by Jonathan LaMare

We are so fortunate to have the support of thousands of people from all over the world. Our Facebook page actually generates a weekly report or us, and we were excited to see that we have followers all over the world! Japan, Australia, all over Europe – even users in various parts of Africa follow the Be Like Brit Foundation facebook page! As we work to spread the news from Haiti, we are mindful of our blessings both internationally and at home in New England and the USA!

Our most recent Britsionary group consisted of a handful of returning Britsionarys, along with a group of first-timers. The group was put together by one of our USA volunteers, Leslie, who has traveled once previously to BLB Haiti. Leslie put a group together to come back to BLB Haiti and give back to our community; friends and neighbors to whom we believe we have a moral imperative to give back to!

When we first started out Britsionary program after construction of the actual orphanage was completed, we embarked on “Fix a Home” projects, vs. what we now do – the Build A Home project. Some of the homes we fixed back in our early days are in need of repair again. While the work we did was important and valuable, years of exposure to the elements call for improvements and a shift to more permanent solutions. It is in this spirit that we called upon our most recent group, Team Fast and Furious, to give a more permanent home and solution to this unfortunate problem! The result is a heartwarming and transformational experience working side by side with our Haitian staff and a family in dire need ~ 

What do you think about this change?!

While our returning Britsionarys Lauren, Leslie, and Cindy brought with them their knowledge and experience from pervious trips - they also brought with them incredible organizational skills. Leslie, Lauren, and Charlie volunteer weekly at the Operations Center in the USA, and it was so great to have their skills and attention to detail here with us in Haiti. We believe their insights are invaluable as we work to implement and perfect an inventory control system, so that our warehouse in Worcester can talk to our inventory control people here in Haiti ~ streamlining our efforts and making our operations more efficient and effective!

Thanks to the efforts of this group, we were able to completely empty and inventory our storage depots - which are growing more and more packed by the week! We are desperately working to raise funds for an outside storage depot - an effective 3-car garage to be built on our back retaining wall, ultimately housing our storage and our administrative offices, allowing us to grow as we expand the scope of our work here in Haiti!!! Thanks to Leslie, Lauren, and Charlie - along with the entire Team - for this very involved task! 

Our Medical Britsionary, Jennifer, kept herself busy this past week, too. Our clinic has just hosted three UMASS doctors, and so our own internal needs were largely met. Jennifer was gracious enough to make herself and her emergency room skills available to the community, getting work in at Haiti Arise and at the Mission of Hope International clinic in the mountains at St. Etienne. She worked hand in hand with our own nurse, Madona, and the two of them accomplished so much! We are always grateful when people give of themselves, and medical is always so very important! Our thanks go to Jennifer for her hard work this past week!

Last night, Cherylann and one of our Board Members, Eileen Terry, traveled to Haiti with our 2nd Annual Women's Group! We're thrilled to have 14 guests on a long weekend trip over this Columbus Day Weekend! We always love to share our work with new friends, as well as share our vision! Upon the group's arrival to Be Like Brit, they walked in on our biggest birthday celebration of the year! October 10 is the birthday of SIX of our children here at BLB, and the festivities were nothing short of - well, festive! All of those beautiful cakes and the excitement of celebrating six of our children was a very special moment for our women's group! They were great to have on hand for the birthday party, too! 

The group also was lucky in that they walked in on the children learning and rehearsing for their annual Christmas concert! "Oh Holy Night" was the song of choice for the evening, and while it's only October, we think our group really enjoyed the voices of our beautiful children serenading them as they entered Be Like Brit! Even I was impressed with how well they sang the song, even after only practicing it a few times! Will BLB have the next best Holiday album!? :)

We are so excited about the few days ahead with our women's group! I will be traveling to the USA early this week to attend some trainings for our ABCMouse.com program, and conducting some business at the Haitian Consulate, too. We hope you all have an incredible week, and be sure to stay tuned for exciting news from Haiti!

Thank you for helping us help the children of Haiti at Be Like Brit!!!