House of Hope Orphanage, Haiti
As the 2011-2012 school year started, some 65 House of Hope students were studying at Ste. Croix Episcopal Secondary School under wooden sheds with open walls. Haiti continues to suffer from natural disasters. As the 2012-2013 school year started, about 60 students from the House of Hope were enrolled at Ste. Croix. Hurricane Sandy struck Haiti before coming ashore in the U.S.  There was substantial flooding in Haiti but students from the House of Hope were not injured.

Currently, we need sponsors for these 60 students who attend the Episcopal school and some parishioners have paid the tuition payment of $300 to sponsor a student. However, most of the 60 students do not yet have sponsors. Two Good Shepherd families who sponsored students as they went to secondary school provided tuition for them to attend college in the Dominican Republic. One student who attended college in Haiti graduated in the Dominican Republic with an engineering degree and is now an employee of USAID working in Haiti as a supervisory engineer. If you can help with all or part of a tuition payment for a House of Hope student attending the Episcopal Secondary School, please contact Arline Easley.

At Christmas in 2012 parishioners filled “Virtual Stockings” for House of Hope children, raising more than $1,000. Alice used the money to provide a wonderful Christmas dinner, celebrated at Epiphany, for all at the orphanage. Virtual Stocking gifts also provide funds so that the orphans can visit the market in Haiti to buy things that each of them needs; many buy shoes.

House of Hope – A visit from Alice
Alice Barthole was not able to visit Good Shepherd in 2012; the girls' dorm, housing about 90 students, was completed in 2012 and Alice needed to stay at the orphanage to make sure everything was done correctly. She plans to come to Good Shepherd in 2013.

Contact: Arline Easley 703 323-1875, bobarleasley@verizon.net