Recent teams have accomplished a great deal in Hermitage! Thanks to some nurses on our Fall Team, every student at Hermitage School has received a basic physical, and medical records, complete with a photo of each student, are now begun. The next step will be to train teachers and the Director of the Hermitage School to add recent illnesses and information to these records
.
The second floor of the school is almost complete. The final details of this building will be finished in the Fall, as a sixth class and teacher will be added and two of the four classrooms on the second floor will be used. The priority in the immediate future is to finish the dormitory for the male teachers who reside on site. With God's help, this will be finished by the Haitian workers during the next several months.
We continue to heavily subsidize the salaries of 5 teachers and a school director, enabling this school to grow and flourish.
Two groups of 15 to 20 women are already participating in a micro-credit program in Hermitage. They work under the direction of a trained local administrator. These women act cooperatively to support small businesses such as baking, sewing, gardens, selling materials at market for profit, etc. Proceeds from these business endeavors are currently used first to resupply the micro-credit funds, and then to support the students of Hermitage school with supplies, shoes, uniforms, and books. Funding is in place for two additional groups to be formed. This process should take place by Fall of 2007.
The Haiti Partnership is working diligently with local Rotary Clubs in New York and Pennsylvania with a goal of raising at least $11,000 for a clean water project in Hermitage. Local donations will be matched by Rotary Districts, after which we will apply for a Rotary Foundation Grant to, once more, match this amount. Thus, local funds can be multiplied by four to provide the $44,000 to $50,000 necessary to complete this project. We currently are well on our way toward our goal, having over $9500 pledged by local clubs.
The clean water project will give a steady supply of filtered water to each building on the Hermitage mission site, as well as provide at least one roadside distribution area for local residents. Over time, this should greatly improve the health of this very poor community.
We look forward to beginning a parsonage which will house the first full-time pastor at Hermitage. Among many other projects and ministries, this year's Great Fifty Days offering will fund this new residence.
