Gary out on a trip with the Hope for Kidz team on their way to the Grand’Anse.
But months of hard work go into making the Hope for Kids program ready for a new school year. In fact, in October of every year, not too long after the current school year has gotten underway, the Hope for Kidz team starts gearing up for the next year. Marilyn McLaughlin, Merry Raymond, and Benson Joseph, the Hope for Kidz team, head out into the country side to get photos of each of the students. This year the team was also joined by Marie France Cherival and Perguens Hyppolite and an occasional visit by Gary McLaughlin as well.
The Paperwork:
Before photos are taken, each Haitian pastor receives a packet of applications for students to be selected for the following year. The number of applications is based on participation from the previous year, expected graduations at the end of the current year, a few additional applications as decided by the RMI field staff and any requests that the Sister church has made for additional students are also considered. Once these applications are completed by the pastors and turned into the Haiti Field office, the hard work begins.
The Pictures:
The Hope for Kidz staff makes appointments with all the churches to take the kids pictures; and then they hit the road. To locations within just a few hours of the mission center, day trips are made but for locations which are farther away, such as out in the Grand'Anse, a schedule is created which allows them to spend a few days out in the area, making visits at a different church each day. They pack their overnight bags, load up their camera equipment and head out. At the church, they set up an area that will be suitable to taking the photos. They hang the back drop (each year a new backdrop is chosen), set up the area and work with the pastor to get the children called in an orderly fashion. The RMI staffs have a list of all the kids that are to have their photos taken that day.
The team hard at work taking the students pictures.
Students waiting in the school yard to get their pictures taken and on-lookers curious as to what's going on.
One by one they are called. Two pictures of each student are taken; one with their ID number and Church location (for ID purposes) and one without the ID info for the student profiles. The staff work really hard and sometimes even do silly things to try and get the kids to smile for their profile pictures!
Marie France working with some of the students on their thank you letters.
After completing the pictures for the day, they enjoy a meal cooked by some of the ladies of the church. They then settle in for a good night’s sleep. Early the next morning they pack up, say their good-byes and head to the next location. This process begins in October and ends in January, once all the students’ pictures have been obtained.
The Process:
Once the team has gotten the students pictures, they begin the next step in the process. Information and updates on students are entered into the computer in order to begin creating the profiles for next year. The pictures are processed and matched to their sponsor profiles. Upon completion, profiles are sent out to their respective US church and then they wait for the magic to happen! (This is where all you amazing sponsors come in!) Though the profiles are completed the work is never done. Marilyn and Merry continue to process incoming payments, send payments to the schools, work on thank you letters, respond to emails and continuously update their records with information sent to them by the Pastors. Marie France and Perguens are also busy translating thank you letters that the kids have written to their sponsors. Benson stays busy maintaining contact with each of the schools and holding them accountable to the things they have been asked to do as part of the process as well as delivering food to the schools which participate in the Hot Meals Program. It’s a process that never ends.
So next time you walk past the table in your church lobby and see the picture of a student from Haiti (which may or may not be smiling- but trust us, we TRIED!) perhaps you’ll take a moment to remember that that child isn’t there by accident. He was chosen. And a team of individuals are working hard to make sure that he gets a chance to be known.
And maybe, just maybe, he was sent there just for you!
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