Most of the village people cannot read. Pastor Gilbert started these churches in very strong voodoo areas. The villages have no electricity. They carry water a long distance. Most of the houses are one room and not very well made. Some are only mud huts. Many of the children are naked when we go to the villages. Many of the children are malnourished so badly that they have orange tinted hair. It hurts to see the children starving so that led to our next program.

The Saturday teaching/feeding programs; At four of the churches ACH has started a teaching / feeding program. Each Saturday morning the neighborhood children come to the church and have what is basically a vacation bible school type program. They sing, do crafts, hear Bible stories and at lunch time they are fed. We try and provide rice and beans for the children. This is the most common Haitian dish. Rice is cooked and the cooked beans are smashed and pored over the rice. (When rice and beans are eaten together they have the same amount of protein as meat). The children eat very large bowls of this. Sometimes when things are really bad some of the parents come and eat also. The schools; During the week school is held in 3 of the church buildings. In Haiti it is tradition that students wear a uniform. Sometimes this is the only set of clothing the child has. The parents are asked to pay a small amount each month. A lot of times they do not have the money and they pay nothing. Haiti is supposed to have a free school system but there are few schools so that system doesn't work. So the children who do get an education get it from private schools such as ours. We are really proud of the fact that in all of our schools children were sent to take the national tests ( these are very hard and have to be taken to pass to another level ) Every one of the students passed this year! We try and send crayons, pencils, paper, rulers, scissors, erasers, and anything else we can get donated. We are sending very basic children’s books with lots of pictures and basic words. We would like the children to learn English. It is nice when missionaries come but also to do business with American companies when they get older. At one of the schools they even held classes of an evening to learn English for the parents. They also were holding classes for the parents to teach them basics in education. They were having a problem because the children were going home and calling the parents stupid. They also wanted the parents to be able to help the children do their home work. We are not sure of an exact percentage but have read that 75 percent of the people in Haiti are not able to read. 85 % of the people are unemployed. Haiti was the only slave country that was able to overthrow the people and become free. After they overthrew the French and took over the plantations they were not sure how to run them.

All the other countries in 1830 refused to do business with a black led country so from the very beginning they have struggled. Then the people cut down trees and the land started eroding into the sea. They have no topsoil and when it rains the country floods. There is no dirt to plant things. They were doing a little better about 25 years ago. American companies such as Rawling Baseball and Revlon and lots of clothes companies were in Haiti. But things got bad politically and there was not steady electricity and ships couldn't come in or leave port and merchandise sat on the docks for months and the companies pulled out and went elsewhere. Mainly to Korea because they are more stable. So many people are left with no work. It is said that non government organizations (NGO) are running the country. Most of their health care places are run by non profits like the Methodist Hospital or small clinics. Almost all the schools are run by non profits. Many feeding programs are run by non profits. Clothing is shipped in by non profits. Wells are dug by non profits.

ACH also runs a mission guest house. As many as 40 people can stay there at one time. Each room has its own bathroom and shower. The rooms are very nice and they serve great food. We try and make every dollar count. We collect rice, beans, noodles, canned meat, powdered milk, peanut butter, soap, shampoo, school supplies etc. We also are very grateful for any cash donations.