In July, a number of our older children were invited to join an international music camp being held in the Cap Haitien area. This camp is by invitation only, and our children were all offered full scholarships. It is a 3 week program where the budding musicians get to study with teachers who come from across the EU and the US. They also participate in a number of orchestral performances.

The younger children who are now safely in Sante Suzanne have been enjoying the natural beauty of their new home. Swimming in the river, picking fresh fruit from the trees and being healthy happy kids.

Plans are now underway to build the new children’s home. This is a complicated process, as we need to move the children to another nearby location to keep them safely away from heavy all the hazards of a construction site, while keeping an eye on any forming tropical storms, and ensuring the contractors and architect have what they need for the planning. The plans are for a house with 3 or 4 single story wings, with a courtyard in the middle. We will use local resources as much as possible, and embrace the local beauty of nature.

Fundraising for the new home has begun and everyone is excited for this next step for our children.

In other areas of Haiti, Amurtel has sponsored a summer day camp for 300+ children at our center in the Port au Prince area. Crafts, music, dance, yoga and games are part of the day. AS all these children are facing significant food insecurity on a daily basis, a hot meal is also provided.

In Banan, the micro credit and self help programs continue, with account 1000 women participating. Due to the continued civil unrest and lack of petrol, it is challenging for the women to safely attend meetings, but our dynamic grass roots facilitators work hard to keep the programs successfully running.