Ankourajman

KOFAEL is an organization that Elisabeth has assisted Haitian friends in growing the past year and is in the process of trying to meet administration needs including starting/reporting on Kofael's blog, researching financial options to further serve the organization (looking into starting a 501c3), future website, Haitian goverment paperwork, etc. What a blessing it has been getting to be here in Haiti with the women, getting to know them, learning from them, and seeking to encourage them (though they always encourage us even more). Ankourajman ("encouragement" in Creole) is what the most recent blog post is about. Please check out Elisabeth's latest post on the Kofael blog at 

http://empoweringwomeninhaiti.blogspot.com/2012/10/ankourajman.html?spref=fb

If you are interested in learning more about Kofael and helping with current specific and/or ongoing needs please e-mail Elisabeth at eeream@hotmail.com. 

Thank you to Lisa Evans who helped me get the blog up and running when we were having internet difficulties doing so here in Haiti! 

And a big thank you to our friends who donated to the school drive last month!

Smiles of encouragement!

The Newest Great Place to Stay!

The Ream family got to spend the past week as the first guest at the new Apparent Project guesthouse! I recently blogged about my love and respect for the Apparent Project HERE. So when Shelley Clay (my friend and founder of AP) told me that AP has rented this new guesthouse because the former guesthouse rooms located above the Apparent Project had been overtaken by AP artisans needs for more workspace AND that she needed someone to test out/help out at the new guesthouse I was more than happy to volunteer us! We tried to help as much as we could and having a nice pad to park it last week helped us out too (as well as appeasing my neverending need to decorate something)! Haiti houses don't typically automatically come with such things that us foreigners (like those who will be the future guest here) often take for granted. Such things include running water, electricity, air conditioning and screens to keep swarms of mosquitos out. Since we are such foreigners but have lived in Haiti both with and without such things for the past year, we were the perfect candidates to test out the house to figure out what was/was not working before unsuspecting guest came knocking. I'm happy to announce that after a few days of getting power and water issues worked out, moving a few furnishings around and decorating a bit, we have declared this place the newest great place to stay in Haiti!

The AP guesthouse had a lot of help besides us to get the house ready!
Here you see one of several awesome AP painters working hard to make the house look great both inside and out!

You enter the spacious kitchen from the front door. It still needs a few decor pieces that the AP seamstress ladies are working on now (such as cute covers for all that under the sink storage).

To the left of the front entry there is this great eating space. Shelley is working on getting some chairs or benches now! 

To the right of the front entry you can relax in this spacious living room! It took me a few frustrating hours to figure out how to work with all this furniture and wall space, but it was worth it.
LOVE this room now!

Cute little 1/2 bath nook downstairs

Heading upstairs!

There are beautiful porches and balconies surrounding the house! And this one has what almost every Haiti visitor wants to enrich their camping feeling experience...a bed on the balcony! Cool breezes at night are a plus. But this is Haiti. Bring bug spray. 

Full bath (with bathtub/shower) that two bedrooms across this hall share.

The Blue Room 

The Yellow Room
(This room will be great for families...oh look to the left...an air conditioner!)

The Pink Room
Another great room for families!
We know because this is the room our kids picked out that we stayed in all week!
(Minus the air conditioner for us though it should be up and running for the next guest!)

The Pink Room has its own full bath too! 

So there it is...
The Apparent Project Guesthouse...
the newest great place to stay when you come to Haiti!

But we will warn you about one little thing. THIS little thing thinks he owns the house! And he will let you know that he owns the house not only at daybreak but ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT LONG! Perhaps this is all part of the Haiti experience too! But if you disagree you can tell Shelley what I did by day 3 which was...KILL THAT ROOSTER! My kids almost did.