Fifty pairs of shoes arrived yesterday, courtesy of our friend Charlene Sandlin.

It came to our attention on Day 2 of working with a girls orphanage that the girls shoes were really, really bad. Falling apart, too small. 25 pairs of flips being shared amongst 40 girls on rotation.
On Day 3 one of the girls flip flops completely broke and we had to carry her through the streets of Port au Prince to get her safely to art class. At one point I was carrying her, in the mid day heat (about 100+ degrees not counting humidity) when I spied a used shoe saleswoman across the street.

As soon as I deposited my group of girls into art class I hoofed it back to the used shoe saleswoman. For 125 gourds (about $3) I picked up two pairs of Hello Kitty flip flops. I wasn’t sure of the girls shoe size, but I hoped one of them fit. Upon returning to art class I pulled her aside. She thought she was in trouble. But really I didn’t want to start a stampede from the rest of the girls who equally needed new shoes.

When she received her new shoes, Jenni said she kept touching her chest and head in disbelief that she had received a new pair of shoes. She said thank you over and over again. To the point where I felt GUILTY that a child should be so grateful over a pair of cheap rubber flip flops.

So Charlene, you can rest assured that your generous donation of 50 pairs of flip flops will be so enthusiastically appreciated, overly appreciated, from a group of children who have nothing and have likely never been given anything. We thank you so much for your kindness, generosity and care.

If you would like to donate to HOPE Art, please give our Wishlist a look through.
Thank You!

-ms

20 months have passed since the earthquake and little has changed in Port-au-Prince.  Try to imagine living in a tent, on the street, for almost two years, through hurricane seasons and trying to raise your family there.  Struggling to find enough for them to eat, to wear, to have.  In a world where an empty soda bottle becomes a toy and filling pot holes with rocks for tips becomes self-employment, you would expect to find people to be scowled and grim.

On the contrary, it is actually one of my favorite things about walking the streets of Port-au-Prince; saying “Bonjour!” to anyone on the street will always be returned with a Bonjour!, a big toothy grin and a wave.  Women doing their laundry in a basin on the road, shy children in rags and car tinkering men will always, always smile and seem amused by the exchange with the blan (white person).

Haitians resilience and strength is admirable, they have adapted to their new lives as a means of survival and they are survivors.  I hope that what our project brings to Haitians is proof that there really is something to smile about; the joy of not just surviving but beginning to live again.  Value in not just food, water and medicine but also in preserving the art of a culture, the creative learning in a student and the whimsy of just being a kid!

Thank you to all of our supporters and sponsors for making this project possible!

500+ children played with
30 pounds of rice and beans consumed
6,000+ photos snapped
30 sets of watercolor paints thoroughly used
250 bean seeds germinated
Countless CleanWell hand sanitizers sprays
and more smiles than we can count.

Thank you, as always, to our donors, for making these trips down to Haiti possible.