We know that in this kind of work self-care is so important to keeping our minds sharp and in maintaining a healthy separation between work and our own lives. That can be challenging when you live where you work - with the people with whom you work! I'm grateful that Len and Cherylann are the type of people who understand that, and recognize the value in a more extended and recuperative time off.
So, that said - it's good to be back! I had to rub my eyes a bit when I pulled in the gate at Be Like Brit last Thursday night around 8:30pm - because with everything that has been going on, it didn't look anything like the place I had left! The amount of work that has been done and the progress that has been made is nothing short of miraculous! The Field of Dreams is taking shape - the vision is becoming clearer - and the end result is sure to be equally impressive. Boss Len never rests and the amount of work he's done is incredible.
The Solar Team had already been hard at work for several days upon my arrival, and this work is just such an incredible gift and blessing to our sustainability. We are operating on solar most of the time now, which saves us thousands of dollars every month in energy costs!
Of course, the excitement of seeing the little ones here was the thing I most looked forward to! Amanda was very busy while I was gone and enrolled 7 new children who I was anxious to meet! Having been the lead on child enrollment, I'm not accustomed to not knowing everything about new children when they come in. Learning their names and faces and relationships to each other has been my primary goal these past few days! This past week, I was also able to enroll our latest child, Kenelson - a five year old boy from a nearby mountain community who just recently lost his mother to illness.
We are now a family and a home for 56 beautiful children. Petit Bruno is here - and our family continues to grow! This past Friday in Port, I attended a mass celebrating the start of the school year at the St. Vincent De Paul School in Cite Soleil. We've developed a great relationship with them, and their Director M. Patrick has been a great resource in helping us identify and assess children and families in need. We can hardly believe we are only 10 children away from our capacity! Brit's dream has been realized and is live and strong!
We hosted our first Britsionary Women's Group - a four day trip led in to Haiti by Cherylann (along with Melissa and Kristin!). This is the first trip of this nature and we really enjoyed having the group here! Several of the group members are return guests, and several came for the first time! We were honored to welcome this group of women who are such staunch supporters of our efforts and our work!
Len headed back to the states today for meetings and speaking engagements! Amanda has been back in the US for a few days now and will return later this week - her first break after 75 days of work in Haiti! She definitely got "thrown in" to the mix, coming on just as I was taking my month off ~ and the work she did is just incredible! We're blessed to have her here and look forward to her return - along with our next Britsionary group!
We have lots of exciting things lined up for the month of October - so be sure to stay tuned for all of our updates! Thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!
