If you would like to come with us on a mission trip:

Contact us at:  Coopring05@aol.com or haitihelpers@haitihelpers.org.

Call us at: 678-986-6287

We just returned from Bas Pinal. We wnet to check on the broom business and our sewing school project. We met with the people and asked how things were going since we set up the micro loan program and got them 5 horses to help with the transportation of plant material and getting the brooms to market. We found out that the micro loan was working well but it was only paying for a truck to go to Thomassique once every two month to get the lantanier (broom material). Most people were still having to make the 12 hour walk to get the material. The horses have been going and carrying much more than the women can carry on their heads but it's the dry season now and the horses are not getting enough to eat to make that long trip. We have now rented a piece of land directly behind our church and we will have the horses brought there and we will pay for sugar cane to be fed to them and they will get watered on a regular basis. We are also going to set up another micro loan so the truck can go more often. We still need a truck of our own so we can send it more frequently and it can carry their brooms to market. Since we closed the orphanage and sent the children back home to be with their families we are committed to helping the village get their broom business that they have had for over 100 years to the next level.

We have been sent more lantanier seed from the botanical center in Miami and we will be planting these when the rains come again.The plants that we have there now are almost ready to put in the ground. Once we get the plants established in Bas Pinal no more 12 hour walks to get the broom material!

Our needs are for a Daihatsu truck to help them get more plant material than what they can carry on their heads and it would also get more brooms to market. We need funding for micro-loans so the people can get a start to be able to buy more plant material. Right now some of the ladies tell me they have to sell a chicken to have money to buy the material. I cannot imagine walking 12 hours one way just to get enough material that I can carry on my head!

Any help with this project would be most appreciated!

We also have started a sewing school with 30 people taking lessons. We have 7 machines, some are treadle and some electric. We have a generator that runs the electric machines. Once the people learn how they can come to the school and sew on their own. We are so happy about this school!