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Mary McConnell

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Mary McConnell

Some of the girls had never held a crayon before coming to our Saturday program.

Jimmy is such an artist!! He drew me a picture of "my beef" (my favourite cow) one day!!

Myself and Director Eliphete Mauricin of the local school in Petit Goave where we ran the Music & Art Program every Saturday.

Sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words ... this is one of those times :)

The amount of joy that these young boys experienced when given water squirters from a generous donation was priceless!!

One of the donations I received was soccer balls and soccer uniforms. While it may not appear it in this picture (as smiles seem to not be happening for some reason) the children LOVED feeling like a real part of a real soccer team (see videos on YouTube).

Outside my one room cement home that had no electricity, running water or toilet facilities. I lived directly among the local people, experiencing life as they do which some days, even involved having no food to eat.

My bestie Calenda ... a young girl with a heart the size of a mountain!

Haitians have so little material things ... yet the immaterial things they have are priceless and beyond words ... love, laughter, community and a strength of spirit like I have never witnessed before!

I have never felt such love from people who have so little.

The children wearing sunglasses for the first time ever ... thanks to a generous donation!!

When in Haiti do as the Haitians do!

Me and some of "my girls" in the mountain in Tigoave (short for Petit Goave).

Pastor Delvin (who helps orphaned children), myself and Lof, my partner in the Music & Art Program, spending an afternoon with the beautiful souls that Pastor Delvin helps.

These children have no place to call home, but a local pastor, Pastor Delvin, opened his heart and brings these children together every day to sing and gather together in love ... my heart will never be the same after spending time with these beautiful souls.

Doing my laundry in a bucket with some beautiful helpers ... the hearts of the Haitian people are like no other!!

I should not be smiling in this picture ... this poor woman had lost her son to murder by a machete just a few days prior to this day. When I met her, her son was lying dead in a makeshift casket in her yard just a few feet away from us and she was taking care of her two young grandchildren that her son had left behind. Slaying others is a truly horrific reality in Haiti and happens without consequence to the majority of perpetrators.

My neighbour Yolanda and I had such a special bond ... one that will remain in my heart forever.

This old woman who lived in the "house" (pictured next) cooked some amazing home made hot chocolate over her stove (ie. a small campfire) for me every time I visited.

I visited this old woman, her son and her granddaughter (who horrifically was a restavek ie. slave) many times in the mountains of Petit Goave where they live. I had brought her granddaughter (pictured) a dress as she usually had very little clothes on, yet sadly that dress was taken to market and sold as money was needed to eat more than having some new clothes to wear.

Some of the girls working on their colouring during one of our weekly Music & Art Program classes. For many, this would have been the first time they ever held a crayon ... such a simple thing that we don't even think about here in Canada is such a profound thing to children living in dire poverty.

One night the children taught me a clapping game ... without knowing each other's language we were able to communicate effectively enough to engage in a game together ... an experience I will truly never forget!!

Walking the thirty minute walk to the local school where our Music & Art Program was held each Saturday, picking up chidren as we went. Our very first class had less than five students ... a few months later at least sixty children attended regularly.

A suitcase of donations.

Ronaldo, one of the students in the Language Hangouts program with Haiti Partners that I coordinated, received acceptance into a university in the U.S. which he credits having been a participant in the Language Hangouts Program with being a huge part of this happening for him!!

Another "no words needed" picture ... Cassandra and I shared a special bond, one that will never be broken.

The children learning how to make Cajou (a nut that grows on trees in Haiti) necklaces at our weekly Saturday program. Many people in Haiti earn money by making and selling jewellery, crafts etc.

IProjects Guatemala has been working in the rural highlands of Guatemala since 2015.

Guatemala 2019 - we laid down two earthen floors and began building 17 water cisterns in a small Mayan community called El Carrizal.

Mixing dirt, sifted sand and pine needles (with our bare feet!!) in preparation for laying down an earthen floor in Guatemala.

Taking a pick axe to the current cement floor in one of the homes in Guatemala in preparation for an earthen floor which will reduce parasitic infection of the family who lives here by up to 80%.

Building Water Cisterns in Guatemala

We couldn't communicate verbally very well at all but we did figure out that we have the same name ... meet my new friend "Maria" (Spanish for Mary)! Maria's family is one of the families who we prepped for building a water cistern to capture the rainfall during the rainy season to water the crops in the dry season. Without a cistern crops typically do not thrive and food supply is depleted as a result.

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Helping Students

in Haiti

by Mary McConnell