Wow, time has flown for us this fall. What we thought of as more of a “quick trip” back to the USA has turned into one of our longer stints. Unfortunately, Steph hurt her back in Haiti a while ago and it got worse about a month ago when she pinched a nerve in her already herniated discs. She has been advised not to travel as she works through this painful issue. We are hoping to make it back to Haiti pretty soon, though! :)

We have been taking advantage of being in the States! Ryan has been working, doing construction and odd jobs in between all of his Konbit work. He has been working with our amazing board and accountant team to make sure our finances are getting organized. Additionally, Steph has been able to work on grants (shout out to Lyndsay Reville for helping us out with that!) and website design. We both have been able to host a number of different awareness and fundraising events, too. Our latest one was an event partnering with a local t-shirt company, Script Apparel. We are super stoked to have had the opportunity to work with them and are hoping this is just the start of a cool partnership! We have also been working hard to get child sponsorships for our kids’ program, in addition to all the other things going on!

Our amazing friends and partners in Haiti continue to do an amazing job. Here’s a bit of an update on what is happening on the Haiti side of things:

Kid’s Program: The kid’s program continues to bloom and grow. Our friend and partner, Clelie, has done some amazing work to not only build up the kids but build up her staff. We now several more (newer) staff, who are amazing at what they do. This is huge for Clelie because she can feel more at ease when she can’t be around due to her own schooling. We are so stoked for all the new things happening this year, including teaching ESL to the kids. We are also prepping for an awesome summer camp and an amazing Christmas camp!

Justice Water: Our water program continues to meet the needs of people in their communities. This fall was an intense one for the entire world; though Haiti was technically spared from hurricanes, hurricane force rains can destroy towns. Our guys were some of the first people on the ground for this kind of post-emergency response and we are so proud of them.

Business: We are really thankful we have had the opportunity to be in the US longer so we could evaluate some of our hopes and plans for the business side of things. Our moringa and coffee products are selling really well, and our Famn Konbit bags and pillows are also big hits. We are working on a new marketing strategy and will be receiving an intern to help us with this in January, as well. :)

Conferences, Camp, and More: We are gearing up for a great year ahead of empowering and working with some of our amazing friends and leaders in the community. We have found that running conferences and programs is one of the best ways to support our friends, partners, and more. We are excited for all that is to come from this!

We will be in the US for a bit longer, and we’d love to talk with you about all the cool stuff happening in Haiti! Let us know if you’d like to meet up! Thanks, as always, for everything you do to support us and the people of Haiti! :)