Items Needed @ GLA

http://http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/notes/karisa-mae/haiti-in-need-of-everything-including-used-items/273887396032

The orphanage and surronding community is in NEED of many many items from baby supplies/ food to adult clothing to household items. Unfortunately all items collected need to be shipped to Colorado (as they are organizing a container to Haiti).
If you with to send items the link above is a message from Jean Bell (USA corrdinator for GLA) of the 'needs' and the address.
I will be collecting items closer to my trip date to bring with me, unfortunately I will be limited to one large bag--> if you wish to donate please contact me at
britt_berri@hotmail.com and we can organize something!

Much appreciated!

Please continue to keep the children and staff of GLA in your thoughts and prayers, Canadian babies will be heading home TOMORROW! Please pray for their endurance during this transition period! Also please pray that the French government gets thier act together, as they have yet to confirm visas for children headed to France, those few at GLA that are headed there will likely be devastated if they have seen thier 'friends' head home while they remain in Haiti.

All the best!

The faces I will miss....they have gone HOME!

Just a few faces I will miss...

He is now with his forever family...
So is she....

I prayed that I would be able to hold them again...

but I am EXTREMLY happy that they have FINALLY found comfort in their forever homes,

I will continue to long for their snuggles, they giggles and their endless love

but I am confident that they will be fulfilled!

Please continue to pray for these little babies so that they have a smooth transition....

Please continue to pray for the strength and endurance of GLA staff and volunteers, they have said ALOT of goodbyes for which they cannot prepare.....

Please continue to pray for all of Haiti, it will be a long and trying process to rebuild this beautiful country!

All the best to those forever families! These babies are trully blessed!

Sending them home....

So I am still continually scanning the computer for updates from GLA but they are few and far between these days- they are TOO busy. The children bound for forever homes in the Netherlands and US have been issued visas (most of them) so that they may join their families, escape from the chaos in the aftermath of a devastating natural disaster and make room for more children at the orphanages. SO I can only imagine the panic and stress that ensues for staff and volunteers at GLA (and other orphanages) inorder to prepare their children for this departure. Please pray for thier strenght and endurance. SO many goodbyes, with SO little time to prepare undoubtably will be adding to the hardship; however, this is an incredibly happy time for many families who have waited months for thier children, and have been struggling over the past week stressing over the wellbeing of their child.
Canadian visas are still pending, however families here are hopeful that their babies will be coming home within the next few days.
Please keep ALL these children in your thoughts and prayers and pray that they have safe travels and are not fearful of what lies ahead. As I have said before, my hope for them is that they remember their country for the beautiful place it can be and not for the chaotic state it is currently in.

I urge you to continue giving, to continue to keep Haiti in your thoughts as the media coverage begins to dwindle, the need is still great, there are still people stuck in the rubble, many injured and struggling for their life and many stuck in limbo -->no house, no food, no resources.

My trip to haiti cannot come quick enough... 3 months!!!

It doesnt get easier....

So I am quickly finding out that is doesnt get easier.
It doesnt get easier to watch news reports about my devastated country.
It doesnt get easier to talk to my friends in Haiti... wishing I could be there to console them and help them.
It doesnt get easier to trek through classes while my mind is elsewhere.

However, I have been getting more and more hopeful reports, compiled with saddening ones... many children who are somewhere within the adoption process have been given clearance to join their forever families and complete the process at "home". Unfortunately Canada has yet to jump on board. GLA is happy to see those children go home, but are immediately recognizing that this is simply to make room for the many many children who are about to show up at their door. The staff and volunteers at GLA are working tirelessly to make everything happen for these children, and there is not a minute that goes by that I am not thinking and praying for my friends there.

Rayjon's Director Dieudonne has been put in charge of the refugee health stations in the St. Marc area, thus money raised during the Resolution Jam and elsewhere is being directed to efforts there. Thousands of lives hang in the balance as we continue to wait for relief efforts to get ORGANIZED and reach towns and cities left untouched as of right now.

I feel very disconnected as I walk through Guelph campus and see NO efforts, NO fundraising, NO awareness, my professors have yet to mention the devastation, no moment of silence NO RECOGNITION... this is baffling me as I struggle to put it out of my mind long enough to tackle what needs to be done here. I am currently brainstorming a fundraising initiative here in Guelph- and I am welcoming ANY help and ANY suggestions.
I continue to find comfort in my couple second conversations with my friends at GLA, with my update emails fom Rayjon voices and my solidarity with all those praying for Haiti right now.

Please continue to pray for those affected by the earthquake, especially for those needing medical attention as the supplies and skill are greatly unavailable. Please pray that all children en route to their forever families make it safely and without hassle and they make a smooth transition and will remember Haiti for the beautiful country that it is... that it was....and not with distaste. Please keep all those people who are working day and night with relief that they will continue to endure the hardships and find strength and comfort in our support here in Canada, the States and around the World.

If you are looking to make a donation please contact me! Please seek organizations with ACCOUNTABILITY and it is quickly becoming apparent that some lack that!

All the best!

RAYJON YOUTH COMMITTEE!

WE RAISED AN AMAZING $5110.00 FOR HAITI RELIEF!

Thanks to everyone who came out to support!!!

CHANGE FOR HAITI!

Last time I made the long drive to Sarnia and found comfort in the hugs and conversations of my fellow "Haiti lovers". The Rayjon Youth Committee hosted a amazingly successful fundraiser band night and raised an estimated $3000 for Rayjon's Development Project in response to the earthquake. It was an incredible night and I always feel at peace when I am with my Rayjon friends. I was able to find out more information on the earthquakes effects on Rayjons Projects, no staff have been harmed (another miracle) BUT many have lost famiy members and homes. St. Jospeh's Home for Boys which is always a stop on Rayjons Awareness Trips in Port Au Prince has collapsed, all were evacuated only one critically harmed (still waiting on an update from him). St. Marc expects to be flooded with those fleeing Port Au Prince and we are in constant communication with our Haitian director regarding the "needs"!
Nevertheless I still am experiencing that pit in my stomach.. knowing I should be there.... I FINALLY heard from my parents who are on vacation and it being a little too late did recieve the go ahead to go to Haiti. Unfortunately I have lost my spot but I must force myself to appreciate that there is a full plane on route to Haiti in relief on Monday or Tuesday.. this is good!
GLA (the orphanage) is alright, reading my friends blog I heard they were hit with a pretty intense aftershock yesterday which is very frustrating, again no one was hurt but everyone is shaken up yet again. They are experiencing stress regarding supplies such as food, water and propane considering most had been brought in from Port au Prince. I am holding on to every little update I recieve from my friends there and I will continue to update!
I am also very thankful for the friends, family and even strangers who have contacted me to express thier concern and support. It is very difficult to be here right now when my heart is there but the support here makes it that much easier. So I thank you.
If you are interested in making a donation I will be collecting monetary donations to send to GLA and items to take with me in April when I go for 2 months.

Keep continue to keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.

So very torn....

Last night I received an email that there is a need for volunteers RIGHT NOW at GLA. Immediately I was convinced that that was where I needed to be... I began to scramble... trying to contact my family and talk this over. My parents are in Jamaica on vacation and I have no way of contacting them right now. I emailed my profs asking if they would help be catch up if I did go for 2 weeks. I spent a very sleepless night mulling this over.... some have told me that 'someone else' will tend to their needs... 'someone else' will go... and this only further frustrates me. If everyone thought that way, waiting for 'someone else' to help we would live in a terrible world.
This morning I decided it is just not feasible, I would be jeopardizing my courses and thus my graduation in April....and there is no way I am leaving this country without contact with my parents. This was one of the hardest decisions I have EVER had to make. I know I belong there, so why do so many hurdles stand in my way? I just hope the staff, volunteers and children of GLA know that I am thinking of them constantly and wish more than anything that I could be there right now.
I hope that enough volunteers are able to get there and help manage the immense task of running that orphanage in a time of crisis.
Please keep everyone in Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.

My heart is in Haiti

Thousands Displaced... many bound by Solidarity!
Many lives lost....we are thankful for those spared

(photos compliments of Laurie Bickel)

Days after a horrendous earthquake shook Haiti, I am hurting for my beloved country.... I am wanting more than ever to be there... to hold those babies, to hug the staff and volunteers at GLA and to lend a hand in regrouping and moving up and on! But I am confident that these strong, resilient people will pull through. I have been glued to my computer, searching news, facebook updates and emails from friends in Haiti and those also intimately connected. The news at GLA is good... miraculously no one was hurt almost 200 babies and children and not one major injury, no staff or volunteers were harmed but many have lost family members and homes.

The situation in PauP is horrendous, thousands of lives lost, thousands more injured, buildings, homes and livelihoods DESTROYED. I have been plagued with many many "WHY's" ... why has this vulnerable country been kicked again when they have yet to recover from the hurricanes last year? why them and not us? why why why?

Aid is needed and I am praying, hoping, waiting for teams to reach Haiti and start what is going to be a long, hard road of re-development. GLA staff and volunteers are calling for political lobbying for children who are struck in the long process of adoption... to be freed on humanitarian visa to their forever homes to make way for the many more orphans that will likely show up at the gates of GLA and every orphanage within Haiti.

I have also received updates from Rayjon's development project, the affects were felt in St. Marc and surrounding areas, it sounds like staff were scrambling to locate family members but I have yet to hear of the actual damage within the development projects. St. Joe's home for boys in Port au Prince was affected and some major injuries have ensued but again no real reports as of yet.

Please please please keep these Haitians in your thoughts and prayers. If you are able to make a donation please contact me and I can direct you to numerous NEEDS!

What Now?

2010 is not like any other year... this year I will be graduating University and I am faced with a million options.. not one guaranteed.

I am a perpetual planner and I like to have everything figured out, but for the first time in a long time I have to have faith that everything will come together. One thing that is for sure is that I will be returning to Haiti in April for a two months stay. I had this trip booked almost immediately after stepping off the plane in June returning from 1 month in Kenya and 1 month in Haiti. I fell in love with the children at God's Littlest Angels, the organization, the staff and the volunteers I encountered, I have held on tight to any and all connections I made while in Haiti and I am eagerly waiting my reunion with them in 4 months!

During my last stay I worked with 8 beautiful children and there is not a day that goes by that I don't think of each and everyone of them. They will never remember my face, my voice or my touch but I am confident that the love I poured into them during my stay will have a lasting impact on their development and their well being. I leave a piece of my heart in Haiti every time I go... who knows what this next visit may bring. I welcome any hardship or challenge I may face in order to hold those babies in my arms again.

I am seeking support within my community, from my friends and family in order to make this volunteer trip possible. Please contact me if you wish to make a monetary donation, any and all contributions are greatly appreciated.