a bike for Moïse

Melissa Schilling short story series

One of my dearest friends in Haiti, Moïse, lives in an orphanage for girls. He was found after the earthquake in 2010 hurt, alone and hungry. He was taken in and cared for by Nadine and Sadrack Francois.

Whenever it is time for me to leave the orphanage all of the girls gaily wave me goodbye with songs. They carefully mark the date of my next visit in red ink on a wall and send me on my way.
Moïse, however, being the most sensitive soul in the whole place, always cries and follows me home to the hotel and stays with me until it is time to catch my flight.
Sweetheart.

On a visit to Haiti in April of 2012 it was observed that little Moïse needed a bicycle. So Sylwia and I lugged one across the country for him in July 2012.

Big thank you to Jason DeCook for sourcing, repairing and donating a really rocking mountain bike perfect for the broken streets of downtown Port au Prince.
Big thank you to my mom and aunt for helping me ship the bike to Florida.
Big thank you to Sylwia for helping to get it to Haiti.

I love you Moïse.
See you in January ♥

…

Moïse is the French spelling of Moses …

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.”

1. You must not have any other god but me.

2. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.

3. You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

4.Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

5. Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life.

6. You must not murder.

7. You must not commit adultery.

8. You must not steal.

9.You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

10. You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

Thymus vulgaris

Melissa Schilling Thank Yous

We’d like to thank Cleanwell for providing us with hand sanitizer on each and every trip to Haiti. We are looking forward to expanding our programming into Rwanda and bringing more alcohol-free hand sanitizer with us. Thymus vulgaris has been used as an antiseptic for thousands of years in Roman, Greek, and Indian (Ayurvedic) medicine.

In medieval times, the plant symbolized courage, and to keep up their spirits, knights departing for the Crusades received scarves embroidered with a sprig of thyme from their ladies. There was a popular belief, too, that a leaf tea prevented nightmares, while another held that tea made of thyme and other herbs enabled one to see nymphs and fairies. Herbalists of the Middle Ages regarded thyme as a stimulant and antispasmodic, and recommended sleeping on thyme and inhaling it as a remedy for melancholy.

And we believe that Thymus vulgaris, the main cleansing ingrediant in Cleanwell helps all of our children stay fresh, alert and nightmare free. Contracting infectious disease in the developing world ain’t no picnic.

THANK YOU CLEANWELL.

Back from our July 2012 Trip

short story series

Project HOPE Art completed it’s 7th trip to Haiti last week, and it was filled with new milestones and new memories – plenty to last a lifetime! Below is a brief overview of what transpired from July 6th – July 22nd, 2012.

Team members Melissa Schilling, Sylwia Jarosz, Kathy Barbro, Sarah Bolls and Liz Anker worked with kids at a total of 5 locations: the OJFA Orphanage, Pastor Jules’ orphanage, SAKALA, the Neuf Beouf school, and patients at the TB ward at the Ti Kay clinic.

Art, science and literacy projects conducted over the 3 week period included:
1. Haiti Watercolor Maps
2. Art Portfolio Decorating
3. Beadmaking
4. Thank You card painting
5. Watercolor Dinner Plates
6. Pineapple Drawing
7. Balloon Dancing
8. Six Literacy Poster Projects
9. Recycle Robot Planters
10. Angel Wings Mural painting
11. Tree Drawings
12. Pogo Portraits
13. Coffee Bag Planters
14. Two Composting Gardening Murals
15. Unicorn Horns
16. And lots of yoga and dancing!

To complete all these projects, we traveled with many stuffed suitcases containing: watercolor paints and paper, portfolios, markers, beads, art trading cards, balloons, 9 literacy posters, 6 Moringa posters, worms, Moringa seeds, tin cans, hot glue guns, bottle caps, murals, oil pastels, crayons, masking tape, feathers, glue, GLITTER!, Pogo printer and paper, fingernail polish, face paint, coffee bags, wire coat hangers, tons of Cleanwell products and approximately 75 homemade dresses.

Project HOPE Art would like to thank our corporate sponsors Cleanwell and Dick Blick, who helped us work with approximately 150 children, many repeatedly, over the course of our stay. Their financial assistance allowed us to stay on budget, and work with as many kids as possible.

Thanks so much to all our generous donors who made this trip possible, and we look forward to our next trip scheduled for January 2013!

There Grows the Neighborhood!

Melissa Schilling Art Projects, Urban Agriculture

We are doing alot of planting these days in Haiti.

Especially in Cite Soleil with Konbit Soley Leve [Rising Sun Collective], Bochika and a few other organizations as a Growing Art Form.  All of us here at Project HOPE Art  believe this statement to be true:

“A growing body of research that suggests that urban farming and greening not only strengthen community bonds but also reduce violence.”

 

Click here to read the news story in Mother Jones about Urban Farming.

Moringa Tree Planters

hyperenthusiasm Urban Agriculture

Project Hope Art is ready to go with our Moringa Tree Planter Project using recycled materials! In this case, we have coffee sacks and wire coat hangers.

First, you take apart the hanger and make a circle. Then thread it through the open top of the coffee sack, which may have to get cut down depending on how large you want to make it. Use any excess wire to hang your planter!

I’m thrilled to share this experiment with the kids in Haiti! Much thanks to Urban Adamah and Dan’s Cleaners for donating supplies. 🙂

Why do we love the moringa tree so much?

The Moringa tree, also known as the Tree of Life, is known for it’s highly dense nutritional content:

  • 7 times the vitamin C in oranges,
  • 4 times the calcium in milk,
  • 4 times the vitamin A in carrots,
  • 2 times the protein in milk
  • 3 times the potassium in bananas.  
Moringa trees grow easily from seeds or cuttings in hot climates. They grow quickly even in poor soil and can be prepared in several different ways, making the moringa an excellent candidate for fighting world hunger and malnutrition.