News from Haiti

Photo via {GAIN (Global Aid Network) Canada}

Remember those little notebook and crayon sets that the kids and I made and sent to Haiti with my uncle about a month ago? Well I just got an email letting me know that he had posted this photo on the GAIN facebook page of some of the children enjoying them while waiting to see a member of his medic team :) I can't wait to share this with the kids in the morning!! They will be so excited to see pictures :)

We have been following along in the news with updates on Haiti. Hurricane Tomas struck Haiti causing flash flooding and evacuation in areas just before the GAIN team landed and tonight my aunt told me that they were rocked by a fairly strong earthquake and rioting as well. All this on top of the cholera outbreak that is spreading. I know that any prayers for the safety of the volunteers and for the people of Haiti would be greatly appreciated :)

Hugs,
Rosina

4 Haiti with Love

I know that you all remember the horrific destruction that left Haiti in shambles after the massive earthquake that hit them on January 12th of this year. Despite the lack of news coverage in the months since the height of the crisis there are still so many people there that are struggling every day.

So when my uncle told me that he was returning to Haiti with the Global Aid Network (GAIN) I knew that it was our chance to do something for the children even if it was something as small as sending little notebooks with stickers and crayons.

So the kids got busy cutting fun papers to make our plain old dollar store notebooks look really pretty, added some cute little stickers...



and I started measuring and sewing lengths of elastic into loops that would securely hold crayons inside them.

I had seen this project done on another blog and it was such a great idea. So I measured out a 6.5 inch piece of elastic for the piece that would wrap right around the notebook and marked 6 lines on it in the center that were spaced 1/2 an inch apart. Then on a smaller 4.5 inch piece of elastic I marked another 6 lines on it that were 3/4 of an inch apart. Placing the shorter piece of elastic on top of the longer piece I just matched up the lines, sewed, and created the little loops. I then attached the two ends of the longer piece together to make the band complete.

With the elastic loops complete we were ready to place one on each of the notebooks...

and start filling them up with crayons. The measurements worked out perfectly and the crayons were nice and snug in each of the loops.

Each of the children wrote special little messages inside of the notebooks and they were ready to get packaged up and shipped.

Luggage space was limited so we made 50 sets of the notebooks which ended up filling one of the giant warehouse sized cereal boxes and boy was it heavy!

We shipped it today and it will be on its way to Haiti with my uncle very soon and into the hands of the children that he and his fellow medics help during their stay. I pray that they will bring many smiles to the faces of the little ones :)

Hugs,
Rosina