What a great journey!

As our May trip wrapped up, we look back at who we met and what we accomplished and have to say

"It is good"!

Our combined team effort was able to complete 20 panels/sections of 12 rows high. This leaves another 67 panels to complete the wall around the entire property. We have completed 1/4 of the project. Thanks Trinity Missionary Church for sharing in this 2014 journey with us, see you next year :)

(at the start)

                                            (at the end of 2014)

Our Last Night In Haiti

While we are all sad that tonight is our last night in Haiti, we are feeling blessed and encouraged with all the work we got accomplished!  
After we got the Highview rock placed in the corner, we continued building the top part of the wall!
As you can see from the attached picture, the wall is coming along great. 
The Trinity team will continue working on the wall for the next two days before they head home.  The entire team took a break from working today and prayed a blessing on the wall and the property. It was a great moment to share with the team and to celebrate all that God is doing in Haiti!  
Tonight the kitchen staff baked a surprise cake to celebrate Matt and Starrs birthdays. Matt's birthday was today, and Starrs birthday was on May 3. It was great to celebrate both of their birthdays here in Haiti! 
Tomorrow morning we leave the compound at 7:30 am and start our journey back to the Dominican! This will be our last blog post for the 2014 Haiti Team! Our plane lands around 6:00 pm Friday evening! 
We thank you all for your support while we have been here! We couldn't have done it without you guys! Signing off for the last time.

Cornerstone

Good Morning Canada!
 
We are on the construction site, and we just got the Highview rock in the corner! It was a great moment for the whole team. We took some time and prayed, and we all feel encouraged knowing that a piece of Highview will be here for years to come!
 
This rock is a symbol for us to remember that Christ is our cornerstone.
 
We will send another update tonight about our day!

Almost There!

Today was a bit overcast, which was a nice change from the hot sun!
 
This morning, we worked on pouring the footings in the trench. It was great to see the team working together in an assembly line for moving buckets of concrete. As you can see in the picture, we had lots of concrete to pour, and we are glad to report that we finished that job today!
 
The second picture is of Matt standing next to the corner where the rock from the Highview basement is going to go! The corner is on the inside of the property, and the rock will be visible even when the wall is completed. We will report back tomorrow with another blog post about the Highview rock!
 
Tomorrow is our last work day before we leave Haiti! It has been an amazing trip so far, and we thank you all for your prayers and support!

Good morning everyone!

Yesterday was a great day here in Haiti! In the morning, the team all piled into one truck to bring us to the construction site.

Once there, we started the day with removing a large stump from the ground! As you can see from the picture, it took all of us to get it out. Some were pushing the stump from behind, while others pulled with rope! It was a great accomplishment for the team to be able work together and create a plan to remove the stump. 

Once the stump was removed, we were able to dig a trench so we can ‎start building the wall on the opposite side of the driveway. The trench took all day to dig, but by the end of the day, we were ready to pour the footings. Attached is a picture of the team working hard on the trench. 

It has been great being able to hear the encouragement coming from each team member. God is doing things in Haiti, and we pray that by us helping with the construction of this wall, that His work will continue to be done!

Good evening all!

We first want to apologize that we didn't get the blog posted last night! Between getting settled with the new team members, a massive down pour, and our truck breaking down this afternoon, this is the first chance we've had to sit down and write.

Yesterday was a very exciting day here in Haiti! The whole team got to start working together on the wall. It was great to see the collaboration between the Trinity and Highview teams, and the Haitian workers.

We took yesterday afternoon off and visited pastor Gasmagne. It was amazing to see all of the great work that God is doing here. When the team first started building his home, there was nothing else on his property. But now, he has planted corn in his yard and has a lovely gazebo and walking paths. You can see all of the blessings that his family has received since moving into their home. 

This morning we got up and traveled to Hinche for church with pastor Giordani. It was great to hear all the blessings that God is doing in their church. There were over 700 people at church, and 2 of them accepted Christ. ‎Pastor Giordani let us know that they baptised over 50 people in the last year!

We then went and visited a church in Sapate. The church is held in the same school building that our team built in 2008 and 2009! It was great to visit the church and hear the work God is doing there. Aside from being a church on Sundays, it is also a school for 475 students, which is over a 100 more students than in 2009. 

On our way home this afternoon, we burnt out the clutch on our truck. We thank God that he was looking out for us, and there was a van passing by that was able to take us all back to our compound. There was 19 of us packed into this van, and while it was not all of our favorite way of travelling, we all made it back safe and sound!

We have attached 4 pictures for you all to enjoy! Two of them are from our day yesterday working and visiting with pastor Gasmagne, and two are from today visiting with pastor Giordani and the church in Sapate. ‎Thank you all for your prayers and support!

 

Day 2

We have had a great second day building. Everyone seemed to be working a little bit slower from the heat, but we still got lots done! 

We are awaiting the arrival of the Trinity Church team here this evening. They should get here around 7pm. We welcome all of the help that we can get! 

Tomorrow is going to be another exciting day here for us! We are working until 2pm, and then we will be visiting pastor Gismagne's house. In 2011, our team helped contribute to the construction of his home. 

We moved to a different part of the wall and started working on the footings. The wall is really coming along great, and we appreciate all of the prayers and support from our Highview family!

It's a Hot One!

 The team is working hard at the construction site! There is a high of 32 degrees today, so it is a scorcher!  

Everyone is filling up on water and gatorade to keep from becoming dehydrated. As you can see from the pictures, we have made great progress today! ‎The pictures show the start of the day, and the end of the day. 

We have been able to start building great relationships with the local workers. They are providing us with great building instruction, and its been a pleasure working alongside them!

The food here in Haiti has been delicious! I think Keith and Colin both wish we ate this food all the time!

Everyone so far has been having a great trip. Matt has been a little bit sick, but seems to be on the upswing this afternoon. We appreciate all of your prayers for health and safety for the whole team!

Great day of travel to LaJeune. 3 hours by bus, 20 minutes in a small Cessna over the mountains. Not everyone's favorite part of the day. You'll have to guess who loved it and who, not so much!! Toured the site where we'll be working. Lots of prep work has already been done over the last couple weeks, so we're good to go tomorrow morning building the wall, block by block. 2000 blocks are on the site just waiting for us!!! The picture shows us at the site with blocks on one side and the footings for the wall on the other. Temperature is a wonderful work temperature of 32 degrees! We have lots of water! The team thanks God for the privilege of serving Him and the people of Haiti.

LaJeune

Tomorrow morning we head to LaJeune. Leaving here about 7:00. 3 hour drive to the border of Haiti and then a 20 minute flight in a small plane over the mountains to Pijon. We'll be staying in LaJeune, about 20 minutes from Pijon but the work is actually in Pijon. So we'll be doing the short trips to and from the site each day. So looking forward to seeing our friends that we've come to know over the last 6 trips. We're all encouraged and ready to go. God is so good!!!!

WE'RE OFF!!!!

The Highview to Haiti team (Colin Chandler, Starr Lofonco, Matt Lofronco, Poppy Barrett, Brian Ogilvie & Keith Weatherall) is on its way to visit our friends in Haiti. This will be the 6^th adventure for various groups from Highview and associated friends. This year we’re starting to build a wall. A wall that will break down barriers, create a new school, and provide housing and safety for many of the marginalized seniors of Haiti. Lots of dirty work coming our way. We can’t wait!!!! As always we appreciate, covet, your prayers. We’ll try to keep you up-to-date as much as possible.”

Prep for the wall

As we are about to leave Canadian soil tomorrow April 29th to start our journey, an update from our contacts in Haiti:
The footings have been dug and started in Pignon, ready to have bricks assembled and placed for the block wall.

A look at our 2014 Team:

Here is a little snapshot of our 

2014 Team, leaving April 29 for 10 days:

Thank you so much for all those who gave of their time and treasures!

Our fundraiser dinner and silent auction 

were a success!

We raised just over $11,000 on Saturday night for our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Thank you so much for all those who gave of your time to help with the success of our fundraiser event, 

like 

The Companies who contributed auction items,
and the many corporate sponsors,
and the turkey bakers,
and the desert makers,
and the set up crew,
and the decorators,
and the tear down crew,
and the cashier,
and all those to came and supported our event by enjoying the turkey dinner and staying and participating and bidding on our lovely items!

THANK YOU!

Auction Item list (as of Tuesday Feb 18th:

There has been some interest in phoning in your auction bid so below is a small list of some of the items you could bid on by phone on Saturday between 5-8pm:

1. Tupperware Cool N Fresh Summer Set
2. Arbonne Gift Basket
3. Will and Power of Attorney Package
4. Old Navy Gift Card
5. Bugatti briefcase
6. Wine accessories box
7. Starbucks Gift Basket
8. T&J seafood gift certificate
9. Royal Dalton Serving platter
10. Bowman TreeTop dinner
11. Adventure Guide Diamond Backpack
12. Handmade pottery serving bowl
13. Darryl Sittler signed Toronto Maple Leaf putter
14. Haitian Hand Embroidered Kitchen Apron
15. 2 tickets Harlem Globetrotters (April 10th)
               Kitchener Auditorium
16. Kitchener Rangers tickets ((Feb. 23, 25, Mar 4)
17. Fire Extinguisher

just to name a few :)

What treasures you can find at our Silent Auction Fundraiser dinner next Saturday Feb. 22nd

To tantalize you a little

we have a few items already selected just for our 

Silent Auction Fundraiser dinner:

1. Will and Power of Attorney Package (SmithValeriote)

2. Health and Beauty SPA package 

(Pino’s Salon)

3. Darryl Sittler signed Toronto Maple Leaf putter

4. Bugatti briefcase

(Manulife Financial)

just to name a few!

Looking forward to the fun of the silent auction bidding process, what treasures will we take home,
and in the process help our Haitian country folk!

Some pictures to help visualize the new wall in Pignon for the vocational school and Senior's complex!

Small town of Pignon has an airport, beautiful mountain, and beautiful Haitians

Pignon mountain

Pignon elevation - shortage of greenery - nope (mountain has lots)

Entrance to property for senior complex/vocation school

The wall has an entrance - it is a start!

Highview to Haiti - May 2014!

We’re off and running (or should I say digging!!) again.

                The Haiti team is preparing to travel again to LeJeune May 2 through 14^th. Our purpose this year is to start the construction of a senior’s residence near the town of Pilon. Our focus will be to start building a wall (lots of digging) that will mark the property lines for the site.

                The Haiti fundraiser dinner is scheduled for Saturday Feb 22^nd and will include our silent auction and a few new twists.

                For more information about the trip, the team or the upcoming fundraiser event feel free to contact the church at 519-745-4211.