am home again. I have been reconnecting with friends, students and businesses. I think people are actually glad to see that we came back! Hardware stores, food vendors, the lady I go to for diapers… it was great to be able to tell everyone that I’m back.
While we are still in transition (living at Kathy and Beaver’s house), my wife and her aunt prepare the lunchtime meals at my mother in law’s house. It is a work in progress…I think that the earliest we have had lunch was around 2:30…I am lucky if it is before 3!
Victoria!
Man, I love being a dad. This little girl can make me smile at any time. She is nearly 15 months old now. Walking around everywhere – falling less, playing with the kitten, giving kisses, working on a couple of words (banana and cracker), four teeth and loves to ride the motorcycle!
| On our way to church! |
| Taking a van to L’estere |
| The babies playing together |
| Time for the lesson! |
Projects
I have a bathroom to remodel at Jan’s orphanage, that should start this week. Replace all the tile, toilet and shower, then build a wardrobe in there for all of the clothes. This bathroom is for the pastor and his wife that live at the orphanage…and it is a birthday present for Carline (the wife). I also have a bid on all of the cabinets for a medical clinic. I am pretty overwhelmed with the scope of this…and I don’t have my shop yet…praying for a solution!
Good News
I have finally been granted 501(c)3 status for “Tools for Success.” I hope this will help with raising the funds necessary to do what I do down here…and to do the things I plan on doing! My wonderful sister Renee Spicka has set up a non profit corporation in Nebraska to handle the finances of my mission down here. The scope of what I am trying to do here could be called “Business as a Mission.” The idea is to teach a trade along with business basics and then unleash an entrepreneur on the city! The federal non profit status will help with donated items also.
Information about Tools for Success can be found at the new website for Tools for Success at www.toolsforsuccesshaiti.com! The website still needs a little fine tuning, but if I waited for it to be perfect, it would never go live. Financial donations can be made there, checks can be mailed to:
Tools for Success
21025 Roundup Road
Elkhorn, NE 68022
Donations of Stuff
I would generally like to buy whatever I can here in Haiti. If it is available here, I would be helping the local economy when I buy it from the guy down the street. Some stuff is not available or is extremely expensive. Some stuff people just have and want to donate. What I want to avoid is people going out and buying stuff for me to ship here that I can purchase on the street.
| Container that will be shipped down here when it fills up |
But…..I do have a container sitting in Council Bluffs that is around half full. I have some tools for my workshop, some stuff for my house and lots of books, school supplies and clothes. I am still looking for some things, send me an email if you are interested. blueteamleader@gmail.com
Bad News
Kathy and Beaver Brooks have decided that “Tools for Success” does not fit in with the master plan for “Market Place Gonaives” and they have rescinded their offer of a small parcel of land on the back of the Market Place property. I have lived in Haiti long enough to understand that plans change…sometimes in an instant! I have been looking at some land over the last few days and I think we have found a place that will work in an area that much of my wife’s extended family lives. I believe that we can stay in our current location long enough to get something built on the new land. I still hope to work with Kathy and Beaver in the future, but it will not be the same without the proximity that we would have had.
I thank all of you that read these updates of ours and I appreciate any kind of support that you can give us. Pray for us and our dreams, write to us and let us know that you are along for the ride, support us financially with a small monthly contribution. Donations are tax deductible as Tools for Success is now recognized as a 501(c)3.
Thank you so much,
Scott, Ruthcher and Victoria