Happy New Year! Or as they say in Haiti, “Bon Ane!” We hope all your holiday celebrations were blessed and that you are facing 2022 with hope and purpose. We wanted to take this opportunity to share an overview of some of the things God has done in Haiti through PLH in 2021 and what we pray He will do in 2022.
Though this past year was full of challenges, God did so much!
The PLH campus continues to develop at a steady pace despite increasing material costs and the inability to send volunteers or containers to Haiti. In March, the first basketball court and a bathroom and locker room facility were constructed. In August, the classroom was insulated and the first PLH office created, providing a reception area to welcome students and guests and to carry out registration and business transactions. More than 300 fruit trees were planted throughout the campus and three wells were dug.
The PLH classes and athletic programs were able to run on their normal schedule, providing training, education, and encouragement for more than 200 players and students. This year, we offered specialized classes in Medical English, Teaching English as a Foreign Language and a Survey of the Bible. The advanced English students, hungry for learning, enjoyed each of these courses. The courses also attracted many new students from nearby areas. We look forward to offering additional specialized courses in 2022.
In 2021, we added four new staff members to the Haiti team. PLH now has 18 salaried staff and 11 contracted workers. Our staff participate in team devotions each morning. This has been a good way for them to grow together and for those with a deeper relationship with Christ to minister to and disciple those who do not have a relationship or are less committed to their faith. As they take on more responsibility, we have seen the staff grow and come together as a team and the leaders step up into their roles. We look forward to continuing to train the staff and add new workers to the mix.
This fall, PLH sent three young men to start a 3-year study in auto mechanics. Two of these men have been working for PLH for a couple years and the third has been a student in the English program since it launched in 2018. They are excited to have this opportunity to learn a valuable skill, and PLH is excited to have our own well-trained mechanics to work on the PLH vehicles and work in a PLH auto mechanic shop one day. We have also identified two young men to be trained in electricity. They will attend some short-term training workshops until they can join a formal school in the fall of 2022. Qualified, skilled and trustworthy professionals can be hard to find. We are excited to offer these young locals this opportunity and to be able to utilize them for future projects. We hope to provide them with continued training when we are able to bring in experienced professionals from the states.
With the vocational center being completed in December of 2020, PLH had its own covered, lit, spacious area to host community events. PLH staff and community members came together for worship nights, family date nights, and parties. These special events offered hope, unity and fun for families and individuals. We loved witnessing parents and children laughing and playing together and our staff stepping up to plan and lead these events.
If God could do all this in 2021, we cannot wait to see what He will do in 2022! More on that in our next blog post next week.