Melissa's Hope Orphanage School and Day Camp

Melissa’s Hope Newsletter – December 2013

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving and wishing you all the best Christmas and New Years. Everyone by us is in good health and we hope the same is for you!

WHAT’S NEW?

Melissa’s Hope has been busy busy busy! School and camp are totally full having 73 students and an additional 52 children for camp. This means on Sundays, we have about 125 kiddos, plus 22 of our own…FULL HOUSE!!

CURRENT ISSUE

In Haiti many people use wood or charcoal to cook, we at Melissa’s Hope are apart of that group. Wood and charcoal are used to fuel stoves and happen to be responsible for the deaths of 3,000-4,000 women each year in Haiti. This does not include the large number of children that are affected. The burning of these products release extremely harmful toxins and the potential for burns, deforestation, and difficultly with ignition.

We are working with the group ICTP (Improved Cooking Technology Program) to begin using propane. They are coming this week to make sure we are good candidates for a propane stove and system. Propane is cheaper than charcoal because 4.5 kg of charcoal costs 76 Gourdes ($1.75) and can be substituted by 1 kg of propane, which costs 22 Gourdes ($0.51).

Example: 1 bag of charcoal or 88 pounds with an average price of 750 Gourdes ($17.28 US) can be replaced by 20 pounds of propane gas for 448 Gourdes ($10.32 US). This substitution allows the consumer to save 302 Gourdes ($6.96 US).

Using propane for cooking will be cheaper, quicker, promotes a better environment, and most importantly does not have the negative effects on the health of our cooks and children! We need to purchase a large propane stove with 3 burners and a 100 lb. capacity propane tank to accommodate the large amounts of people we feed daily. This would cost at least $490 plus the costs for up keep and refilling of tanks.

We are reaching out to all of you for this project! We want to give our children the best option possible to a healthy and fulfilled life. We truely believe this is a move in the right direction, so please help us continue our journey!

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