We have had another incredibly busy week at Be Like Brit, both in Haiti and in the USA! As our second Britsionary group was well under way at the task of building a home for one of our employees, Team USA was extra busy both preparing the Operations Center for its grand opening later this month, and preparing for our Annual Fall Gala!
Our Britsionary Group called themselves "Team Fou" (fou is the Creole word for crazy!) and it was definitely an "it's Haiti" kind of week! Despite all sorts of plans going awry, schedules changing, and other challenges typical of Haiti, this group persevered in a way that epitomized what it means to be flexible and optimistic - a trait so important for anyone coming to Haiti to serve in this capacity!
The group was tasked with building a home for our friend Bijou and his family. Bijou also works for Be Like Brit as a member of our security team and is an incredibly faithful and loyal employee. Together with his wife and child, Bijou will now be living on the road to Be Like Brit, as we strive to develop a community on the mountain where our children are growing up. As we build these homes, anchored in concrete and braced for hurricane winds, we know we're building the community back stronger. By providing access to clean water and developing this community, we know our vision of creating an environment for our children to thrive is becoming more and more clear!
We love it when our Britsionary groups come with this kind of take-charge attitude that Team Fou brought with them! Not only did they build this home for Bijou and his family, but they brought so much to the children, too! It is because of the members of Team Fou that we were able to successfully complete our Life is Good Playmakers Training on site! We even had the special talents of field hockey and musicians on hand this week - just to name two! Our children clearly engage in this and love when we have visitors!
While our Team was busy building the house here in Haiti, our Team and volunteers in the states were busy working on the "OC" - the Operations Center for Be Like Brit! The amount of work happening at the OC combined with the amount of work happening in Haiti is just incredible! We here in Haiti look to Facebook for updates on things happening in the U.S. just like all of you do! Imagine our surprise when the photos of the new sign at the OC went up! The children and staff were all so excited to see the name of their home in bright lights and twinkling stars!
Speaking of children - did you know that we had FOUR new girls come to Be Like Brit this past week!? We are now at 33 boys with the addition of Malorie and John Jeffrey, and are in the final stages of assessing and determining eligibility on the last two girls to come home to Be Like Brit! We are so excited that we have essentially met our goal to be a home for 66 children and to provide for them everything they need to grow, learn, and thrive. For many of them, traumatic pasts between violence and poverty, natural disaster, disease, and more has a huge impact on them. Thanks to the support of our so generous sponsors, we are able to address all of those issues as thoroughly as we possibly can. As a result, we've seen great progress in our children - both emotional and physical growth are measurable. We know this isn't possible without the help of all of you.
Knowing how much we rely on outside support to keep things up and running at Be Like Brit, our Annual Fall Gala was held last night, November 15, 2014 at the Boston Harbor Hotel. This is a huge event and by far our biggest fundraiser of the year, and it requires massive amounts of planning by our Team in the USA. Melissa, Cherylann, Kristin, and Doreen spent countless hours planning for this event, and so many of our wonderful friends (like Erin and Collen) helped in the planning process! Do you think they look busy here? What about Bruno?
I received word earlier in the week that I would fly back to Boston with the Britsionary Group which was leaving so that I could attend the Gala and meet all of you who do so much to help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit! So many of you are familiar faces and such staunch supporters that we are already friends, but so many new faces were there to meet, too!
The Gala at the Boston Harbor Hotel last night was a huge success! We are always so appreciative of everyone who supports our efforts here at Be Like Brit, but it's especially clear when we all gather together for the biggest night of the year! Indeed, past Britsionarys and friends alike gathered for an evening dedicated to the children of Be Like Brit and with a focus on fundraising for the now 65 children we have! We proudly announced last night that we are just one child away from fulfilling our vision, and she is scheduled to arrive at Brit's Orphanage tomorrow!
I'm on the road back to Haiti but be sure to stay tuned to our facebook page for all of our upcoming exciting events! Like last night and as always, thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!!!
