SILOAM SCHOOL AT LABASTILLE
(AKA Haiti Mission School)
UPDATE
May 2012
PURE WATER AT THE SCHOOL and OTHER ISSUES!
May 6, 2012
Dear Friends of Siloam School.
Tom and JoEllen Parsons (my parents), are on the ground in Haiti again! I received word from them the other night through Skipe, and they are hard at work and are doing well. They were able to get the following message off to us and were hoping I could get it posted on the site for them. The following is the update that they provided to me.. Keep them in your prayers. Steve Parsons.
This is our second trip of the year. In January when we came, we determined that because of road conditions, we were not going to be able to get well-drilling equipment to the school. So we agreed the next best plan is to build a cistern to collect water from the roof of the church instead. We will then provide purification so that it will be pure enough for the 120+ students of our school to drink.
Since then we have been working at raising the necessary funds to build the cistern. With this, we were successful. We have told Dieudonne, our manager in Haiti, to go ahead and build the cistern. When completed it will hold about 4500 gallons of water, which should be sufficient to get us over any dry season.
Just before we left for Haiti, we visited the Rotary Club of Glens Falls. There we heard about a program that they have been supporting for several years, Pure Water for the World. Pure Water provides Bio-filter sand filtration systems, that are simple and nearly fool proof to operate. We made connections with their office in Port Au Prince.
When we arrived in Port Au Prince, we met with a woman from their office and asked them to provide us with three different proposals on their systems. We were told that we would need three or four filters to provide sufficient water for that many students. In each case, as part of their program, they require that we send two teachers to be trained to teach hygiene classes at the school. With the constant threat of Cholera and other water-borne diseases in Haiti, we are eager to comply.
We are hoping that we will be able to get some financial assistance from the Rotary Club to provide the filtration at our school.
On Friday, we visited the school, and took pictures of all the students and teachers. We presented the students and teachers with small gifts, and shared greetings with each other. We were told that many of the children will be singing in the church at Labastille this Sunday and made plans to attend church there this weekend. JoEllen and I (Tom )have been asked to share the message and we are looking forward to doing so (with the able assistance of Jakob-our translator).
During the next week, we will be meeting with the Committee for the school and agree on a budget for the coming year. We plan to discuss the difficulties we have had in getting our school registered with the Haitian government and hope they will be able to assist us in getting this done. Next year our first class will graduate. Unless we are able to get the registration accomplished we will need to make other arrangements; i.e., to pay another school to let our students to take their final exams there.
We will head back to the school at least once and perhaps twice during the coming week to visit the classes and see them in session. We plan to return to the U.S. on Monday May 14. We appreciate your continuing prayers for all of these things.
April 3, 2012
Dear Friends of Siloam School.
As many of you know, we have long wanted to find a way to get clean water to the children at our school. Presently, water is brought from this creek which is down a steep trail and about ½ mile away from the school. One day the water is clear. The next it is anything but clear. Sometimes it’s even dry. We had hoped to be able to build a road wide enough for drilling equipment to get to the school. The Haitians kept telling us they didn’t think that would work. Yet they tried.
Before we arrived in 2011 they managed to complete an
excellent road about half of the way to the school. However, before we returned in 2012, the rains came and washed it out. When we got there in January we finally understood. We couldn’t even walk down the road. Our board has agreed with the Committee in Haiti that the answer is to build a cistern, which will trap the water from the roof of the church beside the school. A purifier will then be installed to purify the water. Our Haitian friends have assured us that this is the best solution to the problem. It will also be considerably less expensive. Dieudonne, our friend and aide in Haiti, estimates that he can get the supplies and build a cistern large enough for the school for under $3500 US.
This cistern is our primary capital project. Once built, it will allow us to move on to our second project which is to begin the process of replacing buildings severely damaged by the 2010 earthquake. We hope to undertake that project beginning next year. We are writing to ask if you or your church (or other organization) would be willing to help us with this critical and worthy water project. A friend of the school has offered to match the first $1000, so we really only have to raise $2500. We would like to be able to tell Dieudonne to go ahead with the cistern when we return to Haiti in May. With $2000 in pledges and/or donations, we’ll tell him to begin and trust that the rest will come.
We join the children of Haiti in thanking you for your tax-deductible pledges and donations in any amount. Checks can be made out to the school and sent directly to us at the address
below, or we have an account at PayPal under the school's name.
Thanking you in advance,
Tom and JoEllen Parsons
FRIENDS OF SILOAM SCHOOL AT LABASTILLE,INC.
PO BOX 445
LAKE LUZERNE, NY 12846
haitimissionschool@gmail.com
The children of Haiti are so beautiful. They are friendly, gentle and loving.
The beauty of the island is undeniable.
Unfortunately, the country's economy is the poorest in the western hemisphere.
This is not the fault of the children.
For reasons beyond our understanding they have been born into situations outside their control.
Many have asked us what hope is there for this country just a few short miles from the U.S.?
What could change it for the better? With so many things broken,
it is doubtful that it can be fixed for many years if not generations.
What hope then, is there for these children?
Like a lot of other things,
if you only look at the big picture, it's discouraging.
But if you look at the picture,
one child at a time, there is some hope.