Vol. 5 No. 2

October 2013

Opening of 2013 HASWEP Summer Games

Five villages participated in

soccer, basketball, whiffle

ball, kickball and frisbee golf.

Proud winners receiving their medals

Spectators gather with their

village signs to cheer on their

teams. This was the first time

the HASWEP Games were held.

They will become an annual

event.

8—12 year old boys and girls from

surrounding villages were invited to

participate in this ever competition.

Next year the games will expand to

other age groups.

The games were set up to encour-

age team sports, which are very

limited in Haiti and to build village

identity and leadership. Congratu-

lations to their coaches who de-

serve most of the credit for the

success of this event.

The Haiti Plunge focuses on building sustainability through educa- tion and environ-

mental issues. One percent of the soil is washed down the moun- tains and into the

ocean due to lack of foliage, and trees. The August

team worked on planting vetivre grass along the mountain-

side to protect the road from being washed out during

the rainy season. Vetivre is an indigenous plant that forms

root baskets un- der the soil. It can be split and replanted

every few months to control the erosion. The pro-

ject also serves as an educational opportunity to teach

Haitian children how to protect their land. Another on-

going environ- mental project is planting trees, especially

fruit trees that will become a future income to sustain

the school. However, as cute as they are, goats are the number one public enemy for

this project. They love the bark of the trees and these sneaky critters can get into

anything. In August the Haitians taught the team how to make fences to prevent the

goats from inflicting any more damage to the trees.

Public Enemy #1

Villagers with their signs

ready for some competition.

Haiti Plunge Inc. donors are the organization’s life line for our mission. The choices you make defines who you are.

Quarterly Major Donors

Robert & Stephanie Jackson Shannon & Gary Russell Susan & Ian Warren Rick Filiault

Susan & Mark Candiloro William & Elizabeth Perenick Rudy & Mandy Comai Eileen O’Grady

Louis Allegrone Derosa & Dohoney LLC Justyna Carlson Aileen Cormier

Dan & Julie Daub Barbara Davis-Hassan Richard Filiault Henry Beckwith

Thomas & Janet Holland Patricia Lescarbeau Windella Marion George Whaling

John & Rosemary McLaughlin Our Lady of Fatima Circle GLEN GROUP Advertising & Marketing

Capped Spring Has a Face Lift

One of the first Haiti Plunge projects for the 1980’s teams was to cap a mountain

spring in the village of Dortal for a clean water supply. The original spring served the

people in the surrounding villages but often dried up when there was little rain. The

spring was recently rebuild by an organization that focuses on providing adequate

clean water for people living in the mountains. It is much bigger and better protected

by cemented walls and in ground cisterns for the animals to drink. On a hot summer

day it is the coolest place to be. Large trees hover and provide cool protection from

the blazing hot sun. The spring is also one of the water sources for the teams when

they are in Haiti.

THE LIFE OF AN 8-YEAR OLD HAITIAN CHILD

Children in Haiti have very defined roles. The boys will rise with the sun to

work with their fathers in the gardens, take animals to grazing areas which

could be 2-3 miles away, scrounge around for twigs for the cook fire and hike

up to the mountain spring to get water for the family. Girls have the addi-

tional role of caring for younger siblings while their mothers go to the river

to do laundry or walk 8 miles to the marketplace to sell food from the garden

and purchase what is needed for the family. Parents can be away from their

children all day. It falls upon the oldest child to feed the babies, and give

some food to the older children and generally keep them safe.

Ludney Francois, in the photo at right, is in charge of her four younger brothers when her mother is away selling bread to

provide for the family. Playtime is a luxury. Ludney is fortunate because she has a USA sponsor who pays for her to go to

school. Without a sponsor there would be no chance for her to attend school because all schools in Haiti charge tuition.

With such large families very few parents can afford to pay the tuition. The average income for a farmer is less than

$400 USD annually. Ludney must do all her chores before she can go to school and when she is finished school she re-

sumes her responsibility of the children. This is the way of life for the children in the mountains. It is a very hard life. She

lives to go to school and learn. So many of these children would love the opportunity to attend school but they need to be

sponsored. For $100 you can send one of these children to school, pay for a uniform and their school supplies and give

them the gift of live. This routine for life will only change through education.

Greg Surgenor

Has his arms full

with his two new-

best buddies.

She would love to be

in school Cam Clark super-

vising the chil-

dren’s meal pro-

gram.