Family Trip to Haiti
Our family did something a little different this year for Thanksgiving and went to Southern Haiti with Feed2 (www.feed2.org). Feed2 is a feeding program which (for $10/month) provides two hungry kids a hot, nutritious meal while they're in school working on their education. For 80% of these kids, it's their ONLY meal of the day. The program is having a huge impact on kids, families and their communities and we were grateful to see it all first hand.
This trip included five parents and 11 teenagers, three of which had never been on an airplane, so it was an adventure with a lot of "firsts." Hurricane Matthew and the extra ordinary flooding that followed have left many in dire need in Southern Haiti. Food and clean water are still scarce as I write this. Together, we were able to raise just over $5,000 from generous folks in Ocala, which provided over 50,000 meals and a number of water filters. We worked through local Haitian churches and partnered along with them as they provided relief (food, water filters, etc.) and encouragement into their communities. The picture above is us setting up a water filter at a family's home. The family was excited to share the clean water with the other families around them and these filters can provide clean water for up to 15 years!
Feed2 is program run by RMI (www.rmibridge.org), which has been in Southern Haiti for over 40 years helping churches in the US build long term relationships with sister churches in Haiti. They are an incredible organization and were so great to work with in facilitating this trip. They took amazing care of our team and provided all the translation, transportation, food, lodges, etc. during our stay.
We've been on many family trips and vacations. While this was not exactly a chillaxing vacation, it sure was one of the funnest and most enjoyable adventures we've experienced as a family.
