Trip

Kay Papa News

This is a report of Joyce and Ted Kruse’s visit to Kay Papa Nou Orphanage in Haiti from 2/26 to 3/3/09. The orphanage was started by David and Danny Guillaume because they felt the call of God to help aban-doned children in Haiti. Govans met the David and Danny last March and has supported the orphanage by paying their rent, contributions and sponsorships for each child. David and Danny extend their personal thanks for the continued support provided by Govans.

Psalm 92: 1-2 “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to thy name, O Most High; to declare thy steadfast love in the morning and thy faithfulness by night.” Prayer, praise and thanks to God are the organizing principles of each day for the children at Kay Papa Nou. Each morning at 5 a.m., the children pray and sing with great enthusiasm, so sleeping-in is not an option for visitors at Kay Papa Nou. This one to two-hour session is repeated in the evening. Getting all 19 girls ready for school each day is a major effort without running water, cooking gas or elec-tricity. The day before all the school uniforms are washed outside by hand and at night ironed with a char-coal iron often by a the light of a kerosene lantern or candle. All the uniforms have elegant pleated skirts so this is not a simple ironing task. Each morning, the girls bathe and brush their teeth. Each girl’s hair is brushed out and rebraided by Danny, her sister Celie and orphanage helpers. Then they eat a simple breakfast, often bread and butter or peanut butter sandwiches or rice and beans. Then, everyone piles into a pickup truck for the trip to school. Danny and her sister Celie, after preparing breakfast for all the children and getting them off to school, go off to teach at schools for no salary. People in Danny and David’s circle without paying jobs often work in service to others for no salary. That’s a very different unemployment plan that in the United States. School is held in a building that has no electricity, no running water and only one pit toilet but learning does happen. On simple wood benches and a chalk board made from a painted piece of Masonite, learning pro-ceeds. We received “thank you” notes from some children which showed a good command of French. The boys devoured the French comic books we brought. Within two days all the girls had read or had read to them in French, two Madeline books about the girls in an orphanage in France.

A Day at Kay Papa Nou

February/March 2009

With some exceptions, prices for food are equal or higher than in the United States. Much of the food is imported from the United States so even locally produced food is sold at the imported price. Eggs were $4.00 per dozen, im-ported from the U.S. Gasoline is about $4.50 to $5.00 per gallon. Building materials are two or three times more expensive than in the United States. With Haitian per capita income of less than $400 per year and widespread unem-ployment, just getting basic food is a struggle.

electricity and running water to help the orphans. The Orphange now has 40 chil-dren because of the increased space and the increased needs caused by 2008 hurricanes. There are more children available for sponsorship but Govans is not ob-ligated to cover the increased number of children. The sand water filters continue to supply safe drinking water in virtu-ally unlimited amounts from a well

To comply with government regu-lations, the boys and girls were separated into two houses. The girls continue to live in the original Kay Papa Nou house and the boys were moved to a building David had rented to start a school, now called Unity House. The boys live in half the four-room school and classes are held in the other half. David’s 68-year-old father Andre lives with the boys and su-pervises their care. David’s father left his job and apartment with

on the property. The Kay Papa Nou orphanage no longer has to buy drinking water, eliminating a daily expense but at Unity House, water is purchased because of lack of a well. Water is brought to Unity House in a large plastic container holding approximately 500 gallons in the back of a pick-up truck. The container is then slid off the truck on a ramp made of boards. Generous money contributions for art pads and pencils beyond what was needed was given to David to

Changes at Kay Papa Nou

Prices in Haiti

city. The UN soldiers are still sta-tioned in Haiti but much less visi-ble than in 2008. Just last month, new buses started to operate in the city. The fare is 10 Goudes, or about 25 cents, the same as the fare on the rag, tag assorted shared vehicles, called tap-taps in Haiti.

There are now solar power traffic signals and street lights at several intersections. Solar was a good solution because of the erratic availability of electricity in Haiti. This solar application should im-prove evening traffic flow and gen-eral security. Rebuilding of the Haitian police force is well under way with many more Haitian police and police vehicles thoughtout the

Changes in Haiti since March 2008

buy a peanut grinder to make pea-nut butter, a good source of pro-tein. David will purchase Haitian-grown peanuts and Eralph, who is 15, will be in charge of making peanut butter. Making peanut but-ter will lower costs, improve nutri-tion and provide Eralph an oppor-tunity to gain responsibility. Again the barrier was lack of money to

buy simple equipment to lower costs. After looking at the beds at St. Jo-seph’s Orphanage and working with David’s carpenter, wood and

With the help of a Canadian group, Absolute, David con-structed an open-air structure that is used for worship, an outdoor classroom and as a dining area. The structure’s shade is the only relief from the sun at Unity House.

The boys at the orphanage love to dribble basketballs but lack a bas-ketball hoop. We found a rim on Craig’s list which we brought to Haiti and a 2nd rim we found at a thrift store. We emailed Simon (volunteer teacher) and Junior (David’s brother), two young men who work with David, to buy a piece of plywood and pipe before we got to Haiti. This did not hap-pen so we bought a used piece of exterior plywood in Haiti. David’s

The girls have a swing. We brought a predrilled board from the U.S with rope. On our first try, we looped the rope over a tree branch but we did not realize there was a screw in the branch that quickly frayed the rope. In our rounds, we found a car radiator hose that was abandoned because of a leak. We cut the hose, put the hose over the branch and retied the rope. The swing was restored.

friend had a 4-inch diameter pipe but that was too short. We went to the junk market and found a 3-inch pipe that would fit inside the 4-inch pipe to make it longer. This is an incomplete pro-ject. The pipes need to be welded, the plywood needs to be cut, the hole needs to be dug and the pipe needs to be concreted in the ground.

The Swing & Basketball

The Chapel

3

plywood were purchased to make bunk beds for the girls. In about three weeks, all the girls will have beds. We purchased replacement mattresses for the boys.

moved a chair outside without be-ing prompted so we could sit down. All the girls kissed our cheeks when they returned from school. Haitians seem quicker to smile than to frown. Mark Twain was wrong when he wrote “Lack of money is the root of all evil.” Lack of money does not produce evil nor does the abun-dance of money produce good. Finding that middle ground is our challenge. Govans is included in Kay Papa Nou’s daily prayers. Let us thank God for the opportunity to serve the needs of Kay Papa Nou.

In many ways, Port au Prince is typical of many third world cities. Goats and chickens wander freely in residential areas. No alarm clocks are needed because cer-tainly a rooster or a howling dog will broadcast the dawning of a new day. Every type of vehicle produced in the last thirty years fights for space on crowded streets. Electricity is erratic. Gov-ernment services are almost non-existent. The population is clothed primarily in U.S. castoffs. One teenage boy wore a tee-shirt that read “Grandma is my name, spoil-ing is my game.” But in spite of this, there is a spirit of generosity. A girl who was four

Final Observations

We wanted to improve the ac-countability of funds Govans pro-vides for the Orphanage. Street vendors often provide the best prices on food but do not provide receipts. We met with Bill Nathan, the Haitian co-director of St. Jo-seph’s Orphanage and a friend of David’s, and Michael Geilenfeld, founder and Executive Director of St. Joseph’s. St. Josephs uses a simple daily expense log to ac-count for all transactions. We all agree and trust David’s integrity but wanted better accounting. We photocopied the daily transaction sheets that St. Joe’s uses and David will begin using the sheets. Bill said visitors were impressed with St. Joseph’s simple account-ing system and thought it helped with continued support. Absolute,

the Canadian group that has as-sisted David, also wanted better accounting for funds. The ac-counting sheets will help David identify costs and help him to project future costs.

Accountability for David