Sirona Cares

Sirona's Year in a Glance: 2013

As the year ends our team wishes to thank all of our donors and supporters.  It has been another amazing year for Sirona full of challenges and accomplishments.

• Our biofuel farmers are actively working to plant 30,000 seedlings thanks to our donors and assistance from Aid Still Required.
• Our solar program is ramping back up to full health after a retrofit of all of our equipment that took place during the summer and fall of 2013.  Customers are enjoying light in their homes and lives are improved by the removal of kerosene lanterns.
• Our impact is increasing dramatically, thousands of households are enjoying electricity and improved income thanks to Sirona's alternative energy programs.
• Strong partnerships with our solar and battery pack manufacturing partners have resulted in better products for our customers.
• Continued support from the IEEE has kept Sirona's equipment functining and allowed us to better service our customers.
• Hundreds of little girls received hand made dresses donated by women of the Episcopal Dioscese of Northern California.
• More than 1,000 children were fed through our loan program to Sirona's biofuel farmers.  Sirona donates funds to assist the farmers so that they may expand their garden areas, and those loans are repaid in food to the local schools.

Looking forward:

• This fall we began work on a UNEP grant to light 3100 additional homes in 2014-2015 thanks to funding from the Government of Norway.  The first of 30 "Depo Eneje" (Energy Stores) will open in January, 2014 and soon after we will deploy a new solar system on Ile à Vache, a small island in southern Haiti.
• We will bring our jatropha oil to market in the spring of 2014 and plant an additional 90,000 seedlings thanks to assistance from Aid Still Required.
• An impact study of our work will be performed in the spring of 2014, we look forward to publishing the results of that study.
• We are looking to expand our work in Haiti and beyond in the coming year.

Our work is possible only through the support of our donors, so from our team, thank you, and best wishes for a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year!

 

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Lets Light a Village!

New Year, New Challenges

Sirona's team hit the ground running in 2013.  In Haiti all stations deployed for the USAID program have received all of the Ti Soley battery kits needed for each unit to support 83 homes.  This grant activity is now complete and Sirona's new franchisees are working hard to create sustainable businesses with their equipment. 

With regard to equipment, the IEEE is working with Sirona to resolve an issue with the original home kits that we deployed.  Some customers have experienced problems with their portable battery kit holding a charge.  The technical issue has been identified, and the IEEE team is working with Sirona on a retrofit campaign that will take place this spring.  In the meantime new equipment procured by Sirona has been deployed to the charging stations so that they may continue to service customers without interruption.

The IEEE has been an incredible partner for Sirona, and while an issue like this is a new challenge, the fact that this organization has stood behind this program and stepped up for the retrofit speaks volumes with regard to their dedication to bring light to those without.  Three new groups in Africa have been replicating this business model and we wish them well as they tackle the business management issues.  Sirona is committed to give as much field experience as we have gained thus far to these new groups and empower them to succeed in Camaroon, South Sudan and Nigeria.

Sirona is in the final stages of securing a grant from the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) to light 3,000 more homes in Haiti.  This time, rather than using solar charging stations we will be lighting most homes by rechrging Ti Soley kits at end of grid "Energy Stores".  We are evaluating sites for these stores now and undertaking market research to select the sites most likely to succeed.  There will also be two solar stations deployed under this grant on the island of Ille le Vache.  We look forward to beginning this work later this spring.

The Jatropha farming project is running well, over 250,000 trees have been planted and our farmers are eager for the first oil pressing and charcoal production that will occur in Port au Prince.  The press was damaged during shipping and has now been repaired.  We are ready to start making Jatropha oil for sale (to displace diesel fuel), and a form of alternative charcoal that burns cleaner than traditional charcoal. Pictured here are farmers I met with in December, 2012.

Finally, we are working to build both the Foundation and the Sirona Haiti business.  We appreciate the donors who sent funding over the holidays and appreciate your continued support of our work. It is going to be an exciting year, and my goal is to keep this blog up to date so that you may follow our progress!

Hurricane Isaac Hit Sirona's Farmers, Hard

 

Saint Jean with his mother and his wife

Today I received the following e-mail from our agronomist, Saint Jean, in southern Haiti.  He writes on behalf of our jatropha farmers whose area took the worst hit from Hurricane Isaac.  They are desperate, I know because he has never written an e-mail like this.  The nursery was wiped out, which can be replaced, but their homes were also destroyed and they are suffering.

 

 

Sirona has always supported our communities by helping them become self-sufficient.  We give them the power to create, use and sell alternative energy.  In the wake of the earthquake we gave financial and charitable assistance, and so on behalf of my farmers I am sending this e-mail to our readers hoping that donations may be made to help them through this recent crisis. 

Dear Michelle,
                        How are you doing? In my side It's not really okay. Haiti is hit by an hurricane, gardens and animals are lost, many houses at 2nd plain are destroyed, the farmers are in difficulties then my mother is sick. how you can assit the farmers? It would be bettter if you use a way to do a donation to the farmers. I need to prepare new plants but I want you do the transfert.
 
 
Best regards

Saint Jean Illace

Thank you in advance, for anything you can do

Clean Fuel in Haiti: 250,000 Trees Will Change Lives

If you dig back into this blog you will see that the SunBlazer solar program has received all of the attention for some time.  That is only one of our programs though, and the other does so well that I fail to blog about it,which is a shortcoming on my part.

Sirona places the power to create, use and sell alternative energy into the hands of the poorest people.  We achieve many things with this mission, we provide light, improve lives, improve livelihoods, empower, and improve the environment locally and globally.  Our Jatropha Program allows small farmers who work in co-ops, or in Haiti, Kombit farmers, to receive free seedlings and in turn, Sirona purchases these seeds to process into two resources: clean fuel (Jatropha oil is a drop in replacement for diesel fuel) and an alternative charcoal.

As with any agricultural program, it takes time to reach milestones.  Sirona has just surpassed the planting of over 250,000 trees that will each bear enough seed to produce a gallon of clean fuel a year.  The residue will be used as nitrate rich fertilizer or compressed into briquettes to replace charcoal.

Haitians cook with charcoal.  It is a way of life, but the charcoal trade is destroying the fragile island.  Deforestation is arguably Haiti's largest issue.  We are working to encourage planting, rather than cutting down trees, and if we can stabilize these hillsides and replenish the soil, the indigenous trees will return in time.  This program creates the opportunities for the charcoal trade to shift to tree planting rather than cutting.

We could not have reached this milestone without the support of our donors, and we especially wish to highlight the support we have received from JDT Foundation.  Last fall they supported the planting of 50,000 seedlings and committed to 50,000 more this year.  JDT Foundation is a Haitian organization that saw Jatropha's potential and elected to support our endeavor rather than begin one of their own.  We are immensely appreciative of this support and look forward to continuing our program.  Pressing oil will begin in the coming months, seeds are being bought today to give us what we need when we are ready to press.  Organizations are now coming to us seeking contracts to purchase the oil.  As with everything we have done thus far, that decision will ultimately lie with the farmers.

I am looking at opportunities for Carbon Credit financing, and working to raise funds to continue this worthy program.  We are expecting to expand into the north this year working with a new group who has seen the program and hopes to displace the fuel they need for their hospital generator.  Many thanks to all who have supported our farmers, they have used your funding to it's fullest potential, and it will change lives for generations.  Consider this: the impact of a $100 donation to this program will allow us to plant 1,000 seedlings, each will produce a gallon of fuel per year as well as charcoal.  If the value of that is $5 per year, and the trees live for 25 years (typically between 25-45 years) your $100 donation creates $125,000 for the farmers in Haiti.  JDT's $5,000 donation will generate $6,250,000 over the life of these trees.

Anytime you can offset in import, particularly fuel, you are making a financial impact in a country.  Whenever you can reduce the amount of smoke children are exposed to you are having positive health impact in a country.  This program will not change all of Haiti, but for our farming communities it will generate badly needed revenue, empower, and improve lives.  Thank you again for your generosity and support.

Sustainable Change Occurring in Haiti through Alternative Energy

This week brings the end of three years of work in Haiti. As a friend commented recently, we really have come a long way. I am thrilled and amazed by the progress we have made towards our mission to build sustainable communities by placing the power to create, use and sell alternative energy into the hands of the poor. The most exciting thing to report about 2011 is that it was the year in which we empowered Haitians to change the lives of people in their communities, sustainably.

With over 100,000 jatropha trees planted (and an additional 150,000 funded for next year) we will soon see dramatic economic changes in rural Haiti. Each tree produces enough oil-rich seeds to create a gallon of oil that is a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel. This means that for the next 25-45 these 100,000 trees will bring economic improvement to rural Haitians while the trees improve soil and reverse deforestation. A critical byproduct of producing jatropha oil is a charcoal replacement briquette that is made by pressing the residue or seedcake from the pressing process. Our nurseries each produce 10,000 seedlings every three months and farmers eagerly take these seedlings to their land and plant them without displacing any food crops. Our press needs repairs and as soon as it is ready we will make our first oil. 2012 promises to be another incredible year.

We end 2011 with 240 homes that have their first electricity. Far from the grid these homes are serviced by the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Program. The IEEE worked with Sirona to design and ultimately deploy six Sunblazer units. These are 1.5kW solar charging stations run by entrepreneurial Operators. Each Operator has forty customers who pay a modest $6.70 per month for basic electricity. Customers receive an energy kit that has a rechargeable battery, lights and the ability to charge cellular phones. When the kit is exhausted (five to seven days on average) the customer brings the battery kit back to the charging station and three hours later the kit is ready to return to their home. The IEEE and the Sirona team have been thrilled to see that, due to our culturally appropriate business plan, all 240 customers have paid every month, every Operator has made his lease payment to Sirona keeping the program sustainable, and nothing has been stolen or damaged since deployment in June.

This program has had such success that the Haitian Secretary of Energy has announced that Sirona Haiti's electricity program is the model for electrification of rural villages. USAID is supporting the program by building Sirona a Haitian assembly facility. This spring the first Haitian built Sunblazers will roll out to rural communities and provide the first electricity many have ever had--at a price lower than what they are currently paying for noxious kerosene, candles and cell phone charging.

We are very excited for next year, the groundwork has been laid for amazing progress to occur in 2012. As the year ends we thank all of our partners and friends in Haiti, our supporters, all of our donors, all of the IEEE volunteers and all of the funding provided by the IEEE for the Sunblazer pilot units. We thank the Government of Haiti for including Sirona in the energy sector strategic planning process and inviting us to display our unit at the Caricom Energy Week events. Many have read the article in World Magazine, and we appreciate all of the kind words and donations that this article has generated. Thank you, one and all. 2012 promises to be a very exciting year full of progress in Haiti and beyond. Year end donations are graciously accepted by the Sirona Cares Foundation!

Jatropha Program Thriving with 100,000+ Trees Planted

It's amazing what happens to a community when you give them options for a better future.  It is exciting, and incredibly rewarding.  Since 2009 we have been working with rural Haitians and refining our Jatropha Program.  Because Haitians developed the plan there is a strong sense of ownership and pride associated with the work of planting these trees.

Jatropha is a shrub that produces non-edible fruit.  The seeds of this fruit are rich in oil, and this oil is extracted with a mechanical press.  Once pressed the oil does not need further refining to run in most diesel engines (generators, trucks, tractors, etc.).  Jatropha oil can be mixed with diesel fuel.  This will bolster the economics in rural areas, and lower carbon emissions in Haiti.  As if this isn't enough, the byproduct of the pressing process (seedcake) can be compressed into an alternative charcoal briquette.  This will also generate income in rural Haiti and protect the vulnerable island from further deforestation.

Today we have over 1,000 participating farmers in southern Haiti and over 100,000 trees have been planted.  Hillsides have been bolstered, soil improved, and no food displaced by the process because we either inter crop Jatropha at safe distances or use it as a border crop (because animals do not eat it).  Each of these trees should yield enough seed to create a gallon of oil each year.  If we assume the price of a gallon of oil to be $5.00, that means these communities will bring in $500,000 a year.  Jatropha lives 25-45 years, so in 25 years these communities will have made $12.5 million dollars.  The proposition is exciting, and encouraging.

More encouraging was the news we received from the JDT Foundation last month.  Named for Joseph Dennis Thomas, the Foundation focuses upon improving education, the environment and the economics in Haiti.  Sirona is honored to have received grants from the JDT Foundation which will pay for the planting of our next 100,000 trees in 2012.  In addition, another grant from Dupont will allow us to plant even more trees and begin the process of producing jatropha oil this spring.

It has taken a lot of hard work to get here, but it is gratifying to see the difference that Haitians are making.  The program is run as a partnership with Sirona funding nurseries to generate seedlings, and the trees are then planted voluntarily by farmers to help improve their land.  We are always looking for ways to create even more sustainability, so this past year we allowed 10 farmers to "borrow" $50 each to extend their farms.  Rather than be repaid in cash we elected to have these farmers pay back the debt in food to the local school's lunch program. 

Many thanks to the JDT Foundation, to Dupont, and to our supporters who have gotten our friends in Haiti this far. 

Sirona Now Poised to Generate Millions in Haiti, For Haiti

If you work on sustainable development projects and decide to tackle something as profound as energy poverty, it's easier to see the long road ahead than the progress you make.  This morning I got an e-mail from a friend asking how things were going.  I said that we had planted 50,000 jatropha trees already, and our goal is 250,000 by the end of the year.  We're at 20% of goal in mid-February, which is great.  Then I started thinking about the financial impact this project has for our communities in Haiti and that already we've created the potential for over six million dollars of positive impact for Haiti.  I apply these facts and assumptions:

FACTS:

• Jatropha oil is a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel and can run most generators/diesel engines without refinement.  It's value compares to fossil fuel.
• Our farmers displace no food crops with this project, and pay nothing to participate.  We provide the nursery, training and seedlings. 
• This is a non-profit effort to sustainably improve lives in rural Haiti.
• Jatropha is non-invasive and has grown in Haiti for hundreds of years.
• Our model is co-op based, non-exclusive and collaborative.
• Sirona buys/leases no land in Haiti for our project.
• All fuel sale profits are re-invested in development work in Haiti. 

 

ASSUMPTIONS:

• Jatropha plants should live for 25-45 years, I've taken 25 for my assumption.
• Over the next 25 years the price for a diesel substitute will not rise above $5.00 per gallon.  This is a lower value than diesel sells at today (around $8/gallon) and a very safe assumption. 
• Each tree produces enough seed to create one gallon of jatropha oil per year.  We are testing this, and feel it is a safe assumption.  Internationally this is a conservative number, but we're not in India or Africa, and we won't know until we harvest.  Because our plants are inter-cropped with food crops (rather than using the poorest land available), we believe that they will receive the care necessary to produce this amount of oil.  A plus of this farming method is that jatropha puts nitrates back into the soil, repairing and improving the food crop's soil.

 

So, here is what I wrote to my friend today, and wanted to share on the blog:

• Every donation of $100 plants 1,000 jatropha trees
• Each tree produces one gallon of fuel a year ($100 donation=1,000 gallons of fuel)
• Each gallon is worth $5 ($100 donation=$5,000)
• Each tree will produce at this level for 25 years ($100 donation will put $5,000 into the Haitian economy per year and $125,000 over time.)

 

Today, with 50,000 trees in the ground, our project will put $6.25 Million dollars into the Haitian economy over time:

• In two years, these 50,000 trees should produce 50,000 gallons of fuel a year, for 25 years.
• At $5 per gallon, the fuel sales will inject $250,000 per year into our farming communities
• Over the life of the trees, the financial impact (if our assumptions are accurate) will be $6.25 Million dollars 

 

And we all know what they say about a-s-s-u-m-p-t-i-o-n-s.  Even if we're wrong, even if it's half of that, the project will put more than $3 Million dollars a year into a country desperate for revenue generating projects, re-forestation projects, improved soil and alternative fuel sources.  I've addressed the nay-sayers there, but to the supporters: just what if we're right?  If we reach our goal of planting 250,000 trees this year, the financial impact two years later will be around $625,000 per year culminating in $31.25 Million over the life of the trees.  That's really, really exciting to stop and ponder.

If you have a dime in your pocket (well, I think the minimum donation on Paypal is $5), send us a donation.  That dime will create $5 in revenue per year for the Haitian community, and ultimately provide $125 dollars worth of positive impact.  $5 bucks, or 500 trees creates $2,500 per year for 25 years, or $62,500 over the life of the tree (unless I'm wrong, and it's half, meaning your $5 will only made a $31,250 impact.)  All this without displacing a single food crop, and at the same time improving the global environment and Haiti in many ways (slowing deforestation; creating a low carbon/low emission fuel substitute; improved soil, creating a clean-burning charcoal alternative, not to mention many jobs and community improvements...).

We have enrolled over 1,000 farmers excited to participate in the program.  We can't keep up with demand at our nurseries and would love to plant faster.  Next year's goal is completing 1 Million trees, and we could make that this year with adequate funding.  The more fuel we produce and sell in Haiti the better; if it can't be sold in Haiti it is a very valuable export for which I have a guaranteed buyer.  We expect the Haitian market for this oil to be robust, but we have a back-up plan just in case.

Today I feel really excited.  I can look at where we are, what our Haitian partners have accomplished, and breathe for a moment.  Once I click "Publish" I will turn back to the long road in front of us... but it has been a really, really good morning.

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New Nurseries Bring us to 50,000 Trees in Haiti

We're very excited about launching our IEEE/Sirona Rural Electricity Program next month, but we've haven't slowed down on the Jatropha project.  I am excited to report the start of two new nurseries this month.  With over 1,000 farmers enrolled in our program we're confident that by the end of the year we will have planted 250,000 trees. Photos show the beginning of the nursery in Petit Goave that is already full of seedlings, and the tools that the nursery set-up dollars paid for.

Jatropha was hailed as a magic bullet internationally because its oil from its seeds is a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel.  Initially there was a rush to purchase or lease large tracts of land for Jatropha plantations resulting in food crop displacement.  Many Jatropha projects failed because field maintenance costs created poor economics and food displacement is a very real issue.

Our program is unique because we're creating the possibility for the small farmer in Haiti to succeed without displacing any food production.  Haitian farmers are typically not monoculture farmers, usually there are a number of things being grown in a garden.  We provide the seedlings from our nurseries and train them on safe intercropping.  Haitians know Jatropha, it grows wild there.  Because it is not eaten by animals, it was traditionally used to mark graves in Haiti.  It's also a popular hedge crop.

Haiti suffers from severe deforestation resulting in great losses of topsoil and landslides.  Much of the soil is depleted of minerals, and crops are not thriving as they could.  Jatropha addresses both stabilizes the land (shrubs will live for 25-45 years) and puts nitrates back into the soil.  Jatropha oil is, in fact, a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel.  By simply crusing the seeds and filtering the oil you can run generators or stretch regular diesel for almost any diesel engine. The biproduct of the crushing process, seedcake, makes a nitrogen rich fertilizer or can be compressed into charcoal briquettes (reducing the need to cut down trees for charcoal and creating revenue for the farmers in addition to the seed sale).

Fuel is the path that dollars take out of every community in the world, and by placing the power to grow, use and sell clean fuel in the hands of Haitians we are addressing many issues, both Haitian and global.  We've planted 30,000 trees already and now have 20,000 seedlings in our nurseries.  By the end of the year we will have planted 250,000 trees.  Jatropha oil is a valuable export but our goal is to sell the oil in Haiti at a price that sustains the program.  Sirona Cares is a 501(c)3 non-profit, and we roll all profits from fuel sales back into infrastructure development in Haiti.  The project is scalable, replicable, and well received.

Jatropha is NOT a magic bullet.  Jatropha IS a plant with incredible properties that can be grown without displacing food, improve soil for food crops, slow erosion, and reverse deforestation allowing other trees to grow again on the mountains of Haiti.  This project is an environmentally responsible approach to helping impoverished communities help themselves, and in the process offset carbon emmissions of other countries.

Haiti's Earthquake: Looking Back & Forward

I have not written since the anniversary of the earthquake.  I have many mixed feelings and feared that I would not articulate any of them in a meaningful way.  Nobody can imagine really what it was like for Haiti to lose hundreds of thousands of people in moments.  The damage was beyond comprehension.  The lack of a plan to move forward has crippled the country and with no strong government, no plan, no focus and no funding or solid international support Haiti is still paralyzed.

A year ago I was literally drowning in the goodwill of the Bay Area in response to the earthquake.  I kept busy sorting and packing goods for survivors with volunteers to keep my mind off of all of the people I could not reach.  I held a ticket for Haiti dated only days after the earthquake and it took me two more weeks to get into the country through the Dominican Republic.  Donated planes flew us from one town to another allowing us to see many of our partners.  Haiti a year ago was full of American military.  When I arrived the streets were clogged with rubble, dust burned our eyes and throats, people slept in the roadways of Port au Prince, and NGO vehicles were everywhere.  Signs were posted with pleas for food, water and medicine.  The streets of Port au Prince were peaceful and eerily quiet, I have never experienced that level of calm in the city, before or since my Februrary visit.

Only some things have changed in a year.  The signs are gone, as is much of the assistance.  Haitians walk and live amongst the rubble of the earthquake.  They lack every form of service we take for granted, namely access to clean water and electricity.  A cholera epidemic has ravaged the country since October and turmoil from an unresolved presidential election looms ever present.  The extremity of the poverty and the complexity of the issues in Haiti were hard to articulate yesterday, and today the ousted dictator, Duvalier (Baby Doc) has returned to Haiti. 

I do not comment politics in Haiti.  I spend all of my energy and building sustainable communities in the rural areas of Haiti.  I work directly with community leaders designing programs with them that will benefit their people.  We focus upon addressing energy poverty, and are bringing real solutions to village people.  With over 1,000 farmers enrolled in our jatropha program we will soon see positive economic development in the countryside based on locally produced biofuel.  When we deploy six electricity stations next month we will create six businesses and bringing light to 240 homes. 

Our organization is successful because we listen to our Haitian partners and design with them programs that will work for them.  It pains me to look at how little over-all progress has been made in Haiti over the past year.  The urgent message that must come out of Haiti is that it is not hopeless; that people do want and will work for sustainable development.  They prefer this option to charity.  The population is young (a median age of 20) and they embrace change.  In their memory there are no "good old days" and they desperately want to create a future.  I would urge people who believe in the power of the human spirit to keep your eyes on our work in Haiti to be reassured that positive change is possible, and is taking place, regardless of the media's portrayal of this broken country.

 

Haiti 2011: Sirona's Goals for Rural Improvement

As we begin the year, we owe thanks to many people for supporting the work we are doing in Haiti.  2010 was an incredibly difficult year, beginning with the devastation of the earthquake. Cholera hit Haiti in the fall killing more than 2,000 people, storms flooded the west of Haiti and the presidential election resulted in chaos.  The news out of Haiti in 2010 was not good.

Current political instability is a serious issue.  For many an investment in Haiti is deemed too risky, and millions of dollars donated to Haiti's recovery have still not been sent.  I go to Haiti every other month, and it is my opinion that the primary cause of instability in Haiti is the horrific living conditions suffered by most of the population.  With 80%+ unemployment people are poorer than most readers of this blog could begin to comprehend.  They lack electricity, they lack safe water to drink, and many cannot eat, much less send their children to school.  Living in these conditions creates enourmous stress, and anger.  I believe that Haiti must be invested in, because I believe that the root of the instability is the stress suffered by the people there.  If they could find work, feed and educate their children, and have access to the basis for a life which includes electricity and water, then and only then could stability begin.  As long as the suffering of the people is as intense as it is, there will be instability.

All of our work is geared at building sustainable communities.  We will not change Haiti as a whole, but we will create communities that are stronger, where people have the means to work and gain access to power, to clean water, and make a living.  Our jatropha project is designed to give rural Haitians the ability to produce, use and sell biodiesel; our electricity project is designed to create small businesses and provide electricity to those with no access.  Rather than aim at making a small difference to a great number of people, we are geared at making a very big difference to small communities of people, and we are succeeding.

Sirona began working in Haiti in January of 2009 and what we have accomplished, and where we are going, is noteworthy:

• The jatropha program, designed to improve the lives and communities of rural Haiti: We have planted over 40,000 trees and enrolled 1,000 interested farmers.  Our 2011 goal is to plant 250,000 trees.  We have every reason to believe that we will exceed this goal with no problem.
• Rural Electricity:  We worked with the IEEE for over a year to design and prepare for deployment a Rural Electricity Program.  Our first shipment will occur this month.  In February we will bring light to 240 homes that have no access to electricity and power six new businesses. 
• We provided aid to over 20,000 people following the earthquake, the largest Northern California response.
• We have received the funding for our press to extract jatropha oil from the seeds so that we can begin selling it in Haiti in the coming months.
• Our nutrition program based on Moringa education has improved the health of over 2,000 children who were suffering from malnutrition, many of which are HIV positive.
• We have linked our partners who educate and care for children to resources and through this process fed thousands of meals, funded a sustainable school garden, bought locally produced school uniforms putting 75 children in school who would otherwise have been unable to attend, and funded the education of one little girl this year.  We also received enough cleats and shirts to create the soccer uniform for the orphans at Mission of Hope (above).

2011 is going to be a very exciting year, and we are eager to complete our funding goals.  This year we intend to accomplish the goals above as well as complete the rebuild of the Mission of Hope School in Grand Goave.  Haiti needs investment, and we need the support of people willing to invest in improving the lives of Haitians.  If you haven't donated, please do, every donation counts, and every dollar changes lives.  If you have donated, please accept our gratitude, and many thanks from our partners in Haiti.