New Okipe Video - AMAZING!!!!

Our friends have put together an amazing new video about Okipe. Check it out here:

 or over on the right column!!!

check THIS "block" head move out... and more!

YEAH BABY!!!!!

ladies and gentlemen... what you see here is... the FIRST Extollo trained, Haitian CONTRACTED & EXECUTED Lashou Block Wall on the island of La Gonave!!  Michelet, our foreman  for the CV Wall Build last year, made the bid to build the retaining wall for the future Wesleyan Hospital... and manned with many from the CV Wall team... started construction last week.  they WILL complete the project by next week... at the latest!!  

another superior quality wall... this time COMPLEATLY maned AND Supervised AND Built by Haitians... with all Haitian Materials!  now that's Development, baby!!!

also... just really dug these other two pics... so enjoy!

one of my fav pics of Mme S... LOVE her smile!!  ;-)

La Gonave island seen at sunset 12 miles from the mainland.

a plethora of friends!!!

so... during the wonderful week with our speech therapist friends... i we were also visit by THREE different groups of folks... all very near and dear to me...

first i picked up Scotty Moe... my VERY good buddy and companion in arms in Somaliland... who just HAPPENED to be in Haiti with his sister visiting an orphanage on the mainland.  we connected... and they took two days to come visit us on La Gonave and see what we're up too.  

(btw... Scotty is the founder of a great non-profit org called Root Awakening.  http://rootawakening.org/)

after getting Scotty and Chelsea... we picked up my two best buddies (brothers really) in the world... Bill Cody and Jeff Searles and two other good friends from my home church back in California.  Funny thing was that Bill knows Scotty, too... but i didn't tell him we would be with us... fun to surprise friends it is!!  Jeff is the lead pastor of my home church (iLLUM), Bill... if you don't know... is the Chairman of OKIPE, and Dean and Dennis (not shown... yet) are members of iLLUM and board members of SHINE... the non-profit i work for in conjunction with Okipe.  other than Bill... this was the guys first visit.

from L-R...  Dean Searles, Dennis Owen, Bill Cody, Jeff Searles - pic by me, Matt Smith

then the final group to hook up with us the next morning on our way to La Gonave was Tom Perko (2nd from left)... our good buddy from Extollo... and two pastors from the Bay Area of California, Larry (far right) and Ralph (not shown).  they were visiting several of the places where Extollo has projects... one of them being the Children's Village project with us in Anse a Galets.

it was an all around GREAT time of sharing stories, dreaming together of the vision and future of the Children's Village, making new friends and connecting with long time comrades!!

a GRAND time was had by ALL...

and though i was picking on Jeff here... we ALL could relate to feeling very well spent after the short yet intense and jam-packed few days visit!

btw... here's Jeff's namesake and buddy up at the orphanage!  

THANKS all for the GREAT time and profitable visit... come back soon, ya here!!?!!  ;-)