I am so excited to report that my former school in Duluth, GA, Notre Dame Academy, is holding a "Help for Haiti Day" next Wed, Nov 16! They will be collecting money from students and families to help Académie Notre Dame à Madian buy some critical items. Students who donate will get to have an "Out of Uniform Day" on that day. Some key needs that have developed at our school since the hurricane that they will be helping to fund include:
- A large water tank mounted on a concrete platform to provide us with fresh water! The pipes to our base were damaged in the hurricane and we have no running water to drink, use for preparing food, and to service our restrooms. We currently have to get buckets of water to flush our toilets and fill our water tanks. This new tank will be a tremendous blessing, but will cost approximately $3000.
- Industrial batteries are needed to provide electricity to the school. Our base runs a generator for a few hours each evening which can charge our batteries. By connecting our school's inverter, we can then operate our lights and ceiling fans during the school day. Some days the room has been too hot for the children to focus and the fans help keep the room at a more comfortable temperature for learning. We also hope to power a refrigerator if we can procure a total of 8 batteries. They cost $125 each.
- A small refrigerator is needed to keep our food fresh (once we have electricity) and to protect it from rats and other critters. Académie Notre Dame à Madian now provides both breakfast and lunch to our students, since the hurricane has left some families without their farms and gardens, and we have had children arriving to school hungry. So far we have just been storing the food in my office next to our classroom. A new refrigerator will cost about $300.
I am so incredibly humbled by the support and am proud to be associated with Notre Dame Academy. Community is big and I am thankful to have you all as community supporting our mission in Haiti! Please keep us in your prayers, as I assure you are all in ours daily!
Love, Ms. Meagan Bradford
A few of our Académie Notre Dame à Madian students in their NDA shirts!