Helping Haiti with education, food, clothing, equipment, and Love

We took 21 hand-crank Singer sewing machines plus sewing supplies and had 2 classes (1 week in Cap-Haitien and 1 week in Port-au-Prince) where we taught 21 women how to use the machines.  The machines were 50 to 100 years old and are beautiful.  The ladies each took a machine home with them at the end of the week.  The women learned quickly and were very appreciative.  In Cap-Haitien we saw the women load their machines on motorcycle tap-taps (cabs) at the end of the week to take them home.  What a sight!

Thanks to the sewing efforts of many (mostly in Colorado and Louisiana), we were able to take about 1200 dresses to give away, about 200 tote bags (some store-bought) and about 50 dolls. We also had lots of ready-made boys and girls clothes, some adult clothes, underwear, 770 wooden cars for boys, and lots of toys, candy, hair clips, soccer balls, frisbees and other items to share. In Cap-Haitien we were able to donate beans and rice that were purchased from donations collected by the Colorado group. In Port-au-Prince we distributed about 700 food packets that included enough beans, rice, spaghetti, tomato sauce, oil, and bouillon cubes to feed a family of four for a week.  We left about 2 weeks worth of food at an orphanage that houses 60 kids. The funds for that were supplied by the group from Wyoming It was fun to see the girls in their new dresses (slipped over the clothes they were wearing) and we got lots of pictures. The women love the tote bags as always and the dolls were a huge hit. The food is desperately needed and very much appreciated.

- Barbara Dean